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Archiver > GenMassachusetts > 2004-10 > 1098089688


From: "Betty" <>
Subject: Re: [GM-L] Boston
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 04:54:48 -0400
References: <003e01c4b499$adf61c80$0d00000a@candy>


Good morning.. List,

I just wanted to add one point to something said here, if you think the
borders between the states are difficult to keep track of, try doing
research in the towns along the Maine / New Brunswick border. And,
before ~1785, the same borderline was between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia
!

I found out my ancestor was killed in 1799 and the "accident" was reported
from the town of Schoodic. Turned out that was the former name of St.
Stephen, NB, and it also might have been the former name of Calais, ME.
And, the Schoodic River was the former name of the St. Croix River which
divides that part of ME and NB. There is also a Milltown, NB, and a
Milltown, ME, which exist opposite each other across the St. Croix River
(I believe.)

And, since St. Stephen, NB, and Calais, ME, are just a short, walking bridge
from each other, people just walked back and forth as if they were going
from Central Square to Harvard Square in Cambridge. So, records could
have been kept -- in either "country."

Here is the (kids) "timeline for Maine's history" from the Maine Gov. web
site:

http://www.state.me.us/sos/kids/allabout/historytimeline.htm

And, when I took a quick look at that timeline, I was reminded that the ME /
NB border wasn't finalized until .. 1842 !

On another page, the following is found:

After the Indian threat lessened in the mid-1700s, the population of Maine
began to grow, encouraged by an open offer by Massachusetts of 100-acre lots
free to anyone who would settle the northern province.

The population doubled from 12,000 to 24,000 between 1743 and 1763. By the
end of the century, the number of Maine settlers had grown to more than
150,000.

** I wonder if that list of "who" got the "free" 100-acre lots in Maine ..
is available.**

http://www.state.me.us/sos/kids/allabout/historydetail.htm

Because of my long-time KIDDER research, I found out that in the 1700's,
"free land" was also being offered in what was then .. Nova Scotia ! I
wonder how men in the mid-1700's determined whether they would go get "free
land" in "the Northern Territory of Massachusetts" or the "free land" in
Nova Scotia, Canada.

Here is a portion of a brief timeline from my 1960's era "World Book:"

1607 English settlers established the Popham Colony..
1622 Maine lands were granted .. to Sir Ferdinando GORGES and John MASON.
1641 Gorgeana (now York) became the first chartered city in .. U.S.
1677 MA bought Maine from the heirs of .. GORGES.
("the Northern Territory of Massachusetts")
1763 The Treaty of Paris ended French efforts to gain control of Maine.
(note almost 100 years had passed)
1775 The first naval battle of the Rev War took place off of Maine Coast
(Machias).
1820 Maine became the 23rd state ...
(movement to separate from MA began in 1785)
1842 The Webster-Ashburn Treaty .. settled the long disputed ME / NB
border.

.. To get back to the original subject matter, while looking under
"Massachusetts" for mention of the "Northern Territory of Massachusetts," I
came across the map of MA, and it does list a .....New Boston, MA. It
is on the MA / CT border, just east of .. Mt. Washington, MA. (Or about
half-way between Springfield and the NY border.)

That's all for this morning ... Enjoy your week !

Betty (near Lowell, MA)

P.S. If I owe anyone an e-mail, I'm sorry. I had an unusually busy
summer, and October is proving even busier.






----- Original Message -----
From: "Candy and Bruce" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: [GM-L] Boston


> Jim brings up a good point here ... quite often there are towns of the
> same name in bordering states, and it's necessary to be very careful
> about documenting events ... there are also several cases I am aware
> of, where towns just across the river from each other are in separate
> states, so that you need to be alert to search the records of that
adjoining
> state ... your "missing" marriage or birth or death record may be there
>
> likewise, borders changed back and forth; more often county borders,
> but also state borders; don't get me started on Pennsylvania, Delaware,
> Maryland, and Virginia !
>
> as the original poster (Marcia) suggests, the same record may
> appear in more than one town's Vital Records, and in some cases it
> can be quite difficult to determine in which locality the event took place
> (for example, examine the early VRs of Orleans and Eastham ... )
>
> intentions were, in many cases, posted or published in more than one
> town; if the actual marriage record cannot be located, we may have to
> live with the ambiguity
>
> another confusion occurs when transcriptionists see the "old fashioned"
> abbreviations for some of the the states, and transcribe Mne. as
> Minnesota, when Maine was meant, turn Vermont into Virginia or
> vice versa, confuse Connecticut with California, and transmute
> New Brunswick into Nebraska
>
> there is one explanation for some of the anomalous records of births in
> "Massachusetts" prior to 1620 ... the new emigrants recorded their
> existing births and marriages in the vital records of the new towns
> they were establishing ... and some researchers took these records
> at face value (we are all novices at some time or another)
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <>
> To: <>
> Sent: October 17, 2004 03:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [GM-L] Boston
>
>
> > In a message dated 10/17/2004 5:55:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
DGoo249076
> > writes:
> >
> >
> > > Many towns in MA. made it aacorss the border into NH, until firm lines
> were
> > > settled.
> > > For instance, Dunstable, MA. and Dunstable, NH existed side by side
> along
> > > the border. Now only Dunstable, MA. remains.
> > > I think oneof the mainproblems with information on the LDS web site is
> the
> > > fact that so many names from OLD England came to be New England towns,
> and
> > > some are just note familiar with this part of the country. It can be
> confusing
> > > when it is stated that someone was born in Dorchester, MA with a date
in
> the
> > > 1500's...more reason for confirming all information :)
> > >
> > >
> > yeah but chelsea ma never made the boarder and i doubt chelsea maine
did
> > either they coexisted
> >
> > Jim Denning
>
> ______________________________

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