Finding Dates of Birth and DeathFinding Dates of Birth and Death
Vital Records
For instructions for locating vital records at the Maryland State Archives, please see Finding Modern Birth & Death Records.
Census Records
Try to locate your ancestor in all the available censuses. Check to see available census records.
Other Records
Once you have the latest census in which he/she is found, try to find records that might provide a specific date of death, such as:
- Casualty lists at Civil War Hospitals (at the National Archives)
- Cemeteries
- Church Records
- Death Records
- Funeral Home Records
- Midwives' Records
- Necrologies (These are lists of people who died in a given time span, or in a particular region)
- Newspaper Obituaries
- Pastoral Registers
- Probate Records
Once you have the earliest known census, or have an approximate date of birth, look for records that might provide a specific date of birth, such as:
- Baptisms in Church Records
- Baptisms in the Alms House - MSA SC 2530
- Birth Records
- "Baltimore City Birth Records, Beginning 1865,” by Mary K. Meyer, Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin 32 (4) 479-495. REF E-2-3
- Orphanages - MSA SC 740
- Inmates of the German Asylum, Aisquith St., by Patricia Dockman Anderson MGSB 32 (2) 152-155. REF E-2-3
- School Records of the county where he or she lived.
Other records that may help you include
- Business Records
- The Business Ledger of Nathan Rigbie
- Day Book of Smithburg, Washington County,” by Rachel Swartz, MGSB 33 (3) 542-548. REF E-2-3
- Records of a Baltimore Merchant (1848),” by Carleton L. Weidemeyer, J. D., MGSB 33 (3) 473-481. REF E-2-3
- Debtors' Records
- Depositions
- Diaries
- Occupational Lists
- St. Mary's County Court Records
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