Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy
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 | |
 Location in the state of Maine | |
| 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 |
Contents
- 1 Description
- 2 Kennebec County, Maine Record Dates
- 3 County Courthouse
- 4 History
- 5 Places / Localities
- 6 Resources
- 7 Societies and Libraries
- 8 Websites
- 9 References
Description[edit | edit source]
The County was named for Kennebec River. The County has Augusta as its seat and the County was created 1799. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.[1]
Kennebec County, Maine Record Dates[edit | edit source]
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1892 | 1892 | 1892 | 1799 | 1799 | 1799 | 1790 |
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]
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
- Four partitions:
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.
Places / Localities[edit | edit source]
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 | ||
| Tombstone Project | ||
| ME Interment | ||
| Billion Graves | ||
| See Maine Cemeteries for more information. | ||
- 1620-2014 - Maine, Tombstone Inscriptions, Surname Index, 1620-2014 at FamilySearch — index
- 1676-1918 - Maine, Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1780-1999 - Maine, J. Gary Nichols Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1999 at FamilySearch — index and images
- Maine, Kennebec County, Togus National Cemetery Records at FamilySearch — index
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.
Court[edit | edit source]
- 1718-1957 - Maine, State Archive Collections, 1718-1957 at FamilySearch — index and images
Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]
- 1837 - 1965 - Maine & Massachusetts Case Files of Deceased and Deserted Seamen 1837-1965 at FamilySearch - images
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.
- 1718-1957 - Maine, State Archive Collections, 1718-1957 at FamilySearch — index and images
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]
for more resources
Military[edit | edit source]
- 1676 - 1918 - Maine, Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1718 - 1957 - Maine, State Archive Collections, 1718-1957 at FamilySearch — index and images
Revolutionary War[edit | edit source]
- 1835 - 1838 - Maine Revolutionary War Bounty Land Applications 1835-1838 at FamilySearch — index and images
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
- 1862-1865 - Maine, Civil War Enlistment Papers, 1862-1865 at FamilySearch — index and images
World War I[edit | edit source]
- 1914 - 1950 - Maine, State Archives, World War I (WWI) Grave Cards, 1914-1950 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1917 - 1919 - Maine, World War I Draft Registration Index, 1917-1919 at FamilySearch — index and images
Naturalization[edit | edit source]
- 1718-1957 - Maine, State Archive Collections, 1718-1957 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1918-1991 - Maine, United States Naturalization Records, 1918-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
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.
1800-1870 - Hallowell, Kennebec County, Newspaper Archive:
1801-1805 - Kennebec Gazette. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1801-1805. at GenealogyBank. $
1801-1861 - Augusta, Kennebec County, Newspaper Archive:
1809-1835 - American Advocate. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1809-1835. at GenealogyBank. $
1810-1815 - Herald of Liberty. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1810-1815. at GenealogyBank. $
1814-1827 - Hallowell Gazette. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1814-1827. at GenealogyBank. $
1832-1961 - Age. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1832-1861. at GenealogyBank. $
1839-1870 - Maine Cultivator and Hallowell Gazette. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1839-1870. at GenealogyBank. $
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:
- WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
- Do a Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).
Probate[edit | edit source]
Online Probate Records
- 1584 – 1999 Maine Wills and Probate Records 1584-1999 at Ancestry.com — images and index $
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.
- 1589-1966 - Maine, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
- 1670 - 1921 - Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921 at FamilySearch — index and images
Societies and Libraries[edit | edit source]
Family history Centers[edit | edit source]
Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.
- For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map
Websites[edit | edit source]
- The Kennebec County MEGenWeb Project, an member of the MEGenWeb Project, an affiliate of the USGenWeb Project.
- The USGenWeb Archives Project for Kennebec County
- The USGenWeb Archives Project for Kennebec County (backup site)
- FamilySearch Catalog for Kennebec County
- Oakland Area Historical Society - Facebook Home - records, photographs, history, genealogy of the Oakland area.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Kennebec County, Maine" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennebec_County,_Maine."
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 3.0 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.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Kennebec County, Maine," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennebec_County,_Maine, accessed 2 April 2019.
- ↑ For further details see Maine Townships
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
