Gathering memories in small pieces

A couple of brief stories from my dad, Gayland Moore Jr. of Abbot, tell us something about the process of gathering family history from those who have been around longer than we have. The first explains how a job he had as a teen-ager influenced the U.S. Navy to assign him to duty on a landing craft, infantry, during World War II.

In ’42 or ’43, Elwyn Hayden sent me to the tractor driver, Coburn Roberts, and we tore that tractor all apart. I told them that in the Navy, they wrote it all down, and six weeks later they sent me to diesel school. I told Elwyn Hayden it was because of him I got to go to diesel school, and that’s why I was on an LCI.

The second is an incident on a Fourth of July in the 1930s at the Bennett farm near the Moosehorns in Abbot, a property later owned by the Vainio family. Ga was my dad’s great-grandmother, Mary (Cummings) Bennett Lord.

Ga was always flying around. She came out the side door carrying two strawberry pies. She came around the corner and one of the pies went into the rosebushes. She dug it all out and fed it to us kids.

The purpose of sharing these brief items is to illustrate the point that fleshing out the names and dates and places we record so carefully on charts doesn’t always require lengthy, planned interviews.

Keeping a bit of paper and a pencil nearby at all times can enable us to jot down that special memory we hear in a few seconds’ time from a family member or someone who knew our relatives or the places where they lived.

Insight, the newsletter of the Moosehead Historical Society, tells us that the Hamilton Family Reunion, for descendants of Elijah Hamilton Jr. 1788-1830s, and Elijah Hamilton Sr., 1759-1837, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Community House in Greenville. This includes descendants of Jason A. and Zelda (Meservey) Hamilton of Greenville. RSVP by July 15 to Kay Y. Johnson, 15 Acorn Lane, Scarborough, ME 04074; call 883-7122; or e-mail kyjohn@prodigy.net.

The Carriage House at the Moosehead Historical Society in Greenville is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday for reading and research. Guided tours of the Eveleth-Crafts-Sheridan House next door will be available during the summer.

The organization will mark its 40th anniversary with special activities June 2, July 14, Aug. 6 and Sept. 4. Stay tuned.

Join the Moosehead Historical Society and receive the newsletter by signing up for an individual membership, $5; family, $10; lifetime, $100. The address is P.O. Box 1116, Greenville, ME 04441.

The Mid-Coast Genealogy Group will meet at 7 p.m. April 24 at the LDS Church on Old County Road in Rockport. Mac Young of Belfast will talk about “the right way and the wrong way” to do genealogy research. He is working on a book on the Booth family. All are welcome. For information, contact Marlene Groves at 594-4293.

The Constance Hopkins Colony of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in Maine will meet for lunch at 11:30 a.m. April 27 at the Village Restaurant in Fort Fairfield.

After lunch, members and guests will visit the Friends Church on Route 1A for a program by Ruth and Art Mraz on the history of the church and the early Quaker settlement. Also of interest will be the early Haines Cemetery, recently restored by Katherine McKenney, a descendant of Quaker settlers Mary and Joseph Wingate Haines.

Colony director Roger Sprague will conduct a business meeting afterward and also will provide assistance to those wanting to get started on their research.

Lunch is $10, for lasagna or chicken tenders, and reservations are required by April 24. Call Sylvia Akeley at 493-4436.

The Gray Family Reunion will be held Aug. 18 at the Community Center in Brooksville. The family includes relatives of Andrew, John, Reuben, James, Samuel and Joshua, with connections to Capt. John Gray of Sheepscot, b. 1707 in York. He was the son of Robert Gray, and the grandson of George Gray of Scotland.

The theme of this year’s reunion is the creativity of the Grays. Participants are welcome to bring old family pictures or artwork. For information, contact Suzanne Gray Black, P.O. Box 135, Penobscot, ME 04476; call 326-4721; or send an e-mail to brownisue@Prexar.com.

3182. LANE-RUSH-FAULKNER. Looking for information on the Lanes that landed in Hingham, Mass., from England, then traveled to Maine towns of Fayette, Corinna, Lee and Sherman Mills. Also looking for Rush line from Stella Hanover, Germany to Benedicta; and for the Faulkners who came from Dublin, Ireland, to Weston. Would love to hear from anyone with information; I have information to share, also. Karen Lane Rush Faulkner, Box 154, Winn, ME 04495; e-mail tuffcat@telplus.net.

Send queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mails to familyti@bangordailynews.net