Our Maryland genealogists research on location. They will find and analyze the best records available to further your family history research. They can search the archives and libraries in Maryland, as well as help you with other custom requests. With its close proximity to Washington DC, Maryland is home to genealogical archives that contain information on the entire country.
Our researchers are available to visit local archives and libraries to access unique record collections to help with your research. Below is a list of a few of the archives our Maryland researchers have access to:
The National Archives II houses documents created after 1900 at the departments of: Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, and Transportation. Not only does the archive contain government documents, but it also has records with information on Maryland citizens.
The Division of Vital Records in Baltimore holds federal civil court, federal bankruptcy court records, and the federal agency records from Washington D.C. It is important to keep in mind that some records in their collections are not available to the public yet, per privacy laws. For example, the federal criminal court records can only be accessed if they are at least 15 years old.
The Maryland State Archives claims the title of most premier facility for locating ancestors in the state. It is the most complete collection of all of the original thirteen colonies and contains birth records that span from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s and marriage records from the 1600s to the modern day. The newspaper archives and land records span across several centuries. Previous researchers say it can take some visitors up to three days to completely look through all of the indexes.
The Maryland Historical Society has the largest collection of genealogical books in the state. This includes more than 5 million manuscripts and over 900,000 photographs. The collection also holds ship registries, immigration files, birth and death records. Society Military records include information from the Civil War, such as an “Agreement of Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.”
Klinefelter Reflecting pool, Maryland Historical Society