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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 Senior Membership Enhancements
 Have you ever wished that you didn't have to wait until age 60 to qualify for a MGS Senior Membership? If so, your wish has been granted! Now anyone at least 55 years old can purchase a Senior Membership.
Also new, you can now purchase and renew Senior Memberships for durations of 1, 2, 3, or 4 years. Buying a multi-year membership saves you the trouble of renewing yearly and locks in the current membership price for the duration of the membership.
To purchase a new Senior Membership, please visit the Join Us page.
Finding Your Roots: Military Ancestors
 The Maryland Genealogical Society is pleased to once again partner with Maryland Public Television (MPT) to offer a new beginner-to-intermediate genealogy webinar series. Finding Your Roots: Military Ancestors will include four (4) two-hour sessions designed to help you learn how to research the military service of your ancestors in several pivotal American wars. Sessions will be held at 7:00pm ET on January 20, February 3, February 17, and March 3.
The series focuses on four wars, and each session uses a case study to highlight what records are available and how to access them. Sessions include:
- Researching a Revolutionary War Soldier
- Researching a War of 1812 Soldier
- Researching a Civil War Soldier
- Researching a World War I Soldier
Registrants will also receive a one-year introductory membership to the Maryland Genealogical Society (not applicable to current MGS members) and a one-year MPT Passport membership or membership extension. You can register on the MPT registration page.
The cost of the series is $100.00. Each session will feature a combination of lecture, small and large group discussion, and question and answer time. Handouts will be provided for each session. The webinars will be recorded.
The workshop series will be led by nationally known speaker Craig Roberts Scott, MA, CG, FUGA, who is the President and CEO of Heritage Books, Inc., a genealogical publishing firm with over 10,000 titles in print. A professional genealogical and historical researcher for more than thirty-nine years, he specializes in records of the National Archives, especially those that relate to the military. He has coordinated the Military tracks at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), and the GRIP Genealogy Institute. He is currently the Coordinator of the SLIG Consultation Track, helping students solve their brick wall problems.
MGS Holiday Luncheon
 Registration for this event has closed.
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Barrett's On The Pike
588 Baltimore Pike, Bel Air, MD
12:00pm - 3:00pm
MGS hopes you can join us to help kick off the holiday season at our 2025 Holiday Luncheon. Luncheon speaker Jack Burkert will take us back in time with his presentation, "Baltimore's Holiday Season," which explores both the customary holiday traditions and a few that are unique to the city. This one-hour talk includes stories of Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa in Baltimore and will highlight traditions such as holiday shopping “downtown,” holiday lights (colored or a Menorah), and visiting a Christmas Garden – for many, a requirement of the season.
Speaker: Jack Burkert is a Baltimore native who uses his energy and interest in all things Baltimore to create a number of educational programs. His working life, some 40+ years, was spent in various educator roles. Jack also worked for many years as a part time educator at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. In recent years he has presented several hundred Baltimore history programs to various adult audiences. Using that material, in 2024 he published Twentieth Century Baltimore: A Native Son's Casual History of the City on the Patapsco.
Meal: Lunch will include the following.
- Your choice of Classic Caesar Salad or Blue Crab and Roasted Corn Soup
- Your choice of Herb Chicken, Braised Short Ribs, or Jumbo Lump Crabcake
- Roasted Potato and Vegetable Medley
- Your choice of Fresh Berries Napoleon or Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Coffee, tea, and soft drinks
Cost: Members: $40 Non-members: $45 Deadline for registration is end of day on December 2.
Announcing the MGS Writing Competition
We’re looking for the next great writer. Is it you? The Maryland Genealogical Society is excited to announce its 2025 Writing Competition.
Have a story to tell about your Maryland ancestors? Want to share information on Maryland records and resources with fellow researchers? Or explain how you solved a brick wall puzzle? Cash prizes will be awarded to the three submitted articles that best exemplify excellence in both style and substance, and they will be published in the Maryland Genealogical Society Journal.
MGS Journal
We are pleased to bring you another issue of the Maryland Genealogical Society Journal, which runs the gamut from the namesake of Riderwood to Babe Ruth’s descendants to a story about public health in the 1920s – and several family histories in between.
First up is Jean Atkinson Andrews’s story of her ancestor Joshua Atkinson. He was born on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, grew up in Baltimore, and eventually migrated to southern Indiana. Jean uses census records, deeds, and probate records to follow the family’s journey.
Bryna O’Sullivan follows the life of Benjamin Ridgway, who was born in Maryland and then moved on to Washington County, Ohio. A courthouse fire destroyed many of the relevant records, but the author has reexamined surviving probate documents to follow Benjamin and his descendants.
Daniel Flynn delves into the history of Edward Rider, namesake of Riderwood, Maryland. From his birth in Shropshire, England, through the family’s migration to Maryland, Edward Rider’s marriage to Rachel Gorsuch, and his distinguished public career, the author documents the family history of his ancestor.
In a follow up to an article published in 2017, Druscilla Null uses updated DNA evidence to identify Babe Ruth’s family in Germany, Baltimore, and Ohio. The new DNA testing helps to corroborate the previous research on Babe Ruth’s family and to debunk the erroneous claims.
Finally, Lauren Parlett relates a family story of the death of her great-aunt from diphtheria, an often-fatal childhood disease in the early twentieth century. The rural working class family, who had limited education, were slow to recognize the child’s symptoms and find medical help, until it was too late to save her.
As always, we keep you informed about recent publications in genealogy with reviews from Allender Sybert, including a reissue of a biography of Johns Hopkins.
We hope that reading this issue of the Journal will prompt you to write your own story. We are always looking for well written and well researched articles to include in the Journal. Articles are posted on the MGS website on publication, so that all members have access to them.
In addition to articles, we welcome transcriptions of source material, such as family bible records, cemetery records, or tombstone inscriptions; abstracts of records, such as wills or other probate records, court documents, and the like; and case studies. We encourage all our readers to become involved in the Journal as authors or peer reviewers. If you have a manuscript, or just an idea for one, or if you can devote a few hours to reviewing, please contact me at journal@mdgensoc.org.
October 2025 MGS News
The October 2025 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.
Archived copies of this issue and previous issues are available in the Member's Only area.
Used Genealogy Books For Sale
 MGS has an inventory of used genealogy-related books available for purchase on the For Sale page. MGS members receive a 12% discount on purchases. (Be sure to be signed in on the website as a member before ordering!) All prices already include shipping and handling. Sales are first come, first served!
In addition to books on Maryland, our current inventory includes the following topics: family histories; U.S., British, German, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia research; photography, lineage societies, royalty and nobility, heraldry, and general interest. We will be adding books as they become available.
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