Caroline County, Maryland Genealogy

Guide to Caroline County Maryland ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

United States  Maryland   Caroline County

Caroline County Maryland Courthouse
Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, court and land records from1774; Register of wills has death and probate records.

Caroline County Maryland History

 * Named for Lady Caroline Eden, wife of Maryland's last appointed royal colonial governor, Robert Eden, 1st Baronet of Maryland before he was usurped by the Annapolis Convention in 1776.
 * Pig Point was the county seat. The name has since been renamed Denton.

Parent County

 * 1773 Caroline County was created 15 June 1773 from Dorchester and Queen Anne's Counties. County seat: Denton.

Boundary Changes
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
For a list of record loss in Maryland counties see: Maryland Counties with Burned Courthouses
 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1890

Neighboring Counties


Maryland counties:


 * Dorchester
 * Queen Anne's
 * Talbot

Delaware counties:


 * Kent
 * Sussex

Census
Federal Census reports available 1800-1930 including slave and veterans schedules.

Church
Maryland State Archives' Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions identifies all churches known to have existed in Caroline County, Maryland. It covers all denominations and includes record descriptions.

Church of England
See also St. John's Parish

Family Histories
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]

General


 * Barnes, Robert W., F. Edward Wright, Vernon L. Skinner and Henry C. Peden. Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 23 vols. Westminster, Md.: Family Line, 1996-2003; Lewes, Del.: Delmarva Roots and Colonial Roots, 2007. ff. [Caroline County families appear in Vols. 7 and 11.]

Bibliography


 * [Genn] Hillman, Ralph E. "James Genn of Northumberland County, Virginia, and Some of His Descendants," The American Genealogist, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Jan. 1997):32-38; Vol. 72, No. 2 (Apr. 1997):101-108.
 * [Wright] Wright, Charles W. The Wright Ancestry of Caroline, Dorchester, Somerset and Wicomico Counties Maryland. Baltimore: Baltimore City Printing and Binding Co., 1907. Available at ; digital versions at

Land
Maryland State Archives has uploaded free images and indexes to the complete series of Caroline County Deed Books (1774-present). Visit their site to find the land records that interest you: MDLandRec.Net: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Free registration is required.)

Revolutionary War
Caroline County men served in the 5th 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 et. al. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Maryland, Caroline County on page 127.]

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, Caroline County, pp. 139-140. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]
 * Wright, F. Edward Caroline County (Maryland) militia in the War of 1812, (1977) pages 65.

Civil War

Civil War service men from Caroline County served in various regiments. Men often joi, cned a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Caroline County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Maryland Eastern Shore Infantry, Company D, E, F, and G



Newspapers

 * Caroline 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

Taxation

 * [1783] Caroline County Tax List of 1783: This is an alphabetical index to names to all property owners assessed. The index cards at the Maryland State Archives include county, hundred, names of tracts of land and whether individuals were paupers or single males as provided in the law.

Marriage

 * 1774-1815 - Cranor, Henry Downes. "Marriage Licenses of Caroline County, Maryland, 1774-1815," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1774-1778: Vol. 28 (1904):209-215; 1779-1799: Vol. 28 (1904):320-345; 1800-1815: Vol. 28 (1904):428-455. For free online access, see WeRelate.
 * Marriage Records - Maryland State Archives

Death

 * 1898-1944 - Maryland Death Certificate Index 1898-1944, available online, courtesy: Vital Records Indexing Project, Maryland State Archives.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Caroline County Maryland Genealogy Websites

 * Caroline County, MD History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * The Caroline County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * "Caroline Co.," in Genealogical Sources in Periodicals at The Maryland State Archives.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Caroline County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Caroline County. (Backup site)
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Caroline County.