Row of ancient books some of them over 300 years old
Brenda Jackson Bourgoine

Brenda Jackson Bourgoine

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Archival Notes, October 2016

One hidden source of vital records that are public is in Annual Town Reports for selective years.

Individual towns have different years, where the town clerk lists all births, marriages and deaths for the previous year. Some of them list persons who died in another town but are buried in their particular town.

ACGS Library in the Caribou Library has the following: Caribou 1910 to 1931.

A marriage record has the two parties’ names, the date and place but they do not give their parents names.

A birth record gives month and day to Mr. & Mrs. John Doe a son or a daughter.

Death records have date and person’s name. If death occurred in another town gives date, persons name and town where died.

The Maine State Library has copies of some town reports, as does the Fogler Library at UMO.

One needs to look through them to find what years each town had this practice. Some years the clerk just published the total number, which fits each category. This practice is no longer done in this day and age.

Brenda Bourgoine, Archivist