Researchers looking for marriage records in early Maryland can rely on church records (or Quaker meetings), a few lists of special licenses, such as Leeds' List, and beginning in 1777, the marriage licenses issued by the clerks of the various county courts.

Unfortunately, some church records have not survived. The records of Mt. Paran Presbyterian Church and Sater's Baptist Church in Baltimore County, St. Paul's Parish in Prince George's County, and St. Mary's White Chapel Parish in Dorchester County, are but a few of the parishes whose records have not survived.

Fortunately, clues to marriages can be found in land, court, and probate records. Researchers at the Archives have long been familiar with Hodge's Marriage References, and more recently, "Index 99," which contains other marriage references.

 A word of caution!: Some of these references were abstracted from Hodges' Marriage References at the Maryland State Archives. Margaret Roberts Hodges did not always identify her  sources by the designation as they are catalogued today, and terms such as "Liber 6," "P.C.," and "Judgments" must be used with care. These questionable sources are indicated by the phrase "Hodges cites ... ."

Beginning in July 1998, marriages found in diaries, Bible records, and the private marriage registers of ministers will be added. Examples of marriages from diaries include the diary of William Faris, Annapolis watchmaker, published in the Maryland Historical Magazine. Marriages from the marriage register of Rev. David Love, of All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel County, found in England by Peter Wilson Coldham, and published in the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin (Fall 1997), 38 (4) 483-488, in a different format are also being added.

Now these marriage references are being placed on a web site so that they will be more accessible. Three things should be noted:

1) This is an ongoing project, and will be updated with new material from time to time (Hodges' Marriage References is far from complete).
2) A date given here is not the date on which the marriage occurred, but the date by which the marriage had taken place.
3) Having found a reference, the careful researcher will want to check the original record.

Additions, corrections, comments, and questions may be sent to the compiler at:

 Maryland State Archives
350 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, MD 21401

NB: Some of the abbreviations in these marriage references are obscure, but will be defined more exactly as the project continues. These include:
Annapolis Record EE
Bonds 105
Liber 1, Part F
J:54
PG Liber 31

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