"The main purpose of this book is to aid in the location of an ancestor in respect to time and place. The following lists contain the names of several thousand Frederick Countians who lived in the county during the period, 1750-1790..."Introd., p. v. .

The source of this data is a wide range of records held at the Maryland State Archives, including patented tracts of land, names of persons involved in court cases, persons who owed fees or fines to the court and persons who received payments from the cou

This is a definitive account of the land and the people of Old Monocacy in early Frederick County, Maryland. The outgrowth of a project begun by Grace L. Tracey and completed by John P. Dern, it presents a detailed account of landholdings in that part of western Maryland that eventually became Frederick County. At the same time it provides a history of the inhabitants of the area, from the early traders and explorers to the farsighted investors and speculators, from the original Quaker settlers to the Germans of central Frederick County. In essence, the book has a dual focus. First it attempts to locate and describe the land of the early settlers. This is done by means of a superb series of plat maps, drawn to scale from original surveys and based both on certificates of survey and patents. These show, in precise configurations, the exact locations of the various grants and lots, the names of owners and occupiers, the dates of surveys and patents, and the names of contiguous land owners. Second, it identifies the early settlers and inhabitants of the area, carefully following them through deeds, wills, and inventories, judgment records, and rent rolls. Finally, in meticulously compiled appendices it provides a chronological list of surveys between 1721 and 1743; an alphabetical list of surveys, giving dates, page reference--text and maps--and patent references; a list of taxables for 1733-34; and a list of the early German settlers of Frederick County, showing their religion, their location, dates of arrival, and their earliest records in the county. Winner of the 1988 Donald Lines Jacobus Award

This book is composed of extracts from the Judgment Records of Frederick County, Maryland, from the county's formation in 1748 to 1765. Since the Frederick County Court was the sole governing body of the county, as well as its civil and criminal court, the record of its actions covers every phase of colonial life. Here is reflected not only laws and customs, but humor and tragedy, compassion and cruelty-a daily record, in fact, of events in the life of the inhabitants of this important Maryland county. The records of the proceedings of the County Court (the Judgment Records) deal with a wide range of activities and issues, and therefore a substantial number of Frederick County residents appear in the records, which include orphan, bastardy, and custody cases; civil and criminal suits; and a host of petitions for apprenticeships, articles of indenture, appointments, surveys, and licenses.