Sources of Information

Suggested Sources:

When you start writing your articles, you may realize you don’t have all the facts at your fingertips. You may need to do some research.

Also, when you make an important statement about a person or place, tell readers where you got that information in case someone else wants to independently find and verify it. This applies to dates of birth, death and marriage, addresses, land records and so on. Listed below are some sources you might find useful.

The MacArthur Library in Biddeford has many old local newspapers on microfilm on the second floor, while the Dyer Library in Saco has a local genealogy and history research room. This room is open limited hours because it is staffed by volunteers, so check the website and phone before you go.

To trace peoples’ addresses and movement over time, look at state and federal census returns and city directories. If the person you are writing about was well known, he or she may be included in Who’s Who directories, university alumni publications, etc. Ancestry.com has a database of city directories, or you will probably find them in the reference section of your local library. Also, in the past, social pages in newspapers often mentioned when and where people went on holiday.

If you make a statement based on family Bible records, conversations, letters or personal memories, list those as sources and try to confirm them in other records.

Online sources:

http://www.mainegenealogy.net/individual_place_record.asp?place=biddeford  This site includes links to familysearch.org catalog for Biddeford, old newspapers, some books

Maine Memory Network https://www.mainememory.net/

Biddeford Pool Historical Society digital photo collection  http://BPoolphotos.com  (contact person is Peter McPheeters)

Chronicling America, a project of the Library of Congress, lets you search digitized newspapers between 1789 and 1963. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Genealogy:

www.familysearch.org will give you a lot of genealogical information without your having to pay for subscription sites like Ancestry.com or joining the New England Historic Genealogical Society. There is a Family Search “wiki page” for most places (eg York County, Cincinnati, etc.) that tells you what databases are available, and where they can be found.

You need to register on Familysearch.org, and get a password, but it is free. You do not need to be a member of the Mormon Church. Search for an ancestor’s name, put in the place the person lived and their approximate dates. Birth, death and marriage records are available, also U.S. census records, many wills and land records and many digitized books. Although much is available online, you may have to go to a Mormon Family History Center for some records. A great deal of material has not been not indexed, so you may have to browse.

Land Records:

Search the online York County Registry of Deeds, https://www.searchiqs.com/MEYOR/Login.aspx

Several of us visited the Registry of Deeds office at the York County Courthouse in Alfred in August, 2018. We wanted to find out who built our houses and when, and who owned them over the years. Alfred is about 10 or 15 minutes west of Walmart on Alfred Street, or route 111. Drive past the tall brick building, and the county courthouse is on your right, hard to miss.

For land deed research, start with a copy of your own deed, or with the online assessment database on the city website http://gis.vgsi.com/biddefordme/ and start working backwards each time the property changed hands. The digital collection goes back to 1965, prior to that check the Grantor/Grantee indexes at the deed office for the dates your property was sold. Then find the book and page number indicated. Photocopies are $1 per page, the staff does it for you. If you want to hire someone to do the research for you, contact janhamilton66@gmail.com for a recommendation.

Probate records are available in the same building, in a different room.