Records of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Frederick, Maryland 1746-1800

From the Introduction: The registers of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Frederick constitute a major source of vital records of that area in the 18th century. The original and a translation by E. W. Reinecke, in 1861, are held by the State Archives, Annapolis. A later translation was made by William J. Hinke in 1941, from which this book is primarily based. (Microfilm copies of the Hinke translation may be obtained from the Historical Society of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, Philip Schaff Library, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.)

Reinecke claimed to have devoted painstaken hours in the careful interpretation of these records, sometimes several hours on a single name. A brief screening of the original seems to bear this out. Nevertheless his translation is incomplete on two counts. He omits the names of the few black persons, freed blacks and slaves, contained in the original registers and he does not include the names of the god parents. In making the translations, Reinecke rearranged them in alphabetical groupings, losing the original sequence of entries. Thus it appears that the Hinke translation is to be preferred. Included in the Reinecke translation are death records that he found in loose papers, not included in the Hinke translation, and are included here. (These deaths records were also published in Western Maryland Genealogy, vol. 2, no. 4 Oct. 1986).

This useful resource includes baptism records, marriage records, death records, a full-name index, and “an index to negroes for whom only single names are given. (Those blacks with surnames are included in the regular index).” Over 8,000 names are contained herein.