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MGS Response to the Coronavirus
Due to the state of emergency regarding the coronavirus, MGS has cancelled its Spring Luncheon that was scheduled for April 4. Refunds are being processed for those who registered. We hope to be able to have our scheduled speaker Carol Kostakos Petranek give her presentation at a future event. For now, we are continuing with planning for the Basics+ Seminar on census records scheduled for June 6. We will reassess whether that event can go forward as we get closer to the date.
As part of the effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, the building in which the Maryland Genealogical Society’s office is located has been closed for an indefinite period of time beginning on March 18, 2020, and lasting for at least two weeks. As a result, there will be delays in our processing of new memberships, and filling orders for publications and research. Once access to our office is restored, we will respond as soon as we can. We regret the interruption in our services, and we thank you for your understanding and patience.
Everyone please take care during the coming weeks. I hope you stay well and can hole up at home and work on genealogy!
~ Dru Null, MGS President
Welcome!
Since 1959, the Maryland Genealogical Society has been promoting genealogical study and research. Through our publications, programs, resources, and outreach, the Society can help you explore your family history.
And we hope that you'll follow us on Facebook for timely news and information. 
New Issue of the Journal Available
The December 2019 issue of the Journal is available. Members receive their copies by mail. Limited quantities of the current and earlier issues of the Journal also are available for sale. Members receive a discounted price. Click here for information on prices and how to purchase. 
This issue features the second installment of a four-part series by Kent Randell describing the Rousby family of southern Maryland, with this article exploring the peculiarities of John Rousby's will. Helen Hinchliff continues her exploration of the lives of entrepreneurial women in nineteenth-century Baltimore. Malissa Ruffner begins her story at the yellow brick farmhouse in Walkersville that was home to the Stauffer family and leads us through four generations, with some wonderful family photos. John Trezise examines Virginia records to shed light on the life of Edward Dorsey. Carmen Cross links her ancestor Thomas Uriah Cross to his parents through his siblings. And William Hollifield shares Bible entries from the Alban-Hale-Zouck Bible. Book reviews by Allender Sybert and a genealogy crossword puzzle by Jane Burgess round out the issue.
For a look at the full table of contents, click here.
Baltimore City Online Marriage Index (1886-1914)
 MGS is pleased to announce the online launch of the ongoing Baltimore City Marriage Licenses (1886-1914) Index project. This Members Only index is designed to help you find/identify ancestors who obtained Marriage Licenses in Baltimore City in the subject time period. When complete, the index will include names and dates from 157,000 index cards in the Maryland State Archives Record Series T2426. The original index cards are alphabetized by the name of the groom, so the MGS index provides the first searchable index to the names of the brides!
New records were added on 15 March 2020, now up to 32 percent complete online.
Currently, the index is 32 percent complete (online), with more to be added in the near future, following rigorous quality checks of the data. So check back periodically, as we will be posting new data often.
MGS would like to thank the more than 30 dedicated volunteers who've spent several thousand hours getting this project to this point. Many thanks also to Board Member John Siemon for his coordination of the project and to Board Member Dave Powell for his database expertise.
New Will and Probate Index Available
 An index spreadsheet to Anne Arundel County probate records is now available. The Maryland State Archives is participating in a joint project with the Comptroller of the Treasury, the Registers of Wills, and FamilySearch to have the state's probate records from 1634 to 1940 indexed, scanned, and made available online. Volunteers are preparing the documents for scanning and indexing the records. The indexed information eventually will be available in an online FamilySearch database. In the meantime, as county indexes are completed, the Maryland State Archives is making the spreadsheets available for researcher use.
Many thanks to MGS Board Member Tom McCarriar - who is participating as a volunteer on the project - for providing us with the Anne Arundel County spreadsheet. Click here to see the index spreadsheets currently available - Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline, and Carroll Counties. Visit the Maryland State Archives web site for more information about volunteering for this or other projects.
January MGS News
The January 2020 edition of MGS News is now available. If you are a MGS member, you should have received the issue by email. If you are a member and haven't provided us with your email, please contact us at info@mdgensoc.org so that you can begin to receive MGS News.
This issue features news items on past and future MGS events and information on the MGS project to index the Baltimore City Male Marriage Index (1886-1914). This issue also contains a new "Leave No Stone Unturned" article by Bob Barnes.
Archived copies of this issue and previous issues are available in the Member's Only area.
More Digital Issues Available of the MGS Bulletin
We are pleased to announce that 10 more years of digital copies of the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin are now available in the Members Only portion of the web site. With the addition of issues from 1998 to 2007, MGS members can now read 48 years (1960 to 2007) of the Bulletin online.
Access is available to MGS members as an exclusive member benefit. After signing in as a member, look for the "MGS Bulletin Archive" link under Members Only on the lefthand navigation bar.
The Bulletin is packed with family genealogies and transcriptions from source records, including bible records, church records, tombstones, court records, etc. You can consult the cumulative table of contents to learn what articles appear in each issue. The issues are PDFs that are full-text searchable.
Leave No Stone Unturned
“Leave No Stone Unturned” is a series of occasional articles in MGS News and its predecessor, the MGS Newsletter, by Board Member Robert Barnes. Bob has had over 50 years’ experience tracing Maryland families. He is the author of many source books, compiled family histories, and guides, and has taught many courses in genealogical research and lectured at genealogical conferences.
We have assembled an archive of his articles - 28 to date - which is available to MGS members in the Members Only section of the web site. MGS thanks Bob for sharing these articles on a variety of Maryland genealogy topics.
We're Looking for Your Photos!
Would you like to see images of your ancestors included on the MGS Web site? Members are encouraged to submit photos for inclusion in the gallery of images at the top of the page that rotate and change each time visitors go to a new page on the Web site. (Each has a caption that you can read by hovering your cursor over the image.) For more information about submitting images, click here.
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