Maryland Church Records

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Although Maryland was established as a refuge for Roman Catholics from England (under the Act of Toleration, 1649 to 1654), most early settlers were Protestant. Members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) were in the Chesapeake Bay area as early as 1657. The Anglican Church was established as the official church in 1692 and continued as such until 1776.

From 1718 to 1776 Catholics and Quakers were disenfranchised, and few of their pre-Revolutionary records exist. Surviving records of Jesuit Fathers are deposited at the Archives of the Georgetown University Library. University Archivist, Lynn Conway, assists with this collection. Contact: conwayl@georgetown.edu  

During the 19th century, Methodism was the dominant Protestant religion in Maryland. Other large groups in Maryland were the Roman Catholic, Protestant Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches.

The Maryland Historical Society has about 200 indexed transcripts of church records and some original records for various denominations. The Society is also the repository for the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and has about 70,000 items from 1676 to 1900. The Society also has the Norris Harris Church Register File. This is a card index to many of the births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, and other information in the church registers of the collection.

Research Services/Library
Maryland Historical Society
201 West Monument Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-4674
Phone: 410-685-3750
Fax: 410-385-2105
Website: www.mdhs.org
E-mail: webcomments@mdhs.org  

The Maryland State Archives
Website: www.msa.md.gov
E-mail: archives@mdsa.net  

The Archives has the following records:

Protestant Episcopal. An almost complete set of older parish records from the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Washington (southern and western shore) and from the Diocese of Easton (eastern shore). The archives has some original records from the Diocese of Maryland and microfilm copies of parish records for most of Maryland.

Roman Catholic. A large number of microfilmed records from the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Friends (Quaker). Microfilm copies of the older records of nearly all Friends monthly meetings and some of the original records. This includes the records of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting in Homewood; Philadelphia Yearly Meetings of the Eastern Shore; and meetings under the now defunct Virginia Yearly Meeting. These are described and listed in:

Jacobsen, Phebe R. Quaker Records in Maryland. Annapolis, Maryland: Hall of Records Commission, 1966. (Family History Library book 975.2 B4ma no. 14.) Page 9 contains a map showing the general location of some Maryland monthly meetings.

To learn more about the history of the Baltimore Yearly Meetings, see:

Forbush, Bliss. A History of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends: Three Hundred Years of Quakerism in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Colombia, and Central Pennsylvania. Sandy Spring, Maryland: Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1972. (Family History Library book 975.2 K2f. Also on microfiche 6049733) This book contains a map showing the general location of the early monthly meetings within this yearly meeting.

Other Protestants. The Baltimore and Peninsula Conferences of the United Methodist Church, and records from some Baptist, Lutheran, Evangelical, and Presbyterian churches. Many of these records are indexed.

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of some Protestant Episcopal records from the Maryland Historical Society. The library also has Friends' records for the Cecil Monthly Meeting microfilmed at Swarthmore College. The library has microfilm copies of records at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, and has copies of published histories for some denominations, such as the Protestant Episcopal, Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran, and Baptist churches.

An important guide produced by the Genealogical Council of Maryland is:

Kanley, Edna A., comp. Directory of Maryland Church Records. One volume in two parts. Silver Spring, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1987. (Family History Library book 975.2 K24k.) This book gives the names and addresses of about 2,600 Maryland churches and often mentions the years that the church operated, the years that records exist, and the location of the original records or copies.

To learn about the ministers and priests who served in Maryland, see:

Kanely, Edna Agatha. Directory of Ministers and the Maryland Churches They Served, 1634-1990, Two Volumes. Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1991. (Family History Library book 975.2 K2k.) This book lists several thousand ministers and priests, giving birth and death dates, denomination served, and location and dates served. The source of the information is also given.

Some denominations have collected their records into denominational repositories, others have not. The following addresses may be helpful in locating church records.

Baptist

Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware
10255 Old Columbia
Columbia, MD 21046
Telephone: 800-466-5290 + 0 or 410-667-9169
Fax: 410-290-7040
Website: http://www.bcmd.org/home
E-mail: See website - varies by department

United Baptist Missionary Convention
(African American)
940 Madison Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201
Telephone: 410-523-2950
Fax: 410-523-0250 

Protestant Episcopal

Archives of the Episcopal Church
606 Rathervue Place
Austin, TX 78705
Telephone: 512-472-6816
Fax: 512-480-0437
Internet: http://www.episcopalarchives.org
E-mail: Research@episcopalarchives.org

Mailing address:
P.O. Box 2247 
Austin, TX 78768

Some Protestant Episcopal records are described in:

Inventory of the Church Archives of Maryland: Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. Baltimore, Maryland: Historical Records Survey, 1940. (FHL book 975.2 K2h; film 1036799 item 5).

For a history of the Anglican church and background information on the original thirty Anglican parishes, see:

Middleton, Canon Arthur Pierce. Anglican Maryland, 1692-1792. Virginia Beach, Virginia: The Donning Company/Publishers, 1992. (Family History Library 975.2 K2mi.)

Lutheran

Archives of the Delaware-Maryland Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
700 Light St.
Towson, MD 21204-7570
Telephone: 410-825-9520
Fax: 410-825-6745
Internet: http://www.elca.org/archives/regsyn.html  

Lutheran Historical Society of the Mid-Atlantic
http://www.abs.net/~lhs  

Methodist

United Methodist Historical Society
Lovely Lane Museum Library
2200 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-5897
Telephone: 410-889-4458
Fax: 410-889-1501
Internet: http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/religion/umhs.html  

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Department of History
425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516
Telephone: 215-627-1852
Fax: 215-627-0509
Website: www.history.pcusa.org
Send queries to: refdesk@history.pcusa.org  

Society of Friends (Quakers)
Internet: http://www.quaker.org  

The Maryland State Archives at http://www.msa.md.gov  has many Quaker records.

Roman Catholic

Archives of Archdiocese of Baltimore
5400 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 22120
Telephone: 410-864-4074
Fax: 410-864-3690
Internet: http://www.stmarys.edu/archives/arc_coll_ab.htm
Email: archives@stmarys.edu  

The Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog lists church records under:

MARYLAND - CHURCH RECORDS

MARYLAND, [COUNTY] - CHURCH RECORDS

MARYLAND, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)