This s a compilation of some 16,000 marriages recorded from 1778 to 1800 in the church records on deposit at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore or the Hall of Records in Annapolis. Also included are a number of extant marriage license returns filed annually by ministers, showing which marriages they had performed by virtue of a license issued by the county clerks. In addition, this work includes the marriage licenses on file at certain county courts, especially Harford, Dorchester, and Allegany counties.