Browse the Database
Items Dated Between and 1659
Nabb Center Map Collections
by Unknown (1500 – 1900s)
folders ( linear feet)
This finding aid includes listings for nearly all of the maps in the Nabb Center archives. Many maps are originals, but a significant portion are reproductions. The majority of the maps relate to the Delmarva Peninsula, though there are many other American and international maps from throughout time. Each map was given an identifier and title; descriptions, dates, and present location are recorded when possible. Maps may be part of other collections and are referenced here. Please refer to the inventory for a complete listing of the map collection.
Purnell Family Collection
by Purnell, Willard (1520 – 1944)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Purnell Family Collection contains genealogical information on the Purnell family. Included in the collection is a Purnell family migration map, a Purnell pedigree chart, and information on the Purnell family coat of arms.
Joseph Shores Collection
by Shores, Joseph (1521 – 1999)
5 boxes (2 linear feet)
In 2009, Joseph Shores collected material relating to the family history of a large number of families living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. While the collection primarily consists of handwritten notes, there are also family trees, official documents, tax records, marriage records, censuses, correspondences, maps, and military records. Also included are research papers, a Historical American Buildings Survey Inventory, currency collections, a Somerset County Historical Society correspondence, and other miscellaneous items. All are reproductions.
Judge Lloyd Simpkins collection
by Simpkins, Lloyd (1524 – 1774)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Judge Lloyd Simpkins Collection contains a copy of the Captain John Smith map of the Chesapeake Bay in the early 1600s. Also included are two essays written by Judge Lloyd Simpkins. One is titled "Lower Delmarva's First Explorer" which discusses Captain John Smith, and "Somerset County 1500-1700", which discusses the history of Somerset County from 1524 to 1774.
Murray Family Genealogy
by Unknown (1525 – 1764)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Murray Family Genealogy contains genealogical information on the Murray family. The collection contains genealogy pedigrees, which includes the birth and death dates of Murray family members, along with who their children or parents are.
Betty Murrell Collection
by Murrell, Betty (1550 – 1986)
4 folders (0.04 linear feet)
The genealogies of several families are explored in this collection including the Willey, Wallace, Hargrave, Kfoury, Medford, Manlove, Bailey and others. Within the collection, there are land deeds, wills of people who had died, coat of arms for families that originated in England, and baptism records. All these families are able to trace ancestors to Accomack County, Somerset County, and Dorchester County.
Walter Wilson Genealogy Research Collection
by Walter, Wilson B. III (1595 – 1866)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Walter Wilson Genealogy Research Collection contains genealogical pedigrees on local Delmarva people . Some of the genealogical pedigrees included are on Mary Meacham, Walter Byrd Wilson I, Samuel French Moore, etc. There is also a small biography on John Byrd and how he was shot by a yankee soldier in Byrds Tavern.
Bevans Family Collection
by Bevans, Roland (1600 – 1901)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
Information on the Bevans family.
Dioce Land Record Collection
by Unknown (1600 – 1800)
1 oversize box (2.5 linear feet)
This collection contains many original documents from the 17th, 18th, and 19th century. It is made up of various indentures, copy of wills, and accounts relating to Sussex County, Delaware (Purnell Family), Worcester County, MD (Franklin Family), and Somerset County.
Gloria Horner collection
by Horner, Gloria Waters (1600s)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Gloria Horner collection contains a Salisbury State College essay titled "Settlement of Somerset County", written by Gloria Waters Horner. The essay covers European settling within Somerset County in the 17th century. There are also a series of photographs of Waters family members.
Malissa Small collection
by Unknown (1600, 1900s)
3 folders (0.03 linear feet)
This genealogical collection covers the family history of Malissa Small. Several families are focused within the collection such as the Gray, Seabreeze, and Tarr families. The material has a large focus on marriages through public marriage documents and news paper clippings. There are also wills of many members of Malissa Small's family.
Richard W. Cooper papers
by Cooper, Richard Waller (1605 – 2001)
18 boxes, 2 oversize folders (12.5 linear feet)
The Richard Cooper papers document his professional and personal activities through his collection of materials dating from 1605 to 2001. The documents focus on the religious and political histories of Wicomico and Worcester County as well as the history of the Mason-Dixon Boundary Line depicted through Cooper’s column in the Daily Times. The papers also document the topographic history of Delmarva through Cooper’s career as an engineering surveyor. Documents from his surveying career and interests include topographic maps, survey certificates, land deeds, and plats. A photograph album documents the construction of his family home at 611 Tony Tank Lane in Salisbury, Maryland. Materials within the collection include newspaper clippings, photographs, family histories, and correspondence. Drafts and manuscripts of Cooper’s published works on the history of Salisbury, Profile of a Colonial Community, Salisbury in Times Gone By, and Portrait of Salisbury are contained within the collection.
Eastern Shore Brochure and Pamphlet Collection
by Unknown (1609 – 2010)
9 boxes (9 linear feet)
This Collection consists of Brochures and Booklets primarily pertaining to the Eastern Shore. Overall its central focus is Maryland/Delmarva. The Date Range of the Collection is 1609-2010.
Frederick L. Howard Collection
by Howard, Fredrick L. (1613 – 1911)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Frederick L. Howard Collection contains an essay written by Howard titled, "The Legacy of Revell's Neck." This essay, which won the Old Home Prize Essay contest in 1978, discusses the settling and founding of Revell's Neck in Somerset County, Maryland. It then discusses a brief history of the area and ends with birth and death dates of people who had lived there.
DuPont Family Collection
by DuPont, Dolores L. (1621 – 1995)
11 folders (0.11 linear feet)
The DuPont Family Collection contains genealogical information on the DuPont family conducted by Dolores L. DuPont. Included is her application to become a member of The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maryland, an article resulting from her investigation into the location of the grave of Gov. Samuel Stevens, Jr. (1778-1860), research on her great-great grandfather Dr. John Barnett (1780-1858), information on Dr. Nathaniel Potter, brother-in-law of Barnett (both married Golsborough's, Potter Sarah F. and Barnett Catherine), the property "Boston", the descendants of William Burgess (1622-1685) and the Marada movie house of St. Michael's. Photographs of the Custis tombs in Northampton, VA are also part of the collection.
Eastern Shore Counties collection
by Ellegood, Maria Louise; Fenwick, Charles E.; Hall, Elizabeth (1625 – 1967)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Eastern Shore Counties collection contains a copy of the "Eastern Shoreman" which highlights the start of the oyster season. Additionally, this collection contains a copy of the "Holly Leaf" from November 3, 1967, a sketch of the early history of Wicomico County written by Maria Louise Ellegood, a souvenir pamphlet from Crisfield that details some of the areas unknown history written by Elizabeth Hall, and a history of St. Mary's County written by Charles E. Fenwick.
Laws Family Collection
by Unknown (1625 – 1960)
4 folders, 1 oversize folder (2.54 linear feet)
The Laws Family collection contains genealogical information on the Laws Family. There are genealogical descriptions of Laws family members, with a birth, death, and marriage date. There are also bibliographic information for some of the more prominent family members. There are also photographs of family members, and the places they lived. The majority of the Laws family members on the Eastern Shore lived in Accomack County, Virginia, Somerset, Worcester, and Wicomico County, Maryland. There is also a Daughters of the Revolution application within for Mary Balle Hastings Holland, who descended from William Laws (1753-1831).
Massey Estate Collection
by Massey Family (1627 – 2000)
3 cartons (3 linear feet)
This collection consists of family research about the Massey family and other families on the Lower Eastern Shore. The collection contains copies of original wills, estate inventories, family trees, and related materials. All of the original documents in this collection are photocopies, print-outs, or photostats unless otherwise indicated.
Vance Bradford Collection
by Bradford, Vance (1630 – 1930)
5 folders (0.05 linear feet)
The Vance Bradford Collection is based on the genealogical research of the Bradford Family. Vance Bradford did this research to publish a book over the family history of the Bradford's. This collection covers twenty years of research that involved correspondence, a "Bradford Descendants" newsletter, census indexes, lineage graphs, and descendant questionnaires. There are passages of the Bradford family book within this collection.
Phillips, Cooper, Roberts Families collection
by Unknown (1634 – 1992)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Phillips, Cooper, Roberts Family History Collection contains photographs and genealogical information on the Phillips, Cooper, and Roberts families. Included are three pictures of the Cooper family with corresponding birth and death dates. The collection also contains family reunion pamphlets, an invitation and picture of Aunt Blossom's 95th birthday party, a marriage certificate, and postcards. There is also genealogical biographies for the three families.
Carol Atkins Sherr Collection
by Sherr, Carol Atkins (1636 – 1949)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
This collection contains genealogical information on the Atkins Family. It includes where Atkins members were born, who they were married to, where they were married, how many children they had, and where they moved to. There is also legal information about the members, such as foreclosures, and family members suing each other.
Silverthorne Family Collection
by Silverthorne Family (1636 – 1991)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Silverthorne Family Collection contains an in-depth genealogical history of the Silverthorne family. There are multiple family trees within the collection, and volumes 12-14 of their family newsletter. There are birth, death, and marriage dates within the collection. There are details as to why there are Silverthorne family members in the Midwest. The earliest member of the family mention is William Silverthorne who was born in 1636 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Maryland Executions Collection
by Unknown (1638 – 1961)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
This collection contains a list of Maryland executions dating from 1638 to 1961. Data includes races, name, age, occupation, method and county.
Historical Society of Kent County Genealogical Collection
by Bell, Albert D. (1639 – 1948)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
This collection contains genealogical material on the Layton, Bell and Hollis families. This includes a manuscript by Albert D. Bell entitled Hollis Notes, 1639-1948: From Public and Private Records in the States of Maryland and Delaware and a genealogical chart of some of the descendants of Captain Nathaniel and Sarah Bell. There is an oversized folder with the charts of the Washington and Bell families.
Polk Family History Collection
by Polk, John F. (1640 – 1918)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Polk Family History Collection contains genealogical information on the Polk Family. There is a family tree of the Polk family dating from 1640-1918 within Somerset County, Maryland. Within, there is a legal will, land patent, and a memoir by Esther Winder Polk Lowe (Enoch Louis Lowe) (1824-1918). All the documents have been transcribed by John F. Polk.
Riggin Family papers
by Riggin, Allan E.; Riggin, George F. (1640 – 1993)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Riggin Family Collection contains genealogical information about the Riggin family. Within is a detailed family tree constructed by Allan and George Riggin. The family tree starts with Riggin family members who originated in Ireland and immigrated to the Eastern Shore. There is also information regarding Riggin land records between Somerset, Sussex, Worcester, and Wicomico County.
Charles Chaille-Long collection
by Unknown (1645 – 1935)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
Letter of Charles Chaille-Long was written from Charles in 1912. Additionally, there is genealogical information on the Long family, going through Charles Chaille-Long. The genealogical letter to the editor was to correct misinformation regarding the lineage of the Long family.
Thomas Crockett Book
by Crockett, Thomas (1650 – 1894)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Thomas Crockett Book contains two copies of the book titled "History of Tangier Island" written by Thomas Crockett. The book contains a history of Tangier Island from its founding to 1984.
Pemberton Historical Park Collection
by Unknown (1989)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Pemberton Historical Park Collection contains a 1984 pamphlet over Pemberton Historical Park. Also included is a brief history of the Pemberton family from 1651-1753.
Anne B. Nock collection
by Nock, Anne B.; Nock, Floyd (1652 – 1998)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The Anne B. Nock collection contains three essays on Onancock, Virginia, and William Claiborne. The essays included are "Vaux Hall: Accomack County, Virginia: 1652-1972", written by Floyd Nock, "A Walk through History with William Claiborne", and "Onancock, Virginia: Child of the Bay", written by Anne B. Nock. The collection also contains various restorations, physical mapping, and history of Vaux Hall, one of the oldest settlements in Accomack County, Virginia.
Nestor Bleech collection
by Unknown (1655 – 1890)
1 folder (0.01 linear feet)
The collection of Nestor Bleech contains sepia-toned photographic images from the late 1880s of Northampton County, Virginia as well as a 1655 printing of the 'Virginia and Maryland. OR, The Lord Baltimore's Printed Case, uncased and answered,' that includes arguments made against Baltimore's Maryland claim.
Henry Fillmore Lankford Papers
by Lankford, Henry Fillmore (1659 – 1920)
3 folders (0.3 linear feet)
The Henry Fillmore Lankford papers consist of wills and genealogical information kept by Lankford, an attorney in Somerset County, Maryland, between 1909 and 1920. The wills primarily document Somerset and Northampton County families in the 17th and 18th centuries. Also included are two oversize items: a 1911 issue of "The Canned Good Trade" and a circa 1911 advertisement for Chevrolet automobiles.