Ancestry

I thought it would be easy to find evidence of my marriage in Maine. I was mistaken. I wasn’t surprised, assuming that a small town in Maine may not have reported the marriage of an out-of-stater. I decided to change the details of my search, using my birthday and place of birth. Again, there is no evidence of my birth. I tried searching using my parents’ names and still found nothing. Perhaps being born in a territory rather than a state makes a difference. I changed that—still no hit. Frustrated, I give up.

Finding my grandfather in the 1900 census is much easier even though I have much less information. I only enter his name and place of birth (I remember the town incorrectly but the state is correct). I am given several  “relevant” choices but I remember my great-grandmother’s first name so know which record to go to. The handwritten census report is difficult to read—but I find my grandfather (1 year old in 1900) and his siblings and parents in the census ledger. The manner in which the original record is displayed—right in the middle of the page—simplifies the search.

Going to Photos and Maps and looking at Maine, I discovered that there are few maps for the years I select. In fact, there is one image for each of the years I select from the list. One is of the Eagle Lake area, the other is a state map of Maine. When I go to the photos, I decide to look at Civil War images. There are in fact many photos of soldiers from Maine. I don’t know if any of my Maine ancestors fought in the Civil War but decide to search for information. I don’t find any matches. The photos are compelling. I wish I had more time to look at more of them.