Ever watch those limber young ladies who do back-flips on a 4-inch-wide balance beam during gymnastics meets?

The genealogical equivalent of that Olympic sport, I would suggest, is being constantly aware of the patterns that show up in our family history, from names that repeat in one family over the generations to the paths of migration our ancestors took from one town to another, one state to another.

The point at which we lose our balance and fall off the beam may be when we jump to conclusions because it APPEARS the family is coming together so nicely.

I did that twice while tracing the Jotham Moore family of York, Mt. Vernon, Parkman and Abbot. I spent a couple of years trying to fit two of his children into the Abraham and Betsy (Spaulding) Moore family, the first settlers of Abbot. Then I spent a couple of years tracing the Timothy Mooer family from Mt. Vernon back to New Hampshire, then Newbury, Mass., but they weren’t mine either.

So I’m trying not to rush into anything in my search for Lydia Harris, born probably August 1813, who married James Packard in 1835 in Parkman. She died Oct. 18, 1844, at 28 years, three months, so we won’t find her in the 1850 census, the first one to list everyone in a household by name.

Lydia and James had three children, according to Parkman vital records: Silas Packard, 1835; Jackson Packard, 1837; and Rebecca Packard, 1838, who married Gaylan Harrison Moore.

Consider this: in 1810, just prior to Lydia’s birth, there were heads of household named Harris in Gray, New Gloucester and Greene.

It so happens that two of my great-great-grandparents in the Cummings line who lived in Greenville were Silas Harris and Sarah Abigail (Hildreth), Silas being one of the Harrises who came from Dracut, Mass. – to Greene.

And, Silas was the son of Lawrence Jackson Harris and Lydia (Barron).

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it: Naming patterns certainly suggest that my Lydia Harris may connect somewhere to the Harrises I’ve already got.

Now we’ll see if I can stay on the genealogical beam as I search for proof!

New exhibits at the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society include a wonderful room with wedding gowns, 1898 to 1976.

They include an 1898 satin gown; a 1900 silk and lace gown with veil; a 1916 silk, lace-edged gown with veil; a 1961 dotted swiss gown worn by Mary Annis and made by her grandmother; a one-of-a-kind macrame gown worn by one of the society’s members and made by her groom; and Nancy Battick’s 1965 tiered lace gown worn over hoops – “very Scarlett O’Hara,” Nancy says.

There are exhibits on outdoor recreation and “The Great Whiskers of 19th Century Dover & Foxcroft.” The museum is open 1-4 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Fridays in the Observer Building at 117 Main St., across from the fire station.

Tours are given by appointment, call 564-3576 or 564-0820. There’s also a Web site at www.rootsweb.com/~medfhs.

Join the society and receive the newsletter by sending $5 to DFHS, 308 Foxcroft Center Road, Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426.

On Saturday, July 1, during the Cherryfield Celebration, do stop by the Cherryfield-Narraguagus Historical Society 9 a.m.-2 p.m. to see the 250-year-old blanket chest that belonged to first settler Ichabod Willey. The society will be open 1-4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday this summer, Kathy Uptom reports, and it has the chest on loan from descendant Robert Whitley of Northport.

The newly formed Peninsula Genealogy Club will meet at 6 p.m. the last Thursday of the month at the Blue Hill Public Library. The first meeting will be held on June 29.

The club was created as an offshoot of popular genealogy sessions Marilyn Whittlesey hosted earlier this year at the library. It is open to anyone interested in researching family roots. For information, contact the library at 374-5515.

What a wonderful time of year for family researchers to take a ride down to Blue Hill.

3368. DREW-MOODY. Need proof of parents of Isaac, Willard, Sarah Ann and Mary Ann (?) Drew, all born in Linneus, Aroostook County. Did they all go by the last name of Moody after mother remarried to Charles Moody in 1840? The 1850 census for Linneus lists the household of Charles Moody, 41; Persia or Persis Moody, 41; Sarah Moody, 17; Mary A., 11; Charles F. Moody, 4 (?); James W. Moody, 7; Daniel Moody, 3; Isaac Moody, 21. Yet in the 1860 census, Isaac was in Bancroft, married and with a family as Isaac Drew. Are there any Moody researchers who can help me? Will appreciate any help. Mary Lou Drew, 4824 Waterman Road, Vassar, MI 48768; (989) 823-3153.

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