Visit to Maine State Library worth the trip

I hope that last week’s column prompted you to make plans to visit Bangor Public Library and the University of Maine’s Fogler Library in Orono.

Today, promise yourself a trip to Augusta to visit the Maine State Archives and the Maine State Library.

The library has convenient hours – 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday- Thursday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

MSL has wonderful resources on Maine and the rest of New England. Books that caught my eye on a recent visit include:

. “Hollis Street Church, Boston: Records of Admissions, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1732-1887,” transcribed by Robert J. Dunkle and Ann Smith Lainhart from the copy by Ogden Codman (1918). The Codman document is part of the Manuscript Collection at New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.

. “Deaths in Boston,” 1700-1799,” compiled by Robert J. Dunkle and Ann Smith Lainhart.

. “Inscriptions and Records of the Old Cemeteries of Boston,” compiled by Robert J. Dunkle and Ann Smith Lainhart. These include Central (Boston Common) Cemetery, Copp’s Hill Burial Ground, The Granary, Hawes Street, King’s Chapel, South (Boston Neck), Jewish and Quaker cemeteries.

. “John Haven Dexter’s Memoranda of the Town of Boston in the 18th and 19th Centuries,” by John Haven Dexter; transcribed, compiled and annotated by Robert J. Dunkle and Ann Smith Lainhart. This includes births, deaths, marriages, bibliographical references and index.

. “The New North Church, Boston, 1714,” compiled by Thomas Bellows Wyman; transcribed by Robert J. Dunkle; compared and edited by Ann Smith Lainhart.

. “The Town Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1647 to 1730: Being Volume One of the Original,” Robert J. Dunkle and Ann S. Lainhart.

. “A Maine Family Census, 1900-1912,” by Wayne Clark Gilman, 2002, published by Godfrey Memorial Library in Connecticut. (On CD at Bangor Public Library) This 14-volume series is not a comprehensive census as we are used to seeing done every 10 years, but rather a collection of family censuses from churches in 250 towns in Maine and New Hampshire. The categories used can be a little confusing, no doubt because the books were put together by an institution not so familiar with Maine. For example, Guilford and Sangerville, which we know are in Piscataquis County, are included in the “Somerset Region.” The only relatives I found were Willard Lord, laborer, Guilford, and wife Mary A. (Bennett). Bennett was her surname before marriage, actually the surname of her first husband. If you had relatives in more of the towns included, you may find this resource more useful than I did.

And as always, check out the card catalog for MSL, Bangor Public Library and the University of Maine campuses at URSUS, http://130.111.64.3/.

After the Sept. 17 Family Ties column on using GPS – Global Positioning System – to mark landmarks and gravestones, James Macomber wrote to say that he is working on using GPS to mark all the cemeteries in Piscataquis County. So far, he has found more than 50 cemeteries.

He hopes to post his findings to the Web this winter and make the information available to libraries and historical societies. If you know of small cemeteries in Piscataquis County, or even burial plots that are off the beaten track, contact him at James Macomber, 129 Milo Road, Sebec, ME 04481, or e-mail madjim@mainesbest.com

Daughters of the American Revolution State Regent Vrege Murray of Portland and Constitution Week Chairman Patricia Blake of Brooksville joined Gov. John Baldacci in Augusta last month when he signed the proclamation marking Constitution Week Sept. 17-23.

Some 100 DAR members and guests attended the annual fall meeting Sept. 21-22 at the Black Bear Inn in Orono. They included Children of the American Revolution Senior State President Ron Newton of Kennebunk and State President Kevin Holland of Moses Greenleaf Society, Bangor.

3405. QUIN. Looking for the Quin family of 1840 in the town of Athens. Siblings are Francis, 1814; Andrew, 1818; John, 1819; Joseph, 1822; Abraham, 1823; Maryann, 1824; Lydia, 1826; Elizabeth, 1830; Rosanna, 1831. Parents are Joseph and Content Quin. Abraham and John lived and died in Ellsworth. Mrs. J. Henderson, 33 Erie Drive, Fairport, NY 14450; send e-mail to jjahenderson@gmail.com.

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