Browsing the shelves at Maine State Library

My occasional visits to the Maine State Library in Augusta often find me browsing the shelves to see what is “new,” or at least new to me.

One such volume is “Vital Records of Hartford, Maine, 1767-1891,” compiled by Angela M. Foster and published by Picton Press of Rockport in 2004.

Its records include, “Died March 13, 1816, the widdow Bettey Hayford of this town, wife of William Hayford, late of Hartford, deceased age 72.”

Betty (Bonney) was the wife of one of my Revolutionary War soldiers, William Hayford, who served from Pembroke, Mass. Son William Jr. also was in the war.

The Hartford book also is available in Special Collections at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library in Orono.

While in Augusta, I also took the opportunity to look through a 2007 Picton publication, “Vital Records of Hampden, Maine: Prior to 1892,” transcribed and edited by Arthur Gibbs Sylvester and Richard E. Spinney. Names are in bold, making them easier to find when looking through the volume quickly. The book also is available in the Bangor Room at Bangor Public Library.

Picton has numerous vital records books available, and you can browse its offerings by state at www.pictonpress.com

The company is now the distributor for all books and CDs published by New England Historic Genealogical Society, as well.

Back to the bookshelves at Maine State Library.

One of the many series of books you’ll find is the Essex Institute Historical Collections of Massachusetts, Volumes 9 to 129, published 1869-1993.

There are indexes included every so many years.

I found descendants of William Haskell in Volume 32, pages 133-195. William was one of the three Haskell brothers who came from Charlton Musgrave, England, in the 1630s. His brothers were Mark and Roger.

Special Collections at the University of Maine has Volumes 77 to 129.

The Essex Institute Historical Collections were continued in 1992 as the Peabody Essex Museum Collections.

What a great issue of Weirs and Woods was published recently by the Washington County Genealogical Society.

Frequently the quarterly includes info from talks given at the monthly meetings. The fall issue had an excellent summary of resources available at the St. Croix Public Library, located at 11 King St. in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, across the border from Calais.

The family history collection, too lengthy to repeat here, includes surnames such as Clinch, Faloon, Haycock, Sherrard, Joye, Duston-Dustin, McKenzie, Seeley, Greenlaw, Craig, Grant, Spinney, Pelton and Hawkins.

Cemetery records include towns of Clarendon, Dufferin, Dumbarton, Grand Manan, St. Andrews and St. Croix, among others.

The St. Croix Public Library is open noon-8 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

The newsletter also recommends the Campobello Genealogy Web page by Heather Leighton Waddingham at www.rootsweb.com/~nbcampob/

It is indeed a fine Web site with everything from family genealogies to census records for Campobello. Give it a look.

Here’s another great tip from Woods and Weirs: Check out the New Brunswick Public Libraries Catalogue at http://vision.gnb.ca

It’s a wonderful Web site. For example, I entered the word “Steeves,” one of my New Brunswick surnames, and found a whole raft of resources, each with a list of the libraries where they can be found.

To receive Woods and Weirs, join the Washington County Genealogical Society by sending $10 to WCGS, c/o Christine Small, P.O. Box 28, East Machias 04654.

The society does not meet in December, January and February. Its next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 22, at the Peavey Library in Eastport.

3414. NOBLE. Seeking photo of Bangor’s first minister, Seth Noble. Any help appreciated. Darlene Young, P.O. Box 885, Waskom, Texas 75692; dyoung@eastex.net

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