I’ve been on a kick lately, taking four-generation pictures when the opportunity arises in our extended family. On Thanksgiving, I felt sure, I could round up four generations of the Phillips family at my son’s house near Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
Sometimes a wonderful book is out of print before you realize it had been published. So it’s great to hear that another printing will take place sometime in the coming year. Such is the case with “A Transcription of Trenton’s Cemeteries So They Are Not… Read More
I don’t have William Brewster or John Alden and Priscilla Mullins in my family tree, or at least I haven’t found them. My Pilgrims, passengers on the Mayflower in 1620, include Francis Cooke, and Isaac and Mary Allerton, and the Allertons’ 4-year-old daughter, Mary, who… Read More
There are a few genealogical resources I consider so important that I have a copy both at home and at work. They include the book that many of us refer to in shorthand as Noyes-Libby-Davis, the “Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire” by Sybil… Read More
One of my cherished possessions is a five-generation picture in which I’m the infant in the arms of my great-great-grandmother, Mary (Cummings) Bennett Lord. Also in the photo are my dad, Gayland Moore Jr.; my grandmother, Ione (Bennett) Moore; and my great-grandmother Rena (Bennett) Bennett. Read More
In March, we looked at the Irish ancestry of the presidential candidates, and in recent weeks I’ve had great fun pondering some of vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin’s Maine ancestors, particularly the Gowers. With the election tomorrow, let’s think briefly about what presidential candidates… Read More
With Gov. Sarah Palin’s mom, Sally Sheeran Heath, having Gower ancestors in Abbot, Farmington, Topsham and Winslow, I wondered if her dad had forebears in our neck of the woods. Turns out that Charles R. Heath has roots in each of the other five New… Read More
If you read the Oct. 16 front-page story in the Bangor Daily News on Gov. Sarah Palin’s Gower ancestry in Abbot Village – and I hope you did – you may be wondering who else the governor had for forebears and relatives in Maine. The… Read More
What’s my favorite Web site? That’s an easy question with two answers. You can call it www.bangornews.com or www.bangordailynews.com Either address will get you there. The exciting news for today is that our obituary archive for the last few years, which was off-line for a… Read More
The Androscoggin County town of Turner was first called Sylvester, Sylvestertown and Sylvester Canada – and with good reason. The land was first granted to Capt. Joseph Sylvester and his company for service in the expedition against Canada in 1690, though it was decades before… Read More
The family histories are 929s, and the town histories are 974s. Knowing that will help you navigate facilities such as Bangor Public Library and Maine State Library in Augusta. But Special Collections at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library in Orono has its own numbering… Read More
I received a great question by e-mail the other day: Who am I supposed to track when working out family lines? Which ones matter? I say, the choice is totally up to the researcher. Follow your heart and look for the ancestors that interest you. Read More
It’s a compliment when people who attend your meeting say they want more time to look at the displays. That’s the comment that organizers of Maine Old Cemetery Association meetings are hearing – and they’re listening. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
In the 1900 census for Oxbow Plantation in Aroostook County, Canadian-born William Atkins, 42, is listed as a taxidermist. The census enumerator could have gone on and on – hunter, trapper, guide and founder of sporting camps at the Millinocket Lake above what is now Baxter State Park,… Read More
Images of the 1881 Canadian Census are now online, free, at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1881. You can look for someone countrywide, or narrow your search by province, city or town, etc. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
For years you’ve been saying you wanted to put together a book on your genealogy, something you could make copies of for your family and a few libraries. With all the research you’ve done, maybe you could even sell a few copies to help pay… Read More
Adult education classes are generally one of the best deals in town. Phil Getchell will once again teach a genealogy course for Bangor Adult Education 6:30-9 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 18-Oct. 30. Typically, Getchell teaches the first class at Bangor High School, then holds hands-on classes… Read More
If you’ve put together some genealogical work, please share it – somewhere, somehow. It was wonderful to visit the Abbot Historical Society on Abbot Day, July 27, and see the folders and notebooks of family information that have been given to the museum. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
My thought is that if you really want a library to have a book, you should give it to them. But somehow, I just wasn’t ready to part with “Woburn John,” which is shorthand for “Descendants of John Comins: (ca. 1668-1751) and his wife, Mary,… Read More
Edward Gilman II never left England, but many Washington County descendants are cousins, through him, to President Abraham Lincoln. That is the fascinating premise of “The Abraham Lincoln Connection,” the feature article in the spring-summer issue of The Pemmaquon Call, the twice-yearly journal of the Pembroke Historical Society. Read More
The Bangor phone book alone has more than 50 listings under the surname Haskell, people who are no doubt descended from William, Roger or Mark, one of the three Haskell brothers of Charlton-Musgrove, England, who came over with their mother to Massachusetts in the 1630s. Read More
Next to the red maple tree her grandfather planted when she was a little girl, Amanda Wilcox married her high school sweetheart, Scott Saucier, on the Fourth of July 2008. The ceremony in Hermon mentioned not only Bob Phillips, who was a Korean War veteran,… Read More
Like my dad, the late Ken Ward served in the Navy during World War II. When I told Ken, during one of our many conversations here at the Bangor Daily News, that my dad had gone through the Panama Canal on a ship in 1944… Read More
DNA is one of the hot topics in genealogy these days, so the Maine Genealogical Society is bringing a top-notch speaker to its state conference, “Linking to Your Family’s History,” set for Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Wyndham Portland Airport Hotel in South Portland. Megan… Read More
It’s reunion time, so here’s some information on a couple of reunions that take place every year. But keep in mind that there are plenty of “occasional” reunions as well, so I hope that summer finds you getting together with relatives to share information. The… Read More
The memory of a father and son will be honored June 21 in St. George, when their graves are marked by two lineage societies from the state of Washington. Grave markers will be dedicated in memory of Matthew Kelloch or Kalloch, Revolutionary War veteran, and… Read More
Having a parent with diabetes means it’s more likely you will develop the disease, and the genetic connection is even stronger with Type 2 diabetes, which is strongly affected by weight and dietary habits. Reading that information in a recent issue of Diabetes Vital magazine… Read More
Even before you get to the articles, each quarterly issue of The Maine Genealogist is worth reading. So often I find that editor Joseph C. Anderson III answers a question I haven’t even thought of asking. For the May issue, the question is whether it’s… Read More
This Memorial Day, I’m thinking of three generations of U.S. Marines in the Towle family, although only one of the three is deceased. Fred Towle, who was in the Junior ROTC program at Bangor High School, joined the Marines in 1941. Refused the first time… Read More
Is it worth the effort to find out whether your forebear left a will? Most certainly – especially if the maker had a common name such as William Smith. A will could be very useful in helping us make sure we were following the right William Smith. Read More
In your town of heritage, might there be a historical society that has posted genealogical information on the Web? If you had ancestors in Unity, the answer is yes. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
The Washburns are among the numerous Mainers who emigrated to Minnesota. My younger son followed suit four years ago, and the morning of May Day 2008, Anthony and Heather (Taylor) Saucier became happy parents to son Aidan Wilcox Saucier. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
It stands to reason that people who appreciate the land would also feel connected to their personal roots. So what fun it was to find that the 2007 National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year, Josiah and Kathleen Pierce of Baldwin, own Maine land that… Read More
Obituaries can be a great source of genealogical information, and a wonderful remembrance of a loved one. To see what a newspaper has to offer in obituaries online, go to its Web site. For the Bangor Daily News, go to www.bangornews.com or www.bangordailynews.com and click… Read More
It was 1978 when my husband and I stopped in Freeport to meet one of my cousins, Paul Bennett, and his wife, Emma. It was Paul who gave us directions to find the boulder marking the Bennett homestead in Gloucester, Mass., which we did find,… Read More
In the late 1950s, it was the best fun to visit Abbie Fowler’s house, across the street from my school in Sangerville. Come February, she’d have all the penny valentines laid out in rows on display shelves in her kitchen, which held part of her delightful gift shop. Read More
Though William Mullins is not among my Mayflower ancestors, I was fascinated to see a nice photo of his four-gabled home in Dorking, Surrey, England, in the March 2008 issue of The Mayflower Quarterly. The picture accompanies Jeane Felker’s article on visiting the landmark at… Read More
It’s wonderful to have a couple of queries this week. With so much available on the Internet – from well-documented genealogy items and information with no proof whatsoever – you don’t see queries as often in newspapers these days. That’s too bad, because a lot… Read More
Not that it should affect our votes, mind you, but on St. Patrick’s Day, have you ever wondered who’s Irish? Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama or John McCain? All three, maybe? Obviously, it would take a while to research the ancestry of these major candidates for… Read More
Time to relieve this winter’s cabin fever, isn’t it? There’s nothing like getting together with other genies to rekindle your passion for researching your family tree. From Bangor, it’s only about 45 minutes up Route 15 to get to Dover-Foxcroft – and we have two… Read More
With Presidents Day not far in the past, it’s fun to ponder the origins of our nation’s leaders, a task that isn’t too hard with the help of Gary Boyd Roberts’ “Ancestors of American Presidents.” Keep in mind, of course, that we can’t choose our… Read More
I’ve been doing Maine genealogy for some 30 years, but I never heard the surname Lincolnlue – until now. Glenn D. Nasman, a mechanical engineer who resides in Massachusetts, wrote the fascinating article “The Origin of the Lincolnlue Sisters of Bowdoin, Maine” in the February… Read More
Edgar Crosby Smith wrote a 50-page chapter called “Sketches of Some Revolutionary Soldiers of Piscataquis County” in a 1910 book that goes by two titles. Some libraries list the book as “Collections of the Piscataquis County Historical Society Vol. I.” I’ve also seen it cataloged… Read More
The January issue of the Corinth Historical Society newsletter is a keeper. It features six pages of photos and text on the fire that destroyed East Corinth Academy on March 26, 1968, complete with reminiscences by teacher Rodric C. Johnson and Fire Chief Norman Buswell. Read More
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. Read More
The Eddington Clifton Civic Center is planning a March 22 show with humorist Tim Sample to show off recent work on Comins Hall in East Eddington, and to kick off a campaign for improvements such as handicap accessibility. The Maine Community Foundation has contributed $2,000 to help host… Read More
It’s such a small world. Early last week, I corresponded by e-mail with Maine native Jim Belanger of New Hampshire about a query on the Dionne-Tilley line for this column. Later that day, I turned to the fall-winter issue of Le Forum, the quarterly published… Read More
I’ve been looking at birth, marriage and death certificates for three decades now, and it’s funny how some things don’t really register at first. Let’s take my own birth certificate from the 1950s – make that the very early 1950s. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
Having married into a St. John Valley family whose roots go back to Quebec and Acadia, then France, I’ve long been interested in Franco-American genealogy and history. A new book published by Tilbury House in Gardiner, “Voyages: A Maine Franco-American Reader,” edited by Nelson Madore… Read More
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… Read More
The postcard of “North Bay Near New Mount Kineo House, Kineo, ME” was postmarked July 2, 1912. It was addressed to Mrs. Willard Lord, Sangerville, my great-great-grandmother – Mary Alice (Cummings) Bennett Lord. It reads: “We are well, will write a long letter soon. Nina… Read More
Those of us who soak up our ancestors like a sponge can sometimes overload our family with genealogical information – I’ve certainly done it. So I tried to find a simple answer when my dad used to ask, “Just how are we related to Harold… Read More
You know by now that I’m a great fan of URSUS, the online catalog for Bangor Public Library, Maine State Library and all of the University of Maine campuses. It’s a great planning tool for what-to-check and where-it-is when you want to do some research at one of… Read More
The Bangor Daily News’ special series, “Ethnic Bangor: Rediscovering the City’s Past,” began in this past weekend’s edition with a jam-packed four-page section – a bird’s-eye map of the city done by Augustus Koch in 1875, keyed to 22 historical points; a timeline and an overview by Wayne… Read More
Page 14, the sailor in the lower left-hand corner, that’s my dad, Gayland A. Moore Jr. of Abbot. I am, of course, talking about the Mid-Maine edition of Paper Talks, Volume I honoring World War II veterans in that area. On the same page with… Read More
At 25, Henry Knox didn’t let his limited military experience prevent him from offering important service to the cause of the American Revolution. From Dec. 5, 1775, to Jan. 24, 1776, Knox and the men from the garrison at Fort Ticonderoga in New York trudged… Read More
It usually doesn’t take me long to ask someone, “So where are you from? Where are your people from?” I still haven’t done that with Chuck Knowlen, either on the phone or in person. Usually our topic of conversation is the Vietnam War and its… Read More
Recently a friend asked me about the Family Ties column a few years back that covered records of immigrants coming into Maine through Canada in the first part of the 20th century. The title actually is “Manifest Records of Alien Arrivals (Maine),” and the call… Read More
… but being gone about 6 Rod from her the said Bishop; with a small Load in his Cart: suddenly the off Wheels Slumped or Sunk downe into a hole upon Plain ground, that this Depon’t was forced to gett one to help him gett the wheele out… Read More
Sharon DeBartolo Carmack has a wonderful article titled “The Tree Doctor” in the November issue of Family Tree Magazine, which you can find in bookstores now. She covers such ailments as Genealogist’s Chorea, where a researcher – or an ancestor – fudges the facts; Lineagaires’… Read More
On this 7th day of June 1856 I have baptized Cathr Edilla born 2 weeks of Laurence Druhan and Mary Plunkit. The Sponsors were Jas Plunkit & Elb Plunkit. P McIver Pastor On this 24 day of februa 1857 I have married Peter Milmor to… Read More
During my childhood, Uncle Roddy’s hunting stories made the loop each year, mailed from Alaska to my grandmother, then circulated to his siblings so that they and their children could read them. My dad never wrote about his Navy service during World War II, but… Read More
I hope that last week’s column prompted you to make plans to visit Bangor Public Library and the University of Maine’s Fogler Library in Orono. Today, promise yourself a trip to Augusta to visit the Maine State Archives and the Maine State Library. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
What an intriguing title for a talk – and what a beautiful location for a fall meeting. “Curiosities and Commodities: Egyptian Mummies Downeast” will be the keynote at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, when the Maine Old Cemetery Association meets at the Wilson Museum, 107… Read More
As the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family, I recall more of the older relatives than my siblings and cousins do, and I know where they’re buried. Take the Dover Cemetery on Vaughn Street in Dover-Foxcroft, for instance, where the Roberts relatives are. Read More
It can be hard to make time to research at a library or historical society, so let’s make the most of any time we get. Plan ahead. Gather the names you want to research, with accompanying dates and places. If you’re going to Maine State… Read More
The covers were a bit tattered, and only two of the three volumes were available for purchase. But I had to have them, even though I’m the one who’s always urging people to thin out their jungle of books by passing some on to a library or historical… Read More
Winston, Blaine, Keith, Deane, Don, Neil and Clair. If you’re from Houlton and you remember World War II, you may know right off the bat that those are the names of the seven sons of Milton and Mildred (Allen) Lambert who served in World… Read More
Nationally known genealogists George G. Morgan and Maureen Taylor will be on hand for “Footprints in Time: Discovering Your Ancestor’s Lives,” the Maine Genealogical Society conference set for Saturday, Sept. 22, at the Bangor Civic Center. Do sign up before Aug. 31, so you can… Read More
Off a path in the Peltoma Woods, Tom Martin stepped onto a wide, flat rock and knocked on thin air. And everyone around him smiled at the idea of Tom knocking on the “door” to what used to be Moses Martin’s farm, the first frame house in Pittsfield. Read More
Twenty years ago, Charles E. and Mary-Elizabeth McKusick of Florida found themselves searching every nook and cranny – many of them in Maine – to update some old material on the McKusick family. Charles wrote the 1993 edition of the family history, which can be… Read More
It is, I think, one of the most important topics in genealogy – “Getting the Most Out of the Census.” That will be Dr. Carol P. McCoy’s keynote speech during the sixth annual genealogy conference on Saturday, Aug. 18, sponsored by Silence Howard Hayden Chapter,… Read More
When we’re looking for every little bit of information on our family, doesn’t 10 years seem like a long time between censuses? Of course it does. During my recent trip to the Daughters of the American Revolution Continental Congress in Washington, D.C., I was thrilled… Read More
One of the many neat things about the Maine Old Cemetery Association is the way its meetings give you a chance to visit towns – and cemeteries – throughout Maine. This Saturday, July 21, come on along to the MOCA meeting at Hartland Consolidated School,… Read More
A photo of Harriet Drake Sherburne on the cover of the summer edition of The Shiretown Conserver, the newsletter of the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society, shows her wearing a beautiful beaded silk bodice. (I find a marriage record in Dover-Foxcroft for Hattie D. Drake and William… Read More
They are but 89 of the thousands of Maine men and women who have served in the military over the years. Over the years, I’ve interviewed several of the veterans profiled in “Quiet Courage: Stories of the Unselfish Dedication of Maine Veterans,” written by Don… Read More
On Oct. 31, 1864, Company D of the 16th Maine Infantry was at Fort Wadsworth, Va., and, according to a letter by soldier Marcus Kingsbury, the 1st Maine Cavalry was “about 2 miles from here.” So wrote Marcus to his father back in Bradford, Thomas… Read More
Nearly 80 years ago, men were much more likely than women to be the subject of lengthy obituaries in newspapers. A friend in the Daughters of the American Revolution brought to my attention that a Bangor woman who died in 1929 had been an early… Read More
Even as a child, I knew where my grandparents would be buried one day. There was room for Edith and Stanley Steeves in the village cemetery in Sangerville, in the same lot as Grampy’s unnamed baby brother who had died at 1 day old in 1918. Read More
When Jack Battick started by saying that dentists and barbers were licensed before physicians ever were, I knew it would be an interesting evening. I always enjoy hearing Jack speak. As a retired history professor from the University of Maine, he is always most informative. Read More
It’s accepted that John Hawes married a granddaughter of John Howland, Desire Gorham, thus making John and Desire Hawes’ children descendants of the Mayflower. They had a son John Hawes, who left New England and popped up in North Carolina. Same person? If so, his… Read More
Did your ancestors live in the main house at Fort Western on Augusta’s riverfront? Then Old Fort Western would like to hear from you to help the organization more accurately interpret the fort’s history. Old Fort Western comprises a 1754 National Landmark fort, store and… Read More
The last week of June, one of the most beautiful places in the country must be the St. John Valley. Need an excuse to head for the top of Maine on June 24-July 1? Try the 30th annual Madawaska Acadian Festival. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
How can you be lost if you are a farmer and you own more than 100 acres of land in a not-so-populous town such as Abbot, Maine? How can you be lost if you live with your wife, Roxanna, and your children, Frank, Eugene, Charles, Walter and Emma?… Read More
When a flat package of a certain size comes in the mail from the Trescott Historical Society, it’s something wonderful. Last week it was the reprint of “Atlas of Hancock County Maine,” subtitled “Compiled and Published under the direction of Geo. N. Colby by S.F. Read More
I have “walked” the cemetery in Greenville on more than one occasion, looking for every Hildreth and Cummings ancestor. So I’ve seen the gravestone listing three of my great-great-great-great-uncles: googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
We know about birth records and marriage records and death records. Now it’s time to learn about “Funeral Home Records” from Gary Smith, funeral home director at Brookings-Smith in Bangor. His talk will be offered during the meeting of the Penobscot County Genealogical Society at… Read More
Ralph Walker never said he didn’t take the 145 yards of silk and worsted lace from the shop of William Thorpe on the day in question, Aug. 7, 1715. What Walker claimed, according to The Proceedings of the Old Bailey in London, was that the… Read More
A Web site that will be of interest to countless Maine genealogists is Ne-Do-Ba, The Abenaki of Western Maine, located at www.avcnet.org/ne-do-ba/ Ne-Do-Ba – which means friends – is a nonprofit organization, and the representative who has attended genealogical conferences around the state is Nancy… Read More
Not only does George G. Morgan lecture around the country and abroad and write a weekly blog on genealogy at http://ahaseminars.com. He leads a research tour to London and is a key speaker on a genealogy cruise. Doesn’t that make you swoon? Fortunately for those… Read More
As a graduate of Piscataquis Community High School in Guilford, I had a great time watching the Pirates score the runner-up plaque in the Eastern Maine Class C Boys Tournament. I’m guessing that my numerous cousins in that neck of the woods include young Mike… Read More
Interested in a particular surname? Then you’ll want to know about Genforum, sponsored by genealogy.com. It’s really simple. Go to http://genforum.genealogy.com/surname, substituting whatever last name you like where it says surname. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
One of the most frequent requests we get from genealogists is for a list of Web sites. This list isn’t comprehensive, by any means, but these are sites I use a lot. E-mail to Family Ties one or more of your frequently used Web sites… Read More
It has been more than two centuries since my Bennetts left Gloucester, Mass., where they’d been for some 150 years. The houses I see from a particular view of the sand dunes in Gloucester weren’t there then, but this postcard fascinates me nonetheless. Another postcard… Read More
It was Kaye Sakahara who several years ago wrote to tell me that Nov. 22, 1943, had been Abbot’s “day” in the Bangor Daily News. My dad was among the 44 servicemen from that town honored with Abbot in the newspaper. Sangerville’s day, I knew… Read More
You may have heard of the Filles du Roi – the King’s Daughters – who helped settle Quebec. It turns out that there were 770 of them who came from France between 1663 and 1673 under the financial sponsorship of King Louis XIV. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
The first issue I ever saw of “Sprague’s Journal of Maine History” was, no doubt, the August 1916 issue that marked Guilford’s centennial. It belonged to my grandmother, Ione Bennett Moore. There in its pages was genealogical information on some of Guilford’s earliest settlers, including… Read More
You’ve been meaning to start a family tree, but somehow you haven’t done it yet. Maybe someone has passed along a family history, but you’re not sure how you tie into it. Now’s the time to write down your information on a pedigree chart, which… Read More
The gravestone for Walter L. Mower lists him as “historian and hobbiest.” An historian he certainly was, and a genealogist, too, one we know as Walter Lindley Mower, author of the “History of the Town of Greene.” No doubt Mower would be pleased to know… Read More
The popular January event “Bangor Reads” has been expanded to “Penobscot Reads,” which will take place at four area libraries. The focus is the Franco-American novel “Papa Martel” by Gerard Robichaud. A few of the activities of particular interest to genealogists will be: googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More