In 1968, Dr. Hilda M. Fife, using the Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA) as
a model, saw a similar need to identify small, neglected cemeteries throughout
the state of Maine. Sponsored by the Maine League of Historical Societies and
Museums and the University of Maine’s Department of History, Dr. Fife chartered
the Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) as a non-profit organization.
Initially, the primary purpose of MOCA was to locate old cemeteries in order to
encourage their care and preservation, which would in turn aid in the
preservation of historic information. Over the years MOCA has worked with scout
troops, Masons, various historical societies, and other organizations to clean
up deserted and neglected cemeteries as they are identified. They also inspire
and motivate local efforts by town or city officials to assist in this endeavor
by calling attention to cemeteries in disrepair through local media
channels.
As the growth of MOCA began to accelerate, programs were developed to record
the writings on tombstones in order to preserve their historical and
genealogical interest. MOCA has taken on the herculean task of recording and
documenting the inventory of every cemetery in the state, whether large and well
known or small and well concealed. What an absolutely worthwhile goal! It is
refreshing that MOCA, in addition to recording the tombstone inscriptions, also
gathers the dedicated volunteer resources necessary to accomplish this task.
Once the inscriptions are recorded, the next step is to transfer the raw
material into some form of permanent record and make it available to
repositories in the towns of Maine and beyond. It is a vast undertaking, made
even more difficult by the condition of the stones themselves. Some tombstones
are hundreds of years old and are worn due to long exposure to the environment.
Older tombstones that are not set properly become cracked and settle, or even
disappear, beneath the soil.
There are several active MOCA projects that may be of great interest to
genealogists. They are described below.
Bicentennial Inscription Project (BIP)
During the bicentennial year, MOCA received a grant for their Bicentennial
Inscription Project (BIP), in which they would compile information on
Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Maine. The BIP covers 7,500 veterans who
lived in Maine before, during, or after the war, and includes their names; dates
of births, deaths, and marriages; and burial places. The data collected has been
entered into a computer, printed out, and distributed amongst the following
libraries:
- Ancient Landmarks of Parsonfield, Route 160
- Bangor Public Library
- Belfast Free Library
- Cutler Library, Farmington
- Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono
- Maine Historical Society, Portland
- Maine State Library, Augusta
- Patten Free Library, Bath
MOCA Cemetery Inscription Project (MIP)
The MIP will hold great interest to researchers who are into “tombstone
hopping,” while searching for the grave of an ancestor. This project consists of
the transcription of information from every tombstone in hundreds and hundreds
of cemeteries. Before MIP was begun, researchers would generally head to larger
cemeteries in hopes of finding the elusive graveyard holding the remains of an
ancestor. However, someone who lived far away with limited time on their hands
would be hard pressed to visit (let alone find) a 200-year old family
cemetery in the back field of an old deserted farmhouse located a half-mile off
the Route 23 county highway road, and 100 feet beyond a cluster of oak trees and
bushes, with nothing but a crude slate marker, engraved by hand, that is
partially covered by the earth. Oh me! Such dedication on the part of these
inspired volunteers! They give up their free time (often on weekends) because of
a sincere desire to preserve the final resting places of departed individuals.
Surname Index Project (SIP)
While MIP just listed the names and dates inscribed on the tombstone, the
Surname Index Project went a step further. In addition to listing the available
information from gravestones, family relationships are recorded from cemetery
records, genealogies, etc. For example, if a tombstone read: “Mary, wife of
John Gilbert and dau of James Jones,” Mary would be cataloged not just as Mary
Gilbert, but also as Mary Jones, dau of James Jones, and the names indexed
accordingly. Or, if cemetery records revealed that “Gertrude Smith Jones was
the dau of John Smith,” then both John Smith and Gertrude Smith would be
indexed. The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints filmed the results of this
enormous project, and a typescript copy of these several volumes, which cover
every county in Maine, has been deposited at the Maine State Library in
Augusta. Researchers must search by cemetery, which means all volumes must be
searched when the location of a death is known but the cemetery is not.
The Marble Records
These are the record books of the Marble Monument Company and its
predecessors, spanning the years 1855-1918. This was a business that originated
in Bath and flourished in Skowhegan, and their records contain the inscriptions
of stones that were carved by the company. In addition to more than 50,000 names
and address of purchasers, these records include the name of the cemetery the
stones were delivered to, and in many instances, a diagram of the stone itself.
The originals of these records are kept at the Maine Historical Society in
Portland, but a copy of the originals plus a computerized index will soon be
available at the Maine State Archives in Augusta.
MOCA recognizes the need to make their enormous amount of data available to
researchers and the general public, and to that end, they have clearly defined
their present goals and priorities. Foremost at the top of the agenda is to
transfer the mountains of handwritten, typescript, photographed, or sketched
data into the computer. While this monumental task slowly proceeds, new
cemeteries continue to be discovered, requiring inventories to be taken, and
beginning the cycle over again. MOCA exists solely on the volunteers who beat
down the bushes to find new cemeteries and trudge out on their free time to
write down inscriptions appearing on tombstones. They are anxious to develop a
core of computer literate individuals who could provide valuable and much-needed
assistance from the comfort of their own homes.
Two of the largest counties in Maine have been completely inventoried and
computerized. Within the past six years, MOCA has published four volumes of the
Maine Cemetery Inscriptions, York County, containing 107,277 entries
(Augusta, ME: MOCA, 1995), and the latest, Maine Cemetery Inscriptions,
Kennebec County (Rockport, ME: Picton Press, 2000), in six volumes,
containing 135,094 entries. The latter title is also available on CD. The
Kennebec volumes ($399) can be acquired from the publisher; however, the York
County volumes ($260) and the Kennebec CD ($99) are available directly from MOCA
(P.O. Box 641, Augusta, ME 04332-0641). The indices to more than a quarter
million names are without regard to the location of the cemetery, but the
interior pages are arranged first by town and then by cemetery, enabling a
researcher to conveniently view all cemeteries within a town or city.
Purchasing these highly acclaimed publications directly from MOCA enables them
to recapture the large sums of money initially advanced to publish these
beautiful volumes.
It is estimated that more than 75% of the inventory of Maine cemeteries has
been completed. Typescript volumes for every county in Maine are on file at the
Maine State Archives.
Membership in the Maine Old Cemetery Association is open to the public for a
mere $5 per year, or $20 for five years, with lifetime membership available for
$100. A nifty quarterly newsletter is mailed to members, whose numbers are
heading toward the 1000 mark. Questions regarding MOCA “look-ups,”
volunteering, new cemeteries or those being neglected, speakers, membership, or
any matter of interest, may wish to contact:
Cheryl Patten, President
RR#1, Box
2980
Smithfield, ME
04978
Tel: 207-634-2156
Roland Jordan, Treasurer
42 Hector St.
Auburn, ME 04210
Tel:
207-784-3338
Researchers may write to MOCA at the following address or visit their website
:
Maine Old Cemetery Association
P.O. Box 641
Augusta, ME 04332-0641