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Historic Cemetery Records - Use With Caution!
Cemetery Inscription Project (MIP) Series
Cemetery inscriptions compiled by MOCA volunteers in the 1970s and 1980s were bound into sets known as Series 1-4 and distributed to various libraries in the 1980s and 1990s. The series includes cemetery transcriptions organized by County and Town.
- Series 1: R1 (Androscoggin, Kennebec); R2 (Penobscot); R3 (Franklin, Somerset)
- Series 2: R1 (Lincoln, Oxford, York); R2 (Knox Penobscot, Sagahadoc); R3 (Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Washington)
- Series 3: R1 (Androscoggin, Aroostook, Kennebec, Lincoln); R2 (Sagadahoc, Washington, Somerset); R3 (Cumberland, Piscataquis, Waldo)
- Series 4: additional records
Bound copies and/or microfilm of these volumes are held at the Maine State Library, Augusta; Maine Historical Society, Portland; Ellsworth Public Library; Patten Free Library, Bath; and Hampden Historical Society.
Using MINERA, search for “MOCA cemetery inscription project” to find which volumes are held where. Microfilm editions may also be available at out-of-state libraries. Check your local library catalog for nearby locations.
NOTE: Many of these records have been corrected and updated since publication. The latest information is available online in the MOCA Cemetery Records Collection.
Surname Index Project (SIP)
The Surname Index Project (SIP) was a genealogical research project initiated in the 1970s by Nathan Hale with assistance from many volunteers. The purpose was to document people who lived and died in Maine.
Initially taken from gravestone inscriptions, the project grew to include records from many sources, including library, Bible, family records, and more. Although MOCA helped in the beginning of the project, the project was taken over by the Maine State Library in 1979 and the physical collection is located there.
SIP Records are available on FamilySearch.org in two collections: Nathan Hale cemetery collection, surname index and Nathan Hale cemetery collection, surname index, series 2.
Research Tips
In this first example, the information came from the stone of George H. Abbott in East Ellis Cemetery in Rumford. E. McInnes contributed the record in May 1975 and the source was C. Swan and T. Picard of the Rumford Historical Society. The full transcript of the East Ellis Cemetery recorded by Swan and Picard is in the MOCA Cemetery Records Database. As information beyond gravestone inscriptions was incorporated into the project, the SIP data sheet was revised with the source annotation “Blank space means from Grave Stones”. If the space above that line was filled in, it can be assumed that information other than gravestone inscriptions were used. |
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In this second example, this is the case. Also note that in the first line, “This is from the stone of:” is blank. The information came not from a gravestone inscription, but rather from a genealogical note left by R. L. Candage in her transcript of Elmwood Cemetery. The entire transcript is in the MOCA Cemetery Records Database. |
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Excerpt from Ruth L. Candage’s transcript of Elmwood Cemetery with genealogical notes. |
