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If your roots run through Maryland, the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin is worth exploring. Spanning decades of quarterly issues, it’s packed with material that goes beyond the basics—perfect for researchers looking to uncover lesser-known details or break through a brick wall.
One of the best ways to use this resource is to treat it like a Maryland genealogy newspaper. Flip through the essays and editorials—you’ll often find transcriptions of rare records, obscure courthouse finds, Bible pages, and even family stories passed down through generations. These are things you’re unlikely to find in larger record databases.
A favorite feature for many researchers is the letters and Q&A sections. These pages are full of questions from past members—people who, like you, were trying to figure out who married whom, when a family moved, or how two branches of the same surname might connect. In some cases, you’ll find answers with full source citations that can save you hours of digging.
Here are a few tips for getting the most out of the Bulletin:
- Search for surnames with variants. Contributors might spell names differently or use older forms, especially in transcriptions.
- Look at every mention of a location. Sometimes the clue you need is in a neighboring county or tied to a migration trail.
- Read the footnotes and endnotes. Many essays cite personal letters, land records, or courthouse materials that you can follow up on elsewhere.
- Revisit issues from the same decade. Authors often submitted follow-up corrections or expanded trees in later Bulletins—especially helpful if an early article didn’t have all the facts.
The Bulletin is also a wonderful way to see how family historians worked before the internet. The methods, reasoning, and community input often provide insights that go far beyond dates and names.