Howard Mayo has several questions relating to the granite quarry in Frankfort. The first of them is, who were True Sanborn and Daniel Robertson of Frankfort in 1850?

“‘The History of Mt. Waldo, Frankfort, Maine’ by Ernestine ‘Pat’ Lewis provides early history up to 1838 and then jumps to 1882,” Mayo wrote. He has been researching the Frankfort Granite Co. through the John M. Mayo Co. letter books of 1848-56.

“Frankfort Maine 1774-1976” states: “The quarrying of this granite began as early as May 1836. In 1842 Mosquito Mountain under the management of Ellis and Mayo supplied the first rough stone for Fort Knox in Prospect.”

“According to a deed dated Aug. 31, 1839,” Mayo wrote, “John M. Mayo bought at auction the Frankfort Granite Co. for $2,455 and Charles Ellis, his brother-in-law, bought related property. Correspondence in the company letter books is from John M. Mayo in Boston to (among others) True Sanborn at the quarry in Frankfort, until Sanborn was killed in April 1850, then to his partner Daniel Robertson, who continued the quarry operations in Frankfort with the backing of John M. Mayo in Boston. Robertson presumably retired in 1854.

“It appears that the quarry was leased from Charles Ellis and John M. Mayo by True Sanborn and Daniel Robertson, then by Daniel Robertson & Co. Who were these quarry managers? When and where were they born? Where did they come from and when? Where did they live in Frankfort in 1850? Did they have families?

“Did they have an office and where? When and where did they die? Any photos of them, families, home, office? Their histories are missing, but they managed the quarry and we now have some new information 1848-1856. Can anyone add to this history of Frankfort?”

If you have information to share, contact Howard A. Mayo Jr., 2051 Log Cabin Road, York, PA 17404-1427. Send e-mail to hydrodynamicsltd@yahoo.com.

Surnames which are common can be difficult to trace, even when using census records that are indexed.

Families whose descendants are far-flung are also difficult, and time-consuming to research.

Combine those two factors, as you do with the Hill brothers who settled Machias, and you can see why Kathleen Nichols had her work cut out for her even though she was focusing on just one of those brothers, Daniel.

Nichols’ “Descendants of Daniel Hill and Elizabeth Holmes: From Maine, New Brunswick, & Westward,” published through Gateway Press in Baltimore, has 500 pages, with an “every name” index included.

Daniel Hill, who served in the Revolutionary War, was a pioneer settler of Machias and Calais. He was one of several children of Joseph Hill and Abigail (Libby) of Kittery and Biddeford. After Abigail died, Joseph and second wife, Amy (Johnson), had several children, including Daniel’s four half-brothers who also settled Down East.

Nichols and Gerald F. Gower of Raymond wrote about Joseph Hill’s families in “Lifting the Fog from The Hills of Machias,” for the August 2000 issue of The Maine Genealogist, published by the Maine Genealogical Society.

But Nichols’ focus in this book is Daniel and his descendants. Daniel and Elizabeth Holmes, who was born in Plymouth, Mass., had children Elizabeth, Daniel, Mary, Thomas, Joseph, Charlotte and William. Joseph died unmarried, but the other six had dozens of children.

Yakima, Wash.; Fredericton, New Brunswick; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Lowell, Mass.; Eureka, Calif.; Gorham, N.H.; Delawanna, N.J.; Minneapolis, Minn. – those Hills are everywhere.

But Nichols obviously did her homework in sourcing her book – the footnotes attest to that. Census records, vital records, gravestones and more back up her information.

The 518-page indexed book covers five generations, including female lines, plus names in the sixth generation. The price is $64, shipping included, from Kathleen Nichols, 1522 Puerto Vallarta Drive, San Jose, CA 95120.

Gerald Gower forwarded a review copy to me which includes wonderful pictures, such as the photograph of the westward-settling sons of Nehemiah Hill and Sarah (Baldwin) of Dumbarton, New Brunswick: Stillman, Wilson, Chipman, Willard, Franklin and Alfred.

At the request of Gower and Nichols, the review copy of the book will be given to Bangor Public Library.

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