Kent County, Maryland Genealogy

United States &gt; Maryland &gt; Kent County


 * This article is about a county in the state of Maryland. For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation).



County Courthouse
http://www.kentcounty.com/ Government Center 400 High Street Chestertown, MD 21620 (410) 778-7435

History



 * By 1631, William Clayborne was appointed Commander of the settlers of the Isle of Kent which he named for his home, the English County of Kent.

Parent County

 * Created 30 December 1637 from the Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes

 * 19 February 1661, Talbot County was set off.
 * For a time much of Cecil County was attached to Kent County until 1659 then attached to Baltimore County.

Neighboring Counties
Anne Arundel | Baltimore | Cecil | Harford | Queen Anne's | Delaware counties: Kent | New Castle

Cemeteries

 * Cecil Burial Ground, near Lynch
 * Galena Cemetery, Galena
 * Olivet United Methodist Cemetery, Galena
 * Quaker Cemetery, Millington
 * St. Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery, Chestertown
 * St. Paul's Methodist Church Cemetery, Earleville
 * Westminister Presbyterian Cemetery, Georgetown

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

Church
Maryland State Archives' Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions identifies all churches known to have existed in Kent County, Maryland. It covers all denominations and includes record descriptions. The following records, taken from its collection, have been digitized and made available to view for free online:


 * Protestant Episcopal (Church of England), Shrewsbury Parish (includes parish registers 1699-1882, vestry minutes 1701-1861 (gaps), and communicants 1876-1882)

Court
Provincial Court


 * Residents Appearing at the Provincial Court, 1647-1656
 * Residents Appearing at the Provincial Court, 1656-1660
 * Residents Appearing at the Provincial Court, 1662-1670
 * Residents Appearing at the Provincial Court, 1670-1676

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. [Kent County families appear in Vols. 1-3, 7, and 21.]

Bibliography


 * [Caulk] Russell, George Ely. "The Swedish Settlement in Maryland, 1654," The American Genealogist, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Oct. 1978):203-210.
 * [de Hinojosa] Hoff, Henry B. "Alexander de Hinojosa and His Descendants in Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct. 2004):260-273.
 * [Elena] Russell, George Ely. "Portuguese and Spanish Colonists in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January 2001):50-60.
 * [Elenor] See Elena.
 * [Elexson] Russell, George Ely. "The Swedish Settlement in Maryland, 1654," The American Genealogist, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Oct. 1978):203-210.
 * [Holman] See Rue.
 * [Rue] Utermohlen, William J. "The Ancestry of Richard Rue and His Holman and Vansant Connections," The American Genealogist, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Oct. 1994):235-245.
 * [Vansant] See Rue.

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 Kent County immigration resources include:


 * Act of Naturalization of Several Individuals
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Correspondence with the American Colonies 1739-1782," The Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1998):108-128; Vol. 12, No. 2 (Fall 1998):189-205. [Overseas correspondence of residents of Chester Town [Chestertown] and Kent County with the following surnames: Ringold and Wilmore.] Available at FHL.
 * Kent County Immigration Index 1663-1667
 * [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=Kent&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 transported convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Kent 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 Kent County Deed Books (1648-present) have been uploaded to their website: MDLandRec.Net: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Other Kent County land resources include:

Land Records (scroll over half way down the page)

Newspapers

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

Private Papers

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Correspondence with the American Colonies 1739-1782," The Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1998):108-128; Vol. 12, No. 2 (Fall 1998):189-205. [Overseas correspondence of residents of Chester Town [Chestertown] and Kent County with the following surnames: Ringold and Wilmore.] Available at FHL.

Probate
Wills and Estate Records (scroll to bottom of page)

Vital Records
Birth


 * Colonial Births 1650-1681

Marriage


 * Colonial Marriages 1654-1676

Death


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

Other Kent County death resources include:


 * Colonial Deaths 1655-1678

Societies and Libraries
Societies

The Historical Society of Kent County, Maryland

Libraries

Kent County Public Library

Web Sites

 * The Kent County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Kent County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Kent County. (Backup site)
 * FamilySearch.org Family History Library Catalog for Kent County