Visiting the Maryland Archives by Pat Doster
First-time visits to state archives for ancestral research can be stressful. It usually takes a second or third visit to be comfortable with the rules and index system. Working the system to your advantage is the goal of any visit. If you are a first-time visitor, perhaps the following will be of some help.
While surfing the Net, locate the web site
for the Maryland Archives and give it a thorough reading.
Familiarize yourself with the days & hours of operation, and the rules
for using research facilities. Don't plan to take a
brief case or satchel into the main reading room. You may take a notebook, pencil, and a
lap-top computer.
Maryland State Archives, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, Md.
Telephone: 800-235-4045
Closed Mon., Open T-F 8-4:30 & Sat. 8:30-12 noon & 1-4:30 p.m.
Web address: http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/
Email: archives@mdarchives.state.md.us
Scroll to topics:
Visitors Center, click "Directions to the Archives," Reference & Research, Research at Archives, click "Getting Started Check List"
On entering the building, sign a guest sheet in the lobby to receive a key chain and desk number. On the chain is your locker key for locker room located on your right as you enter building. Lockers & restrooms are together. Hang your coat and brief case in the locker. Glance at number on the chain which is the number of your "desk" inside the main reading room.
Before you leave the sign-in desk, ask for a plastic money card to feed the microfilm readers to copy important documents. I begin with a $10 card. At 50 cents per copy, I am always surprised how quickly I use up the card! Don't worry, you can return as many times as you wish to reactivate the card. Remember to use all the money on the card at the end of the visit, and return the card to the sign-in desk along with the key chain.
As you enter the main reading room, on your right will be the microfilm room with its Blue Notebooks containing index numbers for county records, i.e. deeds, probate records, etc. Before you do anything else, go through the door into the microfilm room and on your immediate right you'll find a small table for signing up for a film-reader. Put your name on a list. To your right is a door leading to a darkened room with microfilm readers, some of which are broken. Just outside the microfilm room are other readers, so if the ones in the "dark room" are being used, saunter outside and lay possessions on the machine desk so it looks like they are being used.
Return to the main reading room and find your desk. Place your remaining notebooks or computer on the desk, and return to the microfilm room with a notebook and pencil. Search the Blue Notebooks for the county you want to research. Take a few minutes to acquaint yourself with the "index system." You may want to purchase for future visits "Guide to Government Records at the Maryland State Archives" on sale in the lobby or from a genealogy publishing company like Family Line Publishers. I offer the Guide to those who like to plan ahead.
Microfilm indexing in the Blue Notebooks are by county and type of record. Write down the film numbers you want to review. Go over to the standing metal files and match the microfilm numbers with the drawer numbers. Then, pull out the drawer and begin hunting. If you don't see what you want, look around for a "volunteer." In fact, first-time researchers, find the volunteer and ask him/her to help you immediately! Don't be shy! You will waste valuable time, and be very frustrated if you don't ask for help! The volunteers will go immediately to the right file and point to the right microfilm you've been hunting for the past 10 minutes. So a word to the wise: ask someone for help. This is easier if you are female. <grin>
Thread the microfilm on the reader and pump the handle. Manual readers, like the ones in the LDS Family History Centers, haven't been replaced by electronic fast-forward buttons. Oh, well, I don't pay taxes in MD, so I can't complain. To hasten the process, it is wise to go to the Archives with a list of names & dates for records you want to research. To make the advance list, consult abstracts.
Abstracts is not a dirty word in a genealogist's vocabulary. It is user-friendly! The county historians who spend their lives making will or land record abstracts are the saints of the genealogy book industry! Consult them, write down on an archival visit list the Liber [book] and folio [page] you wish to view, either in the original or on microfilm. Naturally, microfilm is faster, but originals are more fun.
Why do you want to read the original? Because you are compiling a complete family history. You may be stuck in the 18th, or even 17th Century, and reading the original is a "hunt for small clues" which may unravel a mystery. Either make a copy of the original on microfilm, or if you believe viewing the original would be more rewarding, go back to the main reading room.
Along the left-hand side of the main reading room are tables with county indexes by surname. Consult these indexes for the earliest colonial records. There is a separate index for patents and land grants. Write down the document's location in the Archive stacks. If you see "box" and "folio" then you know you will view an original record. I've had the thrill of locating two documents, one a Maddox will and one a Dawson inventory, which have signet-ring crest stamped into a melted wax seal. You have the option of asking the Archives to photograph the original for $10 for up to 20 pages. That may seem exorbitant, but just think how much fun it will be to frame this important genealogy document. If you have an "Ancestor Wall" in your home or office, a framed document lends credence to your family history.
If you have other suggestions, would you email Pat. We'd like to hear about your archival visits and some tips from you. Meanwhile, don't forget to plan that family vacation around a courthouse or library visit. Annapolis is a fun place! Don't spend all your time in the library, get out and scout around the country-side to find ancestral land. Take a camera along to make pix of cemetery head stones, villages, and manor houses of your ancestors. Several good genealogy libraries exist on the E-shore. Try Salisbury State University and any of the county seat public libraries. Talk to librarians and ask if they recognize your surname. It is more fun to stay at local B&Bs because hosts know the county and can call your long lost cousins and tell them you are in town!