Welcome to Montgomery County, Maryland A Proud part of the Genealogy Trails Group Welcome to the Genealogy Trails website for Montgomery County. Our goal is to help you track your ancestors through time by transcribing genealogical and historical data and placing it online for the free use of all researchers. This website is in need of a dedicated host! We're looking for folks who share our dedication to putting data online and are interested in helping this project be successful. If you are interested in joining our group, view our Volunteer Page for further information and then contact Kim . If you are interested in adding your families' information this website, email us. We'll be happy to help your families' obituaries, news items and other historical data find a home here at Maryland Genealogy Trails, where it will remain free for all to view. If you would like submit data for our webpage, please email Nancy. WE REGRET THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO DO PERSONAL RESEARCH FOR YOU. ALL DATA IS ADDED TO THE SITE AS WE COME ACROSS IT, SO IF IT IS NOT HERE, WE DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO IT. If you would like to be kept informed of our state and county website updates, subscribe to any of our mailing lists The area now known as Montgomery County was originally a part of Charles County. In 1696 parts of Charles and Baltimore Counties were split off to form the new Prince George's County. In turn, in 1748, a portion of Prince George's County produced Frederick County. Montgomery County was formed in 1776 by the splitting of Frederick County. The former Frederick County was subdivided into three; the central portion remained Frederick County, while the western was named Washington County in honor of General (later President) George Washington, and the eastern part was named Montgomery County in honor of another Revolutionary War general, Richard Montgomery. In 1791, portions of Montgomery County, including Georgetown, were ceded to form the new District of Columbia, along with portions of Prince George's County, Maryland, as well as parts of Virginia that were later returned to Virginia. In 1828, construction on the C&O Canal commenced and was completed in 1850. Throughout the 19th century, agriculture dominated the economy in Montgomery County, with slaves playing a significant role. In the 1850s, crop production shifted away from tobacco and towards corn. Montgomery County was important in the abolitionist movement, with slave Josiah Henson, who wrote about his experiences in a memoir which became the basis for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Josiah, the inspiration for the character "Uncle Tom", was a slave in the county and a slave cabin where he is believed to have spent time still stands at the end of a driveway off Old Georgetown Road. In the 1860 presidential election, Montgomery County was one of only four Southern counties to vote for Abraham Lincoln. On July 1, 1997, Montgomery County annexed a portion of Prince George's County, after residents of Takoma Park, which spanned both counties, voted to be entirely within the more affluent Montgomery County. The county seat is Rockville and the largest municipality is the city of Gaithersburg. Most of the county's residents live in unincorporated locales, the most populous of which is Silver Spring. ONLINE DATA Births County History Marriages Biographies Events Census Data Cemeteries Newspaper Data Military Data Cities and Towns Land Records Death notices and obituaries Wills   Website Updates: Oct 2011: Bio - John W. Jones - Transcribed by Tracy McAllister Bio: Busey, Samuel Clagett - Transcribed by Therman Kellar Mar 2011: Marriages From the Journal of American Ancestry Genealogy February 2011 Parklawn Cemetery, Rockville Headstone Transcriptions - Richard Garnitz- Contributed by Dan Garnitz Jan 2011: HOKE/WATTS obit Nov 2010: JONES death notice Oct 2010: Revolutionary War Soldiers - "S" Surname; Crime News for BECKWITH and DUVALL June 2010: Crime news item for SMITH Feb 2010: EDWARDS biography; MANNAR obit Aug 2009: DYER death notice Apr 2009: Slavery, Miscellaneous, Legal Notices, obits Newspaper items Jan 2008: Marriage notice for WHEELAN-PRICE Nov 2007: 1 bio for Richard Bowie Oct. 2007: 1795-1800 Marriages May 2007: Cities and Towns; Cemeteries; Obit; Marriage notices; Murder story; wills for CLARK, HENDERSON Surrounding Counties Carroll County (north) Frederick County (northwest) Howard County (north) Prince George's County (east) Washington, D.C. (south) Loudoun County, Virginia (west) Fairfax County, Virginia (southwest) Copyright © Genealogy Trails All data on this website is Copyright by Genealogy Trails with full rights reserved for original submitters.