Washington County, Maryland Genealogy

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County Courthouse
County Clerk 100 W. Washington St., #226 Hagerstown, MD 21740-4735 Phone: 240-313-2200

History


Washington County was the first county in the United States named for General George Washington, who later became the first President of the United States. Washington County lies in the heart of the Great Valley, which extends down from Central Pennsylvania through Tennessee. The county is located in the portion of the Great Valley known as The Cumberland Valley located north of the Potomac River. The lower portion of the Cumberland Valley is drained by Antietam Creek and Conococheague Creek. Washington County has 24 graceful stone arch bridges built between 1819 and 1863.

Parent County
Washington County was created 6 September 1776 from Frederick County and has 458 square miles which contains 3 National Parks, 7 State Parks, 14 County Parks, and numerous City and Town Parks. Hagerstown is the county seat.

Boundary Changes
Allegany County was formed from Washington County on 25 December 1789.

Record Loss
1871 ~ On December 6, 1871 the courthouse was destroyed by fire. However, only some records were lost.

City

 * Hagerstown

Neighboring Counties
Allegany | Frederick | Pennsylvania counties:Adams| Franklin | Fulton | Loudoun County, Virginia | West Virginia counties: Berkeley | Jefferson | Morgan

Cemeteries
Washington County cemeteries transcriptions can be found on Internment.net For more information about Cemeteries in Maryland please refer to the Maryland Cemeteries page.

Census
Federal Census reports available 1790-1930 including slave and veterans schedules.
 * 1790 - 1830 Census Transcripts
 * 1850 Census Searchable index from FamilySearch
 * 1860 Census Searchable index from FamilySearch
 * 1870 Census Searchable index from FamilySearch
 * 1880 Census Searchable index from FamilySearch (no images)
 * 1900 Census Searchable index from FamilySearch

For more information about the using the census in Maryland please refer to the Maryland Census page.

Court

 * Washington County Register of Wills/ Clerk of Orphan's Court has Probate Records from 1777.
 * Washington County Circuit Court Clerk has Land Records from 1777 and Marriage Records from earliest to 1919

Gazetteers

 * Profiles for 248 Populated Places in Washington County Maryland

Land

 * Washington County Circuit Court Clerk has Land Records from 1777

Local Histories

 * History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, Md By Herbert Charles Bell is a history of the early settlers of the Leitersberg District near Hagerstown, Maryland. This is first rate guide to the early genealogical records of the time and place. Full text can be accessed at Google Books
 * A History of Washington County, Maryland, by Thomas John Chew Williams from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown, to this is added a biographical record of representative families prepared from data obtained from original sources of information. A snippet view can be seen at Google Books.

Maps

 * [*Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection has State Maps, City Maps, Maps of National Parks, Monuments, and Historic Sites.
 * Washington County Atlas 1877 is an Illustrated Atlas of Washington County, Maryland and was published in 1877 by Lake, Griffing & Stevenson of Philadelphia.
 * Military Maps by David Rumsey of Washington County in the 1800's.

For great information about maps in Maryland check out the Maryland Maps page.

Military
In Sharpsburg, the Battle of Antietam took place on Sept 17, 1862. This tragic battle found 23,110 men that had been either killed, wounded, or listed as missing. If they didn't die in the battle, they succumbed to disease or from the wounds that they had received. The little village was turned into a burial ground with the farm of William Roulette becoming the final resting place for 700 soldiers. Other of the dead were buried in fields surrounding this once peaceful little community. Antietam is considered a turning point of the Civil War.

Websites

 * Battle of Antietam: Two Great American Armies Engage in Combat
 * Confederate Soldiers Online transcription of 1869 record of original Confederate Burials in Washington County, Maryland, including Antietam Battlefield {Washington County Maryland Free Library-for reference only}
 * Herald of Freedom and Torch Light newspaper articles about the Battle of Antietam.
 * The American Civil War: Battle of Antietam / Sharpsburg

Newspapers

 * The Historic Newspaper Indexing Project had it's beginnings in 1980 as an excellent resource for patrons researching Washington County history and genealogy.
 * Washington County and Hagerstown, Maryland historical newspaper articles.

Periodicals
Maryland Historical Magazine article found on Google Books: "Washington County, Maryland" by T. J. C Williams

Probate

 * Washington County Register of Wills/ Clerk of Orphan's Court has Probate Records from 1777.

Vital Records

 * Washington County Circuit Court Clerk has Marriage Records from earliest to 1919
 * Searchable index of Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850

Societies and Libraries

 * Maryland Military Historical Society was formed in 1982 to preserve the history, heritage, and memory of Maryland's organized militia. In addition to their focus on the militia, the Society strives to preserve the memory of the military accomplishments of all Marylanders, regardless of branch of service.    The Historical Society was the instrumental in the establishment of the Maryland Museum of Military History. For other Societies refer to the Maryland Societies page.
 * Washington County, Maryland Historical Society

Web Sites

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