Got a family surname for which you can’t find much information? Wish somebody would just make a start? Go ahead and do just that, and, who knows, other people may add to it.

Information has been a little sparse on the Welts family, but Melanie Bridge and Jennifer Bridge have made a great start.

You can view a notebook they have compiled, “Welts Family History,” at Guilford Memorial Library, the library I frequented as a student at Piscataquis Community High School.

Most Welts descendants in Maine appear to be descended from David Welts and Esther Howes, who were married Sept. 16, 1746, in Yarmouth, Mass.

Their son, John, also married a Howes, Rebecca, and they had children Anna, Rebecca, John, David, Amos and Enos Welts.

The line next came to Mercer, and then many descendants moved to Parkman.

This is where it gets confusing for me. The death certificate for my Julia Welts, who married Thomas Holbrook, says that her parents were Enos Welts and Hannah Lane.

But Mercer records show clearly that Hannah Lane was married to Amos Welts. The two names do sound alike. I would trust the marriage record more than the death certificate.

Thomas and Julia’s daughter, Susan D.W. Holbrook, married Gaylan Harrison Moore, and so she is my great-great-grandmother.

Another Holbrook daughter, Nellie, married a second cousin, James Parker Welts.

Suffice it to say that there are, as my dad would put it, a “little million” Welts descendants in Somerset and Piscataquis counties, even though the surname is not common.

The Welts project is a work in progress. I have some information to send along to Melanie, and you may do the same by writing her: Melanie Bridge, P.O. Box 134, Abbot, Maine 04406. She also will share information she has if you give specifics about your family connection.

By the way, Guilford Memorial Library has a nice collection of local histories, as well as family histories such as “A Genealogy of the McKusick Family.”

The volumes include histories of Barton’s Mills, Bethel, Buckfield, Clinton, Dover-Foxcroft, Dresden, Durham, Gorham, Greene, Hope, Lincoln, Monmouth and Wales, “Old Broad Bay and Waldoboro,” and Waterville.

Also: “Cumberland, Maine in Four Centuries,” “Of Brownville … and the Junction,” “The Milo Story,” “Onawa Revisited,” “Monson Academy Revisited,” and “Reflections of Early Ashland.”

In Dover-Foxcroft, the Thompson Free Library has an even larger collection in its own history room. The facility also has the Piscataquis Observer on microfilm.

One of my favorite summertime pursuits is visiting old booksellers – uh, make that sellers of old books.

There are more than 70 members of the Maine Antiquarian Booksellers, and you can pick up a directory from member shops.

Or check online at www.mainebooksellers.org. The Web site also has a link to the Maine Antique Dealers Directory.

For its June 16 meeting, the Hancock County Genealogical Society has scheduled a trip to the Black Mansion in Ellsworth. For information, call 359-2753.

3014. PATTERSON-TOMPKINS. Searching for information on my grandparents of Presque Isle: Charles Patterson and Nellie G. Tompkins, who md. Sept. 29, 1899. Nellie, who d. Jan. 23, 1970, was the daughter of Evard H. and Nancy (Wade) Tompkins, who md. July 26, 1874, Bridgewater. My mother, Hazel Mace Patterson, b. Feb. 8, 1903, was from Blaine. She md. my father, Chester Arthur Woodward, at Bangor, on Nov. 2, 1938. My mother d. Aug. 15, 1952, Jonesport. Donald C. Woodward, P.O. Box 13, Jonesport, Maine 04649; telephone 497-2828; or e-mail donaldch@gwi.net.

3015. NICHOLS-LYMBURNER. Looking for info on family of Samuel Nichols and wife Margaret Lymeburner, who md. about 1794. He was aboard brigantine Cutter, a privateer, in August 1780; head of household in Salem, Mass., 1790. In 1800, he is head of household in Penobscot, here in Maine, and probably died about 1825 in Brooksville. In 1828, Margaret wrote in her last will and testament, “fifthly, It is my will that should the above mentioned Samuel, Thomas & Abigail my children die without issue or lawful heirs the estate then remaining shall [advert?] and become the property of the children of Samuel Nichols [my husband deceased] which he had by his first wife and their heirs.” The executor was Capt. Joseph Gray. Chester E. Nichols Jr., RR1 Box 342, Harrington, Maine 04643; telephone 483-4642; or e-mail nichfarm@nemaine.com.

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