Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva's Black History

Source Information

Abstracts From the Land Records of Caroline County, Maryland

Land Records • 1,829 Records • Uploaded November 27, 2023

Caroline County was formed in June 1773 out of the parent counties of Dorchester and Queen Anne’s, Maryland; it borders Sussex County, Delaware. These land records were abstracted from the series of books entitled Caroline County Maryland Land Records abstracted and compiled by R. Bernice Leonard and Helen E. Seymour. These volumes cover the time period from 1774 – 1866 and the original record books A -Z (there is no J), AA – CC and RJ 29-RJ 30. Types of information found in this source include: manumissions of enslaved persons; sales of enslaved persons; enslaved persons used as collateral for mortgages; property purchases or sales by free negroes; and other land transactions specifying the location of property, using property of negroes as a reference point. (note that "cons." in abstract means "in consideration")

The original records can be found online at the Maryland State Archives at https://mdlandrec.net/. This is free to use; the researcher only needs to sign up for an account. Then select the county in which you are interested, input the Book name and the page number. Ex:. Caroline - A, page #, then select the Court (Land Records) link on the right that indicates the MSA collection number for that time period.

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Fields Included

The list below shows the data fields included in this source. If a field is marked as Indexed, it is searchable.

  • County
  • Land Record Book and Date Range
  • Page Number
  • Document Dates
  • Abstract Indexed
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