Every time I find something wonderful at the Maine State Archives, I wish it were available a little closer to Bangor. So if, on the afternoon of Nov. 2, you heard the sound of someone jumping up and down in excitement, coming from the area of the University of Maine campus in Orono, I’m the one.

What could make me so excited except vital records – Maine vital records, at that. You probably know that the archives in Augusta has on microfilm, alphabetically by surname, vital records from 1892 through 1955.

Fogler Library at UMaine doesn’t have that many yet, but it does have:

. 1892-1907, 63 reels.

. 1908-1922, 62 reels.

These are birth, marriage and death records, by year, by surname, and you don’t have to know the town or county.

If you’re willing to spend a little time browsing, you don’t even have to know the date.

Yippee!

Here’s how it works. On the first floor of Fogler Library, go over to Microforms and locate the drawers holding reels Microfilm Ea768, Ea768a and Ea768b.

Choose your reel according to the spelling of your surname, such as Saucier.

Take the reel back to the microfilm reader room, where most of the newspaper microfilm is located, also on the first floor and scroll through the reel until you get to Saucier. What you’ll find for your surname is 1892 births, 1892 marriages, 1892 deaths, 1893 births, 1893 marriages, 1893 deaths, 1894 births and so on.

These are whole vital records from all over the state – not abstracts – because 1892 is the year the state began centralizing records and mandating that cities and towns send copies to Augusta. In addition, the state sought in the 1920s to get “delayed returns,” copies of records before 1892.

Many towns did not participate, and what they sent in was not as complete as later records. I have often used the delayed return cards at the archives in Augusta.

Now they are also available at Fogler Library in Orono. Which towns did send in delayed returns? The Maine State Archives Web site page for participating towns is http://www.state.me.us/sos/arc/archives/genealog/vrtowns.htm.

The site lists: Albany, Albion, Alfred, Atkinson, Bar Harbor, Bath, Berwick, Biddeford, Boothbay, Bradley, Brighton, Brooks, Calais, Camden, Centerville, China, Danville, Dayton, Detroit, Dexter, Durham, Eliot, Fairfield, Farmington, Freedom, Gardiner, Gilead, Gorham, Gouldsboro, Hallowell, Hanover, Hebron, Hollis, Industry, Jackson, Jefferson, Jonesboro, Kenduskeag, Knox, Lebanon, Leeds, Limington, Madawaska, Mexico, Milbridge, Monroe, Monticello, Montville and Moscow,

Also, New Gloucester, New Sharon, New Sweden, North Berwick, Otisfield, Parkman, Pejepscot, Pittsfield, Pittston, Poland, Portland, Prentiss, Presque Isle, Rangeley, Raymond, Richmond, Rockland, Rumford, Sanford, Shapleigh, Stockton, Sweden, Turner, Waldo, Waldoboro, Waterford, Wellington, Williamsburg, Wiscasset and York.

Again, these microfilm reels are arranged by surname and by year.

I had a grand time talking to Frank Wihbey, director of government documents and microforms at UM, about these additions to Fogler. I also pointed out that I had noticed that census microfilm reels had been moved to the microfilm reader room, and I thought that was quite handy for researchers. He pointed out that Josh Hall, who works at Fogler and has helped me find things on a number of occasions, came up with the idea of moving the census records. Thanks, Josh.

And thanks to the University of Maine for adding to its collections which serve all of us, not just current students.

Microfilm reels are available for use whenever the library is open. If you’re making a trip to Fogler, you can double-check its hours by calling 581-1664. I find it so helpful to be able to use the library evenings and weekends.

Many books on Maine are up in Special Collections on the third floor. This part of the library has changed its hours to 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday; 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday.

On Nov. 19, I will repeat the talk I gave recently at the Maine Genealogical Society, “Researching with Newspapers,” during the meeting of the Penobscot County Genealogical Society at 6 p.m. in the Lecture Hall at Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St.

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