The major part of this work is an alphabetically arranged and cross-indexed list of some 20,000 Maryland families with references to the sources and locations of the records in which they appear. In addition, there is a research record guide arranged by county and type of record, and it identifies all genealogical manuscripts, books, and articles known to exist up to 1940, when this book was first published. Included are church and county courthouse records, deeds, marriages, rent rolls, wills, land records, tombstone inscriptions, censuses, directories, and other data sources.

Henri Perduex (b.1625), Huguenot and son of Pierre Perduex, married Marie Toisson. They emigrated from France to England in 1655, and in 1657 went to Martinique in the West Indies as resident factor for the Indies Company. By 1661 they immigrated to Elizabeth City, Virginia and, seeking fellow Huguenots, settled in eastern Worcestor County, Maryland in 1662. "There is a gap between the time Henri Perdeux [sic] is reported to have come over to Maryland in 1662 and the time that we see records of the next Perdue, John Perdue in 1720 of more than 58 years. This is enough time for three generations to have started"--(P. 1.0-8). The Perdue family of the eastern shore of Maryland starts with John Perdue Sr. (d.1743), who purchased land in Somerset (later Worcester) County, Maryland in 1720. Descendants and relatives listed lived chiefly in Maryland.