The main genealogy collection for the Worcester County Library resides in the Worcester Room in the Snow Hill Branch. The Worcester Room has an extensive collection of Genealogy resources.
The Worcester Room's focus is the Genealogy and Local History of Worcester County, Maryland. However, our collection also contains many resources from our neighbor counties: Somerset, Wicomico, Accomack (VA), and Sussex (DE), as well as other holdings from throughout Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. The Worcester Room is open during our regular branch hours.
The Worcester Room collection contains books, maps, microfilm, tree charts and file folders, and other research sources.
Books:
We have census records, will books, land records, and more as physical documents. Also included in a physical book form are family histories. The benefit of these materials over an online database is that they have been compiled in a format easier for researchers. To search with books we have in our collection, you can visit our online catalog here.
Magazines:
We have several Genealogical magazines in our collection that can be viewed in the Worcester Room at the Snow Hill Branch. We also have several magazines based on Maryland history. For a list of magazines in our collection, click here.
Maps:
We have many maps of Worcester County, MD. Most of the maps in our collection date to the 1900s. However, we do have some older maps that show land parcels. A finding guide for the maps in the Worcester Room can be viewed here.
Digitized Microfilm:
All of our microfilm has been digitized and can be accessed HERE
Newspaper on Microfilm:
-Snow Hill Messenger October 1830-March 1834*
-Snow Hill Democrat Messenger 1882-1973*
-Village Herald (Princess Anne) 1828, 1830-31, 1835-1837*
-Worcester County Shield 1846-1858, 1861-1863, 1866-1867, 1880-1888*
*Some years are missing and many years are incomplete. For details on specific dates, email History@worcesterlibrary.org
This collection on microfilm also contains individual issues of the following Shore newspapers 1890- 1971 from 1 to 3 editions only for each:
-Berlin Advance
-The Eastern Shoreman
-The Ledger Enterprise
-The Peninsula Ledger
-The Peninsula Press
-The People
-The Press
-Worcester Advocate
Other Microfilm:
-Marriage Licenses Issued by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Worcester County Maryland, 14 April 1795–01 July 1865
-Worcester County Mortality Schedules 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880
-Worcester County Census 1810-1920 (including some census records for Somerset Co., St. Mary’s Co., & Talbot Co. Maryland)
-1890 Census of the Union Veterans & Widows of the Union Veterans – for Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico & Worcester Cos.
-Worcester County Wills 1665-1851
-Worcester County Administrative Bonds 1667-1743 indexed, and 1742-1753 un-indexed
-Worcester County Guardian Accounts 1787-1796, 1824-1854
-Worcester County Court Docket 1799-1845
-Worcester County Estate Inventories 1688-1790
-Worcester County Orphans Court records 1777-1802
-Worcester County Estate Administration Accounts 1687-1719
Note: Many of these records are not the originals: they are abstracts and indexes. Records shown for years prior to the creation of Worcester County in 1742 were abstracted from Somerset County records.
Family Folders and Charts
View the family folders in our collections HERE
Other Resources:
-A collection of research notes on all wills in Worcester County, Md based on family members from the 1700s - mid 1800s. Those can be viewed online here.
-A collection of research notes on houses in Worcester County, Md used to write the book Along the Seaboard Side by Paul Touart.
-The William D. Pitts collection which contains 19,780 items of land survey records relating to Worcester County and lands just beyond the County's borders. Materials date from 1677 to 1982.
The main Local History and Genealogy collection is located at the Snow Hill Branch, named the Worcester Room. This guide covers mainly the collection in the Worcester Room. However, the other four branches also have a Local History and Genealogy collection, located in Maryland Rooms. Included below are some unique features located in the Maryland Rooms.
Berlin Maryland Room:
- Emily A. Powell Diary: The Emily Ann Powell Warrington Annotated Diary consists of handwritten pages in three separate volumes containing newspaper and magazine clippings, letters, and photographs that tell of her early life. Emily was a very popular young woman, and her "journal" gives insight into the life and culture of her home town of Berlin, Maryland from just before the Civil War to 1878.
Other resources relating to Worcester County, Md.
There are several organizations either in Maryland or nationally that may contain information relevant to your genealogical search.
Genealogists and Researchers
Association of Professional Genealogists
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness
Organizations
It can be useful to use different charts or forms to keep track of your research notes. Several Archives or Genealogical organizations have forms available for public use, which are listed below.