Williamsburg Links

A resource to find ancestors who arrived to this country through Ellis Island in New York.

The Enoch Pratt Free Library is one of the oldest free public library systems in the United States. Dating back to its opening in 1934, the Maryland Department is responsible for a collection of materials relating to the history, economics, social conditions, literature and the arts and all aspects of the development and status of Maryland and its citizens.

The Enoch Pratt Library offers searching of some historical Maryland newspapers (and current papers) online with your library card. This includes the "Baltimore Afro-American" and the "Baltimore Sun." Maryland residents can get a free library eCard to access these databases.

Enslaved: People of the Historical Slave Trade is a public clearinghouse of data on enslaved people in the Americas. The University of Maryland is a partner in the development and maintenance of the site. It includes entries on the enslaved in Maryland.

The Archives of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland contains official records, manuscripts, and related materials about the Church of England in colonial Maryland and its successor, the Episcopal Church in Maryland and the District of Columbia since the Revolution. This includes church records of churches that have closed. (See the entry below for access to a list of these records.) Active churches maintain their own records. Some of the original Episcopal Churches in Maryland have had their records copied by the Maryland State Archives.

The Archives of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland holds the records of baptisms, marriages and burials of churches that have closed. Visit this link for a list of those available as of June 2025.

The Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society holds a variety of church records for church congregations that originated in the former Reformed (German) Church in the United States, Evangelical (German) Synod of North America, the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and the present United Church of Christ. They have the records of 42 Maryland churches.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Region 8 Archives provides access to records created by ELCA synods and disbanded congregations within these areas: Central Pennsylvania (Allegheny Synod, Upper Susquehanna Synod, and Lower Susquehanna Synod), Delaware and most of Maryland (Delaware-Maryland Synod), and the Washington D.C.-Northern Virginia metropolitan area (Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod). It also houses some records from ELCA Region 8 predecessors such as the Central Pennsylvania Synod and the Maryland Synod. The Archives is located in Gettysburg. It prefers email for research requests and provides information on the Web site for making requests.

Offering a wealth of original source material for the genealogist, the newly updated Web site offers even easier access to national and international records.

A good general page on the FamilySearch Wiki on researching newspapers.