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SOMERSET COUNTY
Records
In spite of the many early moves of the courthouse of Somerset County, all of the oldest
records seem to have been preserved with the exception of the papers and those of the ad-
ministrative agencies. The list given by Scisco is perhaps the fullest among the older counties.1
This record of almost total preservation is all the more remarkable when it is considered
that the fire of 1831 reduced the courthouse to a shambles. Court was in session at the time.
Court was adjourned hastily and according to the newspaper account "no loss except the house
was sustained, the books and papers having been removed....... Several of the adjacent houses
in Princess Anne took fire, but they were preserved from destruction by the exertions of the
citizens, assisted in a prompt and efficient manner by many of the colored population."2
Fortunately, according to Lankford, the records had "been removed" to the old Teackle
Bank Building which had been acquired by the levy court in 1827. It burned too, in 1880, but
there were no records in it then.
Note
In the first part of this study I failed to determine the exact date of the burning of the
first courthouse at Princess Anne (p. 141). Lankford had given only the year, 1831. Internal
evidence of one kind or another had led me to believe it was "late in October or early in
November." A subsequent search of newspaper files revealed the date to be December 1. (The
American Chronicle and Commercial Daily Advertiser, Dec. 12, 1831, p. 2, c. 2.)
Circuit Court
LAND RECORDS, 1665--. 1670-71, 1690-91, 1716-19 in Judicial Records. Also contains Court
Proceedings, 1665-68, 1675-77, 1683-84, 1702-07, 1713-15, 1718-22; Births, Marriages and
Burials, 1649-1701, 1712, 1714-15, 1718-22; Cattle Marks, 1666-1723. Most volumes in-
dexed. C.H. 1665--. L.O. 1949--, microfilm. H.R. 1665-1790; 1665-1850, microfilm.
INDEX TO LAND RECORDS, 1665-1876. Cott Family Name. Does not include Land Record
Liber B 1/2, 1668-70, or land records for 1670-71, 1690-91, 1716-19 found in Judicial Rec-
ords. C.H. 1665-1876. L.O. 1665-1876, microfilm. H.R. 1665-1876, microfilm.
INDEX TO LAND RECORDS, 1876-1940. Kines-Philbrick Index. This index is very similar
to the Cott Key Table Index. C.H. 1876-1940. L.O. 1876-1931, microfilm.
INDEX TO LAND RECORDS, 1940--. Cottco Universal. C.H.
INDEX TO LAND RECORDS, 1665--. Liber index. - Land Record Liber B 1/2, 1668-70 and
land records for 1670-71, 1690-91, 1716-19 in Judicial Records are not included in this
index. H.R.
LAND COMMISSIONS (mistitled "JUDICIAL RECORD"), 1717-21. 1721--in Judicial Rec-
ords. H.R.
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1 Louis Dow Scisco, "Colonial Records of Somerset County."
Md. Hist. Mag., XXII, 349-356.
163
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2 The American Chronicle and Commercial Daily Advertiser,
Dec. 12, 1831, p. 2, c. 2.
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