Looks like Spring in Maine is finally about to make an appearance; and it’s not a minute too soon! We are approaching that brief time between when the snow melts and the grass appears; which is absolutely the best time to get outside to look for traces of lost homesteads and cemeteries.
The unfortunate part about this season is that it is you need to be prepared for mud, and very cold working conditions. The good news is, you aren’t going to get too hot tramping around, and there are no mosquitoes or black flies.
It is the best time for searching because nothing is hidden behind or beneath greenery. All the dead leaves and weeds of autumn have been trampled down by winter’s snows, and even just driving around you can see much farther into the woods than at any other time of year. Headstones that have gone unseen in the past may be noticeable only during this brief period, and this is also when you may finally be able to spot the vague outline of family foundations lost in the past.
So what are some ways you can be prepared to take advantage of this two- or three-week period in Maine? Make lists of whom or what you are looking for and where you need to look. If you need to, get permission from the current landowner to wander the property and perhaps pull weeds aside, etc. Plot out your best travel pattern and ready basic supplies. You should expect squelchy wet ground and uncertain weather that can be unexpectedly breezy and chill, and then alternate with blasts of hot sun, so wear layered clothing.
Don’t forget your camera and notebook, and if you are going to be visiting cemeteries, I recommend the Bailey’s excellent record form available on their website at: http://dept.cs. williams.edu/~bailey/genealogy/
The Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) website provides some great resources for anyone planning a cemetery trek. They give guidelines on when you should not try to clean a headstone, and remind us never to use any chemicals on the stones; use water only. If you are planning to clean headstones, MOCA recommends: natural or soft-bristled brushes, a tooth brush, soft wooden craft sticks, gloves, kneeling pads, grass clippers, spray bottles, pails, and many gallons of clean water.
Just like a doctor’s credo, though, “first do no harm”. Unless you really need to it is best not to clean the headstones. If you are determined to do so, please visit the MOCA website and review their Tombstone Cleaning Brochure. While you are there, I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised by the array of resources they have made available.
If you expect to do a lot of cemetery research and headstone work or photographing, you may want to invest in the Maine Cemetery Trampers’ Companion which includes tips for reading difficult headstones, how to recognize different kinds of stone, and the meanings of many initials and symbols used on headstones, and much more. ($25, check payable to MOCA. P.O. Box 641, Augusta, ME 04332-0641).
Good luck and happy hunting!
Editor’s note: Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft is a longtime genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader-emails are welcome at ninabrawn@ gmail.com. Her semimonthly column is sponsored by the Aroostook County Genealogical Society which meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center at 6:30 p.m. Guests are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
