Concrete firm’s Web site links to town maps

On the Web site of the Maine Old Cemetery Association, there is a most interesting link – to American Concrete Industries of Auburn and Bangor.

Perhaps you can guess why the link is there. As a manufacturer of cemetery vaults, among other items, the company has on its own site maps that show the locations of some cemeteries in a number of towns.

I checked Guilford, and sure enough, the site properly locates Elmwood Cemetery on one side of Route 15, and Lawn Cemetery on the other. The Guilford Center Cemetery is not listed, but of course that’s the oldest cemetery in town.

In Hampden, the map for Lakeview Cemetery, which I guess I’ve always thought of as the West Hampden cemetery, is located on the north side of Route 9, also called Western Avenue.

Lots of towns don’t have map links, but several do.

To find the MOCA site, enter www.rootsweb.com/~memo

ca/moca.htm, and click on the link to American Concrete Industries.

Make note of MOCA’s spring meeting, to begin with registration 8:30-9:15 a.m. Saturday, May 20, hosted by the Freeport Historical Society at Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Drive. The program will include presentations on “Historical Freeport” by the Freeport Historical Society, and on “Sociology of Cemeteries” by researcher Helen A. Shaw.

Bring a bag lunch for noontime. At 1 p.m., join Randall Wade Thomas for cemetery tours. Also, find out about “a modern day treasure hunt that could reinvigorate your group and interest others.” Doesn’t that sound intriguing?

Emily Quint is president of MOCA. If you plan to attend, please let her know by May 13 by e-mail, quint@tdstelme.com, or call her at 635-2231.

MOCA meetings draw a good attendance, and are just the place where you might find someone who has an idea where you might find that long-lost ancestor.

Here’s another nifty event. Check out Civil War Day 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society Building on East Main Street, also known as the old Observer building.

The event is sponsored by local chapters of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Membership information will be available for both organizations, and I can tell you that many of the members are quite knowledgeable about how to learn more about your Civil War ancestor.

DUVCW and SUVCW are national nonprofit patriotic organizations. To join DUVCW, you must be a girl age 8 or older who is a direct descendant of an honorably discharged Union Civil War veteran. The SUVCW has similar eligibility requirements for boys, but also has an auxiliary, which does not require you to be a descendant.

Civil War Day will feature speakers, displays and music, including people in Civil War- era dress. Members of the Wassebec Genealogical Society will also be on hand.

Light refreshments will be served. For information, call 564-3576 or 876-3073.

Happy 102nd birthday to Bessie Brannen Stockford, who spent most of the first nine decades of her life in her hometown of Oakfield.

She was the daughter of Willard and Laura (Laskey) Brannen, and had three children, eight grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren, with another due this month.

In 1994, she moved to Connecticut to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Dutton Jr. If you’d like to contact Bessie Stockford, write her at 202 Colony St., Stratford, CT 06615.

3361. PETERSON. Looking for relatives of the Peterson family who were descendants of Christian and Caroline Peterson who lived in Westbrook. Their children were: Charles, born in 1886; Julia, 1891; Jennie, 1895; Agnes, 1895; Lillian, 1897; Walter, 1900; and Edwina, 1906. Mildred Bennett, 519 New DunnTown Road, Wade, ME 04786, or mbennett@mfx.net.

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