Maryland Biography

Many state and county history books include biographical sketches of their citizens.

The Maryland Historical Society and the Enoch Pratt Free Library have major collections of biographical materials.

Among other resources, the Maryland Historical Society has a Genealogical Index which is a card index to several collections in their library. It is described in more detail at their website.

The "Biography File" at the Enoch Pratt Free Library is a 180-drawer card index to newspaper clippings, local histories, and periodicals from the 1800s and 1900s.

Guides to biographical sketches include:


 * Andrusko, Samuel M. Maryland Biographical Sketch Index. Volume 1. Silver Spring, Md.: Samuel M. Andrusko, 1983. . This indexes over 10,500 biographical sketches.
 * Passano, Eleanor Phillips. An Index to Source Records of Maryland: genealogical, biographical, historical Baltimore, Md: Genealogical Pub., 1967. Reprint. Original published 1910. . This is an excellent index to biographical and genealogical information. A portion of the book can viewed at Google Books.
 * Indexes to the Maryland Historical Magazine give references to numerous biographical sketches.

The following are examples of helpful collections of biographical information:


 * Papenfuse, Edward C., et al. A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789, Two Volumes. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979, 1985. This dictionary has considerable information on early Maryland families.
 * Spencer, Richard Henry. Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Maryland. . . Two Volumes. New York, N.Y.: The American Historical Society, 1919. . This work contains three- to four-page biographical sketches.
 * Men of Mark in Maryland: Biographies of Leading Men in the State. Four Volumes. Washington, D.C.: Johnson-Wynne Co., 1907-12. . This work contains three- to four-page biographical sketches.
 * Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Maryland and District of Columbia. Baltimore, Md.: National Biographical Publishing Co., 1879..