You have only to say the word “Picton,” and genealogists in the know will realize that you’re talking about a very important resource in Maine genealogy. Under its various imprints, Picton Press of Rockport has been publishing and republishing books that are vital to the research we do.

Vital, certainly, in terms of vital records. If you’re wondering whether a town’s births, marriages and deaths have been published, you’d do well to check Picton first. For example, the company recently issued Angela Foster’s “Corinna, Maine Vital Records of 1797-1894,” a 266-page book available for $22.50 plus shipping. You’ll find surnames such as Burrill, Crowell, Dearborn, Fisher, Given, Hayden and Hilton in good numbers.

Town by town by city, Picton is performing an immeasurably important service by publishing

vital records so that they are not only preserved, but available.

But I give even higher marks to Picton for its joint projects with the Maine Genealogical Society. For years, the press has been publishing “special publications” for the society from “The Probate Records of Lincoln County, Maine 1760 to 1800” to marriage returns of counties such as York, Washington, Oxford and Penobscot.

The premier joint project, in my view, is the “Maine Families in 1790” series, which has now reached eight volumes.

I have the first five books in the series, have just purchased Vol. 6, and have ordered Vols. 7 and 8 – because I consider them essential to the library of someone who has primarily Maine ancestry. Compiled from entries submitted largely by society members, each book contains hundreds of families, each family based on one of the heads of household in the 1790 census.

As we know, the head of household was the only person listed by name in that first census conducted across the country. With each book published in the series, Picton and Maine Genealogical Society work together to, in effect, reconstitute another portion of the state’s population in 1790.

In Vol. 6, we find entries for heads of household such as Nathaniel Bennett of New Gloucester and Guilford; Obed Emery of Biddeford; John Gould of Kittery and Falmouth; William Haskell of Westbrook and Portland; John Hathorn of Woolwich; Lydia (Hutton) Lake of North Yarmouth; Jeremiah Libbey of Berwick; and Asa Redington of Waterville.

Many of these people were born in other states (or countries). Moreover, each entry contains information on the head of household’s parentage, spouse, children and children’s spouses.

Because the entries are compiled information they are secondary resources. And yet, I consider them very reliable, because, 1: The sources for the various tidbits of information are listed, and 2: The volumes are well edited by some of the most capable genealogists I know, from Ruth Gray for Vol. 1 to Joseph Crook Anderson II for later volumes.

If you have Maine ancestry, you may want to consider starting your own collection of the Maine Families series – or at the very least, finding out where they are located at a handy library.

A free catalog from Picton Press is both a good buying guide and a way to know “what’s out there” in terms of vital records and other genealogical resources.

You may write Picton Press at P.O. Box 250, Rockport 04856. Or check out the Web site at www.pictonpress.com. Note that the page for the Corinna book contains a link to the Every Name Index Project for the book – very handy.

Keep your eye out in bookstores for Picton books, many of them in familiar green bindings. And of course, you should get a copy of the 1790 census for Maine itself, still in print by Picton. I keep a copy of this book at home and one at work.

You also can order Picton books by phone at (207) 236-6565. If you are a member of the Maine Genealogical Sociey, keep at hand your membership number so that you will get the discount on books that are “special publications” of Picton and MGS.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail to familyti

@bangordailynews.net.