BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HOLDINGS AT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MS. = manuscript (unpublished)
Micro. = on microfilm
OHS = Otisfield Historical Society, available
on request
OTC = Otisfield Town Clerk’s office
Cemetery Records
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Jean F. Hankins, Catalogue of Otisfield Graveyard
Inscriptions (on sale, OTC) Otisfield Gen-Web site (Marilyn Strout)
Census Records
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1850-80: Agricultural census records, Otisfield (photocopy)
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1906: The Town Register, comp. Mitchell and Davis
(Brunswick, Me., 1906). This indicates occupation, names of children, ages.
OHS
has copy.
Church Records
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Baptist: Incomplete. Consult church treasurer for
clerk’s book, 1827-1866; 1871-1959. See also Jean F. Hankins, A History
of the East Otisfield Baptist Church (1999). (On sale, OTC)
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Congregational: Clerk’s records, 1797-1893, photocopied,
transcribed, and indexed. These contain a wealth of information. Baptisms
and new members are included, but not marriages or births.
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Otisfield First Parish Records: Not actually church
records, but records pertaining to the “Ministerial fund,” which was administered
and doled out yearly to all the churches in town. Some interesting information
here.
Diaries
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1836-1892: Diaries of Mary Pride Knight of Otisfield.
Photocopy of transcription made in 1929. Indexed. Hundreds
of names mentioned. A first-rate resource. Knight lived on Bell Hill Road
nearly all her life.
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1839-5 1: Diary of Dr. Horace A. Barrows, who lived
in Otisfield at this time. MS at Maine Historical Society.
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1885-92, 1905-06, 1915-1919: Diaries of Pliny Henley,
of Otisfield, Waterford, and other places. Very good details about agriculture,
erecting and maintaining buildings, working in the woods, rural life in
general.
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1888, 1897: Diary of Nathaniel Lamb of Otisfield,
who lived on the Back Road (Bean Rd.) Rather perfunctory.
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1922: Ernest Greenleaf Much like the above.
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1935: Alice Smith, a teen-ager at the time. A very
spirited girl who seemed to know everyone in town.
Histories of Town
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Grinfill B. Holden, 2 vol., c. 1880. MS. History
of first settlers of Otisfield. Transcription. Most of material is
in Spurr, below. OHS
-
William Spurr, A History of Otisfield. Maine (c.
1950). This is indispensable. See also Jean F. Hankins, Index to the above.
Both for sale at OTC.
-
Granville Fernald, Looking Backward in Otisfield
(short
essays, c. 1910-1920). OHS.
-
Jean F. Hankins, A Short History of Otisfield
(1998).
Brings the Spurr history a little closer to the 20”’ century. For
Sale, Otisfield Town Clerk's Office OTC
Maps
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1790? - See Spurr, p. 312 for “Plan of Otisfield.”
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1795 - OHS has reconstructed map of first settlers’
residences.
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1857 - OHS has reconstructed a map of Cumberland
Co., with residents’ names. OHS.
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1871 - Cumberland Co. map, with names. OHS.
Militia Lists, MS S- These are lists
of all Otisfield men of fighting age. They can be used as a rough census.
Newspapers
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The Otisfield News, 1945-1949. A weekly mimeographed
newspaper edited by Ethel (Scribner) Hirst, with thousands of names. Not
indexed. OHS.
-
Clipping file, c. 1935-present, maintained by OHS.
Partly cataloged.
Taxes and Assessments
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1798-1978 - Micro. available from OTC.
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1797-1915 - OHS, CoIl. 2 has MS.
Town Records
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1798 - 1978: Micro., request from OTC.
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Otisfield Town Reports, 1868- present, published,
available from OHS.
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Selectmen’s Records, 1795-1900: OHS has several
boxes of MS. concerning roads, schools, poor relief, valuation and assessment
lists, selectmen’s reports, town meeting warrants, official state documents,
bills and cancelled checks. Available on request from OHS.
Vital Records
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1798-1892 - William Spurr, Vital Records of Otisfield,
Maine. to 1892 (Portland: Maine Historical Society, 1948). Spurr cites
all his sources.
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1892 - present - Otisfield Town Clerk.
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OHS has some scattered death and burial records.
Voter Lists
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1807-1934: Almost complete. OHS. These serve as a
rough census, for men only Before 1918.
Other
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Frederick Robie Grange Papers, OHS.
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Bolsters Mills Water Co. Records, OHS
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