Maryland, Allegany County Directories - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection includes images of an 1859 directory of Cumberland, Maryland and an 1878 directory for all of Allegany County.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Directories usually contain:
 * The name of the individual
 * The name of the spouse
 * The occupation or business
 * The post office or street residence

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the individual
 * The name of a spouse or place of residence

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the place of residence and the name of the spouse to find other church and vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records. Also search for immigration, military, land and probate records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members in censuses.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record. Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relatives that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Try variant spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Maryland, United States Genealogy.

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of Maryland.
 * Maryland Guided Research
 * Maryland Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.