Place:Cecil, Maryland, United States

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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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.

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.

Timeline

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

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