Data sought on families with deaf members

A professor from Northeastern University in Boston is working on a study of 18th- and 19th-century families that have several members who are deaf. Similar studies already have been done for Martha’s Vineyard and for an area in southeastern New Hampshire.

Professor Harlan Lane would like to hear from people who have genealogical information, newspaper articles or other items on Maine families who have a high incidence of deafness.

Some of the families the university has identified so far include: Alden family, Camden; Allen, Hartford and Turner; Berry, Palmyra; Brown, Jay and Wilton; Campbell, Leeds; Curtiss, Leeds; Jack, Monroe; Jellison, Monroe; Kendall, Whitefield; Lovejoy, Sidney; Marr, North Washington; Mayo, Monroe; Nason, South Berwick; Randall, North Harpswell; Rowe, New Gloucester; Smith, New Sharon; and Wakefield, Gardiner.

The study hypothesizes that inheritance patterns and social organization are related.

“Maine fits in there somewhere, but we are not sure where,” Lane wrote. “There was reverse migration of people, both hearing and deaf, from the Vineyard to Maine. They probably brought with them the first pattern of inheritance, called recessive because hearing parents may have deaf children.

“At the same time, there were families in Maine with the other type of inheritance, called dominant because each generation of a family has deaf members.” A third category, he said, would be people who became deaf from an accident or illness.

The study seeks to answer such questions as which types predominated. Were there clusters of deaf people who chose to live near one another? What were the dominant kinds of social organization?

If you have information, contact professor Harlan Lane at the Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115; or e-mail Lane@neu.edu.

If you have access to the Internet, you probably have noticed that there are literally, countless sites on genealogy.

One of the most popular is www.cyndislist.com, which will connect you to a plethora of offerings. You may want to bookmark the ones you find the most helpful.

If you’re interested in message boards, you’ll find them for just about any surname you can think of. Although they usually involve brief questions and responses, the boards often can give you clues.

For instance, those looking up Washburns would check genforum.genealogy.com/washburn; or for the surname saucier, go to genforum.genealogy.com/saucier.

For Maine census records on line, David Young suggests www.rootsweb.com/~megenweb/census.

I also like censuslinks.com. In the case of the 1860 census for Aroostook County, you will find actual pictures of the census pages. An index tells you which pages pertain to the town you are seeking.

Some counties aren’t represented at all, and some have little more than the 1790 census, which is in libraries in book form. But you’ll also find locales such as Garland, 1810-1850; Kirkland (now Hudson), 1850-1880; West Old Town, 1860-1880; Sedgwick, 1850; and Morrill, 1860-1870.

If you had ancestors in Ohio, you’ll want to know about the 1913-1937 Ohio Death Certificate Index, available on the Internet at www.ohiohistory.org. The database is provided by the Ohio Historical Society, which also offers the Ohio Roster of Soldiers in the War of 1812.

3078. DeBECK. Seeking info on DeBeck family members, including siblings and children, for update of genealogy. My ancestor was Samuel, who was in Clifton and Eddington after 1774. Others in Maine were Ephraim, Frederick, George and Amariah, who were in Clifton, Corinth, Brewer and Bangor. Charles Frederick DeBeck, 13 Cianchette Ave., Pittsfield, ME 04967-1620; telephone 487-2426; or e-mail mcnoonan@mint.net.

3079. FERRIS-PERKINS. Looking for info on Margaret Ferris, b. Dec. 25, 1786, Grand Lake, Queens County, New Brunswick, daughter of John Ferris. Margaret md. Elisha Perkins Sr. at Grand Lake, May 13, 1813. Was she related to John and Mary (Stillwell) Ferris, whose daughter, Rebecca, married Isaac Porter Craft in Alexander? Deborah N. Cross, P.O. Box 385, Brooks, ME 04921.

3080. LITTLEFIELD-KINNEY. Ancestor John Littlefield’s death record says he was b. Frankfort, d. 1893, Hampden, age 85, son of Daniel and Susan (Kinney) Littlefield. Can anyone prove which Daniel Littlefield? Ancestry of Susan Kinney? Any help appreciated. Gloria Pickard, RFD 3, Box 130, Bangor, ME 04401.

Send queries with Maine connections to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail to familyti@bangordailynews.net. Full name and address of sender is required even if e-mail is used.