Washington County, Maryland Genealogical Records Information

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Washington County History and Information

Washington County Facts

Washington County was created in 1776 and was formed from Frederick County. The County was named for George Washington (1732-1799), commander of the Continental forces during the Revolutionary War, and first president of the United States. The County Seat is Hagerstown. No records were lost in a courthouse fire in 1871. See bottom of "Records at the Washington County Courthouse " Section for more info.

Washington County, located in western Maryland, Appropriately enough, it was Washington County that produced the first monument to George Washington, erected on July 4, 1827 outside of Boonesboro and completed in one day by the townspeople. During the Gettysburg campaigns the monument, which had almost fallen to pieces, was patched with logs and used as a Union signal station. In 1934, ten acres of land, including the monument, were deeded to the State of Maryland, and additional land was subsequently acquired for a state park. A copy of the earlier monument was built of local stone by the Civilian Conservation Corps and rededicated on July 4, 1936.

Hagerstown, the county seat, lies in the fertile valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the intersection of two important truck routes, I-81 and I-70. These roads follow respectively the historic north-south pathway through the Cumberland and Shenandoah valleys and the old National Pike, over which pioneers for decades traveled to settle in the country beyond the Appalachians.

The county's rich heritage is a delight for history buffs. Here visitors can roam the Antietam National Battlefield, the site of the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War; Fort Frederick, erected in 1756 for defense against the French and Indians; or the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, stretching from Georgetown to Cumberland. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Washington County are Fulton County, Pennsylvania (northwest), Allegany County (west), Morgan County, West Virginia (southwest), Berkeley County, West Virginia (south), Jefferson County, West Virginia (south), Loudoun County, Virginia (southeast), Frederick County (east), Franklin County, Pennsylvania (northeast).

Washington County Cities Include Hagerstown. Towns Include Boonsboro, Clear Spring, Funkstown, Hancock, Keedysville, Sharpsburg, Smithsburg, Williamsport. Communities Include Fairplay, Van Lear. (Unincorporated areas are also considered as towns by many people and listed in many collections of towns, but they lack local government.)

Various organizations, such as the United States Census Bureau, the United States Postal Service, and local chambers of commerce, define the communities they wish to recognize differently, and since they are not incorporated, their boundaries have no official status outside the organizations in question. The Census Bureau recognizes the following census-designated places in the county: Cavetown, Chewsville, Fort Ritchie, Fountainhead-Orchard Hills, Halfway, Highfield-Cascade, Leitersburg, Maugansville, Mount Aetna, Mount Lena, Paramount-Long Meadow, Robinwood, Rohrersville, St. James, San Mar, Wilson-Conococheague

The Washington County Official Government Website
Washington County, Maryland History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Records at the Washington County Courthouse

See Also Maryland Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. Some records were lost in a courthouse fire in 1871.

Government records of Washington County are available in Original , Microfilm and Digital formats from the Maryland State Archives The Official County website is located at http://www.washco-md.net/. See also Courthouse History. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Washington County Register of Wills/ Clerk of Orphan's Court has Probate Records from 1777 and is located at 95 W. Washington Street, Hagerstown 21740; (301) 739-3612
The Register of Wills is responsible for appointing personal representatives to administer decedents estates and for overseeing the proper and timely administration of these proceedings. We also perform the following duties: assist and advise the public in the preparation of all required forms; maintain and preserve the permanent record of all proceedings; serve as the Clerk to the Orphans Court; track estates and refer delinquent matters to the Court; determine and collect inheritance taxes and probate fees/court costs; audit accounts of personal representatives and guardians; and, verify compliance with court orders.

Washington County Circuit Court Clerk has Land Records from 1777 and Marriage Records from earliest to 1919 and is located at 95 W. Washington Street, Hagerstown 21740; Mailing Address: P.O. Box 229, Hagerstown, MD 21741; 301-733-8660
The Clerk's responsibilities include supervising Clerk's office personnel in the civil, criminal, courtroom clerks, business license, marriage license, land records, and juvenile units.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include: Maryland Calendar of Wills, Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850 and Maryland Marriages, 1667-1899.

Click Here to Search Maryland Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

COURTHOUSE FIRE: From "The Herald and Torch Light," the weekly Hagerstown newspaper, of December 13, 1871, we read, "The records in the several offices [of the courthouse] were removed, except some papers in the Clerk's Office vault, which were somewhat scorched, but not rendered illegible. The Safe in the County Commissioners Room, which contained many valuable papers, was not removed, and was subjected to the firery [sic] ordeal, but when opened several days afterwards, the papers and books were found in good condition, the covers of the latter being only slightly scorched. Other books and papers of the Commissioners were rescued by Henry W. Lyday, Esq., on of the Commissioners, and E.W. Funk, Esq., late Clerk."

The only court records not now extant are:

Marriage licenses 1776-1860 (although the index remains which lists the bride, groom, date, and minister)
Court dockets for 1780-1792

It is not known when, or how, these two sets of records were lost, but it was not in the courthouse fire.

Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Washington County, Maryland Court Books at Amazon.com
Maryland Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.

Washington County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Available at the Maryland State Archives with index is a Maryland tax assessment of 1783, which is “more complete” than the 1776 or 1778 “censuses”. Robert W. Barnes and Bettie Stirling Carothers abstracted the 1783 tax list of Baltimore County, Maryland but while it has some omissions, it serves as an index to photocopies of the originals published as Maryland Tax List 1783 Baltimore County from the collection of the Maryland Historical Society (Philadelphia: Historic Publications, 1970). The counties of Calvert, Cecil, Harford, and Talbot are covered by Bettie Carothers, comp., 1783 Tax List of Maryland (Part I: Cecil, Talbot, Harford, and Calvert Counties) (Lutherville, Md.: Pub. by compiler, 1977). Furthermore, there is a two part index to the 1783 list at the state archives, one by names of property owners, the other by names of the tracts.

The earliest tax records are to be found among the proprietary papers, dating from the 1630s. Some early tax records have been published, such as Raymond B. Clark, Jr., and Sara Seth Clark, comps., Baltimore County, Maryland, tax list, 1699-1706. At the Maryland State Archives is a tax list for St. Anne's Parish, Anne Arundel County, 1764-66. Also here are the surviving 1798 U.S. direct tax records, for Anne Arundel County (indexed), Baltimore County and City, and the counties of Caroline, Charles, Harford, Prince George's, Queen Anne's, Saint Mary's, Somerset, and Talbot. Richard J. Cox edited Name Index to the Baltimore City Tax Records: 1798-1808 Of the Baltimore City Archives, (Baltimore: Baltimore City Archives and Records Management Office, 1981).

Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Washington County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Maryland Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Washington County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Washington County Historical Society, P. O. Box 1281, Miller House, 135 West Washington St., Hagerstown, MD 21741 - 1281, (301) 797-8782
Local Maryland Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
Maryland State Archives, 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, MD 21401
Maryland Genealogical Society, 201 W. Monument Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-4674.
Publishes the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin Quarterly.
The Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument Street, Baltimore MD 21201-4674
Has published a quarterly magazine Maryland Historical Magazinefor over 90 years
Maryland Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Maryland Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Washington County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Maryland Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Washington County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Washington County Tombstone Transcription Project.

A search for church records should begin with Directory of Maryland church records (Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1987), arranged by county and giving a range of dates of available records for over 2,600 churches with mailing addresses. Also helpful are The First Parishes of the Province of Maryland (Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Co., 1923).

The largest collection of church records is at the Maryland State Archives, with a consolidated index, and many are at the Maryland State Archives, which has various original and microfilmed records, many with indexes. Some church records have been published in the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin or in individual books, such as those for St. Paul's in Baltimore and for many German churches in the western counties.

Although Catholicism is very important to the history of Maryland, the disenfranchisement of Catholics after the establishment of the Anglican church in 1692 largely contributed to the lack of record keeping prior to the Revolutionary War. One source for St. Marys County in the 1700s, however, is Catholic Families of Southern Maryland: Records of Catholic Residents of St. Mary's County in the Eighteenth Century (1980; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1985). Records of the German churches and the Society of Friends are very good. The latter were early settlers of Maryland, along with Anglicans and Catholics. Quaker records in Maryland, (Annapolis: Hall of Records Commission, 1966) is an excellent guide to the original and microfilmed Friends' records at the Maryland State Archives. Some Quaker records were published in Kenneth Carroll, Quakerism on the Eastern Shore (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1970) and other records are at the Maryland Historical Society, the state archives, and the Friends Historical Library in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

The Maryland State Archives has indexes to cemetery records for various time periods. Some have been published in the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin and other journals and in individual works covering large parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, St. Marys, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties. A great number of grave marker inscriptions have been transcribed by members of the Maryland DAR and will be found at the Maryland Historical Society and the DAR Library in Washington, D.C. See also Historic graves of Maryland and the District of Columbia (1908; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967).

Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Maryland Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Washington County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Washington County ] [ Maryland ] [ Main Page ]
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Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Washington County, Maryland Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Courthouse History
The first courthouse was constructed soon after Hagerstown was chosen as the county seat. The town market was held in the first floor while the second floor was used as a courtroom and for miscellaneous government functions.

DEDICATION
“…Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” Zechariah 8:16
This book is proudly dedicated to the officers and employees, past and present, of the Washington County Court Houses whose combined efforts and deeds in their offices have made possible the events that have transpired within the walls of the three edifices during its first two centuries.

Historians have concluded that the original 18th century courthouse stood near the center of what is presently referred to as the 'Square'; a location that was the center of most activities in the community. Here, the two main arteries of travel crossed. All wagons and travelers going Westward passed through the square and by the courthouse. As traffic increased, the old structure made vehicular circulation difficult.

The town market was held in the open arcaded lower level of the courthouse. This further complicated congestion in the already busy and crowded square.

Elizabethtown was growing, the site of the courthouse was impeding progress; a new location would have to be selected. Scharf describes the first courthouse as follows:

"The courtroom was on the second floor, and was reached by a flight of steps on the outside. For a time all elections were held in this room, the voting being viva voce. The elections lasted several days, and were conducted in a very primitive manner. All the candidates sat in a row behind the sheriff, who took the votes. As each elector approached the candidates would take off their hats, bow politely, and solicit his vote. When the contest was very spirited there were of course, some animated scenes, and not infrequently disturbances took place. The windows on one side of the courthouse were protected with wire from random balls, there being a public alley for ball playing on that side of the building. The lower story was open and was used as a market house."

"It seems that the steeple of the old market was surmounted by a little old man of tin, with a rotund abdomen, who was popularly known as 'Old Heiskel,' doubtless from his resemblance real or fancied, to some well-known resident of the town.'

It is interesting to note architectural similarity between the On July 14, 1807, many citizens of Western Maryland met at the Washington County Court House to express their sentiments "upon the dastardly outrages committed by the British Squadron stationed on our coasts, on the flag and the citizens of the United States."

Several strong resolutions were adopted at the meeting, and copies were sent to the President of the United States and to the Governor of Maryland. Facsimiles of the resolutions were also to be printed in the Hagerstown newspaper.

first Washington County Courthouse and some of the medieval townhalls still standing in small towns along the Rhine River in Germany. Many of the early inhabitants and settlers of Washington County were of German descent; so it is understandable that this parallel of architectural expression would have existed.

The following activities suggest that the courthouse square must have been an important gathering place
familiar to all of the citizenry of the county. In 1794 the following Battalion orders were issued:

"The Captains of the companies composing my Battalion, in the Twenty-fourth Regiment of militia of this state, will meet on the parade at the courthouse, on Thursday, the 30th, to
march to Cannon Hill for exercise."
Signed Adam Ott, Major Twenty-fourth Regiment
M.M Washington County, October 28th.

With France and England at war, foreign relations were very unstable at this time. There were feelings of unrest, and preparations were in progress to protect the young nation from the repeated affronts of England and France on the high seas.

When Madison was inaugurated on March 4, 1809, a large number of citizens assembled at the court house in the square to celebrate the occasion.

By 1808, county offices had outgrown the limited space in the court house. The General Assembly passed an Act in December of 1808 authorizing the Justices of the Levy Court to levy a sufficient sum each year to pay the rental for additional space. They also authorized that an additional $160 be collected to pay the past due rent. The offices moved to the rented space were those of the Orphan's Court and the Register of Wills,

At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, Washington County was experiencing population growth. This influx of people necessitated expansion of the facilities housing the courts and county offices. It was soon evident that a new court house would have to be built if the needs of the county were to be met adequately.

Delegates to the First Maryland Constitutional Convention met in Annapolis in 1774-1776. Assuming executive as well as legislative duties, they were pressed to take action to separate the large area which was called Frederick County into several smaller counties. New boundaries were established and the counties of Washington and Montgomery were formed.

On September 6, 1776, the Convention appointed a Commission in Washington County to purchase up to four acres of land for "public buildings" to be located according to the will of the inhabitants of the new county. Funding for the new public buildings, up to "thirteen hundred pounds of common money," was to be provided through annual levies. With this money, the commissioners were authorized to contract for the construction of the new court house and supporting facilities.

An Act passed by the General Assembly on January 15, 1785, granted the Justices of Washington County the authority to levy an additional one thousand pounds to complete the court house and jail. This indicates that new public buildings could not have been completed prior to 1786.

drawing of courthouse circa 1785 The only pictorial record of the first courthouse known to exist, is a watercolor painted in 1806. The painting indicates that the 18th century structure originally stood in the 'Square', the exact location is unknown. While workmen were digging in the Public Square on Tuesday, January 29, 1974, they found what appeared to be the foundation of the first Hagerstown Courthouse and marketplace.

At the beginning of the 19th Century, the old courthouse stood in a state of disrepair. An underground spring often left the area around and under the courthouse muddy. The citizenry were also concerned about the safety of the public records that were stored in the old building. The structure was sited in such a way that it impeded the increasing wagon traffic that passed through the village square. In 1815, plans were formulated to provide funds for the
erection of a new court house.

"At a regular session of the General Assembly of the state of Maryland, held in Annapolis during the winter of 1815-16, an Act was passed and approved authorizing the inhabitants of Washington County to levy a tax and erect a new court house. This was done in accordance with the wishes of a majority of the tax-paying citizens, who in their petition represented: 'that the existing court house of said county is in a state of ruinous decay, and the public records deposited therein are considerably endangered; that it is too contracted in its plan to accommodate a court and its officers; and that, standing in the Public Square, directly on the intersection of the two principal streets, it greatly injures the appearance of Hagerstown'."

The chief provisions of the act were:

'Sec. 2. Therefore be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, that John Blackford, Samuel Ringgold, William Gabby, John Bowles, and Thomas C. Brant be and are hereby appointed commissioners to select and purchase such lot or lots of ground within the limits of Hagerstown, or the additions to said town, as in their judgement they or a majority of them shall consider the most eligible and proper site for a new court-house for the county aforesaid.'
'Sec. 3. And be it enacted, that the commissioners herein before named, or a majority of them, be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to contract for and superintend the building of a new court-house, with suitable apartments for the court and juries, clerk's, sheriff's and register's offices, and fire proof places of deposit for the public records, on the site as above by them to be selected and purchased, upon such terms and in such manner as to them shall seem most advantageous to the community.'
'Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That the commissioners herebefore narned, or a majority of them, shall have the power to appoint some capable person to superintend and direct the erection of the building aforesaid, and that they be and are hereby empowered to allow such person so employed such compensation as they or a majority of them may deem adequate to his services.'
'Sec. 5. And be it enacted, That the Levy Court of Washington County be and they are hereby authorized and required to assess and levy upon the assessable property of said county, in five successive, equal annual installments, a sum not exceeding thirty thousand dollars, the first
installment to be assessed by the said court at the second annual session which after the passage of this act, they shall hold for the purposes of laying the county levy, and to be collected by the sheriff of said county.'
'Sec. 9. And be it enacted, That when the said court-house shall be completed and finished, the said commissioners or a majority of them may pull down the old court-house and sell the materials of the same, the proceeds of which may be applied to discharge any debt contracted for the building of the new court-house, over and beyond the sum hereinbefore mentioned.'
'Sec. 11. And be it enacted, That the public ground on which the court-house now stands shalI be condemned as a public street of Hagerstown, not to be built upon or used but as one of the streets of the said town.'

At the time that he was appointed to serve on the commission to build a new court house, Samuel Ringgold was also serving as a Congressman in Washington, the nation's capital.

It was during his term as a Congressman, that Ringgold met Benjamin Latrobe. Latrobe took over as Surveyor of Public Building in Washington in 1803. Latrobe's design for the President's House had just been completed and the interiors were yet unfinished, when the British burned Washington in 1814. Ringgold was probably impressed by the expertise of the man directing the design and construction taking place in the young nation's capital. Associations with Latrobe in Washington probably influenced General Ringgold in his decision to seek professional advice when he was appointed one of the commissioners responsible for the implementation of the new court house for Washington County.

The fact that Benjamin Latrobe was employed to provide architectural drawings for the Washington County court house is documented in the following letter from Latrobe to Ringgold. The original letter is in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society.

The character of Latrobe's drawings are indicative of a highly trained and skillful hand. Thomas Harbaugh, a builder, was hired as the contractor for the new building, at salary of $1200.00 per year.

Construction of the new Courthouse began in 1818 and continued until its completion in 1822. The actual cost of construction was much greater than was originally anticipated. Thomas Harbaugh gives a figure of $52,512.00 in his journal, so that it might be assumed that this figure is fairly accurate. After comparing Latrobe's letter of March 10, 1817, with Thomas Harbaugh's Journal, several significant differences come to light. Latrobe speaks of the Jury Rooms being on ground floor and further explains that they will be 'perfectly private as they open from the Court Room and have two doors towards the Court Room, both of which may be shut.' According the the builder's records, these rooms were not located in the manner described by Latrobe The working relationship between the architect and the client was such, that after the client had reviewed the functional aspects of the plan, changes may have been suggested and incorporated into the final plan. It is possible that the commissioners requested Latrobe to alter the floor plan Or, perhaps they instructed Harbaugh to make the necessary alterations during construction, as Latrobe did not personally supervise construction.

In his detailed accounts of materials and the spaces plastered, Harbaugh refers to the 'Large rooms over the Offices and the Small rooms over the Vaults,' indicating that the Jury Rooms were actually place