ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 31

A long run of Judicial Records dating from 1783 to 1910 was
transferred from the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of
Baltimore City. Those dating before 1851 were created by the Baltimore
County Court. Practically all of the cases recorded in these volumes
involve land titles, mainly ejectment cases. The Proceedings of the
Superior Court contain admissions of attorneys to practice law, natural-
izations, petitions for habeas corpus, appointments of minor court
officers and other business of the court. Also of interest are the several
volumes of Commissions, in which are recorded the appointments
of civil officers, and the Test Books, in which are entered the signatures
of these officers to the oaths they are required to take in qualifying
for office.

As usual, we added the records of a number of churches to our
constantly growing collection, most of them on microfilm.

The lower Eastern Shore of Maryland looms large in the history
of the establishment of the Presbyterian Church in America; thus, it
is disappointing to have to report that the earliest records of Makemie
and Manokin, both known to have been established by 1685, have been
lost. We have filmed the surviving records. Those of Manokin are
fairly complete after 1737. Makemie has no Church Register prior to
1936 and its Session Records which begin in 1818 are far from
complete.

The records of Cecil Monthly Meeting in Kent County have been
much better preserved; the register dating back to 1678 and the minutes
to 1698. Fortunately they were received in time to be included in our
guide to Quaker Records, called Quaker Records in Maryland, which
is now at the printer's. It should be ready for publication by February,
1967.

Other church records acquired are more recent in origin, but
many of the registers are old enough so that they may be useful to
persons who are seeking evidence of birth for social security purposes.

Among the items received from private sources, one of the more
interesting is a report of the commissioners appointed under the pro-
visions of Chapter 10 of the Acts of 1829 to divide Dorchester County
into eight separate election districts. It was presented to us by Mrs.
Helen Mills Johnston along with several Dorchester County land
records and other papers.