The Archives possesses records pertaining to schools in Prince George's County prior to 1865 only from the register of wills,
specifically (School Proceedings) 1826-1866 [MSA C1302] and (School Minutes) 1850-1859) [MSA C1301]. During that
time period, the Prince George's County Orphans Court administered the free school fund to provide education for poor children and orphans, but played only a minor role in the management of the school system. 

Throughout the mid-19th century, the General Assembly passed a series of laws pertaining to the administration of the free
school fund and the school system in Prince George's County. The laws seem to reflect struggles to develop a workable plan to
successfully establish and maintain schools in the county. A law passed in 1826 removed responsibility for the free school fund from the commissioners of the school fund to the orphans court. Initially the court distributed a set amount to the school trustees in each election district. The trustees were required to report semi-annually to the orphans court to show expenditures from the fund and number of pupils educated out of the fund. 

Legislation in 1831 appointed commissioners from each election district to divide the county into school districts. The 

The plan laid out in the 1839 legislation finally resulted in the establishment of 
operational school districts, but tinkering
continued. In 1840 provision was made for the taxable inhabitants of each school district to select trustees for their school, who were given the duty of visiting and examining schools and the power to discharge, but not hire, teachers. One year later an amendment to the law removed the hiring of teachers from the county board of trustees to the local boards of trustees. To deal with the problem of taxpayers failing to elect local trustees, an 1843 law directed the county trustees to appoint the local
officials until the citizens resumed their duties. 

This same 1843 act authorized the orphans court to invest the principal of the school fund in stocks or bonds of the state. 

In 1848 another method was mandated for the selection of local school trustees, this time all appointive by the county board of
school trustees. In 1849 the selection was given back to the taxpayers of each school district. One more law was enacted in 1860, this time in regard to the boundaries of school districts, some of which were outdated or not recorded in extant records.
The county trustees could appoint commissioners to survey old boundaries or lay out new school districts. 

After this lengthy explanation of the laws governing schools in Prince George's County, readers may be disappointed by the
Paucity of information found in the extant records.  The (School Proceedings) series contains minutes of meetings of the orphans court to consider school fund matters. 

The orphans court authorized disbursement of school funds through orders to pay trustees, teachers, and contractors building
schoolhouses or making repairs. The disbursement entries show the names of the payees, dates, amounts, and occasionally the purposes. Rules adopted in 1827 for distribution to teachers directed that only one child per family was eligible for education through the free school fund, unless there was an insufficient number of poor children from other families. The trustees had to approve the accounts of the teachers and contractors before the court issued payments to them. The first reports, few in number because not many schools were yet established, filed by the school trustees in 1827 are summarized in the 

The proceedings include copies of the annual reports to the General Assembly. The reports show income and disbursements by types and amounts. Until 1840 the orphans court appointed the school trustees and filled vacancies. The proceedings contain records of these appointments. The school records date beyond 1864 because the register of wills maintained entries concerning the transfer of funds to the Prince George's County Board of County School Commissioners. 

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