Lawyer to give genealogy workshop on court records

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It was somewhere around the 1870s that one of my Maine ancestors up and disappeared, and I’m not sure anyone back then ever found out where he went. It was only a year or so ago that I came upon a notice of his remarriage in Michigan.

His first wife was none too pleased that he left, so she really let him have it in the divorce papers I read on microfilm at the Maine State Archives in Augusta.

Suffice it to say that court records can be some interesting!

Most genealogists I’ve met are much more familiar with birth, marriage, death and census records than they are with court records.

What we need is a lawyer with an interest in genealogy to get us up to speed, and the Maine Genealogical Society is bringing that person to Augusta for a one-day workshop on Saturday, April 19.

Diane Rapaport of Lexington, Mass., will present “Finding Your Ancestors in Courthouse Records” 9 a.m.-4 p.m. that day at the Augusta Civic Center.

Rapaport is the author of the award-winning “New England Court Records: A Research Guide for Genealogists and Historians,” published by Quill Pen Press; and of “The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England,” published by Commonwealth Editions.

She also writes the “Tales from the Courthouse” column in New England Ancestors, a quarterly publication of New England Historic Genealogical Society.

The workshop schedule for April 19 is:

. 8-9 a.m. Registration.

. 9-10:30 a.m. “Introduction to Courthouse Records,” U.S. legal system, sources of law, trial and appellate courts, state courts, federal courts.

“Reading Early American Handwriting.”

. 10:45 a.m.-noon. “The Litigation Process – Stages of a Lawsuit.”

“Types of Civil and Criminal Records.”

“Other Court Proceedings and their Records.”

. Noon-1 p.m. Buffet lunch.

. 1-3 p.m. “Where to Find Court Records.”

“Hands-on Practice with Court Records.”

“Questions and Brainstorming about Research Issues.”

. 3-4 p.m. Individual questions, book sales and signings.

Early registration, postmarked by March 31, is $35 for Maine Genealogical Society members, $40 for nonmembers. The price includes lunch.

You can print the workshop brochure from the Web at www.maineroots.org, but it’s not required. You also can just mail your check to MGS, P.O. Box 221, Farmington, ME 04938. Include your e-mail address for confirmation.

(To join MGS, send $20 to the same address and you’ll receive the quarterly The Maine Genealogist and the newsletter, as well as discounts on publications and workshops.)

Registrations after March 31 will be accepted as space allows, at a cost of $50.

Many of us like to collect signatures for as many ancestors as we can, and occasionally you’ll find signatures reproduced in family or town histories. But don’t forget more recent sources.

I was looking at my grandmother’s report cards from the early 1920s in Dover-Foxcroft and was pleased to find the signature of my great-grandmother, “Mrs. S.W. Roberts,” on some of them. Since Etta (Eldridge) Roberts died in 1933, this is a treasure to me.

My marriage certificate from the 1970s has my signature and that of my husband on it. Though we were married in Orono, the certificate was sent in by the town clerk in Frenchville, where we applied for the license.

World War I Draft Registration Cards, each with the signature of the registrant, can be found on Ancestry.com, a paid subscription site. I found 1918 cards for two of my great-grandfathers, Stanley W. Roberts of Foxcroft and Harry Steeves of Sangerville.

While Ancestry.com is a subscription site, you can use it free at facilities that have their own subscriptions, such as public libraries in Bangor, Ellsworth and Oakland. (If you know of other libraries that have Ancestry.com, let me know.)

Speaking of questions, here’s one that has me stumped. When did Dr. Victor McKusick give a talk about genetics and genealogy to the Maine Genealogical Society? I’m thinking it was the last half of the 1980s.

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