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Maine County Record Description & Facts |
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| Census Records | Court & Probate Records | Church & Cemetery Records | Land Records | Military Records | Vital Records |
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Since Maine was part of Massachusetts for a long time, it should be expected that it would conform to a similar system for recording deeds, probates, and vital records. Such is the case. Deeds and probates were filed at the county seat and vital records at the town office. However, in Maine, marriages were to be submitted to the county clerk as mandated by the legislature in 1828, although the practice was never uniform and the results have not been completely assessed. The following chart reports what has been found regarding marriage returns on a county basis and where they are located (either at the Maine State Archives or with the county clerk). The Town Resources which follow will also have marriage records. Town meeting records have an abundance of information about New England ancestors. Maine is no exception, although some may not be located at the town clerk's office. The on-going project for locating and microfilming Maine's town records continues under the auspices of the Maine State Archives. The addresses are published annually, free of charge, by the Secretary of State's office. Those in the chart below are as of 1990. Some towns operate out of town clerk's homes and change with annual elections. Microfilm information from the 1980 edition of “Maine Town and Census Records” and “Public Records Repositories in Maine” published by the Maine State Archives provide the dates for record sources. There are some more recent additions to their collection, but they have not yet been cataloged. |
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Maine Census Records - Federal Population Schedules that exist for Maine are 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Maine was part of the Massachusetts Census until the 1820 census. The 1800 censuses for some towns in Hancock and Kennebec indicate where the person resided before emigrating to Maine. A date of emigration is given for some of Kennebec although this was not consistently noted for Hancock.
York County is incomplete on the 1800 census, half of Oxford County is missing in 1810, and Houlton Plantation returns are missing for Washington County, 1820.
There are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Union Veterans Schedules were conducted in 1890. State Schedules: Parts of Maine, as well as ports of Massachusetts, participated in the direct tax census for 1798 which records landowners, renters, land and title boundaries, acreage, dwellings, value, and tax due. It can substitute for what is missing in the 1800 census. What survives is on microfilm with a printed inventory at the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Maine State Archives.
Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"
Since 1790, the U.S. government has taken a nationwide population count every ten years. Unique in scope and often surprisingly detailed, the census population schedules created from 1790 to 1920 are among the most used of records created by the federal government. Over the course of two centuries the United States has changed significantly, and so has the census. From the six basic questions asked in the 1790 census, the scope and categories of information have changed and expanded dramatically. Early censuses were essentially basic counts of inhabitants; but as the nation grew, so did the need for statistics that would reflect the characteristics of the people. In 1850, the focus of the census was radically broadened. Going far beyond the vague questions previously asked of heads of households, the 1850 census enumerators were instructed to ask the age, sex, color, occupation, birthplace, and other questions regarding every individual in every household. Succeeding enumerations solicited more information; by 1920, census enumerators asked twenty-nine questions of every head of household and almost as many questions of everyone else in the residence. (Only a very small segment of the 1890 census remains; a fire in the Commerce Department destroyed the vast majority of the original records for that year. Because of privacy considerations, census records less than seventy-two years old are not available to the general public; thus, the 1920 census is the most recent available to the public.) Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do the U.S. federal censuses. The population schedules are successive “snapshots” of Americans that depict where and how they were living at particular periods in the past. Once home sources and library sources have been exhausted, the census is often the best starting point for further genealogical research. Statewide indexes are available for almost every census; they are logical tools for locating individuals whose precise place of residence is unknown. While some inaccuracies are to be expected in census records, they still provide some of the most fascinating and useful pieces of personal history to be found in any source. If nothing else, census records are important sources for placing individuals in specific places at specific times. Additionally, information found in the census will often point to other sources critical to complete research, such as court, land, military, immigration, naturalization, and vital records. The importance of census records does not diminish over time in any research project. It is always wise to return to these records as discoveries are made in other sources because, as you discover new evidence about individuals, some information that seemed unrelated or unimportant in a first look at the census may take on new importance. When you can’t find family, vital, or religious records, census records may be the only means of documenting the events of a person’s life. Vital registration—the official recording of births, deaths, and marriages—did not begin until around 1920 in many areas of the United States, and fires, floods and other disasters since have destroyed some official government records. When other documentation is missing, census records are frequently used by individuals who must prove their age or citizenship status (or that of their parents) for Social Security benefits, insurance, passports, and other important reasons. How to Find Census Records Starting With the Census |
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Maine Court Records - The county seat is where an executor or petitioner would go to commence probate, adoption, or guardianship proceedings. There were five probate courts by 1800. Order County Court, Civil or Criminal Records Online! An extensive array of courts have existed in Maine since the beginning of the settlements in the early 1600s, but no thorough survey has been conducted to determine what records remain. Since all courts fell under York County, Massachusetts, until 1760, most of the early records to 1730 will be found on microfilm through the FHL. All of the originals for York County are at Maine State Archives. Counties formed from York after 1760 (Cumberland and Lincoln) and 1789 (Washington) from York were also under Massachusetts jurisdiction, although these records appear not to have been microfilmed. Most extant court records to 1929 for all counties except Lincoln can be found at the Maine State Archives. Lincoln County court records are at the Courthouse in Wiscasset.
Before 1820, Maine's court of appeals was the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature. This also served as the original court for some other cases such as murders. Records for this court are filled as "Suffolk Files" at the Massachusetts State Archives where they are indexed. The supreme judicial court replaced the superior court of judicature after 1780. According to the Massachusetts
State Archives, there holdings include circuit court records for this court for Maine counties through 1793. Although Portland was a port of entry itself, with indexes to passengers arriving 1893-1954 in the National Archives collection with copies at National Archives/New England Region, many Maine residents are descendants of the Irish and other nationalities who passed through immigration in Boston and New Brunswick.
Maine Probate Records - The county seat is where an executor or petitioner would go to commence probate, adoption, or guardianship proceedings. The earliest of Maine's wills have been published in William Sargent's Maine Wills, 1650–1760 (1887; reprint, Baltimore, Md.,: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1972), which covers the entire state since there was only one place for instituting probate proceedings. William D. Patterson's Probate Records of Lincoln County, Maine—1760–1800 (Portland: Maine Genealogical Society, 1895) extends Sargent by including all probate records, not just wills, and all of eastern Maine to 1789 when Hancock and Washington counties were set off from Lincoln. There were five probate courts by 1800.
Since probate records include more than wills, John E. Frost has been compiling the earlier material to compliment the wills. Maine Probate Abstracts, 1687–1800 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Microfilm Service Corp., 1986–87) is a microfiche edition of all York County probate records for the time period and not just wills. It is presently available at Maine Historical Society, the Maine State Library, New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the FHL. Mr. Frost is currently continuing to abstract the rest of the pre-1800 probate records. Maine State Archives hold the Somerset County probate records.
Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"
American court files mirror U.S. history. Buried away in courthouses and archives everywhere are the dreams and frustrations of millions of citizens. The chances are great that your ancestors have left a detailed record of at least some aspects of their lives in court records. Most of us don’t think of court records as the rich source of personal history that they are. But America’s English heritage established a tradition of court processes in which the people have a right to participate actively—and we always have. With relative freedom from royal supervision and with court enforcement of religious as well as civil laws, American courts tried many matters that were not subject to court action in other parts of the British empire and that are now considered too minor to warrant criminal action. When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term “probate records” broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, “probate” applies only when there is a will. Family historians use probate case files far more than any other kind of court record. Probate case files are logical sources because they tend to include so much personal data, and because Americans have depended on the courts to settle their estates since North America was colonized. According to Val Greenwood in his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, “All records which relate to the disposition of an estate after its owner’s death are referred to as probate records. These are many and varied in both content and value, but basically, they fall into two main classes: testate and intestate” (page 255). Probate case files generally provide names, addresses, and biographical data for the deceased, but frequently provide the same information for other relatives named in the papers. Relationships, maiden names of wives, married names of daughters, past residences, and place of origin in a native country are just a few of the details that can be discovered in probate files. And probate files can be found in courthouses and archives across the United States. When requesting probate information from the county clerk, it is important not to limit yourself by asking for a person’s “will.” The clerk will usually take you at your word and not copy other papers in the probate file that may have equally important information if there is no will. Even if your ancestor is not mentioned in a probate case, consider all of the other procedures which might have resulted in him or her appearing in court records:
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Maine Church Records - Few church records have been published or microfilmed for Maine, making it a major untapped source for genealogical research. No total survey of what exists has been made, but the Congregational church was the largest denomination and its records were usually quite comprehensive. According to John Frost, records for over two dozen Congregational churches are located at Maine Historical Society, as well as thirteen Baptist, three Universalist, and ten Quaker meetings.
Literally hundreds more church records probably exist in various repositories or the churches themselves. The most likely genealogical material can be found in the lists of memberships with letters of admission or dismissal and the baptisms. It is in the nature of the church proceedings themselves that the lives of ancestors are vividly illuminated. A few church records, such as those from the Church of Christ in Buxton, 1763-1817, have been published in book form and others, such as Wells, are in periodicals such as New England Historical and Genealogical Register Maine Cemetery Records - As is typical of other New England states, Maine residents often chose to be buried near their homes, making burying places difficult to find. Principally the Maine Old Cemetery Association and DAR state and local chapters have made numerous transcripts of Maine cemeteries. There is a continuous indexing project of the transcripts being conducted by the Maine Old Cemetery Association. It is not only indexed but microfilmed and contains upwards of 200,000 people who were buried in Maine between 1650-1970. This alphabetical surname indexing project is held on microfilm at the Maine State Library in Augusta, with originals at the Farmingdale branch of the FHL in Maine. A Revolutionary War Soldiers' graves project and a similar project underway for Civil War Soldiers' graves are included. Typescripts of the DAR work have been deposited in one of four places: The Maine Historical Society, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Maine State Library, or Bangor Public Library Cemetery records and gravestone inscriptions are a rich source of information for family historians. Cemetery and other sources of information associated with death include:
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Maine Land Records - Maine obtained provincial status in New England under royal grants from England. In 1677 the Massachusetts Bay Colony purchased the area in Maine below the Kennebec River. The area east of the river became part of Massachusetts in 1691. As part of Massachusetts, the process of creating town grants for proprietors followed that of other Massachusetts towns. All deeds before 1737 for the settled area in Maine have been transcribed verbatim and published in eighteen volumes entitled York Deeds, 1642-1737, available at most major libraries with a collection of New England materials.
Following the Revolution in 1783, under the auspices of the Massachusetts General Court, a Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands began to survey and sell remaining unorganized portions of the state to help pay for the cost of the war. Land was disposed of in lotteries, a few war grants, tax sales, street grants, and patents. All the original papers for the Eastern Lands are held in the Massachusetts State Archives, and there is a limited card index. Additionally, they have been published in The Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, Vols. 4-8. Between 1824-91, the Maine Land Office took over the work of the Massachusetts Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands and distributed public land after separation from Massachusetts. Records are located at the Maine State Archives and include maps, field notes, and deeds starting with 1794 as Massachusetts's deeds. Land grant applications from Revolutionary War veterans are also available. Land transactions are recorded on the county level and available at the county deed office. Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"
U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 or Vol. 3 The right to own land has always been one of the great incentives for living in the United States. Yet researchers often overlook the importance of land records as a source of family history information. Written evidence of people’s entitlement goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record family historians might use. Land records meet the needs of researchers in different ways and contain a variety of genealogical and historical data. They are a major source of information for many family histories and provide primary source material for local history as well. They are closely related to probate and other official court records and should be investigated in connection with them. Land and property are leading issues in the settlement of estates, and the majority of civil cases in the courts deal with real and personal property. Although land records rarely yield vital statistics, in many instances they provide the only proof of family relationships. Often they include the names of heirs of an estate (including daughters’ married names and a widow’s subsequent married name) and refer to related probates and other court cases by number and court name. In some places where other records are scarce, the land records take on extra importance. Occasionally these documents disclose former residences and more often provide the new address of the grantors or heirs at the time of the sale of the property. Land records provide two types of important evidence for the family historian. First, they often document family relationships. Second, they place individuals in a specific time and place, allowing the researcher to sort people and families into neighborhoods and closely related groups. One of land records’ most important qualities is that they are sometimes the only records that allow us to distinguish one person of a common name from another. The National Archives has bounty-land warrant files, donation land entry files, homestead application files, and private land claim files relating to the entry of individual settlers on land in the public land states. There are no land records for the original thirteen states or for Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii. Records for these states are maintained by state officials, usually in the state capital. Searching for the record of a particular land grant from the federal government requires contacting both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Archives (NARA). |
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For service in wars before statehood, refer to Massachusetts—Military Records. However, a few printed sources have attempted to extract Maine soldiers from the Massachusetts holdings, notably Charles J. House's Names of Soldiers of the American Revolution who Applied for State Bounty...in Land Office (1893; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967); Charles A. Flagg's An Alphabetical Index of Revolutionary Pensioners Living in Maine (1920; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967); and Carleton and Sue Fisher's Soldiers, Sailors and Patriots of the Revolutionary War—Maine (Louisville, Ky.: National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1982). The adjutant general's holdings for Maine, which include militia on state service in wars, state yearly published reports on Civil War soldiers. World War I and II reports are held at Maine State Archives. The Spanish-American War service records are held but not published. Maine State Archives has a card index of each Civil War soldier and grave records for Revolutionary, Civil War, and War of 1812 soldiers as well as service records through World War I. More recent records can be found at the Bureau of Veterans Services, State House Station #117, Augusta, Maine 04333.
The site U.S. Wars list conflicts dating from earliest to 1865. Wars covered that are availibele are:
Search Revolutionary War 1775-83 Service Records, Rejected Pensions, Loyalists Records, 1775-1783 Pay Rolls, Courts-Martial, Officers, Pension Index, 1841 Pensioner Census Below is a list of online resources for Maine in the Revolutionary War. Email us with websites containing information on Maine in the Revolutionary War by clicking the link below:
Search Civil War Soldiers, Service Records, Regiments, General Officers, Battle Summaries, Pension Index: 1861-1934, CSA Field Officers and the War of the Rebellion Below is a list of online resources for Maine in the Civil War. Email us with websites containing information on Maine in the Civil War by clicking the link below:
Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"
Military records have originated at the federal, state, and local levels. Whether created in time of war or in time of peace, these records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served in the military forces of the United States. Almost every American family, in one generation or another, has seen one or more of its members serve in America’s armed forces. From regimental histories, which provide blow-by-blow accounts of a unit’s participation in military actions, to the personal details contained in the service and pension files of individual men and women, military records provide valuable information concerning a large and significant portion of the American population. And because military records have been preserved and made available at and through a number of research institutions, much information awaits the well-prepared researcher. How to Find Military Records When and where did the individual live? Did the family keep evidence of military service? Certificates, letters, journals, diaries, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, medals, swords, and other memorabilia kept in private collections may provide the basic facts needed to begin searching in military record collections. Military Time Lines Evidence of Military Service in Hometown Records Military History In addition to the standard histories, local public libraries and historical societies usually preserve and make available other types of publications that document the military history of the geographical areas they serve. Historical agencies collect biographies, letters, diaries, journals, and all sorts of memorabilia from military units and servicemen and -women. The personal accounts found in some collections are a fascinating means of stepping back in time. Firsthand accounts afford a better understanding of the day-to-day drudgery, loneliness, fears, and satisfactions of military life. Evidence of Military Service in Cemeteries Evidence of Military Service in Court Records Military Records in the National Archives A wonderful array of federal military records are available in major libraries and archives and through microfilm rental programs. (Heritage Quest, a division of AGLL, Inc., PO Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329, is a source of rental microfilms.) With sufficient identifying information, you may request a search of the registers of enlistments or the compiled military service records. The minimum information required for a search is (1) the soldier’s full name, (2) the war in which he or she served or period of service, and (3) the state from which he or she served. For the Civil War, you must also indicate whether the person served in Union or Confederate forces. A separate copy of the form must be used for military service, pension, and bounty-land warrant applications. Submit requests for information about individuals who served in the military before World War I on NATF form 80 (Order for Copies of Veterans Records). Write to the National Archives and Records Administration, General Reference Branch, Washington, DC 20408 to obtain copies of NATF form 80. Always ask for “all records” for an individual. Make requests for information about U.S. Army officers separated from the service after 1912 on standard form 180 (Request Pertaining to Military Records) and send it to the Military Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132. U.S. Military Records Records of state militias and the National Guard |
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Maine Vital Records -Maine has the most uneven group of vital records in all of New England. The first settlements were dilatory in recording vital events as was the custom of other Massachusetts communities. Only five towns (Biddeford, Kittery, Kennebunkport, York, and Wells) have such seventeenth-century records. By the eighteenth century, over 200 towns picked up the habit and followed it reasonably well until Maine became a separate state in 1820. Following statehood, records were not consistently kept at first, but most towns have good marriage intentions and births. Few deaths are recorded in town records.
After 1864, state legislation required that town clerks forward births, deaths, and marriages to the secretary of state. There was never total compliance although all those which were sent before 1892 for about eighty towns are available at the Maine State Archives (see Archives, Libraries, and Societies). By 1892, the State Board of Vital Statistics was established by the legislature as the depository for returns of vital events, and mandatory recording became a reality. Consequently, vital records after 1892 are available through that office (State House, Station #11, Augusta, Maine 04330). Maine State Archives also has the 1892–1955 birth, death, and marriage records on microfilm with a helpful bride's index from 1892 to the present and groom's index 1956–present. The death and marriage index from 1955–present is also available there, but not birth records which can only be obtained from the Office of Vital Records. The FHL has some of the microfilms after 1892, but they may not be as current as those at Maine State Archives since they are updated regularly from the Office of Vital Records files. Certified copies of all vital records after 1922 may be obtained from the State Board of Vital Statistics, State house, Station #11, Augusta, Maine 04330. The New England Historic Geneological Society has microfilm copies of Maine pre-1892 vital records, some additional reels through 1955, and death records through 1970. The FHL has the microfilm copies of records before 1892 and some after 1892, but they are not as current as those at the Maine State Archives, which are updated regularly from the Office of Vital Records files. A few of Maine's vital records have been published. A project undertaken by the Maine Historical Society issued all pre-1892 vital records for eighteen towns which included sources outside the town clerk's office—diaries, church records, newspapers, gravestone information, family records, Bibles, and private records. Transcripts of town records for York 1681–1891 were published serially in New England Historical and Genealogical Register from 1955–69. Marriages for the early statehood period were sometimes recorded at the county level, as mandated by the legislature in 1828. Such records have not yet been fully assessed, although some are on microfilm at Maine State Archives. The most complete listing of available Maine vital records continues to be the updated Microfilm List of Maine Town and Census Records (1980) distributed by the Maine State Archives. Recently funded by a grant from the National Historic Records Commission, the Maine State Archives will be broadening its scope to survey all of Maine's town records. In the Town Resource section at the end of this chapter, details from the most recent update are included to guide the researcher in finding vital records. Maine Office of Vital Records, Office of Vital Records, 221 State Street, Station 11, Augusta, ME 04333-0011. Check or money order should be made payable to Treasurer, State of Maine. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current fees, the telephone number is (207) 287-3181. You may obtain certified copies also via the Vital Chek Online Services Below
Ordering Vital Records Online - Getting documents by mail can take a long as six weeks or more. Through VitalChek Express Certificate Service you can get Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed, Sealed, & Delivered in as few as three business days!
Facts on Birth Records - Most early birth records contain very little biographical information. Typical early New England town and church records, for example, give little information beyond the name of the child, date and place of birth, and parents’ names. Some localities listed only the name of the father. While early birth records can be discouragingly lacking in information, by the mid-nineteenth century birth records in the United States began to include more information. Even though births were not widely recorded during the early years of America’s existence, the records that do exist may be the only source of a birth date for an individual and should always be consulted. Delayed births are also important vital registrations that you should consider for obtaining biographical information. When Social Security benefits were instituted in 1937, individuals claiming benefits had to document their birth even if the state of their birth did not require registration when they were born. Individuals who were not registered with state or county agencies at the time of their birth often applied for a delayed birth registration. Obtaining passports, insurance, and other benefits also required proof of age. Applications were accompanied with full name, address, and date and place of birth; father’s name, race, and place of birth; and evidence to support the facts presented. The evidence could be in the form of a baptismal certificate, Bible record, school record, affidavit from the attending physician or midwife, application for an insurance policy, birth certificate of a child, or an affidavit from a person having definite knowledge of the facts. Delayed birth records are usually filed and indexed separately from regular birth registrations, and it may be necessary to request a separate search for them.
Facts on Marriage Records - Because of the importance of the legal distribution and control of property, most states and counties began to record marriages before births and deaths. The recording of a marriage is a two-step process. Traditionally, couples apply for a license to marry, and the applications are usually filed loose among other applications or in bound volumes. Marriage returns are filed once the marriage has taken place. The latter document is the proof of a marriage (not the license application). Marriage applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a significant amount of genealogical information. They may list full names of the bride and groom, their residences, races, ages, dates and places of birth, previous marriages, occupations, and their parents’ names, places of birth, and occupations. Marriage certificates are issued by counties after the marriage ceremony is completed, and these are usually found among family items. While the certificates tend to have less biographical data than the application, the name of the individual officiating at the wedding may lead you to religious records by revealing the denomination. The religious records, in turn, may reveal the names of witnesses and other useful information. Early American records sometimes include marriage bonds, which served as a protection for the future children of the marriage. A bond obligated a prospective groom to pay the bond if he were discovered to be a bigamist or imposter or otherwise ineligible to contract a valid marriage. As long as the marriage was legal, the bond was void. Bonds generally include the groom’s name, name of the surety, the sum, and the date of the agreement.
Facts on Death Records - Early death records in the United States provide little more than the name of the deceased, the date of death, and the place of death. Obituaries and cemetery, court, and other records often provide more information about the deceased than do most official death records created before the last quarter of the 1800s. By 1900 death records included more details. They often include the name of the deceased; date, place, and cause of death; age at the time of death; place of birth; parents’ names; occupation; name of spouse; name of the person giving the information; the informant’s relationship to the deceased; the name and address of the funeral director; and the place of burial. Race is listed in some records, and modern death certificates generally include a Social Security number.
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