Place:Cecil, Maryland, United States


NameCecil
Alt namesCecilsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
TypeCounty
Coordinates39.567°N 75.95°W
Located inMaryland, United States     (1674 - )
Contained Places
Cemetery
Bethel Cemetery
Inhabited place
Academy Hills
Aikin
Altamont Place
Andora Acres
Andora
Appleton Acres
Appleton Glen
Appleton
Arrowhead Acres
Arundel
Bacon Hill
Bald Friar
Bank
Barksdale Farms
Barnes Corner
Battery Point Farms
Bay View
Bel Hill
Bethel
Beulah Land
Blake
Blue Ball Village
Blueball
Blythedale
Bohemia Acres
Bohemia Manor
Bohemias Mills
Boomdecker
Boot Hill
Brantwood Farms
Brantwood
Brewster Heights
Buckhill Farms
Buttonwood Beach
Calvert Acres
Calvert
Cardiff
Carpenter Point
Cash Corner
Cassidy Wharf
Cathers Corner
Cayots
Cecil Manor
Cecilton
Cedar Hill
Chantilly Manor
Charlestown Manor Beach
Charlestown
Chelsea of Nottingham
Cherry Hill
Cherry Wood
Chesapeake City
Chesapeake Cove
Chesapeake Haven
Chesapeake Isle
Chesapeake Landing
Cheshaven
Chestnut Point
Childs
Chippendale
Clearview
Colonial Acres
Colony Acres
Colora
Concord
Conowingo Manor
Conowingo
Cool Springs Park
Country Acres
Cowentown
Craigtown
Crawford Acres
Curtis Acres
Dans
De La Plaine Manor
Deerhaven
Delancy Village
Earleville
Edgewood Hills
El Paco Farms
Elk Forest
Elk Haven
Elk Mills
Elk Neck
Elk River Basin
Elk
Elkmore
Elkton
Everbreeze
Ewingwille
Fair Hill Meadows
Fair Hill
Fairfields
Farmcrest
Farmington
Five Points
Forest Green Court
Foxcatcher at Fair Hill
Foxchase Manor
Foys Hill
Frank
Fredericktown
Frenchtown
Gilpin Farms
Gilpin Manor
Ginns Corner
Glen Farms
Glen Kyle
Glen Mary Heights
Glen Westover
Grand Meadows
Granite Knoll Farms
Green Briar
Green Haven
Greenbank Farms
Greenfield Acres
Greenhill
Greenhurst
Greenridge
Hack Point
Hacks Point Acres
Harbor View
Harrisville
Hazelmoor
Head of Canal
Heritage Valley
Heritage Woods
Hidden Acres
Highland Park
Highpoint
Hillcrest
Hillview Farms
Holland Acres
Holly Hall Terrace
Hollywood Beach
Honeysuckle Hollow
Honeysuckle Knoll
Hopewell Manor
Indian Acres
Indian Falls
Jacks Corner
Jackson Mill Farms
John Town
Joy Haven
Kenmore
Kentmore Park
Kilby Corner
Lakeside Park South
Laurel Chase Manor
Leeds
Leslie
Liberty Grove
Little Elkton
Lombard Acres
Lombard
Long Point
Manchester Park
Manor Heights
Mariners Cove
Marley Village
Mason Dixon Village
Meadowview Park
Meadowview
Mechanic Valley
Middlecroft
Minnick
Misty Meadows
Mount Harmon
Mount Pleasant Manor
Mount Pleasant View
Mount Pleasant
Mount Zoar
Mountain Hill
Nellys Corner
New Munster
New Valley
Newark
Normira Heights
North Bluff
North East Harbor
North East Isles
North East Park
North East
North Gate
North Hills
Northeast Heights
Northminster at Fair Hill
Nottingham Fields
Oak Grove
Oakridge
Oakwood
Octararo Lakes
Octararo
Oddessy
Old Field Point
Old Line Village of Fair Hill
Oldfield Acres
Orchard View
Pawnee Lake Hills
Pembray
Perry Point
Perryville
Pilot
Pine Hills
Pleasant Hill
Pleasant View
Ponds Edge
Poplar Point
Port Deposit
Port Heights
Port Herman
Prestige Village
Principio Furnace
Principio Heights
Principio
Proctors Seat
Providence
Quails Nest
Randalia
Red Hill Acres
Red Point
Richards Oak
Richardsmere
Rising Sun
Robin Acres
Rock Run
Rock Springs
Rock
Rowlandsville Heights
Rowlandsville
Running Brook Park
Saint Augustine
Saint Johns Manor
Saint Johns Vista
Scotchmans Glen
Shah Valley
Snow Hill
Spring Meadow
Stony Chase Court
Sunnyside
Sunset Gardens
Sunset Knoll
Sunset Point
Sunview
Surrey Ridge
Susquehanna Hills
Sweet Grass Meadow
Sycamore Farms
Sylmar
Tara
Thabar
The Bluffs
The Highlands
The Meadows at Elk Creek
The Rock
The Woods of Town Point
Theodore
Timberbrook
Topeka East
Tower Point
Town Commons
Town Point
Turn Quist
Two Rivers
Union Valley
Villages of Elk Neck
Vinegar Hill
Waibelwood Park
Warwick
Washington Woods
Wedgewood Hills
West Creek Village
West Nottingham
West Rock Station
West View Shores
Westminister
Westover
Whispering Pines
White Crystal Beach
White Hall
White Swan Lake
Willowstone
Wilwon Woods
Winchester Village
Winchester
Winding Brook Village
Windsor Village
Woodcrest Shores
Woodlawn
Woodlyn Heights
Wooldlawn Heights
Wyn Lea at Fair Hill
Zion Acres
Zion
Parish
St. Marys Parish
Township
Middleneck Hundred
Unknown
Iron Hill
The Nottingham Lots ( 1701 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Cecil County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was named for Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (1605–1675), the first Proprietary Governor of the Province (colony) of Maryland. It is part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is located in Wilmington's Radio Market and Philadelphia's Designated Market Area.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The area now known as Cecil County was an important trading center long before the county's official organization in 1674 by proclamation of Lord Baltimore. It had previously been a northeastern part of a much larger Baltimore County, in the northeastern portion of the Province. This had included present-day Baltimore City and county, Harford, Carroll, eastern Frederick, and portions of Howard and Anne Arundel counties. At the time of its founding, Cecil County also included modern Kent County and the border on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay went as far south as the Chester River, until its later formation in 1706. The Piscataway traded with the Susquehannocks near Conowingo, and with Lenape of the Delaware valley and their Nanticoke allies near the Elk River and Elk Neck Peninsula. A southern tribe sometimes called the Shawnace also moved into what later became North East, Maryland. Captain John Smith visited the area in 1608. William Claiborne, a Puritan trader based in Virginia, earlier established a trading post at what is now known as Garrett island at the mouth of the Susquehanna River near what became Perryville. Bohemian immigrant Augustine Herman lobbied for Cecil County's creation, and drew the 1674 maps, in exchange for which Herman received extensive land grants, including one developed as Bohemia Manor, where he eventually died. Another early developer was George Talbot, appointed Surveyor-General of Maryland in 1683, who came from Ballyconnell, County Cavan, Ireland. Talbot's original grant of land in Susquehanna, Cecil County is viewable online. Its subsequent history is told in the Crofton Papers, page 153.

Until the American Revolution, Cecil County was an important shipping center, both within the colonies and abroad. It exported not only its own agricultural products but also animal skins from the west and tobacco from the south. St. Francis Xavier Church (Warwick, Maryland) begun as a Jesuit mission in 1704 and rebuilt in 1792, is one of Maryland's oldest churches, though now a museum. St. Mary Anne's Episcopal Church, authorized in 1706 and rebuilt in 1742 is another (and still in use, as well as maintaining a historic graveyard). West Nottingham Academy, founded by Presbyterian Rev. Samuel Finley in 1744, educated Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton, both of whom signed the Declaration of Independence, and still operates today (though disaffiliated from the Presbyterian church and with additional buildings). The Principio Furnace, founded in 1719, became an important exporter of pig iron. During the American Revolution both British and colonial troops traveled through Cecil County, although no major battles occurred within its borders. The Battle of Cooch's Bridge occurred in nearby Delaware, and both General Howe and General George Washington stopped in Elkton during the summer of 1777. Robert Alexander, the area's delegate to the Continental Congress of 1776, spoke with both sides but ultimately decided to go into exile in England without his wife. She remained a loyal Marylander and received a life estate in some of Elkton property that Maryland confiscated.


The War of 1812 caused Cecil County considerable damage. Not only did British Admiral George Cockburn blockade the upper Chesapeake Bay, in response to musket fire from colonials at Welch Point, his troops destroyed a trading post known as Frenchtown. They tried to sail further up the Elk River to the county seat at Elkton, but turned back under fire from Fort Defiance, also hindered by a cable across the navigation channel. British troops also destroyed most of Havre de Grace in nearby Harford County, Maryland. Cockburn's ships then traveled up the Sassafras River, and, meeting resistance, destroyed Georgetown, Maryland and Fredericktown, Maryland. Avoiding Port Deposit which rumors called heavily defended, the British destroyed the Principio Iron Works, an important military target.

Port Deposit boomed after the Susquehanna Canal opened in 1812. Engineer James Rumsey, who grew up in Bohemia Manor before moving to Bath, Virginia (or Berkeley Springs, West Virginia), invented a steamboat which he demonstrated to George Washington, before traveling to London to secure patents against competition from John Finch. Rumsey died there in 1792, but his lawyer brother Benjamin Rumsey moved south to Joppa, Maryland and served as Maryland's Chief Justice for 25 years. Steamboats, using technology such as by Robert Fulton, came to dominate travel on the bay during the following decades. The Eagle, built in Philadelphia in 1813, transported travelers between Baltimore and Elkton, where they connected with stagecoaches to travel to Wilmington, Philadelphia and other points north. An 1802 attempt to build a canal to connect the Elk River to Christiana, Delaware (connecting the Chesapeake and Delaware watersheds) failed within two years. However, between 1824 and 1829, with financial support from the states of Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania, over 2600 workers built the 14 miles long Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which became for a while the busiest canal in the new nation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still operates it today, and Chesapeake City, Maryland, which had been Bohemia Manor until 1839, has a museum explaining the canal's importance. Railroads and bridges also proved economically important to Cecil County and surrounding region. The New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad began service in 1831. Railroads crisscrossed Cecil county within three decades, although they ultimately greatly reduced its importance as a trading center. Cities such as Philadelphia and Baltimore could achieve economies of scale impossible for the county's small Chesapeake ports. Even the railroad's Frenchtown section was abandoned in 1859, and the port became a ghost town (though other sections remain in use, operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway).

During the American Civil War, Perryville, Maryland became an important staging ground for Union troops. It had been the halfway point of the railroad line between Wilmington and Baltimore, but damage to the section into Baltimore caused Union troops to embark ferries at Perryville. No Civil War battles occurred in Cecil County, but residents had strongly divided loyalties. Slavery had declined from 3,400 slaves in the county in 1790 to just 800 in 1850. The Underground Railroad had crossed through Cecil County, perhaps assisted by the 'Fighting Quaker,' former Congressman and U.S. Marshall John Conard, who moved to North East between 1834 and 1851 and was reburied at St. Mary Anne's Episcopal Church there`after his death in Philadelphia in 1857. Frederick Douglass crossed Cecil County on his road to freedom in 1838. While Jacob Tome made his fortune in the area and stayed, other Cecil County natives left in search of economic opportunity. David Davis moved to Illinois upon graduating from Yale Law School in 1835, where he became Abraham Lincoln's law partner and later served in that legislature as well as a judge, before moving to Washington D.C. to help President Lincoln, who later named him to the United States Supreme Court. Slavery's abolition affected many local property owners, as well as their slaves. After the war, Perryville again became a railroad town, and later received business from interstate highway travelers crossing the Susquehanna bridges. Although Cecil County had once been one of the wealthiest in Maryland and has worked hard recently to attract industry as well as tourist dollars, the average income of residents is now near that of Americans as a whole.

From the start, Cecil County's future was shaped by its strategic location between the growing cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York. In the 20th century, as modern highways arrived its placement along the heavily traveled northeast corridor brought new opportunities and change to the county. By June 1941, the final segment of the Philadelphia Road, the new dual highway designated as Route 40 was completed across the center of Cecil County. In 1943, the dual highway was dedicated as the Pulaski Highway, to honor the Polish patriot and friend of Revolutionary American, according to the Baltimore Sun. Soon new motels, restaurants, and gas stations started sprouting up along what was once rural fields and woods.

On Nov. 14, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited Cecil County to formally open and dedicate the Northeastern Expressway (I-95). Motorists were relieved to be "on the clear new road" one editor noted in the Baltimore Sun. After President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, I-95 was rededicated as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. As traffic started zipping along the superhighway, without one light halting the fast trip, a corridor that would yield major dividends to the county had opened. It spurred business growth along the route, as commercial, industrial, and residential development clustered near the interchanges in the decades ahead.

In 2013, the county became a Second Amendment sanctuary.

Cecil County has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places.

400

Timeline

Date Event Source
1674 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1674 Land records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1790 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1790 No significant boundary changes after this year Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Census Year Population
1790 13,625
1800 9,018
1810 13,066
1820 16,048
1830 15,432
1840 17,232
1850 18,939
1860 23,862
1870 25,874
1880 27,108
1890 25,851
1900 24,662
1910 23,759
1920 23,612
1930 25,827
1940 26,407
1950 33,356
1960 48,408
1970 53,291
1980 60,430
1990 71,347

Research Tips

Sources for Cecil County, in Maryland State Archives

Electronic Sources:

CIRCUIT COURT
CE423 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1853-1920
CE408 - (Equity Papers), 1951-1978
CE515 - (Homeowners' Association Records),
CE55 - (Land Records), 1851
CE136 - (Land Records, Grantee Index), 1918-1956
CE240 - (Land Records, Grantee Index, Original), 1918-1992
CE137 - (Land Records, Grantor Index), 1918-1956
CE241 - (Land Records, Grantor Index, Original), 1918-1992
CE135 - (Land Records, Index), 1850-1946
CE239 - (Land Records, Index, Original), 1674-1918
COURT
CE422 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1744-1853
CE133 - (Land Records), 1674-1851
CE134 - (Land Records, Index), 1674-1850
REGISTER OF WILLS
CE324 - (Administration Accounts, Index), 1678-1965
CE325 - (Administration Bonds, Index), 1674-1953
CE326 - (Distributions, Index), 1777-1965
CE327 - (Estate Docket), 1923-1960
CE328 - (Estate Index), 1953-1997
CE329 - (Guardian Accounts, Index), 1784-1965
CE330 - (Inventories, Index), 1675-1965
CE331 - (Releases, Index), 1802-1965
CE332 - (Wills, Index), 1674-1997


Microfilm Sources:
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

CM356 - (Proceedings), 1856-1870

CIRCUIT COURT

CM307 - (Abstracts of Releases), 1950-1964
CM315 - (Adoption Decrees), 1973
CM317 - (Bond Record), 1973
CM320 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1852-1920
CM323 - (Charter Record), 1868-1973
CM322 - (Commission Record), 1973
CM325 - (Divorce Decrees), 1973
CM327 - (Equity Record), 1972-1976
CM329 - (Financing Record), 1973
CM333 - (Judgment Docket, Index), 1967-1980
CM334 - (Jury Selection Docket), 1973-1975
CM341 - (Land Records), 1851
CM346 - (Land Records, Grantee Index), 1918-1956
CM347 - (Land Records, Grantor Index), 1918-1956
CM342 - (Land Records, Index), 1851-1946
CM349 - (Magistrates Judgments, Index), 1967
CM351 - (Marriage License Applications), 1978-1979
CM350 - (Marriage Licenses), 1851-1886
CM352 - (Marriage Record), 1886-1928
CM353 - (Marriage Record, Female Index), 1928-1935
CM354 - (Marriage Record, Male Index), 1928-1977
CM355 - (Mechanics Lien Record), 1973
CM328 - (Plat Book), 1925-1947
CM1467 - (Plats from Equity), 1852-1929
CM1469 - (Plats from Land Commissions), 1852-1910
CM311 - (Plats from Land Records), 1852-1947

COURT

CM321 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1744-1851
CM332 - (Judgment Record), 1695-1769
CM343 - (Land Records), 1674-1851
CM344 - (Land Records, Index), 1674-1851
CM316 - (Marriage Licenses), 1777-1851
CM1468 - (Plats from Land Commissions), 1803-1851
CM1470 - (Plats from Land Records), 1850-1851

REGISTER OF WILLS

CM336 - (Accounts of Sale), 1791-1961
CM308 - (Administration Accounts), 1678-1976
CM310 - (Administration Accounts, Index), 1678-1965
CM312 - (Administration Bonds), 1674-1976
CM1465 - (Administration Bonds, Index), 1674-1953
CM314 - (Administration Proceedings), 1970-1976
CM1232 - (Annual Valuations), 1784-1833
CM965 - (Certificates of Freedom), 1815-1826
CM326 - (Distributions), 1777-1976
CM309 - (Distributions, Index), 1777-1965
CM319 - (Equity Record), 1869-1968
CM313 - (Estate Docket), 1923-1960
CM1466 - (Estate Index), 1953-1997
CM330 - (Guardian Accounts), 1784-1976
CM318 - (Guardian Accounts, Index), 1784-1965
CM331 - (Guardian Bonds), 1778-1859
CM960 - (Indentures), 1794-1814
CM335 - (Inventories), 1675-1976
CM337 - (Inventories, Index), 1675-1965
CM339 - (Inventories, Real Estate), 1963-1976
CM359 - (Orphans Court Proceedings), 1798-1955
CM360 - (Petitions and Orders), 1967-1976
CM1233 - (Receipts and Releases), 1802-1854
CM361 - (Releases), 1965-1976
CM324 - (Releases, Index), 1802-1965
CM363 - (Wills), 1675-1976

Paper Sources BOARD OF HEALTH

C594 - (Birth Record), 1898-1927
C607 - (Death Record), 1898-1931

CIRCUIT COURT:

C593 - (Birth Record), 1865-1891
C600 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1852-1920
C603 - (Church Charter Record), 1852-1918
C2799 - (Condemnation Record), 1925-1933
C611 - (Docket), 1852-1856
C2806 - (Land Acquisition Plat Book), 1956-1958
C2798 - (Land Commissions), 1851-1910
C628 - (Land Records, Index), 1851-1897
C633 - (Marriage Licenses), 1851-1886
C636 - (Minutes), 1851-1854
C2800 - (Plat Book), 1925-1999
C2802 - (Plat Book, Aperture Cards), 1958
C2801 - (Plat Book, Copy), 1925-1958
C2793 - (Plats from Equity), 1852-1929
C2795 - (Plats from Land Commissions), 1852-1910
C2797 - (Plats from Land Records), 1852-1947
C2808 - (Plats, Index), 1925
C2803 - (State Road Plat Book), 1932-1978
C2804 - (State Road Plats, Aperture Cards), 1932-2002
C2805 - (State Road Property Plan Book), 1964-1982
C2807 - (Wetland Maps), 1973

COURT:

C599 - (Charlestown Land Records), 1744-1851
C601 - (Chattel Records), 1737-1751
C602 - (Church Charter Record), 1803-1851
C605 - (Criminal Docket), 1792-1850
C606 - (Criminal Record), 1728-1741
C610 - (Docket), 1750-1851
C612 - (Docket, Transcript), 1818-1827
C615 - (Guardian Bonds), 1757-1773
C623 - (Judgment Record), 1683-1844
C624 - (Land Commissions), 1704-1851
C625 - (Land Record Papers), 1745-1800
C626 - (Land Records), 1674-1848
C627 - (Land Records, Index), 1674-1851
C629 - (Land Records, Original), 1674-1785
C632 - (Marriage Licenses), 1777-1851
C635 - (Minutes), 1770-1851
C637 - (Minutes, Transcript), 1818-1827
C639 - (Oaths of Fidelity), 1778
C2794 - (Plats from Land Commissions), 1803-1851
C2796 - (Plats from Land Records), 1814-1851
C641 - (Probate Proceedings), 1690-1692

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND ZONING:

C2976 - (Minor Subdivision Plats),

REGISTER OF WILLS:

C585 - (Accounts of Sale), 1791-1855
C586 - (Administration Accounts), 1678-1854
C587 - (Administration Accounts, Index), 1670-1925
C588 - (Administration Accounts, Original), 1670-1796
C589 - (Administration Bonds), 1674-1867
C590 - (Administration Bonds, Index), 1674-1953
C591 - (Administration Bonds, Original), 1674-1789
C2606 - (Administration Proceedings), 1970-1976
C592 - (Annual Valuations), 1784-1823
C597 - (Certificates of Freedom), 1815-1826
C604 - (Commissions), 1785-1839
C608 - (Distributions), 1777-1854
C609 - (Distributions, Index), 1777-1925
C598 - (Equity Record), 1869-1879
C2610 - (Estate Docket), 1923-1960
C2791 - (Estate Index), 1953-1997
C2491 - (Estate Index, Electronic),
C645 - (Estate Papers), 1790-1850
C2175 - (Estate Papers, Digital),
C613 - (Guardian Accounts), 1784-1854
C614 - (Guardian Accounts, Index), 1797-1925
C616 - (Guardian Bonds), 1778-1867
C617 - (Guardian Bonds, Index), 1778-1890
C618 - (Guardianship Papers), 1790-1854
C619 - (Indentures), 1794-1869
C620 - (Inventories), 1675-1855
C2604 - (Inventories, Index), 1675-1965
C621 - (Inventories, Original), 1675-1795
C2607 - (Inventories, Real Estate), 1963-1976
C638 - (Miscellaneous Papers), 1670-1839
C640 - (Orphans Court Proceedings), 1798-1851
C2608 - (Petitions and Orders), 1967-1976
C643 - (Receipts and Releases), 1802-1867
C644 - (Receipts and Releases, Index), 1823-1925
C2609 - (Releases), 1965-1976
C2605 - (Releases, Index), 1802-1965
C646 - (Wills), 1675-1853
C647 - (Wills, Index), 1675-1997
C648 - (Wills, Original), 1675-1849
CM364 - (Wills, Index), 1674-1997

External links

  • Outstanding guide to Cecil County family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, wills, deeds, county histories, cemeteries, churches, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.
  • www.ccgov.org


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