The geographic areas of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia are in the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical province of Baltimore which includes the Archdiocese of Baltimore (Maryland) and Diocese of Wilmington (Delaware) and Dioceses of Arlington and Richmond (Virginia) and Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston (West Virginia).   There are 5 Maryland counties (Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's Counties in the state of Maryland) which are included in the Archdiocese of Washington, District of Columbia.
   The Archdiocese of the United States Military is also in Maryland.
    See also the Eastern Catholic information and links.

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Genealogical Research of Catholic Ancestors
Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia
United States Military Archdiocese
Online web sites found for the Archdiocese and Dioceses are below:

•     For Byzantine Catholic Eparchies click HERE
• U.S. Catholic Conference
         3211 Fourth Street - N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1194
          Phone: (202) 541-3000.
• Dioceses
• The Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland   [est. 1789, Archdiocese, 1808¹]
    Chancery:  320 Cathedral St. - Baltimore, MD  21201
    Chancellor - Baltimore, MD (410) 547-5446    E-mail: chancery@archbalt.org

• Archdiocesan Archives - Information
• Associated Archives at St. Mary's
•   Address:  St. Mary's Seminary and University
                   5400 Roland Ave. - Baltimore, MD 21210-1994
                   Phone:  (410) 864-4000
  
  
Pope Pius VI chose Baltimore as the location for the first Catholic Diocese in the United States, and appointed  Fr. John Carroll, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland to serve as the first Catholic Bishop on November 6, 1789.³   This Diocese encompassed all of the United States until 1808 when the Dioceses of Boston, Bardstown, and Philadelphia were established. Baltimore was also the first archdiocese in the United States, with metropolitan authority over other dioceses until 1846.  From 1822 until 1841 the Archbishop of Baltimore also administered the Diocese of Richmond.⁵
• Timeline History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
• History of People, Places and Things associated with the Archdiocese
• History of the Catholic Church
  
• Parishes of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland
"...On November 6, 1789, Pope Pius VI appointed Fr. John Carroll of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the first Catholic bishop in the United States and selected Baltimore as the seat of the first diocese..."³
• Archdiocese of Baltimore Parish Directory and Map by County
  
• Archdiocese of Baltimore Parish List alphabetical by name
• St John Roman Catholic Church
              43 Monroe Street Westminster, MD 21157.
• Directory of Priests
• Ordination Dates of Diocesan Priests
• Priests Necrology
• Communities of Religious Men in the Archdiocese of Baltimore
• Communities of Religious Women in the Archdiocese of Baltimore
• Deacons Directory
• Archdiocesan Cemeteries
  
• Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary - "...Mount St. Mary's Seminary is the second-oldest Catholic theologate in the United States. Mount St. Mary's was founded in 1808 by Father John DuBois..."
Click HERE to go to the Archdiocese of Washington, District of Columbia for Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's Counties in Maryland.
• Washington Chancery
5001 Eastern Avenue - P.O. Box 29260 - Washington, D.C. 20017.
Phone: (301) 853-3800.
•  United States Military Archdiocese
         P.O. Box 4469 - Washington, DC 20017-0469
         Phone: (301) 853-0400.
• U.S. Catholic Conference
         3211 Fourth Street - N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1194
          Phone: (202) 541-3000.
• Dioceses

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• Diocese of Wilmington (Delaware)  [est. 1868¹]
   Chancery:  P.O. Box 2030 - 1925 Delaware Ave. Suite 1A - Wilmington, DE 19899
                   Phone:  (302) 573-3100
The Diocese of Wilmington includes all the City of Wilmington and the Delaware Counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex in as well as the Counties of Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester in Maryland.
• Diocese of Wilmington Parish Directory
• Cathedral of St. Peter [est. in 1796] (New Castle County, DE)
   500 West Street - Wilmington, DE 19801
   Phone: (302) 654-5920    E-mail: stpeters5@aol.com
• Christ Our King Parish  (New Castle County, DE)
    28th and Madison Streets - Wilmington, DE 19802
    Phone: (302) 762-4140   E-mail:  cok@catholicparishes.org
• Resurrection Parish (New Castle County, DE)
   3000 Videre Drive - Skyline Ridge - Wilmington DE, 19808
   Phone: (302) 368-0146
• St. Joseph on the Brandywine Parish (New Castle County, DE)
   10 Old Church Road - Greenville, DE 19807  Phone: (302) 658-7017
   St. Joseph on the Brandywine Cemetery
• St. Mary of the Assumption Parish  (New Castle County, DE)
    7200 Lancaster Pike, P.O. Box 1240 - Hockessin, DE 19707-1240
    Phone: (302) 239-7100
   The Genealogy of a Church: St. Mary's Parish History - "... Throughout most of the Eighteenth century the Jesuits from "Bohemia," the mission in Warwick, Maryland, visited northern Delaware, serving the growing Catholic population in this area. Among the ten priests tending the White Clay Creek area during the years 1730 to 1790..."
• St. Nicholas Parish (Ukrainian Catholic, Byzanine Rite) (New Castle County, MD)
     800 Lea Boulevard - Wilmington DE, 19802  Phone: (302) 762-5511
    Within the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• St. Dennis Parish  - (Kent County, MD)
             P.O. Box 249 - Galena, MD 21635
             Phone: (410) 648-5145    E-mail:  stdennis@crosslink.net
   History of St. Dennis Parish
• Diocese of Wilmington Catholic Cemeteries (site under construction)

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• Diocese of Arlington  (Virginia)  [est. 1974¹] - Information
   Chancery:  Suite 704 - 200 N. Glebe Rd. - Arlington, VA  99501
• Diocese of Arlington News:Arlington Catholic Herald News.
• Parish Directory includes Byzantine Churches
• St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Parish - Parish History
   3304 N - Washington Blvd. - Arlington, VA  22201-4506

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• Diocese of Richmond  (Virginia) [est. 1820¹]

    Chancery:  811 Cathedral Pl. - Richmond, VA  23220
About the Diocese: ...The Catholic Diocese of Richmond encompasses all of the southern part of Virginia -- including the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The territory covers three-fifths of Virginia. On the east, borders stretch from the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean west to West Virginia and Kentucky; to the south, we border Tennessee and North Carolina, and extend north to the counties of Northern Virginia that comprise the Catholic Diocese of Arlington....
History of the Diocese of Richmond, by F. Joseph Magri, from The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII, 1912, by Robert Appleton Company, Online Edition, 1999 by Kevin Knight.  - When originally established, on 11 July, 1820, the Diocese of Richmond encompassed the State of Virginia, excepting the Counties of Accomac and Northampton (Diocese of Wilmington); and Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig (partly), Dickinson, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Montgomery, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe (Diocese of Wheeling); and in the State of West Virginia, the Counties of Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan, and Pendleton...It embraces 31,518 square miles in Virginia and 3290 square miles in West Virginia. Originally it included also the territory of the present Diocese of Wheeling, created 23 July, 1850...
• Diocese of Richmond Parish Directory

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• Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston  (West Virginia)  [est. 1850¹]
   Chancery:  1300 Byron St. - P.O. Box 230 - Wheeling, WV  26003
• Parishes & Map  - History

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Washington Chancery
       5001 Eastern Avenue - P.O. Box 29260 - Washington, D.C. 20017.
       Phone: (301) 853-3800.
•  United States Military Archdiocese
         P.O. Box 4469 - Washington, DC 20017-0469
         Phone: (301) 853-0400.
• Catholic Chaplain's Monument at Arlington National Cemetery

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Byzantine Catholic
• The Apostolic Exarchate Armenian-Rite for the U.S. & Canada  in New York  (Venerable Exarch.: Hovhannes Terzakian, 1995)

Address: 110 East, 12th Street - New York, NY 10003 U.S.A.  Ph: (212) 477-2030
 
• Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark of the Syrians: Syriac Catholic Diocese for Syrians in the U. S. and Canada (Chorbishop Joseph Younan appointed as the first Bishop of this diocese in 1995)
   P.O. Box 8366 - Union City, NJ 07087-8262
 
• Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Ruthenian) Unofficial Site includes parish directory (AL, AR, KY, LA, MS, OH, OK, west PA, TX, WV)
History of Byzantine-Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church)
An Unofficial U.S.A. Parish directory
• Eparchy of Passaic, NJ  (CT, FL, GA, MA, MD, NJ, NY, NC, east PA, VA)
• Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel or This link
       96 First Street - Passaic, New Jersey 07055
• Other Sites of Interest
• The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in L'viv, Ukraine (in English)
      Chancery:  Ukraine
                      79000 m. Lviv
                      Ploscha sv. Yura, 5
                      UGCC - Zvernenya
• History of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
• Structure and Territory
• Religious Information Service of Ukraine
• The Greek Catholic Church in the Ukraine
• The Roman Catholic Church in the Ukraine
• The Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches of Ukraine
• Greek Catholics, Latin Catholics and Orthodox in Ukraine: Who’s who?
• The Eparchy of Newton (Melkite) - [Est. 1966]
• Diocesan Offices: 19 Dartmouth Street, West Newton, MA 02165
  Parishes and Geographic Locations
  The Role of Eastern Catholics
  Who are The Melkites?
• Holy Transfiguration, 8501 Lewinsville Road, McLean, VA 22102
• What Eastern Christians believe
History Part I - Who are the Melkites?
History Part II - The Rise of Christian Antioch
History Part III - The Decline of Antioch
History Part IV - Antioch and Rome
History Part V - The Dilemma of and Union Under...Cyril VI
History Part VI - Progress Under and Witness of ...Maximos III
Top Ten List - FAQs
• For more information on the Byzantine Catholic Churches in the United States Click here to return to Main Local Catholic Byzantine Links
  The Byzantine Catholic Church in America (unofficial)
 
• Go to Washington, District of Columbia for Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's Counties in Maryland.
• Archdiocese of Washington D. C. (Official) [est. 1939¹]
   Chancery:  P.O. Box 29260 - Washington, D. C.  20017
•  History
• Parish Directory (including: Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's Counties in the state of Maryland)

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Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia Maryland, home to the Conoy Indians, was the location of the English settlement of Lord Baltimore's Maryland.  It began with the arrival of the passengers who had set sail on the Ark and the Dove from the Isle of Wight on November 22, 1633. They landed at St. Clement's Island in the Potomac River on the southwestern side of present-day St. Mary's County on March 25, 1634. The date is commemorated annually as Maryland Day.

St. Mary's, the first Maryland county, was established in 1637, probably by an order of the Governor. The County was named in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
 

• Timeline History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
• History of People, Places and Things associated with the Archdiocese
• History of the Catholic Church - Baltimore Archdiocese
  

• Archdiocese of Baltimore History (Catholic Encylopedia, 1907)
• St. Mary of the Assumption Parish  (New Castle County, DE)
    7200 Lancaster Pike, P.O. Box 1240 - Hockessin, DE 19707-1240
    Phone: (302) 239-7100
   The Genealogy of a Church: St. Mary's Parish History - "... Throughout most of the Eighteenth century the Jesuits from "Bohemia," the mission in Warwick, Maryland, visited northern Delaware, serving the growing Catholic population in this area. Among the ten priests tending the White Clay Creek area during the years 1730 to 1790..."
• History of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
• Archdiocese of Washington D. C. History - Jesuit Father Andrew White celebrated the first mass in the colonies in St. Mary's County in 1634 & St. Francis Xavier parish in Newtowne dates to 1640 with it's church being the oldest Catholic Church in the original 13 Colonies - dating to 1731...
• St. Charles Church History (Arlington, VA) They are collecting parish history, let them know if you can help...
• Early Immigration to Maryland in the Colonial Era: St. Mary's City
• St. Mary's City: Maryland's First Capital (1634-1695) founded as Catholic Colony by Lord Baltimore
• British Colonial Penal Laws against public Catholic Church  (1704-American Revolution): St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia, PA and St. Francis Xavier in Newtown, MD were unique exceptions.
• Maryland Catholics on the Frontier, for descendants of Maryland Catholics who migrated Westward, created and managed by Edward Hayden.
• Maryland State Archives
• Maryland State Archives Vital Records Information & availability

• Passengers of the "Ark" and the "Dove" from "Register of Maryland's

Heraldic Families," by Alice Norris Parran (1938)
• Margaret Brent (born ca 1601), Governor Calvert named her his sole Exequtrix, presenting her with the challenge of resolving the crisis of the Protestant revolt against the Catholics of MD...
• Biographies of the Bishops of Baltimore
• Father John Carroll appointed first Bishop of Baltimore (1789) was the seat of the first diocese in the United States following the American Revolution.
• Bishop John Carroll (born at Upper Marlboro, MD, 8 Jan, 1735; died in Baltimore, 3 Dec, 1815), "...First bishop of the hierarchy of the United States of America, first Bishop and Archbishop of Baltimore,. His father, Daniel, born in Ireland..."
• Charles Carroll of Carrollton : On the 18th of July he signed the Declaration of Independence.  "...American statesman, b. at Annapolis, Maryland, 19 September 1737, d. at Doughoregan manor near Baltimore, Maryland, 14 November, 1832...His grandfather, Charles Carroll, emigrated from England to Maryland because of the persecution of Catholics, 1 October 1688...In 1774, Carroll was elected with six others by the citizens of Anne Arundel County and of Annapolis, with full power to represent them in the provincial convention. Catholics had been disfranchised and declared ineligible to a seat in the Assembly, but by this act the prejudice against them was swept away.  Carroll was from this time for a period of twenty-seven years called to important public service in behalf of the colony and for the general government..."
• A Biography of Daniel Carroll, ( born ca. 1730, in Upper Marlboro, MD), by National Archives and Records Administration's Founding Fathers page, "Elected to the Continental Congress that year, he carried to Philadelphia the news that Maryland was at last ready to accede to the Articles of Confederation, to which he soon penned his name....Daniel's older brother was John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States..."
• Daniel Carroll (born 1733, in Upper Marlboro, MD - died at Washington in 1829)
• The History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (MD) includes Biographies of the Bishops
• Thomas Joseph Toolen - born 1886 in Baltimore, Maryland
• James Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921) - 9th Archbishop of Baltimore.
• Maryland Catholics on the Frontier, by Timothy O'Rourke - Descendants of Maryland Catholics
• Locate Catholic Churches and Mass Times in the United States

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• Official State of Maryland Home Page
 
• Maryland Counties
• Maryland State Archives
   350 Rowe Boulevard - Annapolis, MD 21401
• Maryland State Archives
• All About Maryland
  • Roman Catholic Church Records at the Maryland State Archives
  • Maryland State Archives Vital Records Information & availability
• Maryland County Historical Society (MD)
• U.S. Army Military District of Washington Fact Sheet Log with biographies, histories and more.
• Armed Services Chaplaincy Home Pages
• State of Delaware (Official)
• Delaware State Government: http://www.state.de.us/
• Delaware Facts and History
• Delaware Public Archives: Research Room!
• Guide to Delaware Vital Records.
• Delaware Division of Libraries.
• Historical Society of Delaware.
   505 Market Street - Wilmington,DE 19801   Phone: (302) 655-7161.
• Delaware Genealogical Society
• Delaware Tourism.
• State of Virginia (official)
• Virginia Center for Digital History
 
• Laws on Religion (1606-1660) & Laws on Religion (1660-1699)
• Virtual Jamestown Links page
• Herschel H. Helm Jamestowne Collection of Virginia History
• State of West Virginia (official)
• West Virginia Birth and Death Certificates.
• Yahoo Get Local for Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia - Directory for locating local churches, cemeteries, addresses and information.

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Contact:  Webmaster

I am voluntarily creating this site as a helpful guide to researching the history of the local Catholic Churches and to help genealogists who are researching Catholic ancestors in this geographic area.
Though links to this page for Catholic Church, genealogical, historical research and non-profit use are encouraged, please do not download the page without requesting permission since it contains copyright protected material.
If you have a suggestion, find an error, or have a site that you believe will be helpful, please let me know.  --Ann Mensch

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Copyright 1998, 1999-2003 by Ann Mensch.  All Rights Reserved.

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References used include:
• 1990 Catholic Almanac.  Felician A. Foy, O.F. M. (Editor), Rose M. Avato (Associate Editor).  Huntington: Our Sunday Visitory Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
and
• 1998 Catholic Almanac.  Felician A. Foy, O.F. M. and Rose M. Avato (Editors and Compilers).  Huntington: Our Sunday Visitory Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
• ²New Advent, Inc.  From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913 by the Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright © 1997 by New Advent, Inc.  (A Catholic Web Site transcribing The Catholic Encyclopedia: an International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline and History of the Catholic Church.  Herbermann, Pace, et al. (Editors). Imprint:  Appleton (New York) 1907-1912.)
• ³The Archdiocese of Baltimore (Maryland). A Brief History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  URL : http://www.archbalt.org/history/history.htm
• ⁵ The Notre Dame Archives Guide 74.  Catholic Church. Archdiocese of Baltimore (Md.).  URL : http://classic.archives.nd.edu/findaids/html/guide/74.htm
• Notre Dame Archives.  Collections in the Archives.  URL :   http://classic.archives.nd.edu/findaids/html/guidecol.htm
• Information available online from the web sites for the Archdioceses, Dioceses, and Catholic Church.