The nickname for the state of Maine is “the Pine Tree State”. Pine trees make many people think of Christmas. Perhaps December is the most fitting month to work on researching your ancestors who lived in Maine. Here are some Maine genealogy resources that can help you.
FamilySearch has a Wiki page that has lots of information about Maine. There are links to FamilySearch Wiki pages about each of the counties in the state. Scroll down for links to major repositories of archives in Maine. You can also check out several other FamilySearch Wiki pages about specific types of records from Maine.
The Maine Historical Society has information about the Research Library. MHS members can use it for free. If you visit the library, you can get in-library access to the databases at NewEnglandAncestors.org, Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest Online, and the Proquest Digital Sanborn Maps of Maine. There is an Online main Genealogy Forum you can check out by following a link from their website.
Ancestry.com has a page that is filled with links to all of their Maine collections of records. To access the records, you must have an Ancestry.com membership. Return to their page often. Ancestry.com does a great job of making it obvious when a collection has been added, updated, or is being offered for free.
Internment.net has cemetery records online. You can start by browsing the cemeteries by county. Not every county has information attached to it. The ones that do have a handy link for you to click. Or, you can start by putting your ancestor’s first and last name into the search engine at the top of their page.
GeneaLinks has a search engine that you can put your ancestor’s name into. Next, select the record type to search through: vital, birth, death, marriage, divorce, or “Genealogy”. GeneaLinks also has helpful information for genealogists who are new to Maine genealogy. Did you know that the Office of the Vital Records, in Augusta, Maine, holds material that goes from 1923 to the present? You won’t find older records there.
Cyndi’s List might very well be the most comprehensive list of links to genealogy resources. If it exists online, Cyndi’s List probably has a link to it. There is a page called “United States – Maine”. Start by selecting a category to search. Some categories include: “Birth, Marriage, Death”, “Census”, “Counties”, “Military”, “Newspapers”, and more!
Image by Nick Ares on Flickr