Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy

From FamilySearch Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Guide to Kennebec County, Maine ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Kennebec County, Maine
Map
Map of Maine highlighting Kennebec County
Location in the state of Maine, United States Genealogy
Facts
Founded February 20, 1799
County Seat Augusta
Courthouse
Address County Courthouse
95 State Street
Augusta, ME 04330-5611
Phone: 207.622.0971
Kennebec County Website


Description[edit | edit source]

Kennebec County was named for Kennebec River. The county is located in the southern area of the state.[1]


Kennebec County, Maine Record Dates[edit | edit source]

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records[2]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1892 1892 1892 1799 1799 1799 1790
*Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1892. General compliance year unknown.

County Courthouse[edit | edit source]

  • 1799 - Register of Deeds has land records from 1799.
  • 1799 - Probate Court has probate records from 1799.
  • Town Clerks have birth, marriage and death records.[3]

History[edit | edit source]

Parent County[edit | edit source]

  • 1799 - Created 20 February 1799 from Lincoln County.[3]

Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]

Record Loss[edit | edit source]

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places / Localities[edit | edit source]

MaineKennebec CountyAndroscoggin CountySagadahoc CountyLincoln CountyKnox CountyWaldo CountySomerset CountyFranklin CountyClintonUnity TownshipBentonAlbionWinslowWatervilleOaklandRomeViennaFayetteMount VernonBelgradeSidneyVassalboroChinaWindsorAugustaManchesterReadfieldWayneWinthropMonmouthLitchfieldWest GardinerFarmingdaleHallowellChelseaRandolphGardinerPittstonWoolwichPerkins TownshipBowdoinhamRichmondBowdoinLisbonAuburnLewistonSabattusWalesGreeneTurnerLeedsLivermoreLivermore FallsJayChestervilleWiltonFarmingtonNew SharonIndustryNew VineyardStrongMercerStarksAnsonMadisonNorridgewockSmithfieldFairfieldSkowheganCornvilleHartlandCanaanPittsfieldPalmyraDetroitTroyBurnhamUnityFreedomMontvillePalermoLibertySomervilleHibbert's GoreAppletonWashingtonUnionWarrenFriendshipWhitefieldJeffersonNobleboroWaldoboroBremenDamariscottaBristolNewcastleAlnaWiscassetDresden
Modern town borders in Kennebec County, Maine. Towns with records are named in black. Unincorporated green places usually lack records.

Neighboring Counties

Androscoggin | Franklin | Somerset | Waldo| Lincoln | Sagadahoc

Populated Places[edit | edit source]

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this census area:[4]

Cities
Towns
Unincorporated communities
Census-designated places
Unorganized territories


Extinct towns and plantations:[6]

Dearborn | Harlem | Unity Plantation[7]

Resources[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

Tombstone Transcriptions Online Tombstone Transcriptions in Print List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com Family History Library Findagrave.com
USGenWeb WorldCat Billion Graves
USGenWeb Archives FamilySearch Places
Tombstone Project
ME Interment
Billion Graves
See Maine Cemeteries for more information.

Census Record[edit | edit source]

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1800 24,571 —
1810 32,564 32.5%
1820 42,623 30.9%
1830 52,485 23.1%
1840 55,823 6.4%
1850 62,521 12.0%
1860 55,655 −11.0%
1870 53,203 −4.4%
1880 53,058 −0.3%
1890 57,012 7.5%
1900 59,117 3.7%
1910 62,863 6.3%
1920 63,844 1.6%
1930 70,691 10.7%
1940 77,231 9.3%
1950 83,881 8.6%
1960 89,150 6.3%
1970 95,247 6.8%
1980 109,889 15.4%
1990 115,904 5.5%
2000 117,114 1.0%
2010 122,151 4.3%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church[edit | edit source]

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Maine denominations, view the Maine Church Records wiki page.

List of Churches and Church Parishes

Court[edit | edit source]

Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

Gazetteers[edit | edit source]

Land[edit | edit source]

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Maine Land and Property for additional information about early Maine land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories[edit | edit source]

Local histories are available for Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Maine Local Histories.

Maps[edit | edit source]


Kennebec CountyFranklin CountySomerset CountyOxford CountyAndroscoggin CountySagadahoc CountyLincoln CountyKnox CountyWaldo CountyME Kennebec.jpg
Click a neighboring county
for more resources


Military[edit | edit source]

Revolutionary War[edit | edit source]
Civil War[edit | edit source]

Regiments. Service men in Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy:

-1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 2nd BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("B")
-1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 3rd BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("C")
-1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 4th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("D")
-1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 5th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("E")
-1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 6th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("F")
-1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 7th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("G")
-1st Regiment, Maine Cavalry
-16th Regiment, Maine Infantry, Company B.

Online Records

World War I[edit | edit source]

Naturalization[edit | edit source]

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

Maine Newspaper Archive. Indexes Free; Digital Page Images $ (GenealogyBank $) Twenty-two early Maine 18th and 19th-century newspapers, 1785-1898 online. Indexes (free); digital images ($). These newspapers are from Augusta, Bangor, Belfast, Brunswick, Castine, Eastport, Falmouth, Hallowell, Kennebunk, Portland, Saco, and Wiscasset.

Dark thin font green pin Version 4.png
Early Maine newspapers routinely reported on news, obituaries, births, marriages etc. from around the state. Be sure to search the indexes for all Maine newspapers to find your target ancestor.

Finding More Maine Newspapers[edit source]

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

Probate[edit | edit source]

Online Probate Records

Taxation[edit | edit source]

Maine tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. There may be gaps of several years in the records.

Vital Records[edit | edit source]

In Maine, vital records are kept by town clerks or selectmen. Although some towns have existed since the 1650s, most vital records date from about 1700. The vital statistics are often arranged by family. For more information, see the Wiki page for the town and the Wiki page, Maine Vital Records.

Societies and Libraries[edit | edit source]

Family history Centers[edit | edit source]

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

Local Centers and Libraries

Websites[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Kennebec County, Maine" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennebec_County,_Maine."
  2. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Kennebec County, Maine. Page 304-305 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 275.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 304. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
  4. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Kennebec County, Maine," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennebec_County,_Maine, accessed 2 April 2019.
  5. ↑ For further details see Maine Townships
  6. ↑ Before an extinct town (or plantation) was discontinued, it created official town records of interest to genealogists. For preservation these records were usually turned over to a nearby functioning town in the same county.
  7. ↑ Michael J. Leclerc, Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research, 5th ed. (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012), 101. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 974 D27g 2012.
v • d • e
Links to Maine-related articles
Topics
Counties
Extinct
Jurisdictions
Major
Repositories
Migration
Routes

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

Retrieved from "https://www-a3.familysearch.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Kennebec_County,_Maine_Genealogy&oldid=4202514"