Even if resource is a bust, keep records of genealogical research

It can be hard to make time to research at a library or historical society, so let’s make the most of any time we get.

Plan ahead. Gather the names you want to research, with accompanying dates and places. If you’re going to Maine State Library in Augusta, Bangor Public Library or any of the University of Maine campus libraries, look up some of the resources you want to check, with catalog numbers, on URSUS at http://130.111.64.3/.

Some smaller libraries may have their own card catalogs online. You can go right to the Ellsworth Public Library Web site at www.ellsworth.lib.me.us.

Or you can check MINERVA, http://ursus2.ursus.maine.edu, which catalogs a number of Maine libraries.

I entered the keyword Piscataquis and came up with several entries, including “Piscataquis Biography and Fragments” by John Francis Sprague, 1899. It was listed at libraries in Belfast, Camden, Augusta, Lewiston, the Maine Historical Society in Portland and the Maine Room at Old Town Public Library. Now you’re ready to go researching.

Keep a record of what sources you check, whether you find anything, and the date you checked.

When you get home, add information to a research sheet for each surname in your family. List each source you checked, results and the date. Here’s why.

Say you checked a family history on June 7, 2004, and you didn’t find any connection to your line. So you record the source and the date on your research sheet for the surname. By Sept. 10, 2007, maybe you have listed 15 or 20 resources.

Then you find a census record or a family Bible or some other item that gives you another set of parents – one more generation back in your line. The research sheet can remind you what you looked at previously, and what you might want to check again now that you’ve got a couple more names – maybe enough information to finally tie into that family history.

Here’s a reminder that Pierre Dumont is working on a World War II issue of Paper Talks magazine for Piscataquis and Somerset County, and another one for Penobscot County.

Photos and information for the Piscataquis-Somerset issue are due Oct. 1, and for Penobscot County Nov. 30.

E-mail him at info@papertalks.com, or write to Paper Talks Magazine, P.O. Box 219, Jonesboro, ME 04648 for a questionnaire on the information he needs on WWII veterans. Put name and return address on the back of your photo, or scan at 300 dpi and e-mail it.

The first meeting of the fall season of the Washington County Genealogical Society will be held at 1 p.m. Eastern time Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Campobello Public Library, Welshpool, Campobello, New Brunswick. After the business meeting, a discussion will be held on research resources available at Campobello. The public is invited.

Organized in 1992, WCGS has as its purpose to collect, exchange and preserve related documents and information, and to promote and encourage interest and scholarship in genealogy and family history in Washington County.

Membership is open to anyone interested in learning more about their family genealogy and history, especially in Washington County and neighboring Charlotte County, New Brunswick. The group meets the third Saturday of the month from March to November, except for July and August. Dues are $10 a year. Members receive a quarterly newsletter, “Weirs & Woods,” with free queries, information and the exchange of genealogical material.

For information contact president Frances Raye at 853-6630 or secretary Valdine Atwood at 255-4432.

Join members of the Penobscot County Genealogical Society for a “Tour of Mt. Pleasant Catholic Cemetery” at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, on Ohio Street in Bangor.

John Frawley will be the guide, providing a history of some of the more notable stones. Meet outside the office building at the cemetery. Frawley is very knowledgeable about the cemetery and the Irish in Bangor, and it’s sure to be an interesting tour.

And do plan to attend the PCGS meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19, in the Bangor Room at Bangor Public Library. Dale Mower will present “Oh, the e-Places You’ll Go,” an interactive demonstration of some great Internet sites worth visiting. He’ll also show you how easy it is to post a gravestone photo online.

The Wassebec Genealogical Society will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in the conference room at Mayo Regional Hospital on Main Street in Dover-Foxcroft.

Lanita Medina will share tips on making genealogical research meaningful to children and grandchildren through scrapbooking. This will be a fun program, and all are welcome.

For information, call the Bennetts at 876-3073.

The Hancock County Genealogical Society will meet at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, in the Riverview Room, downstairs at Ellsworth Public Library.

Kevin Johnson will present “Greetings from Hancock County Maine: Selections from the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company,” a display courtesy of the Penobscot Marine Museum.

All are welcome. For information, call Patti Leland at 276-5305, or e-mail pattileland@roadrunner.com.

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