The state of Maryland has more than one nickname. One of the nicknames is “The Free State”. Are you searching for information about your ancestors who lived in Maryland? If so, then there are several online genealogy resources that can help you to do that. Many of them are free to use!
Ancestry.com has a page with links to all of its Maryland genealogy resources. To access the majority of these collections of records, you must have an Ancestry.com membership. Some collections are being offered for free right now. Return to this resource often. Ancestry.com makes it clear when a collection has been added, updated, or is being offered for free.
Internment.net has cemetery records online. You can start by putting your ancestor’s name into the search engine at the top of their website. Or, you can click one of the many links for counties in Maryland. If there is a link, that means that Internment.net has some information from cemeteries that are located in that county. Not all counties have links.
FamilySearch has a Wiki page that has lots of information about the state of Maryland. There are links to FamilySearch Wiki pages for each and every county in Maryland. Scroll down, and you will find links to several of the major repositories of records in Maryland. You can also find links to other FamilySearch Wiki pages that describe online collections of records for Maryland.
GeneaLinks is another good genealogy resource to use. To get started, put your ancestor’s name into the search engine at the top of their website. Select the record type you want to search through. Choose from: vital, birth, death, marriage, divorce, or “Genealogy”. GeneaLinks also has helpful information for genealogists who are new to Maryland genealogy. Did you know that copies of birth records are kept confidential for 100 years?
Cyndi’s List is the biggest collection of links to online genealogy resources. If something exists online, Cyndi’s List probably has a link to it. They have a page called “United States – Maryland”. Start by selecting a category to search through. Some categories include: “Birth, Marriage, Death”, “Census”, “Counties”, “Military”, “Newspapers”, and more!
The Maryland Genealogical Society has been around since 1959. Members can log in and access all the benefits of membership. There is information on their website about how to become a member. You can access a helpful guide to Maryland genealogy research from their website.
Image by Lee Cannon on Flickr