March is a great month to dig into local historical and genealogical research, according to staff at Wilson Museum in Castine.
Inspired by March holidays such as Genealogy Day, Descendants’ Day, Celebrate Your Name Week, Irish-American Heritage Month and Women’s History Month, the museum will open the Hutchins Education Center 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays this month so researchers may peruse some of the resources available in the museum’s collections at 112 Perkins St.
Each session will highlight a different category of resource. A collection of published family histories will delight genealogists, while microfilms of old local newspapers will excite historical researchers of all kinds.
Cemetery and diary transcriptions, as well as vital records, are a few of the resources through which participants may glean golden nuggets of valuable information. Access to the Internet and ancestry.com will be available on a limited basis for laptop users. Knowing how involved family researchers can get, staff encourage participants to bring a bag lunch if they wish.
To fan the research flame further, a talk on a related topic will follow each research session. The topics are:
— “Old Newspapers the Maine Newspaper Project,” with Janet Roberts, 2 p.m. March 5. Open research 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
— “Tips on Interpreting Town Clerks’ Handwriting,” with Marlene Groves, 2 p.m. March 12. Open research 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
— “Hancock County Civil War Memorials,” with Darlene Springer, 2 p.m. March 19. Open research 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
— “Using Deeds and Probate Records in Historical Research,” with Mark Honey, 1 p.m. March 26. Open research 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
For more information, visit wilsonmuseum.org and click on calender of events or call the museum at 326-9247.
Speaking of old newspapers, there is a wonderful collection on microfilm in the microforms room on the first floor of Fogler Library at the University of Maine. Visit umaine.edu and click on Fogler Library to check hours the library is open. The newspapers, vital records microfilms and U.S. Census microfilms in this room are available for use anytime the library is open, including evenings and weekends. Newspapers on film range from the Bangor Daily News to the Piscataquis Observer to the London Times.
Keep in mind Maine genealogies and local history are held in the Special Collections room on the third floor, which does have more limited hours.
On the other hand, Canadian resources, including compilations such as Bona Arsenault’s Acadian records and the well-known Quebec parish records “Repertoires des actes des baptemes, mariages …” are out in the stacks on the third floor of Fogler and thus are available to peruse anytime.
Find a nice day and get out to a library. Bravo to the Wilson Museum in Castine for offering free events during March.
For information on researching family history in Maine, see Genealogy Resources under Family Ties at bangordailynews.com/browse/family-ties. Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402, or email familyti@bangordailynews.com.