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Jane Baldwin Cotton's Maryland Calendar of Wills is indisputably one of the greatest compilations in all of Maryland genealogy. Together these eight volumes encompass abstracts of 8,000 wills for colonial Maryland from 1635 (the earliest year of probate) down to 1743. The abstracts include the name of the testator, county of residence, dates of drawing and probate, names of wife, children, and legatees, references to the distribution of estates, and the names of overseers. Reference is made after each abstract to the original will book and page from which the abstract was taken. Each volume is a complete unit unto itself for the dates covered, and each is separately indexed for all names and places found in that volume. The references to just the names found in the eight indexes total over 30,000.

"All genealogists will welcome . . . Mrs. Cotton's admirable series."--The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XXIII, No. 2.

"No genealogical library is complete unless it has this series. A Must for all Maryland professional genealogists. Recommended without reservation."--George Ely Russell, Bulletin of the Maryland Genealogical Society, Volume IX, No. 1.