Source Information

Ancestry.com. Maryland, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1655-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
Original data: Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp.. Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850. Most of the records in this index may be found at the Maryland Historical Society or the Family History Library. More specific source information is listed with each entry. Original marriage licenses should be located at the county clerk's office.

About Maryland, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1655-1850

This database contains marriage information from selected areas of Maryland for over 250,000 individuals from 1655-1850. A complete list of which counties are included in this index is provided below. Information that may be found in this database for each individual includes their name, spouse's name, spouse's gender, marriage date and location, record type, and source information. Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage.

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the original records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates and places of the bride and groom, their parents' names, their addresses, and witnesses' names, in addition to the information found in this index.

This collection represents information originating in marriage records in various Maryland counties. Most of the church records referenced in this index can be found at the Maryland Historical Society located in Baltimore. The majority of the other marriage records in this collection can be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Copies of the original records should be obtainable from the county clerk in the county in which the license was issued. This was usually the county that the bride was from.

In order to provide you with as much information as possible about a marriage, it may occasionally be listed more than once. When two listings are available for a couple, it is most likely because one listing records the filing of a marriage application while the other records issuance of a marriage license. Multiple listings could also indicate that the couple filed for an application in one location and were married in another (most often near other relatives) or that names were spelled differently on an application and a license.

Counties and years included in this database:

While this data set is quite comprehensive in its coverage of Maryland, no records are included for Calvert County because the majority of them were destroyed in a courthouse fire in 1882. In addition Garrett, Howard, and Wicomico Counties are not included because they were formed after 1850.

In the list below FHL stands for Family History Library.

FIRST YEARS COVERED YEAR MARRIAGE THIS COUNTY ORGANIZED AVAILABLE PUBLICATION ALLEGANY 1789 1 AUG 1791 1791 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0013310) ANNE ARUNDEL 1650 6 MAY 1777 1777 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0013243) BALTIMORE 1659 14 NOV 1777 1777 - 1850 (includes the City of Baltimore) County Court Records - (FHL # 0013693 - 0013694) First Methodist Episcopal Church 23 MAY 1799 1799 - 1838 (St. Paul & 22nd St.) Maryland Historical Society Methodist Church Records 8 Jul 1801 1801 - 1839 (East City Station) Maryland Historical Society Methodist Episcopal Church 19 OCT 1806 1806 - 1839 (Baltimore City Station) Maryland Historical Society St. John's Parish 1 JAN 1737 1737 - 1806 (Baltimore City) Maryland Historical Society St. John's Parish (Joppa) 6 AUG 1742 1742 - 1773 Maryland Historical Society St. Peter's Catholic Church 20 APR 1783 1783 - 1800 Maryland Historical Society St. Thomas Parish 1 JAN 1729 1729 - 1825 Maryland Historical Society CALVERT 1654 30 MAR 1867 No records CAROLINE 1773 23 FEB 1825 1825 - 1850 County Court Records at Denton, MD CARROLL 1837 8 APR 1837 1837 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 1320680) CECIL 1674 23 JUL 1777 1777 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0013866) CHARLES 1658 19 MAY 1777 1777 - 1801 County Court Records at La Plata, MD DORCHESTER 1668 1 NOV 1778 1778 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0013929) Great Choptank Parish 11 FEB 1800 1800 - 1825 Maryland Historical Society FREDERICK 1748 23 FEB 1778 1778 - 1850 County Court Records at Frederick, MD & (FHL # 0014082) HARFORD 1773 12 JUN 1777 1777 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0014116) St. John's Parish 30 NOV 1775 1775 - 1848 Maryland Historical Society KENT 1642 1 AUG 1655 1655 - 1676 Maryland Historical Society 7 JUN 1789 1789 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0014169) Shrewsbury Parish 11 MAY 1708 1708 - 1784 Maryland Historical Society St. Paul's Parish 29 MAY 1679 1679 - 1771 Maryland Historical Society MONTGOMERY 1776 21 JAN 1798 1798 - 1850 County Court Records at Rockville, MD Early Church Records 22 JUL 1777 1777 - 1809 Maryland Historical Society PRINCE GEORGE'S 1695 31 MAY 1777 1777 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0014305) QUEEN ANNE'S 1706 1 JAN 1817 1817 - 1850 County Court Records at Centreville, MD St. Luke's Parish 27 JUN 1722 1722 - 1824 Maryland Historical Society SAINT MARY'S 1637 28 FEB 1777 1777 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0989061) St. Francis Xavier 23 JUL 1767 1767 - 1780 Maryland Historical Society St. Inigoes 10 JAN 1768 1768 - 1784 Maryland Historical Society SOMERSET 1666 1 NOV 1796 1796 - 1850 County Court Records at Princess Anne, MD - (FHL # 0006302) TALBOT 1662 22 MAR 1667 1667 - 1850 County Court Records at Easton, MD St. Peters Parish 9 JUL 1681 1681 - 1829 Maryland Historical Society Third Haven Quaker Meeting 29 JAN 1668 1668 - 1800 Maryland Historical Society WASHINGTON 1776 25 APR 1799 1799 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0014643) Early Church Records 15 AUG 1777 1777 - 1793 Maryland Historical Society German Reformed Church 22 OCT 1793 1793 - 1798 (Hagerstown) Maryland Historical Society Lutheran Church Records 17 APR 1794 1794 - 1798 (Hagerstown) Maryland Historical Society WORCESTER 1742 14 APR 1795 1795 - 1850 County Court Records - (FHL # 0014596) St. Martins Protestant 8 SEP 1722 1722 - 1792 Episcopal Church Maryland Historical Society