Maine GenWeb
Aroostook GenWeb
US GenWeb Project
 
Aroostook County, Maine
Est. - 1839
County Seat - Houlton
 

Aroostook County Genealogy

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. William Shakespeare
 

Welcome

This is website is part of the volunteer-based USGenWeb project, which has its origins in 1996 (click here for more History of the USGenWeb project). The purpose of this web page is to bring together those who have and those who need genealogy information related to Aroostook County, Maine. Around the world, GenWeb projects are being taken on with the long-term objective of making genealogy source records available on the Internet.

USGenWeb projects run on 100% volunteer power. Volunteers not only maintain the webpages and the machines that host them, but also supply the data. And we can always use more help. Interested in volunteering? If you've accumulated data, why not share it? If you live near a cemetary or hall of records, or have a copy of a publication, you can look things up for people. Somewhere, someone has just the piece of information you need. And vice versa. So if you have any information that would be of interest to the genealogist researching Aroostook county, please contact the co-ordinator of this page so that your information can be included.

Good luck in your searches.
 

Geography

Aroostook is the northernmost county in Maine. It is bordered on the south by Somerset, Piscataquis, Penobscott, and Washington counties; on the north and east by the Canadian province of New Brunswick; and on the west by the province of Quebec.
Aroostook County was established 1 May 1839, and Comprised all the state "north of the north line of the fourth range of townships north of the lottery townships, and east of the dividing line between ranges five and six west of the east line of the state and of a line from the north termination of said dividing line and running the same course to the north line of the state..."

The county was enlarged thus in 1843: "All of the land north of townships numbered eight in the sixth range, eight in the seventh range, and eight in the eighth range of townships west of the east line of the state" was annexed from Penobscot County on 21 March 1843.

The county was further enlarged in 1844 thus: ...from Piscataquis and Somerset Counties, and bounded on the south by a line beginning at the northwest corner of township number eight, in the eighth range of townships west from the east line of the state; thence north to a point due west from the northwest corner of township numbered ten in the seventh range of townships west from the east line of the state, thence west to the west line of the state.

Aroostook's county seat is Houlton. Early eastern Aroostook records are in Michias. Remaining records are in Bangor. It is doubtful that any record prior to the organization of Penobscot, Piscataquis and Somerset Counties (1809 - 1816) are in existence, but if so they would be located in Augusta, Ellsworth and Wiscasset.

-- from Maine Towns and Counties What was What, Where and When, by Michael J. Denis

Aroostook County Towns

I've compiled a page listing all of the towns in Aroostook county, including links to sites specific to each town.

GenWeb sites of Adjacent Counties

If you can't find what you're researching, try the surrounding counties:

GenWeb sites of Broader Areas

Geography Search

If you're not sure where a specific town, village, plantation, etc. is located, try:

Maps

Census Records

The US Constitution requires that a federal census be conducted every ten years; the federal census has been conducted since 1790. The records from 1790-1920 are made publicly available by the US National Archives; later census records are inaccessible for privacy reasons. (In addition to the federal censuses, Maine also conducted its own special census in 1837.)

The USGenWeb Census Project is undertaking the task of transcribing the census data from every available Federal census and making it available on the web. There are also some individuals who have transcribed parts of censuses for their own use, and generously shared it with us.

Here are the available sites on census records:

Aroostook County Census Records

Maine Census Records

General Census Records -- Commercial Sites

 

Birth, Marriage, and Death Records

The following sites relate to vital records in Maine.

Cemetery and Tombstone Data

Aroostook Records

These sites will help point to available resources that relate specifically to Aroostook county:  

Maine Records 

These sites will help point to available resources that relate to Maine:

Acadian and French Records 

The history and geography of Aroostook county are such that there is a great influx of French/Acadian genealogy lines. Here are some sites that will help:

Military Records

These sites can help to find names and other information about soldiers:

Aroostook County Genealogies, Family Histories, and Diaries

These sites point to collections of data that have been generously supplied. Readers are advised that the information could contain errors.  

Genealogy/History Organizations and Publications

Madawaska Historical Society
Library Building
Main Street
Madawaska, Maine

Maine State Library Online

Maine Old Cemetery Association

The Acadian Cultural Exchange
RFD #2 Box 99
Madawaska, ME 04756

Le Centre d'Études Acadiennes
L'Université de Moncton
Moncton, NB
telephone: 506-858-4085

Société Historique Acadiennes
PO Box 2263, Substation A
Moncton, NB E1C 8J3

Acadian Archives / Archives acadiennes
University of Maine at Fort Kent
25 Pleasant Street
Fort Kent ME 04743
telephone: (207) 834-7535
email: acadian@maine.maine.edu

LDS Family History Center
(Jackie Governal, Coordinator)
Skeetfield Road
Oxford, ME 04270
Hours: Wed: 11-2, Thurs. 11-2 & 6-8, Saturday: 11-2

American Local History Network's Maine page  

Published Resources

Look for these at your local genealogical library:

Maine newspapers on line

News Groups, Mailing Lists, and On-line Publications

Maine (Send e-mail to majordomo@listserv.northwest.com, with body: subscribe maine)

Colonial America - To discuss colonial times in north america including Canada and the southern Spanish colonies. (Send email to majordomo@listserv.northwest.com, with body: subscribe colonial-america)

New Brunswick (Send email to majordomo@listserv.northwest.com, with body: subscribe new-brunswick)

Northeast Roots Mailing List

The Signal -- the newsletter of the USIGS
 

General Genealogy Tools and Links

Here are some more links to more general genealogy sites; they don't exacly fit into any of the previous categories.

Getting Specific Information from other Visitors to this Site

The success of the GenWeb projects stem from volunteer effort, such as taking the time to transcribe records. There is also a page of volunteers who have access to publications and are willing to lookup information. Additionally, there is a page of queries, where readers can submit specific questions about people, places, etc. These queries can then be read publicly, hopefully by someone with the requested information.

Frequently Asked Questions

There is a list of questions that have been asked by other visitors. These deal with genealogy in general and genealogy specific to Aroostook, Madawaska, and Victoria counties.

Thanks for stopping by.
This page last updated Monday, 30-Apr-2001 16:06:53 MDT.


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