Maine Genealogical Society

08/22/2026

🎉 SAVE THE DATE — MGS IS CELEBRATING 50 YEARS!

Join the Maine Genealogical Society for our 2026 Annual Conference, "Rooted in Maine: Celebrating 50 Years," on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at the University of Maine at Augusta!
We're marking our 50th anniversary with a full day of Maine genealogy, featuring presentations by these four expert speakers:
📚 Joseph C. Anderson II, FASG — 50 Years of MGS Publications: A Celebration of Volunteerism
🏛️ Sarah Breaux — Finding Your Ancestors in Collections at the Maine State Archives
⚓ Eva Holmes, CG, AG — Maine and the Maritime: Finding Seafarers and Shipbuilders
🪦 Ron Romano — Using Gravestones and Cemeteries to Research Your Roots
In person: $55 MGS members | $70 non-members
Live stream: $40
📅 Save the date now! Online registration at www.maineroots.org is coming soon. Watch for the announcement!

The Maine Genealogical Society (MGS) is a non-profit charitable and educational organization. It was founded in 1976 to collect, exchange, preserve

08/19/2026

THE MAINE GENEALOGIST - NEW ISSUE!

The August issue of THE MAINE GENEALOGIST has just been released! Inside: new discoveries about a Maine family with roots reaching back to the mid-1600s; a previously undocumented branch of the challenging Preble family; the remarkable story of a woman who became keeper of a lighthouse on a small island off the Maine coast; and the solution to a long-standing genealogical brick-wall problem in the Penney family of Wells. Four articles, four very different stories—and some surprising discoveries along the way.
Access to these articles and more make up just one of the benefits of MGS membership. Visit www.maineroots.org for more information.

08/18/2026

07/27/2026

Looking for a Maine ancestor who seems to have disappeared from the records? Our featured publication this month may hold the answer. **VITAL RECORDS OF LIVERMORE AND EAST LIVERMORE, MAINE** is an 864-page reference containing two towns in one volume, with vital records, military records and lists, pauper records, early settler accounts, and the complete vital records of East Livermore (now Livermore Falls), published here in print for the first time. Remarkably, nearly two-thirds of the volume contains records that have never been microfilmed. Explore this title—and more than 35 other MGS Special Publications, many now in limited supply—at www.maineroots.org/shop. MGS members receive discounted pricing on all publications.

07/01/2026

If you have ancestors who lived in Maine, the MAINE FAMILIES IN 1790 series should be among the first resources you consult. The collection features sketches of more than 3,000 families, representing roughly 20 percent of all Maine households in 1790 and well over 100,000 individuals. Each meticulously-sourced sketch identifies, when possible, the parents of the head of household and all of the children and their spouses. As a result, MAINE FAMILIES IN 1790 extends well beyond those who were living in 1790, with individuals in the series spanning from the early 1700s, the 1800s, and, in many cases, into the 1900s! Our most recent installment, Volume 12, covers 201 families, all listed in the attached index. Purchase your copy of this exceptionally rich genealogical resource today at www.maineroots.org/shop/maine-families-in-1790/product/6-maine-families-in-1790-vol-12-89

06/06/2026

Do you have Maine ancestors who lived in Arrowsic, Boothbay/Southport, Bowdoinham, Buxton, Canton, Cushing, Durham, Eddington, Edgecomb, Enfield/Greenbush, Etna, Gouldsboro, Islesboro, Jefferson, Livermore/Livermore Falls, Leeds, Mount Vernon, Newcastle, Richmond, Stetson, or Woolwich? Are you researching families who lived in Maine at the time of the 1790 US Census? Do you have Lord and/or Bragdon ancestry? MGS has a great catalog of vital records transcriptions and expertly-researched family genealogies waiting for you, and we're regularly adding new titles that are essential for Maine family historians--have a look at our catalog at www.maineroots.org and take your research to the next level, and consider joining MGS for members-only prices on our books, conferences and webinars, and more!

The Maine Genealogical Society (MGS) is a non-profit charitable and educational organization. It was founded in 1976 to collect, exchange, preserve

05/16/2026

NEW ISSUE OF THE MAINE GENEALOGIST

The May 2026 issue of THE MAINE GENEALOGIST has just been released and features four thought-provoking articles on our Maine ancestors. One might ask, why read an article about someone else's family? If it were merely a straightforward account of that family's ancestors and descendants, it might hold limited interest for other readers. But when an article explores challenging research problems—particularly ones we may encounter in our own work—the methods and reasoning used to solve them can be both instructive and widely applicable. In this issue, each article presents a compelling genealogical problem, and each offers an equally compelling solution. Access to these articles and more make up just one of the benefits of MGS membership. Visit www.maineroots.org for more information.

05/09/2026

⭐️⭐️ NEW FROM MGS: THE LORD GENEALOGY! ⭐️⭐️
Maine Genealogical Society is excited to announce the release our 101st Special Publication: THE LORD GENEALOGY, DESCENDANTS OF NATHAN LORD OF KITTERY, MAINE, THROUGH SEVEN GENERATIONS. Nathan Lord came to Kittery, Maine, from England by 1638 at the age of five, and he eventually founded one of Maine's earliest and most prolific families. This massive 2-volume opus by award-winning genealogist Priscilla Eaton, FASG, meticulously documents over 4,000 of Nathan Lord's descendants over seven generations. Errors in earlier treatments of the family have been corrected, and the identities of many individuals are established here for the first time. Head over to our online store at https://maineroots.org/shop/family-genealogies/product/137-mgs-special-publication-101 and get your copy now!
NOW AVAILABLE & SHIPPING: $90 retail, or $65 to MGS members (2-volume set)

The Maine Genealogical Society (MGS) is a non-profit charitable and educational organization. It was founded in 1976 to collect, exchange, preserve

04/04/2026

👉🏻 MGS SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS UPDATE: sales have been great these past few months, and we thank all of you who have added Maine Genealogical Society's essential publications to your bookshelves! A few titles have recently sold out, and several others are down to just a few remaining copies. If you don't yet have a copy of THE LITTLEFIELD GENEALOGY: UPDATED AND REVISED EDITION, or our vital records transcriptions of the towns of EDDINGTON, ENFIELD AND GREENBUSH (two towns in one book), ETNA, MOUNT VERNON, or WOOLWICH (hard cover), get a copy now before it's too late! If you're not a member yet, consider joining us for discounted book prices, free webinars and conferences with expert genealogists, the MGS newsletter, and our scholarly quarterly journal, THE MAINE GENEALOGIST! Our full catalog is online at www.maineroots.org/shop, and you can purchase a Maine Genealogical Society membership at www.maineroots.org/shop/membership. We wish you all a very Happy Easter!

03/11/2026

At 7pm on Wednesday, September 8, 1976, the Farmington, Maine, Community Center hosted a group of 30 family history enthusiasts with a shared dream: creating a society to promote genealogical research in the State of Maine. At the end of that meeting, the MAINE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY was born, filling a void created in 1922 when an earlier society of the same name was absorbed into the Maine Historical Society. Fast forward to 50 years later: that new society formed in 1976 has blossomed into a dynamic organization with hundreds of members from all over the United States and other countries around the globe, affiliated chapters across the state, a highly-respected scholarly journal, THE MAINE GENEALOGIST, the groundbreaking MAINE FAMILIES IN 1790 series, more than a hundred Special Publications providing invaluable source material to researchers, the MaineRoots website and its growing collection of members-only material, and we’ve now branched out to in-depth hybrid learning experiences such as conferences and webinars for members! If you haven’t joined MGS yet, and no matter where you’re located, we’d love to welcome you as a member. Sign up at https://maineroots.org/shop/membership and come share our passion for Maine genealogy!