So there I am at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library, on the Orono campus, looking through the drawers holding census microfilm. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a reel labeled “New England Women and Their Families in the 18th and 19th Centuries: Personal Papers, Letters and Diaries.”

Described as “research collections in women’s studies,” the project, compiled from manuscript collections from the American Antiquarian Society, is in three parts:

. Part 1, Selected New England Collections, 33 reels.

. Part 2, The Dewey-Bliss Family Collection, 17 reels.

. Part 3, Maine and Massachusetts Collections, 16 reels.

We may be principally interested in a segment of Part 3, namely Shaw-Webb Family Papers, 1756-1936. These cover five generations of the family of Anna Leonard (Stetson) Smith Shaw, 1766-1847, of Dighton, Mass. Her five daughters were:

. Nancy Smith, who married a Peabody.

. Harriet Smith, who married a Goodnow.

. Maria B. Smith, who married a Noyes. Her daughter, Augusta Noyes, md. Capt. Joseph G. Stover and often went on sea voyages.

. Emma Shaw, who married a Hobbs.

. Hannah Shaw, who married a Webb. Her daughter, Anna Leonard Webb, married a Farris, who with her brother Jahaziah Webb ran the Farris-Webb Produce Co.

The family was in Bangor, Bucksport and the New Hampshire town of Atkinson. Other families represented in Part 3 are:

. Abijah and Hannah Bigelow of Leominster, Mass.

. Anthony and Lydia (Earle) Chase of Worcester, Mass.

. Anna Quincy (Thaxter) Cushing, 1825-1900, daughter of Edward Thaxter and wife of Benjamin Cushing of Dorchester, Mass.

. James Draper Jr., 1778-1868, and Lucy (Watson) Draper. Four daughters: Emeline, married William Rice; Julia Ann, married J. Ellis Lazille; Sophia Amelia, married Moores Mirick White; Lucy Watson, married Emory Rider.

. James Ferdinand Fiske and Sarah of Holliston, Mass.

. Frederick William Gale, 1816-1854, and sister Hannah Davis Gale of Worcester, Mass., children of Capt. Cyrus and Eliza (Davis) Gale.

The 33 reels of Part 1 comprise:

. Sarah Osborn Papers, 1743-1779.

. Foster Family Papers, 1740-1854.

. Gill-Bullard Family Papers, 1818-1925.

. Jane Briggs Smith Fiske Papers, 1856-1920.

. Lizzie A. Wilson Goodenough Diaries, 1855-1875, and Lizzie Cora Goodenough Diaries, 1901, 1903.

. Trumbull Family Papers: Louisa Jane Trumbull Journals, 1829-1837.

. Flint Family Papers, 1853-1879.

. Gage Family Additional Papers, 1785-1963, 1813-1917.

. Elizabeth Palmer Peabody Papers, 1843-circa 1867.

As is often the case with microfilm, readability varies. I looked briefly at Part 1, Reel 1, and found some pages illegible, and others more easy to see.

In the Foster papers, one page told of Dr. Henry Clarke of Worcester, born 1824 to Benjamin and Lucy Clarke. Henry Clarke married in 1854, Rebecca Fauckner, daughter of Hon. Alfred D. Foster.

Some of the Fosters were lawyers, and papers copied include information on a murder trial. One Jedediah Foster was a justice of the peace in Worcester County, presiding over various civil cases.

There are copies of judgments against various people, each beginning “George the Third, by the Grace of GOD, of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, Etc.”

One defendant, having failed to pay the judgment, was to be committed “unto Our Goal in Worcester,” and “him safely to keep, until he pay the full Sums above-mentioned. … Witness Our Said Justice at Brookfield the thirtieth Day of September in the 14th Year of Our Reign. Annoque Domini, 1774,” signed by Jedediah Foster.

Other items in the papers range from letters to diaries to you name it. The project, published by University Publications of America in Maryland, was coordinated by Randolph Boehm, who also did the guides for the three parts.

The microfilm reels, catalog Microfilm N48A, are “in the corner” in the Microforms and Government Document section of Fogler on the first floor. The guides are in a bookcase marked “Microform Guides,” handy to the map section.

To read the films, take them to the reader room where the newspaper microfilms are kept, off the hall between circulation and the front lobby. There are library maps available in several locations inside – both posted on the walls on each floor and in paper form that you can take home.

Last week’s Family Ties contained mistakes in two Web sites. The Maine State Archives site is www.state.me.us/sos/arc. The site for Abbott Memorial Library is www.dextermaine.org/ library.html. No hyphen between dexter and maine.

Here’s a wonderful opportunity to learn about probate records and deeds. The Wassabec Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society will meet 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14, at the Piscataquis County Courthouse, Main Street, Dover-Foxcroft. The session will include time to do research. For information, call Estella Bennett, 876-3073; or Nancy and John Battick 564-3576.

Do you have Italian ancestry? Check out the Italian Heritage Club, meeting 7 p.m. March 18 at the Bangor Armory, Main Street. For information, call 39404903, or go to www.italianheritageclub.org.

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