Howard County, Maryland Genealogy

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

Courthouse
Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, court and land records. Register of Wills has probate records.

History



 * Named for John Edger Howard, a Colonel in the American Revolutionary War, later the 5th Governor of Maryland.

Parent County

 * Made a separate county in 1838 from Anne Arundel County with a part from Baltimore County, but it was not formally recognized until 13 May 1851 by the state Constitutional Convention.

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

Neighboring Counties



 * Anne Arundel
 * Baltimore
 * Carroll
 * Frederick
 * Montgomery
 * Prince George's

Census
Federal Census reports available 1860-1930.

Church

 * 1668-1995 at FamilySearch — index

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.

The following records, taken from its collection, have been digitized and made available to view for free online:


 * Protestant Episcopal (Church of England), Christ Church, Queen Caroline Parish 1712-1939 (includes parish register 1712-1937 and vestry minutes 1728-1776, 1809-1939)


 * 1708-1985 - Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – $, free to members of the society; Also available at Ancestry.com – $; 7,542,774 entries. This database is incomplete for all counties.


 * Contains the church records of:
 * Elkridge: Elkridge Methodist Church

Church of England

 * See also Queen Caroline Parish

Land
Through a Joint eGovernment Service of the Maryland Judiciary and the Maryland State Archives, free images and indexes of the complete series of Howard County Deed Books (1840-present) have been uploaded to their website: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

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, Howard County, p. 151. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

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


 * - 2nd Regiment, Maryland Cavalry (6 months, 1863-1864), Company C
 * - 3rd Regiment, Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade Company I
 * - 7th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Ashby's) (Confederate). Company B (1st) (Howard Dragoons).

Newspapers

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

Probate
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

Research Guides

 * Zimmerman, Kenneth E. Guide to Research in Howard County, Maryland. Woodstock, Md.: K. E. Zimmerman, 1997.

Marriage

 * 1658 - 1940 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1666 - 1970 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1858 Partial Listing of Howard County Marriages 1858
 * 1860 - 1939 Howard County Marriage Licenses 1860-1939 from the Howard County Historical Society site.
 * 1886 - 1900 Howard County Circuit Court Marriage Records 1886-1900
 * Marriage Records - Maryland State Archives

Death

 * 1898 - 1944 Maryland Death Index 1898-1944

Societies and Libraries
Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Central Maryland Chapter P. O. Box 648 Columbia, MD 21045

Charles E. Miller Branch & Historical Center Howard County Library System 9421 Frederick Rd Ellicott City, MD 21042 Phone: 410 313-1950 Website

Howard County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 274 Columbia, MD 21045 E-Mail: [mailto:info@hcgsmd.org info@hcgsmd.org] Website

Howard County Historical Society 9421 Frederick Road Ellicott City, MD 21042 Phone: 410-480-3250 E-Mail: [mailto:info@hchsmd.org info@hchsmd.org] Website

Sons of Confederate Veterans Isaac Trimble Camp #1836 Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #69 2832 Nine Mile Circle Catonsville, MD 21228 E-Mail: [mailto:terrymkl@aol.com terrymkl@aol.com] Website

Family History Centers

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

Websites

 * Howard County, Maryland Genealogy, History and Facts (Genealogy Inc)
 * The Howard County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * "Howard Co.," in Genealogical Sources in Periodicals at The Maryland State Archives.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project, Howard County
 * Slave owners households
 * , Howard County