The Orphans Court of Worcester County, Maryland, began business in August of 1777 at the County Seat, Snow Hill. Its purpose was to judge all matters concerning guardianships, apprenticeships, indentures, and probate of estates where minors were involved. Many times these records include genealogical information not found elsewhere. This volume covers 1816-1832. Notes on the libres covering this period were taken from the originals at the Hall of Records in Annapolis. These are listed under Worcester County Register of Wills (Orphans Court Proceedings) MSA C 2033 in the Archives County indexes. All spellings are as they appear in the original volumes. For those doing African American genealogy, the author has included indexes to free Blacks and slaves, with and without surnames. Be sure to also check the names you are researching in the general index as there are several cases where it appears that Blacks were not identified as such in the text. These records provide a great source of genealogical information. Now, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Heise, these abstracts are available to help those doing research in this sometimes difficult period.