Prince George's County, Maryland Genealogy

Guide to Prince George's County, Maryland ancestry, family history, and genealogy, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Courthouse
Clerk of the Circuit Court has land and court records. Register of Wills has probate records. 1830 Census missing.

History



 * Named for Prince George of Denmark, the brother of King Christian V of Denmark and Sweden, and husband of Queen Anne of Great Britain.

Parent County

 * Created 3 October 1695 from Calvert and Charles counties.

Boundary Changes

 * 10 June 1748, Frederick County was set off.
 * 1791, portions were ceded to form the District of Columbia.
 * For animated maps illustrating Maryland county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Maryland County Boundary Maps" (1637-1997) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Populated Places

 * Bowie, Greenbelt, Laurel, Landover Hills, Upper Marlboro, more...

Neighboring Counties


Maryland counties:


 * Anne Arundel
 * Calvert
 * Charles
 * Howard
 * Montgomery

Virginia counties:


 * Alexandria
 * Fairfax

District of Columbia


 * District of Columbia

Cemeteries

 * Cemetery Transcriptions includes partial transcriptions for
 * Ammendale Cemetery-Ammendale-(Christian Bros.), 11007 Montgomery Road,Beltsville,MD
 * Fort Lincoln Cemetery, Brentwood
 * White Marsh Cemetery-Bowie MD

Census
Provincial Census of August 31, 1776, Prince George's County: St. John's and Prince George's Parishes (89 pages of facsimile reproductions) is available online, see pages 1-89 and index in:


 * Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus. Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources. Vol. 1. Baltimore, Md.: Williams &amp; Wilkins Company, 1915. Digital version at Google Books.

Federal Census reports available 1790-1930 including slave and veterans schedules.

Church

 * 1668-1995 at FamilySearch — index

The following records, taken from its collection, have been digitized and made available to view for free online:
 * Maryland State Archives' Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions is not intended to be a complete listing of all Religious institutions in Maryland. It was originally based upon the churches recorded by the Federal Works Progress Administration during a records survey conducted from 1935 to 1941. It has been expanded by later acquisitions from religious organizations to the Maryland State Archives.


 * Protestant Episcopal (Church of England), St. John's Church, King George's Parish (aka Piscataway Parish, St. John's Parish), includes: parish registers 1689-1878 and vestry minutes 1693-1823
 * Protestant Episcopal, St. Simon's Chapel (African American), includes: parish and church registers 1902-1963, etc.
 * Protestant Episcopal, St. Thomas's Parish, includes: parish registers 1850-1970 and various records

Church of England
See also King George's Parish See also Piscataway Parish  See also Prince George's Parish  See also Queen Anne's Parish  See also St. John's Parish

LDS Ward and Branch Records

 * Capitol Heights
 * Greenbelt

Genealogy
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

Immigration

 * [http://www.pricegen.com/immigrantservants/search/advancedResults.php?surname=&givenName=&varientSurnameSpellings=&gender=&dateOfBirthDay=&dateOfBirthMonth=&dateOfBirthQuantifier=&dateOfBirthYear=&placeOfBirthParish=&placeOfBirthTown=&placeOfBirthCity=&placeOfBirthCounty=&placeOfBirthColony=&placeOfBirthNation=&occupations=&religions=&orphan=&familyPosition=&immigrationYearQualifier=&immigrationYear=&portOfDepartureTown=&portOfDepartureCity=&portOfDepartureCounty=&portOfDepartureNation=&placeOfArrivalTown=&placeOfArrivalCounty=&placeOfArrivalColony=&shipName=&convict=&yearOfIndentureQualifier=&yearOfIndenture=&lengthOfIndentureYears=&lengthOfIndentureMonths=&yearOfFreedomQualifier=&yearOfFreedom=&placeOfIndentureTown=&placeOfIndentureCity=&placeOfIndentureCounty=Prince+Georges&placeOfIndentureColony=Maryland&agentSurname=&agentGivenName=&agentTitle=&masterSurname=&masterGivenName=&masterTitle=&residenceParish=&residenceTown=&residenceCity=&residenceCounty=&residenceColony=&residenceNation=&landowner=&literate=&spouseSurname=&spouseGivenName=&spouseMarriageDateDay=&spouseMarriageDateMonth=&spouseMarriageDateQualifier=&spouseMarriageDateYear=&spouseMarriageLocationParish=&spouseMarriageLocationCounty=&spouseMarriageLocationColony=&spouseMarriageLocationNation=&deathDateDay=&deathDateMonth=&deathDateQualifier=&deathDateYear=&deathLocality=&deathCounty=&deathColony=&deathState=&testate=&proofServantStatus=&proofConvictStatus=&headright=&preServitudeSources=&postServitudeSources=&comments=&family=&sourceCitations=&interestedResearchers= List of imported servants and convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Prince George's County, Maryland (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database. [Includes Richard J. Cox's abstracts of Maryland Gazette runaways.]

Land
Through a Joint eGovernment Service of the Maryland Judiciary and the Maryland State Archives, free images and indexes of the complete series of Prince George's County Deed Books (1696-present) have been uploaded to their website: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Revolutionary War
Prince George's County men served in the 3rd Maryland Regiment and the 6th Maryland Regiment.


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital version at Google Books. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Maryland, Prince George's County on page 127.]

Lists of Prince George's County men involved in the Revolutionary War have been published in:


 * Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus, & Hodges, Margaret Roberts. Revolutionary Records of Maryland. Washington, D.C.: R.H. Darby Print., 1924. Digital version at - free.

French War (1799)
"Two Muster Rolls, Militia Prince George's County, French War, 1799, giving Dates of Birth of Soldiers," is available online, see pages 173-175 in:


 * Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus. Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources. Vol. 1. Baltimore, Md.: Williams &amp; Wilkins Company, 1915. Digital version at Google Books.

War of 1812

 * List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Maryland, Prince George's County, pp. 153-154. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index


 * - 1st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery H Light Artillery.

Newspapers

 * Prince George's County newspapers are identified in "Guide to Maryland Newspapers," available online, courtesy: Special Collections, Maryland State Archives.

Probate

 * Probate Records, Colonial Index, 1634-1777 online at Maryland State Archives website - free
 * 1698-1958 - Maryland, Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999 - original books (wills, bonds, accounts, procedings) viewable online at Family Search - free

Online Probate Records
 * 1635 – 1777 Maryland Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1635 – 1743 Maryland Calendar of Wills 1635-1743 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1796 – 1940 at FamilySearch images

Taxation

 * 1733 - Russell, Donna Valley. "1733 Taxables," Western Maryland Genealogy, Vol. 3, No. 3 (July 1987):99-103.
 * 1828 Tax List Prince George's County, Maryland. editor, Shirley Langdon Wilcox; compiled by Prince George's County Genealogical Society. - [Bowie, Md?] : The Society, 1985. - 130 p.FHL 975.251 R4t. F187.P9 A13 1985

Marriage

 * Maryland Marriage References by Robert Barnes - free.
 * Marriage Records - Maryland State Archives
 * 1658 - 1940 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1666 - 1970 at FamilySearch — index

"Marriage Licenses Issued at Upper Marlborough, Prince George's County, 1777-1800," is available online, see pages 93-172 in:


 * Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus. Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources. Vol. 1. Baltimore, Md.: Williams &amp; Wilkins Company, 1915. Digital version at Google Books.

Death

 * 1898 - 1944 Maryland Death Index 1898-1944

Societies and Libraries
Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc. Prince George's County, MD Chapter PO Box 44252 Fort Washington, MD 20749-4252 E-Mail: [mailto:janemaur@aol.com janemaur@aol.com] Website

Greenbelt Historical Society 204 Lastner Lane Greenbelt, MD 20770 Phone: 301-474-5156

Greenbelt Museum Oral Histories 10B Crescent Road Greenbelt, MD 20770 Phone: 301-507-6582 Facebook Website

Laurel Historical Society John Calder Brennan Library 817 Main Street Laurel, MD 20707 Phone: 301-725-7975 E-Mail:[mailto:research@laurelhistoricalsociety.org research@laurelhistoricalsociety.org] Website

Prince George's County Genealogical Society PO Box 819 Bowie, MD 20718-0819 Phone: 301-262-2063 E=Mail: [mailto:information@pgcgs.org information@pgcgs.org] Facebook Website

Prince George's County Historical Society Frederick S. DeMarr Library PO Box 14 Riverdale, MD 20738-0014 Phone: 301-220-0330 E-Mail: [mailto:info@pghistory.org info@pghistory.org] Facebook Website

Riversdale Historical Society 4811 Riverdale Road Riverdale Park, MD 20737 Phone: 301-864-0420

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Suitland Maryland Family History Center

Websites

 * Prince George's County, Maryland Genealogy, History and Facts (Genealogy Inc)
 * The Prince George's County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * "Prince George's Co.," in Genealogical Sources in Periodicals at The Maryland State Archives.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Prince George's County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Prince George's County. (Backup site)
 * , Prince George's County