Under the terms of the charter of Maryland as granted by King Charles I of England, Lord Baltimore and his heirs were given all the land in the colony, with power to dispose of the land in any manner they deemed fit. A land office was set up to administer land grants and collect revenues. Settlers who applied for land grants had to pay fees at every step of the process as they obtained surveys, patents and titles. During those early days, the outer limits of Baltimore County stretched into unexplored territory. The deed records abstracted here-dating from 1659 to 1737-include lands that lie within present-day Baltimore City, Cecil and Harford Counties, and parts of Carroll, Anne Arundel, Howard and Kent Counties. Fourteen deed books were abstracted for this volume, which is divided into fourteen chapters. Each deed book spans a period of time ranging from two years to sixty-six years. The entries are more or less chronological, variations being due to the fact that transactions were often recorded in the books at some later date. A typical entry includes the date of transaction, names of grantors and grantees and their places of residence, acres of land involved and the names signed on the document. Other information is included when available, such as sales price, location of land, neighbors, chain of deed and landmarks. Spellings of names and places have been preserved in their original form, so the reader is encouraged to check all possible spellings of a name of interest. An every-name index assists the researcher.