Maryland, 1655-1850 Marriage Index

This data set contains information on approximately 258,000 individuals whose marriages took place between 1655 and 1850 in Maryland. Fully indexed and searchable by name, date, or location, this data set is a valuable resource because it brings together previously uncollected marriage records and provides easy access to information that you may otherwise have to obtain from local sources.

Generally, you'll learn the following information about an individual included in this data set:

• Full name
• Name of spouse
• Marriage date
• Marriage location
• Family History Library microfilm roll number where you may be able to learn more information about the marriage or simply verify the information provided here.

In addition to the information described above, some records also include a more specific marriage location such as a city, town, or church. Most of the church records referenced can be found at the Maryland Historical Society located in Baltimore. The majority of the other marriage records in this collection can be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah or through Family History Centers throughout the United States.

It is suggested that you research with copies of the original records to glean whatever genealogical information desired. Often, a copy of an original marriage record will provide ages, dates of birth, residences, parents' names, or previous marriages.

While this data set is quite comprehensive in its coverage of Maryland, no records are included for Calvert County because the majority of them were destroyed in a courthouse fire in 1882. In addition Garrett, Howard, and Wicomico Counties are not included because they were formed after 1850.

Notes on Using this Data Set

In order to provide you with as much information as possible about a marriage, it may occasionally be listed more than once. When two listings are available for a couple, it is most likely because one listing records the filing of a marriage application while the other records issuance of a marriage license. Multiple listings could also indicate that the couple filed for an application in one location and were married in another (most often near other relatives) or that names were spelled differently on an application and a license.

Please note that the date listed for each entry is most often a couple's marriage date. However, when no marriage date was given, the date of the license was substituted.

In some records, you will find three question marks in place of the given name or surname. This indicates that the name was not listed on the original record. You may also find question marks in place of missing letters.

A question mark after a name indicates that the name spelling was unclear. You may also occasionally find the same record listed in the index under two different name spellings. Please note that not all unusual and uncertain names were noted by question marks, so always be sure to check under various spellings if you are having trouble locating a name.

A Brief History of Maryland

In 1632, Maryland was granted to George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore. Calvert's sons led settlers to the colony, which was considered a haven for persecuted Catholics. Agriculture and trading were established and in 1649, the Act of Toleration was passed. The Act of Toleration encouraged settlement by non-conformists, including Catholics (in Calvert, Charles, and St. Marys counties), dissenters from Virginia (in Anne Arundel County) and Friends (Quakers). After the Protestant Revolution in England spread unrest to Maryland, however, the Anglican Church was established as the state church of Maryland.

Early settlers in Maryland included Virginia fur traders, British emigrants, and Dutch emigrants who replaced earlier Swedish settlements. Beginning in the 1730s, Germans from bordering Pennsylvania counties settled into what were then Baltimore and Frederick counties, and some Quakers came to Maryland from New Jersey. In the mid-1700s many settlers came from Pennsylvania, and servants, felons, and Jacobite rebels were among the emigrants from Britain.

In the 18th century, migrations out of Maryland included Catholics into Kentucky, and Moravians who went to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to obtain free land. Germans, Ulster-Scots, and Quakers went south to Virginia and the Carolinas. Migration westward through and out of Maryland increased substantially after the completion of the National Road in 1818. After the Civil War, many black Southerners moved to Maryland, and around the same time, many Germans and eastern Europeans entered the United States through Baltimore, one of the major eastern ports.