Maryland Church Records: Difference between revisions

Many of Maryland's Catholic Church records are maintained by the three archdioceses that cover the state. The Archdiocese of Baltimore, established November 6, 1789, originally encompassed all of the thirteen colonies. It currently comprises Baltimore City and the counties of Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, and Washington. The Archdiocese of Washington includes Washington, DC and five Maryland counties: Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and St. Mary's. Maryland’s Eastern Shore counties of Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester are in the Archdiocese of Wilmington, Delaware.  

The Archdiocese of Washington was seperated from the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1939 and its records do not begin until that time. In 1939 it only included the District of Columbia. The five Maryland counties were added in 1948 and records prior to 1948 will be in the Archdicese of Baltimore. Sacramental records are housed in the parish where the event took place and are not open to the public. A [http://www.adw.org/about/pdf/sacramental_records.pdf Sacramental Request Form] should be filled out and sent to the parish. Parish addresses can be found at the [http://www.adw.org/parishes/default.asp Archdiocese of Washington website.]  

The Archdiocese of Wilmington was established in March of 1868. It included the nine Eastern Shore Maryland counties at its creation. The archive is located at 8 Old Church Road, Greenville, DE 19807. The mailing address is: PO Box 2030, Wilmington DE 19899. It is open on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They have only one microfilm reader.  

The Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary and University house the archived records for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as well as, St. Mary's Seminary and University, and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States.  Efforts to microfilm the sacramental registers of the parishes that comprise the Archdiocese of Baltimore have been undertaken twice in the past fifty years. The first attempt was made in 1954 at the request of the Archbishop Francis P. Keough.* The Maryland State Archives made a second attempt beginning in 1977. A majority of the parishes participated in the first microfilming project. Less than half participated in the second. Microfilm copies of the registers microfilmed by the Maryland State Archives are available for researchers to work with at the Maryland State Archives, the Maryland Historical Society, and the Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary and University. The sacramental registers microfilmed by the archdiocese are available for researchers to work with only at the Associated Archives at St. Mary's Seminary and University. Click [http://www.stmarys.edu/archives/parishes_w_microfilm.pdf here] to see a list of the parishes that had their registers microfilmed.  

'''Sacramental Records'''