I have been to both the Maryland and Delaware Archives and find the folks in Delaware to be more helpful by far! (De., Archives is about an hour and a half from the Md., Archives). If you are going to come from very far to the Maryland Archives, the National Archives are only another 30 minute ride to in D.C...... I have also heard the Nabb Center in Salisbury, Maryland which is about 2 hours from the Maryland Archives, has records for all of Delmarva and is great with their records and their staff! So, if you are planning any kind of a trip to the Eastern Shore for research, within a 2 hour ride you can hit all 4 Archives if you so desire...!!! My people never left the Shore, so of course I love it here! Gwen -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Jeanne M. Bornefeld" <jeanneb@fwi.com> > Just as a side note - the Maryland Archives and the Maryland Historical > Society with all their manuscript collections and such is a mighty hard > act to follow for any state - I might be prejudiced, I don't know. What > I do know and would like to tell all who have people there - mine came > in the 1600's - is save your pennies and go there. They have marvelous > records and collections - of course work like crazy before you go. I was > blessed to have figured out my main line while I lived there. I still > could not prove it, until YDNA. Ahhh, what a wonderful tool. All my > "proven" males matched. Then I found a bunch of court records to > disprove accepted records - it was a big hill to climb. This was the > most difficult line I had done up to that time. > > Maryland records are treasures. There were so many really early people > who left and went hither and yon - like down through VA to TN after > 1768. There were many Marylanders who were very important in the > formation of the state of TN. Sequoyah comes from the Gist family. Many > Marylanders signed the Watauga Petition, considered to be the first > Declaration of Independence. The history of Marylanders goes very deep > in this country... Some were Puritans, Quakers, Catholics (Papists), > which begets their own records, separate from the state records - and > gosh, we didn't even have separation of church and state, yet! > > Jeanne > > Bob KNOTTS wrote: > > I went to the MD archives in 1999 and found my gg-grandparents m in the > > little notebook which I think the minister carried around. 1770!!! Bob K > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: > > To: > > Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 7:41 PM > > Subject: Re: [LDR] MD STATE ARCHIVES > > > > > > > >> Maryland did not keep birth or death records until 1898 (except for the > >> city > >> of Baltimore). As for marriages, mostly what still exists for earlier > >> times > >> are the county ledger books. The only information is the name of the > >> groom, > >> the name of the bride and the date of the license. It does not > >> necessarily > >> prove that a marriage actually took place, only that a license was > >> issued. > >> The website cannot possibly list what is on each roll of film, and you > >> would > >> naturally only copy (and pay for) something you actually want or need. > >> > >> Elizabeth > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion > >> blog, > >> plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. > >> (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014) > >> *************************************** > >> QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > >> Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > >> http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > >> ------------------------------- > >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > >> LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > *************************************** > > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > *************************************** > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

The return on your time investment at either of these places is very dependent on your preparation before arrival. The archives are mostly repositories of original materials and it really helps to know exactly what you are looking for so you are not wasting all your time ordering and waiting for the staff to retrieve materials that don't help. I think they both allow you to have three items (i.e. original documents, not microfilms) at a time - if you are looking at these, it is important to submit your next order slip as soon as you return an item, so that you are not sitting idly at the the table waiting for something to come back from the stacks. Depending on how far you have progressed in your research you may want to consider going to the the DAR Library, the Library of Congress, the Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore), the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) or the Historical Society of Delaware (Wilmington), and of course the Nabb center. All of these places have excellent collections of published county and family histories in which the work of previous researchers (of varying degrees of scholarship of course) have been collected and presented. It is amazing how far you can advance at the early stages of your research into particular lines by using these resources. I think they all have online catalogs, except for the Nabb Center, so you can prepare in advance to access specific items when you get there. You can also accomplish much just by browsing the shelves, which is what I usually get sucked into. If you have not done a thorough job of consulting previous research then you will probably just be treading over previously trod ground in your visits to the Archives. Your visits there should focus on validation of the published secondary and tertiary materials and retrieving new materials that haven't already been unearthed. Both the Maryland and Delaware Archives do have libraries with some collections of secondary materials, but that is not their forte. The historical societies are better at this. The Maryland Archives library is mostly in stacks not open to the public but portions of it are in the main public area, including the family histories section. John Polk Havre de Grace MD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gwen Hignutt-Wint" <grwint@comcast.net> To: <lower-delmarva-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 3:24 AM Subject: Re: [LDR] MD STATE ARCHIVES > I have been to both the Maryland and Delaware Archives and find the folks in Delaware > to be more helpful by far! (De., Archives is about an hour and a half from the Md., Archives). > If you are going to come from very far to the Maryland Archives, the National Archives are > only another 30 minute ride to in D.C...... > I have also heard the Nabb Center in Salisbury, Maryland which is about 2 hours from the > Maryland Archives, has records for all of Delmarva and is great with their records and their staff! > > So, if you are planning any kind of a trip to the Eastern Shore for research, within a 2 hour ride > you can hit all 4 Archives if you so desire...!!! > My people never left the Shore, so of course I love it here! > > Gwen > > -------------- Original message -------------- > From: "Jeanne M. Bornefeld" <jeanneb@fwi.com> > > > Just as a side note - the Maryland Archives and the Maryland Historical > > Society with all their manuscript collections and such is a mighty hard > > act to follow for any state - I might be prejudiced, I don't know. What > > I do know and would like to tell all who have people there - mine came > > in the 1600's - is save your pennies and go there. They have marvelous > > records and collections - of course work like crazy before you go. I was > > blessed to have figured out my main line while I lived there. I still > > could not prove it, until YDNA. Ahhh, what a wonderful tool. All my > > "proven" males matched. Then I found a bunch of court records to > > disprove accepted records - it was a big hill to climb. This was the > > most difficult line I had done up to that time. > > > > Maryland records are treasures. There were so many really early people > > who left and went hither and yon - like down through VA to TN after > > 1768. There were many Marylanders who were very important in the > > formation of the state of TN. Sequoyah comes from the Gist family. Many > > Marylanders signed the Watauga Petition, considered to be the first > > Declaration of Independence. The history of Marylanders goes very deep > > in this country... Some were Puritans, Quakers, Catholics (Papists), > > which begets their own records, separate from the state records - and > > gosh, we didn't even have separation of church and state, yet! > > > > Jeanne > > > > Bob KNOTTS wrote: > > > I went to the MD archives in 1999 and found my gg-grandparents m in the > > > little notebook which I think the minister carried around. 1770!!! Bob K > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: > > > To: > > > Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 7:41 PM > > > Subject: Re: [LDR] MD STATE ARCHIVES > > > > > > > > > > > >> Maryland did not keep birth or death records until 1898 (except for the > > >> city > > >> of Baltimore). As for marriages, mostly what still exists for earlier > > >> times > > >> are the county ledger books. The only information is the name of the > > >> groom, > > >> the name of the bride and the date of the license. It does not > > >> necessarily > > >> prove that a marriage actually took place, only that a license was > > >> issued. > > >> The website cannot possibly list what is on each roll of film, and you > > >> would > > >> naturally only copy (and pay for) something you actually want or need. > > >> > > >> Elizabeth > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion > > >> blog, > > >> plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. > > >> (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014) > > >> *************************************** > > >> QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > > >> Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > > >> http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > > >> ------------------------------- > > >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > >> LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > > >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > *************************************** > > > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > > > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > > > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > > > ------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > > > > > > *************************************** > > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > *************************************** > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

John Polk: You comment below that all of the named institutions have on line catalogs, except The Nabb. My search (good or bad) indicates that the DE Archives in Dover have some individual categories on line, such as their probate records, but no comprehensive catalog of their complete holdings. If I'm wrong about that, could you please send me the correct URL to access their catalog? When I go online to the DE Archives, I always start at http://archives.delaware.gov Thanks, Joe Lake > The return on your time investment at either of these places is very > dependent on your preparation before arrival. The archives are mostly > repositories of original materials and it really helps to know exactly what > you are looking for so you are not wasting all your time ordering and > waiting for the staff to retrieve materials that don't help. I think they > both allow you to have three items (i.e. original documents, not microfilms) > at a time - if you are looking at these, it is important to submit your next > order slip as soon as you return an item, so that you are not sitting idly > at the the table waiting for something to come back from the stacks. > > Depending on how far you have progressed in your research you may want to > consider going to the the DAR Library, the Library of Congress, the > Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore), the Historical Society of > Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) or the Historical Society of Delaware > (Wilmington), and of course the Nabb center. All of these places have > excellent collections of published county and family histories in which the > work of previous researchers (of varying degrees of scholarship of course) > have been collected and presented. It is amazing how far you can advance at > the early stages of your research into particular lines by using these > resources. I think they all have online catalogs, except for the Nabb > Center, so you can prepare in advance to access specific items when you get > there. You can also accomplish much just by browsing the shelves, which is > what I usually get sucked into. If you have not done a thorough job of > consulting previous research then you will probably just be treading over > previously trod ground in your visits to the Archives. Your visits there > should focus on validation of the published secondary and tertiary materials > and retrieving new materials that haven't already been unearthed. > > Both the Maryland and Delaware Archives do have libraries with some > collections of secondary materials, but that is not their forte. The > historical societies are better at this. The Maryland Archives library is > mostly in stacks not open to the public but portions of it are in the main > public area, including the family histories section. > > John Polk > Havre de Grace MD

Nabb research center in Salisbury MD is a wonderful place for information on the E. Shore. If you are not a member, there is a $ 5.00 fee to use the library. It is well worth it. Many records on microfilm and go back to early 1700s. This is my favorite library. I live in CA. and have been there 3 times. Don't pass it up if you are anywhere near it. Verna Willliams ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gwen Hignutt-Wint" <grwint@comcast.net> To: <lower-delmarva-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 12:24 AM Subject: Re: [LDR] MD STATE ARCHIVES >I have been to both the Maryland and Delaware Archives and find the folks >in Delaware > to be more helpful by far! (De., Archives is about an hour and a half from > the Md., Archives). > If you are going to come from very far to the Maryland Archives, the > National Archives are > only another 30 minute ride to in D.C...... > I have also heard the Nabb Center in Salisbury, Maryland which is about 2 > hours from the > Maryland Archives, has records for all of Delmarva and is great with their > records and their staff! > > So, if you are planning any kind of a trip to the Eastern Shore for > research, within a 2 hour ride > you can hit all 4 Archives if you so desire...!!! > My people never left the Shore, so of course I love it here! > > Gwen > > -------------- Original message -------------- > From: "Jeanne M. Bornefeld" <jeanneb@fwi.com> > >> Just as a side note - the Maryland Archives and the Maryland Historical >> Society with all their manuscript collections and such is a mighty hard >> act to follow for any state - I might be prejudiced, I don't know. What >> I do know and would like to tell all who have people there - mine came >> in the 1600's - is save your pennies and go there. They have marvelous >> records and collections - of course work like crazy before you go. I was >> blessed to have figured out my main line while I lived there. I still >> could not prove it, until YDNA. Ahhh, what a wonderful tool. All my >> "proven" males matched. Then I found a bunch of court records to >> disprove accepted records - it was a big hill to climb. This was the >> most difficult line I had done up to that time. >> >> Maryland records are treasures. There were so many really early people >> who left and went hither and yon - like down through VA to TN after >> 1768. There were many Marylanders who were very important in the >> formation of the state of TN. Sequoyah comes from the Gist family. Many >> Marylanders signed the Watauga Petition, considered to be the first >> Declaration of Independence. The history of Marylanders goes very deep >> in this country... Some were Puritans, Quakers, Catholics (Papists), >> which begets their own records, separate from the state records - and >> gosh, we didn't even have separation of church and state, yet! >> >> Jeanne >> >> Bob KNOTTS wrote: >> > I went to the MD archives in 1999 and found my gg-grandparents m in the >> > little notebook which I think the minister carried around. 1770!!! Bob >> > K >> > ----- Original Message ----- >> > From: >> > To: >> > Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 7:41 PM >> > Subject: Re: [LDR] MD STATE ARCHIVES >> > >> > >> > >> >> Maryland did not keep birth or death records until 1898 (except for >> >> the >> >> city >> >> of Baltimore). As for marriages, mostly what still exists for earlier >> >> times >> >> are the county ledger books. The only information is the name of the >> >> groom, >> >> the name of the bride and the date of the license. It does not >> >> necessarily >> >> prove that a marriage actually took place, only that a license was >> >> issued. >> >> The website cannot possibly list what is on each roll of film, and you >> >> would >> >> naturally only copy (and pay for) something you actually want or need. >> >> >> >> Elizabeth >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion >> >> blog, >> >> plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. >> >> (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014) >> >> *************************************** >> >> QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? >> >> Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: >> >> http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm >> >> ------------------------------- >> >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> >> LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> > >> > *************************************** >> > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? >> > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: >> > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm >> > ------------------------------- >> > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > >> > >> > >> >> *************************************** >> QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? >> Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: >> http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > *************************************** > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message