Cemetery group to hold meeting at Hartland school

One of the many neat things about the Maine Old Cemetery Association is the way its meetings give you a chance to visit towns – and cemeteries – throughout Maine.

This Saturday, July 21, come on along to the MOCA meeting at Hartland Consolidated School, 62 Elm St., on Route 151 in Hartland. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

The Hartland Historical Society, your host, will give an overview of Hartland at 9:30 a.m.

A most interesting presentation at 10 a.m., “Visiting Cemeteries with GPS,” will feature Harold Nelson, senior geodesist for the Maine Department of Transportation.

The business meeting is at 10:45 a.m. and lunch at noon. Bring a bag lunch if you haven’t already signed up for lunch.

Cemetery visits will be offered 1-3 p.m., and the Hartland Historical Society will be open.

The Maine Mayflower Society will meet Saturday, Aug. 4, at Verrillo’s Convention Center, 155 Riverside St., Exit 48, Portland.

The luncheon will start at noon, and the speaker will be Bud Warren from Maine First Boat. His topic will be the first oceangoing ship built in Maine that took would-be settlers from Popham back to England.

Also attending will be Mayflower Gov. Gen. Edward Delano Sullivan.

Luncheon is stuffed chicken, baked haddock or roast beef. Send $15 with meal choice to Maine Mayflower Society, c/o Carol Gagnon, 189 Blanchard Road, Cumberland 04021.

The Penobscot County Genealogical

Society, which usually meets in Bangor, will gather at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, at the Corinth Historical Society, 306 Main St.

Members and guests are looking forward to learning firsthand about the genealogical information and historical artifacts held by this group.

Those needing transportation should e-mail dale@mower-family.com or jdvandyke@adelphia.net.

The Sullivan-Sorrento Historical Society will present “Naval Engagements of the Revolution in the Penobscot Bay Area,” with historian Alvion Kimball of Orland, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, at the Sorrento Community Building on Route 185, East Side Road, Sorrento. All are welcome, and refreshments will be served.

Board members will vote on bylaws changes – one to add the office of assistant treasurer, and one to change the auditing process so that it is done by three members of the board, appointed by the president and approved by the board.

The Swedish Ancestors Picnic will be held at noon Sunday, July 22, with lunch, a short business meeting and socializing. Bill and Jane Macomber will be hosts at their home on Whetstone Pond in Abbot. Bring a picnic – punch and coffee will be provided. If you have a favorite dish or dessert to share, bring it along.

Pond Road is off Route 15, one-half mile north of Abbot Village. Turn left onto the road, go about 31/2 miles. You will pass Piper Pond, climb a long hill and then come to a sharp turn to the right. North Shore Road is a quarter-mile up that road, on the left. Follow North Shore about one-half mile, and the Macombers’ driveway will be on the left. Watch for the balloons and signs from Pond Road. For information, contact Estella Bennett at 876-3073 or embweb@verizon.net.

Descendants of George and Willimina Thornton will gather for a reunion Sunday, Aug. 5, at the Reunion Ground on Farrar Lake in Topsfield. Bring items for the auction. For information, contact Greg Thornton at 797-5357.

Polly Bartow of Otisfield is the new librarian general for the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, having been elected June 30 in Washington, D.C.

Also installed during Continental Congress were State Regent Vrege Murray of Portland and Vice Regent Virginia Spiller of York for 2007-10.

Nearly 30 Daughters attended from Maine, and did we have fun. Morrill Worcester of Columbia Falls received a National DAR Medal of Honor for taking wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery every year since 1992 to place on veterans’ graves.

Worcester’s wife, Karen; daughter, Pamela Slavin; and mother-in-law, Flora Dow, are new members of Hannah Weston Chapter in Machias. Their Revolutionary War ancestor is Hannah Watts Weston, who carried ammunition to the Patriots in the war against the British.

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