Cecil County, Maryland Genealogy

United States &gt; Maryland &gt; Cecil County



County Courthouse


County Commissioners County Administrative Building 200 Chesapeake Blvd., Suite 2100 Elkton, MD 21921 Ph: (410) 996-5201

History



 * Named for Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore.

Parent County

 * 1674--Cecil County was created 6 June 1674 from Baltimore County by a proclamation by the Proprietary Governor Cecil Calvert. County seat: Elkton.

Boundary Changes

 * Much of the county was originally attached to Kent County until Baltimore County was created 12 January 1659.

Record Loss
Many early court records have disappeared.

Neighboring Counties
Harford | Kent | New Castle County, Delaware | Pennsylvania counties: Chester | Lancaster | York

Cemeteries
Cherry Hill United Methodist Cemetery

Colora Friends Meeting Cemetery

Elkton Catholic Church Cemetery

Saint Mark's Episcopal Church Cemetery

Census
Federal Census reports available 1790-1930 including slave and veterans schedules.

Churches
Maryland State Archives' Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions identifies all churches known to have existed in Cecil County, Maryland. It covers all denominations and includes record descriptions. Maryland Archives' List of Churches in Cecil County

St Stephen's Parish (North Sassafras Parish)

St Mary Anne's Parish (North Elk Parish)

Shrewsbury Parish (South Sassafras Parish)(now in Kent County, Maryland)

St Augustine Parish(Bohemia Manor, Chesapeake City, MD)

St Paul's Methodist Church at Johntown

St Xavier or Old Bohemia

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Xavier, also called the Old Bohemia Shrine, is near Warwick. This building is not the original one but there was a church here as early as 1704, the oldest Roman Catholic Church on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Bohemia offered advantages which were influential in the selection of this spot for a center of missionary enterprise. It was accessible both by land and water. A trading post at a nearby landing offered opportunities for the shipment of tobacco to England and the import of supplies needed by the colonists. By land, the Delaware Path or Highway was an artery of traffic between the two bays.

Zion Methodist Church Cecilton

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

General


 * Barnes, Robert W., F. Edward Wright, Vernon L. Skinner and Henry C. Peden. Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 23 vols. Westminster, Md.: Family Line, 1996-2003; Lewes, Del.: Delmarva Roots and Colonial Roots, 2007. FHL US/CAN Book 975.21 D2b v. 1 ff. [Cecil County families appear in Vol. 6]

Bibliography


 * [Hendrickson] Bendler, Bruce A. "The Hendrickson Family in Cecil County, Maryland: The First Three Generations," The Maryland and Delaware Genealogist, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter 1990):20-22. FHL US/CAN Book 975 B2m.

Immigration
The New Early Settlers of Maryland database is a great place to start searching for immigrants who had arrived in the colony by the 1680s. The database "comprises 34,326 entries from Gust Skordas' Early Settlers of Maryland and Carson Gibb's Supplement to the Early Settlers of Maryland." Available online, courtesy: Maryland State Archives.

Other Cecil County immigration resources include:


 * [http://www.immigrantservants.com/search/advancedResults.php?surname=&givenName=&varientSurnameSpellings=&gender=&dateOfBirthDay=&dateOfBirthMonth=&dateOfBirthQuantifier=&dateOfBirthYear=&placeOfBirthParish=&placeOfBirthTown=&placeOfBirthCity=&placeOfBirthCounty=&placeOfBirthColony=&placeOfBirthNation=&occupations=&religions=&orphan=&familyPosition=&immigrationYearQualifier=&immigrationYear=&portOfDepartureTown=&portOfDepartureCity=&portOfDepartureCounty=&portOfDepartureNation=&placeOfArrivalTown=&placeOfArrivalCounty=&placeOfArrivalColony=&shipName=&convict=&yearOfIndentureQualifier=&yearOfIndenture=&lengthOfIndentureYears=&lengthOfIndentureMonths=&yearOfFreedomQualifier=&yearOfFreedom=&placeOfIndentureTown=&placeOfIndentureCity=&placeOfIndentureCounty=Cecil&placeOfIndentureColony=Maryland&agentSurname=&agentGivenName=&agentTitle=&masterSurname=&masterGivenName=&masterTitle=&residenceParish=&residenceTown=&residenceCity=&residenceCounty=&residenceColony=&residenceNation=&landowner=&literate=&spouseSurname=&spouseGivenName=&spouseMarriageDateDay=&spouseMarriageDateMonth=&spouseMarriageDateQualifier=&spouseMarriageDateYear=&spouseMarriageLocationParish=&spouseMarriageLocationCounty=&spouseMarriageLocationColony=&spouseMarriageLocationNation=&deathDateDay=&deathDateMonth=&deathDateQualifier=&deathDateYear=&deathLocality=&deathCounty=&deathColony=&deathState=&testate=&proofServantStatus=&proofConvictStatus=&headright=&preServitudeSources=&postServitudeSources=&comments=&family=&sourceCitations=&interestedResearchers= List of imported servants and convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Cecil County, Maryland (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database. [Includes Richard J. Cox's abstracts of Maryland Gazette runaways.]

Land
Through a Joint eGovernment Service of the Maryland Judiciary and the Maryland State Archives, free images and indexes of the complete series of Cecil County Deed Books (1674-present) have been uploaded to their website: MDLandRec.Net: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Newspapers

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

Probate

 * Probate estate files from 1851 to 1940 can be searched on FamilySearch. The site will let you view and save the actual probate record.

Vital Records
Death
 * Maryland Death Certificate Index 1898-1944, available online, courtesy: Vital Records Indexing Project, Maryland State Archives.

Societies and Libraries

 * The Historical Society of Cecil County

The Historical Society is open to the public at the following times. They are closed on all major holidays.  Monday ………………………………………………….. 10:00 a.m.— 4:00 p.m.  Tuesday………………………………………………….. 6:00 p.m.— 8:30 p.m.  Thursday…………………………………………………. 10:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m.  1st and 4th Saturday of Each Month…………………….. 10:00 a.m.— 2:00 p.m.


 * Cecil County Public Library

Web Sites

 * The Cecil County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Cecil County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Cecil County. (Backup site)
 * FamilySearch.org Family History Library Catalog for Cecil County.
 * FamilySearch Record Search for Cecil County Probate Estate Files from 1851 to 1940 are searchable.The site will let you view and save.
 * The Historical Society of Cecil County
 * Cecil County Public Library