Calvert County, Maryland Genealogy

United States

Maryland

Calvert County

Guide to Calvert County, Maryland ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Facts County seat: Prince Frederick Organized: July 3, 1654 Parent County(s): Charles Neighboring Counties Anne Arundel  • Charles  • Dorchester  • Prince George's  • St. Mary's  • Talbot See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

Cecil Calvert

County Information

Description

The County was named for Calvert family. The County has Prince Frederick as its seat and the County was created 1654. The County is located in the south central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Calvert County Courthouse
175 Main Street
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Phone: 410-535-1600
Calvert County Website

Clerk of the Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, court and land records from 1882.
Register of Wills has probate records from 1882.
Earlier records available at the State Hall of Records.

Calvert County, Maryland Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1898	1882	1898	1882	1882	1882	1790
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1898. General compliance by the 1910s.

Record Loss

1882 Courthouse fire destroyed most of the records.Some deeds from 1840-1882 were re-recorded, also abstracts at Annapolis 1784-1882, and provincial court and land office records were used to reconstruct lost deeds. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki. Arlene Eakle, When the Records are Gone in the Tennessee Genealogy Blog. Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle. Lost censuses: 1790, 1890

Boundary Changes

1650--Calvert County was created 3 July 1654 from the old Charles County and from Anne Arundel County. County seat: Prince Frederick For animated maps illustrating Maryland county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Maryland County Boundary Maps" (1637-1997) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Towns
Chesapeake Beach	North Beach
Unincorporated communities
Adelina Barstow Bowens Chaneyville Dares Beach Dowell	Johnstown Lower Marlboro Mutual Parran Pleasant Valley Port Republic	Scientists Cliffs Stoakley Sunderland Wallville Wilson
Census-designated places
Broomes Island Calvert Beach Chesapeake Ranch Estates Drum Point	Dunkirk Huntingtown Long Beach Lusby	Owings Prince Frederick (county seat) St. Leonard Solomons

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Calvert County, Maryland online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com MDGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project MDInterment Billion Graves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Billion Graves
See Maryland Cemeteries for more information

 

Census Records

For tips on accessing Calvert County, Maryland Genealogy census records online, see: Maryland Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	8,652	—
1800	8,297	−4.1%
1810	8,005	−3.5%
1820	8,073	0.8%
1840	8,900	10.2%
1850	9,229	3.7%
1860	9,646	4.5%
1870	10,447	8.3%
1880	9,865	−5.6%
1890	10,538	6.8%
1900	9,860	−6.4%
1910	10,223	3.7%
1920	9,744	−4.7%
1930	9,528	−2.2%
1940	10,484	10.0%
1950	12,100	15.4%
1960	15,826	30.8%
1970	20,682	30.7%
1980	34,638	67.5%
1990	51,372	48.3%
2000	74,563	45.1%
2010	88,737	19.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Federal Census reports available 1800-1930 including slave and veterans schedules.

Church Records

Maryland State Archives' Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions is not intended to be a complete listing of all Religious institutions in Maryland. It was originally based upon the churches recorded by the Federal Works Progress Administration during a records survey conducted from 1935 to 1941. It has been expanded by later acquisitions from religious organizations to the Maryland State Archives.

• 1668-1995 Maryland, Church Records, 1668-1995 at FamilySearch — index

Church of England

• All Saints Parish
• Christ Church Parish

Emigration and 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 Calvert County immigration resources include:

• List of imported servants and convicts from Europe who served labor terms in Colonial Calvert County, Maryland (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database. Includes Richard J. Cox's abstracts of Maryland Gazette runaways.

Genealogies

• [Abington] Berkley, Henry J. "The Abingtons of St. Mary's and Calvert Counties," Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 25 (1930):251-255. FHL Book 975.2 H25m v. 25 (1930).
• [A'Gambra] Russell, George Ely. "Portuguese and Spanish Colonists in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January 2001):50-60; Vol. 77, No. 1 (Apr. 2001):138-147. FHL 973 D25aga v. 76
• [Allnutt] Allnutt, Ernest C. "William Allnutt and Wife Sarah (Mears) Talbott, Widow of John Talbott of Calvert County, Maryland: The Progenitors of the American Colonial Family of Allnutt with One Line of Their Descendants in Montgomery County, Maryland," Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Fall 1992):712-766. FHL CD-ROM no. 9 pt. 208.
• [Barbery] Russell, George Ely. "Portuguese and Spanish Colonists in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January 2001):50-60; Vol. 77, No. 1 (Apr. 2001):138-147. FHL 973 D25aga v. 76
• [Boteler] Russell, Donna Valley. "The Boteler Family of Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 70, No. 1 (Jan. 1995):9-17. FHL 973 D25aga v. 70
• [Butler] Hoff, Henry B. "Alexander de Hinojosa and His Descendants in Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct. 2004):260-273. ($)
• [Duke] Brandenberger, Evelyn Duke. The Duke Family. 2 vols. [Houston, Texas]: E.D. Brandenberger, 1979-1995. FHL Book 929.273 D885b v. 1-v. 2.
• [Hickman] Fay, Mary Smith. "The Three James Hickmans: Identifying Revolutionary War Veterans," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1997):52-54. ($)
• [Hiller] Russell, George Ely. "Hiller and Rosier Families of Virginia," The American Genealogist, Vol. 85, No. 1 (Jan. 2011):9-21.
• [Lamar] Lamar, William Harmong, "Thomas Lamar of the Province of Maryland, and a Part of His Descendants," Publications of the Southern History Association, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Jul. 1897):203-210. Digitized by Internet Archive - free.
• [Lamar] Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Heraldica: Being a Registry of Virginia Gentry Entitled to Coat Armor, With Genealogical Notes of the Families. New York: The Genealogical Association, 1908. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
• [Martin] Russell, George Ely. "Portuguese and Spanish Colonists in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January 2001):50-60; Vol. 77, No. 1 (Apr. 2001):138-147. FHL 973 D25aga v. 76
• [Parker] Russell, Donna Valley. "The Maternal Ancestry of Mary Bates, Wife of Lingan Wilson of Prince George's County, Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Apr. 1993):72-76. FHL 973 D25aga v. 68
• [Skinner] See Storer.
• [Smith] Russell, Donna Valley. "Nathan and Thomas Smith of Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 65, No. 4 (Oct. 1990):230-232. Available at FHL.
• [Sprigg] Dorman, John Frederick. Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607-1624/5. 3 vols. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2005. See Volume 2. FHL Book 975.5 H2j v. 2.
• [Storer] Trabue, James D. "Ann and Arthur Storer of Calvert County, Maryland, Friends of Sir Isaac Newton, With the Descendants of Clarke Skinner of Calvert County," The American Genealogist, Vol. 79, Nos. 1-2 (Jan.-Apr. 2004):13-27. ($)
• [Tasker] Kennedy, Mary Selden. Seldens of Virginia and Allied Families. New York: Frank Allaben Genealogical Co., c1911. Digital versions of Vol. 1 at Google Books; Internet Archive | Vol. 2 at FamilySearch Books Online;Internet Archive; FHL Book 929.273 Se48k.
• [Waring] Coddington, John Insley. "Ancestors and Siblings of Sampson Waring of Shrewsbury, Co. Salop, England, and Calvert County, Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Oct. 1977):207-209. FHL 973 D25aga v. 53
• [Wilson] Rowland, Ralph Shearer and Star Wilson Rowland. Wilsons and Burchells and Related Families, 1608-1976. Fairfax, Va.: R. and S. Rowland, 1976. FHL Book 929.273 W691a.

Land and Property Records

Early deed books of Calvert County, Maryland were destroyed.

Through a Joint eGovernment Service of the Maryland Judiciary and the Maryland State Archives, free images and indexes of the surviving Calvert County Deed Books (1812-present) have been uploaded to their website: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Military Records

Revolutionary War

The 1778 Oath of Fidelity lists for Calvert County have been published in: Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus. Revolutionary Records of Maryland. Washington, D.C.: R.H. Darby Print., 1924. Digital version at FamilySearch Books Online - free.

War of 1812

• List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. FHL Collection 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. See Vol. 5, Maryland, Calvert County, p. 139. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Calvert served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Calvert:

• 1861-1865 Maryland, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1865 Maryland, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

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

Probate Records

Online Probate Records

• 1634-1777 Probate Records, Colonial Index, 1634-1777 online at Maryland State Archives website - free
• 1635–1743 Maryland Calendar of Wills 1635-1743 at Ancestry — index and images $
• 1635–1777 Maryland Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777 at Ancestry — index and images $
• 1796–1940 Maryland Probate Estate and Guardianship Files , 1796-1940 at FamilySearch images

Tax Records

• [1732-1733] "Calvert County, Maryland, Tax Lists, 1732-1733," The Maryland and Delaware Genealogist, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Summer 1989):90-91; Vol. 30, No. 4 (Fall 1989):128-129; Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter 1990):8-9; Vol. 31, No. 2 (Spring 1990):48-49. FHL US/CAN Book 975 B2m.
• [1783] Calvert County Tax List of 1783: This is an alphabetical index to names to all property owners assessed. The index cards at the Maryland State Archives include county, hundred, names of tracts of land and whether individuals were paupers or single males as provided in the law.

Vital Records

Marriage

• 1658-1940 Maryland County Marriages, 1658-1940 at FamilySearch — index
• 1666-1970 Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970 at FamilySearch — index

Death

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

Research Facilities

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• Introduction to Family History Centers

Libraries

• Calvert Library Prince Frederick
  850 Costley Way
  Prince Frederick, MD 20678
  Phone: 410-535-0291
  Email: mhammett@somd.lib.md.us
  Website

Societies

• Calvert County Historical Society
  Linden
  70 Church Street
  Prince Frederick, MD 20678
  Phone: 410-535-2452
  Fax: 410-535-4660
  Email: cchsadmin@calverthistory.org
  Website
  
• Celtic Society of Southern Maryland
  PO Box 209
  Prince Frederick, MD 20678
  Phone: 410-257-9003
  Website

Websites

• Calvert County, Maryland Genealogy, History and Facts (Genealogy Inc)
• The Calvert County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
• "Calvert Co.," in Genealogical Sources in Periodicals at The Maryland State Archives.
• The USGenWeb Archives Project for Calvert County.
• The USGenWeb Archives Project for Calvert County. (Mirror site)
• FamilySearch Catalog - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records