Years ago, I took four young boys to Indian Island to see the gravestone marked with crossed bats, indicating the resting place of Louis Sockalexis, the Penobscot who played major league baseball and inspired the name of the Cleveland Indians.

He was the son of Francis P. and Frances (Sockabeson) Sockalexis. What do census records tell us?

The 1880 census of “Oldtown Island,” as transcribed by the Mormon church on its Web site, www.familysearch.org, lists Francis Socklexis (note the different spelling), 39; wife Frances, 36; daughter Soluice, 18; son Lewis, 7; daughter Mary, 6. All were NA, Native American, born in Maine to parents who were born in Maine. The information comes from page 563B of a census microfilm for Penobscot County.

By clicking on “previous household” or “next household” on the Web site, it’s possible to eventually view all of the Native American households in Oldtown. I came up with these surnames, which I’ve put in alphabetical order:

Andrew, Barker, Butte, Chandler, Classian, Coly, Dana, Dennis, Duff, Francis, Fransway, Gabriel, Gabril, Hamilton, Hubbard, John, Joseph, Ketcham, Lewis, Lewy, Lola, Loving, Lyon, Mitchell, Nelson, Neptune, Newell, Nichols, Nicola, Orson, Penewait, Polis, Prous, Ranco, Ray, Saul, Shay, Sock, Sockbasin, Sockbesin, Sockis, Socklexis, Solomon, Stevens, Susup, Swassian, Thebads, Tomer.

Obviously, some of these spellings depend on how you read the names on the census. “Loving” may be “Loring,” and Thebads may be Thebado (Thibodeau).

The 1900 census for Indian Island lists Francis Socklexis, 54, ferryman; Louis, son, 28, baseball player; Alice Penewate, daughter, 26; Thomas Penewate, son-in-law, 29; and Charles M. Swassian, half-brother to Francis, 36.

Accompanying the enumeration is Schedule No. 1 of “special inquiries,” asking the tribe of each person, and the tribe of each parent. Louis and his parents were Penobscot. Swassian, Francis’ half-brother, had a Passamaquoddy father and Penobscot mother, so he and Francis had the same mother.

In 1910, the head of household was Thomas Penewate, 43, living with Alice, 36, and children Frances, 9; Catherine, 7; and a baby girl not yet named. (Thomas seems to have aged 14 years rather than 10.) Also, “boarders” Charles Swassian, 47; and Louis Sockalexis, 38, laborer in the woods and river.

Louis’ Indian ancestry is listed as “full.” He died in 1913, so this was the last census where we find him.

I often get questions about finding an Indian connection several generations back. The thing is, a person who had but a small percentage of Indian ancestry may not have identified him- or herself as Indian on a census. Further, not everyone who has Indian ancestry is enrolled in a tribe.

Here’s another source on Indian ancestry, of particular interest to Mainers because of the Presque Isle-based Aroostook Band of Micmacs.

Visit the Web site of the Mi’kmaq Resource Center at http://mrc.uccb.ns.ca. The center is sponsored by the Mi’kmaq College Institute at Cape Breton University in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Click on “Censuses of the Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia 1871, 1881, 1891.” The listings are the product of a doctoral thesis, “Change in the Real Property Law of a Cape Breton Island Micmac Band, Volume 2,” by Daniel P. Strouthes, who was studying land tenure systems of the Mi’kmaqs in Cape Breton. The data came from the Public Archives of Canada in Ottawa.

Keep in mind that some tribal members did not live within the area surveyed. Many of them were listed as illiterate only because they didn’t speak English well, and census takers estimated ages in some cases.

An example of an 1871 listing: Adley, Sarah, Age 58, House, Can Read, Widow, Wagmatcook (Middle River, a Cape Breton Reserve.) These censuses reveal many surnames Mainers would find familiar: Francis, Gabriel, Nicholas, Paul, Sappier and Tomah, among them.

My question was whether Strouthes’ transcription would match up with the one by the Mormon church on 1881 Canada, which can be accessed at www.familysearch.org.

In Strouthes’ 1881 database, I found 2-year-old Libby Muse living in Pictou County Little Harbour. On the Mormon Web site, she is “Libbie Moose.”

The Penobscot Nation has a Web site at www.penobscotnation.org, and the Aroostook Band of Micmacs at www.micmac-nsn.gov.

The Upper Union River Historical Society will meet at 9 a.m., potluck at 11 a.m., Saturday, July 30, at Amherst Town Hall, Route 9. Lots of family history information will be available. For information, call Connee Jellison, 288-4887, or Ray Hanscom, 244-3816.

The Charlotte Historical Society will hold a free genealogy fair 9 a.m.-3 p.m. July 30 at Charlotte Town Hall, Route 214; lunch available from firemen’s auxiliary.

The descendants of John and Hannah (Hanson) Davis, who came to Garland from Lee, N.H., about 1833, will hold their 78th reunion noon-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at Kiwanis Park, Park Street, Dover-Foxcroft. Bring family history and pictures, picnic lunch, beverage, lawn chair and auction item. Baked beans will be provided.

The annual Herring reunion, for the descendants of Robert Herring, one of the earliest settlers of Guilford, will be held at noon Sunday, Aug. 14, at the camps of Robert and William Lander on Piper Pond, 17-19 Juanita Lane, Abbot. Bring a casserole or dessert. Grills will be available. A short business meeting will be held. For information, call 876-4204 or e-mail rlander@kynd.com

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