Facts on Local Court Records

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   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.

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.
Circuit Court records for the Supreme Judicial Court for Maine counties through 1793 are located at the Massachusetts Archives

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 Court Records, 1696-1854: This database is an index to early court records from the state of Maine.

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Facts on Local 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.

• Maine Will Abstracts, 1640-1760: Compiled in the late nineteenth century, this database is a collection of will records for residents of Maine Province between 1640 and 1760.

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Tips for General Court Records

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session.
Arlene H. Eakle, Ph.D. “Research in Court Records”
In The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy

   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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