Abstracts of the Debt Books of the Provincial Land Office of Maryland: Baltimore County. Volume I

Description

The Provincial Land Office of Maryland was responsible for the dispensing of land from 1634 to 1777. Land was initially acquired by a warrant and was then patented. Information concerning these documents is found in the Warrants and Patents series of the Provincial Land Office.

Following a weakening of Maryland’s Lord Proprietor’s hold on land affairs during the period 1689 to 1715, his proprietary rights were restored. The Proprietor’s Rent Rolls and the Debt Books were the means by which he kept track of the yearly rents he was entitled to. The Debt Books, in particular, consist of a list of persons owning land with the names and rents of each tract that he or she owned. The surviving Debt Books are arranged by county, by year, and then by the name of the person paying the rent.

Since 2013 distinguished Maryland genealogist Vernon. L. Skinner has painstakingly abstracted the contents of all extant Debt Books, county by county. This volume is the first of five volumes pertaining to Baltimore County. It spans the period 1750-1756, with breaks for 1751-1753. Skinner presents the contents of the Debt Books in tabular form: liber and folio citation, with any pertinent date; name of the person paying the taxes; and name of the tract of land and amount of acreage.