This landmark of Maryland genealogy consists of a large number of meticulously researched articles which were designed, in part, to counter the "scurrilous" claim that Maryland was settled largely by convicts and indentured servants. It is as a compilation of family histories and source records that the work shines, however, for it is the embodiment of the very best in genealogical orthodoxy. Volume I contains seventy-five chapters, or articles, on a variety of subjects, among them articles on the passengers on the Ark and the Dove, the first Maryland settlers, muster rolls of colonial militia, original members of the Society of the Cincinnati in Maryland, the names of 1,000 early settlers in Maryland with their land surveys, Scotch exiles in Maryland, etc. Volume II consists entirely of genealogical sketches which carry over 100 Maryland families back to the immigrant ancestor. Profusely illustrated with coats of arms, photographs, and rare portraits!