December 22, 2024
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Data sought on keepers at Burnt Island Light Station

You may be aware that the Burnt Island Light Station off Boothbay Harbor has become an educational resource under the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Elaine Jones, director of marine education, has been working on the history of the facility, and would be delighted to find information on three of the lighthouse keepers in particular:

. James Burke, 1890-1894.

. William L. Holbrook, 1894-1909.

. William A. Stetson, 1909-1930.

If you can help, write Elaine Jones, Department of Marine Resources, P.O. Box 8, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575.

If you are interested in Burnt Island, go to the state Web site at www.state.me.us and check out the station under the Department of Marine Resources.

It was wonderful to see 200 people attend the May 5 conference of the Maine Genealogical Society at Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden. Mark Sept. 29 on your calendar for the fall conference in Skowhegan. The keynote speaker will be David Dearborn from the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.

You’ve got to love the name of a new group formed in Hampden: The Friends of Hamlin – as in Hannibal Hamlin, first vice president under Abraham Lincoln.

The purpose of the group, explains Richard Newcomb, is to spread the history of Hamlin, to educate schoolchildren, to provide genealogical services on Civil War veterans, and to have group meetings on regiments and other topics.

To support this effort, Friends of Hamlin have just published “Riverside Park: 1898-1916,” a booklet about the Hampden attraction, that brought many visitors from Bangor via trolley. The 47-page booklet contains color reproductions of nine postcards, black-and-white copies of three, a history and reprints of programs and ads.

An ad for the June 19, 1911, performance promised “vaudeville deluxe” by William Herman’s The Merry MacGregors.

The booklet is available for $15.95, postage included, from Friends of Hamlin, 205 Western Ave., Hampden, ME 04444. For information, call 561-4109. Newcomb also is interested in hearing from Civil War re-enactment groups and other organizations.

Next month, with the sponsorship of Bangor Savings Bank, New England School of Communications, South Paris Historical Society, Northeast Historic Films and other groups, Friends of Hamlin will make available a video on the life of Hamlin. He was born in South Paris, died in Bangor and is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.

The Hancock County Genealogical Society will hold its next meeting at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Riverview Room at Ellsworth Public Library.

Sanford Phippen will speak about the newly released book in two volumes, “The Sun Never Sets on Hancock Point.”

Phippen, who grew up in Hancock, teaches English at Orono High School and has written several books. It is a bunch of fun to hear him speak.

The Washington County Genealogical Society will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Community of Christ Church on Beals Island, at the invitation of the Beals Historical Society. For information, call 853-6630 or 255-4432.

3101. DRISCOLL-ARBO. Looking for information on William Driscoll and Jessie Arbo. Presume they were parents of Annie Driscoll. All arrived in Houlton 1905-1910 from Canes River, New Brunswick; resided in Oakfield area in the 1920s. Robert P. Sawyer Jr., HCR 35, Box 97, Gouldsboro, ME 04607; telephone 963-2945; or e-mail rockyshore@acadia.net.

3102. GONYER-TREMBLAY. Seeking marriage date and place for my grandparents, Louis Philip Tremblay Sr., b. 1860, Rimouski, Quebec, and Harriet or Hattie (Gonyer/Gagne) Tremblay, b. 1870, Bangor. They had eight children. He d. 1948 in Old Town; she d. 1914 or 1915 in Bangor. He was a barber for many years, worked at Sam Harris’ barbershop on Main Street in Old Town. Harris L. Dunn Jr., 45 Elm St., Old Town, ME 04468.

3103. SARGENT-DELANO. Seeking burial place for Emily Sargent, possibly with her parents, Paul and Prudence Delano. Emily d. 1896, Searsport, but I haven’t found her grave in area cemeteries. Christina Graves, 203 Harlow Road, Dixmont, ME 04932; or telephone 257-4043; or e-mail graves@telplus.net.

3104. LOGAN-HENNESSEY. Seeking information about Sarah Jane Logan, b. about 1859, Bangor, daughter of James and Sarah (Sweeney) Logan, both from Ireland. Sarah had a brother, John, and sisters Mrs. John Shea and Catherine Wakeley, Mrs. Thomas Wakeley. Sarah md. 1st, James Sweeney of Bangor, had son William J. Sweeney. Md. 2nd, Michael R. Hennessey, b. about 1861, d. Sept. 30, 1935, Bangor. Michael was son of Michael Hennessey, b. Ireland, d. 1897, Bangor. His mother’s maiden name was Lynch, first name unknown, b. Ireland, d. 1894, Bangor. Daughter Agnes Hennessey b. Feb. 21, 1898, Bangor; d. Jan. 15, 1976, Bangor. Sarah d. Feb. 24, 1906, Bangor. Dale Mower, 185 Norfolk St., Bangor, ME 04401; or e-mail DWMower@aol.com.

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


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