One of the most under-used aspects of family history research is the humble map. I would often look up an ancestor’s location on a current map or find an historic map that showed the town during my ancestor’s lifetime. I rarely did more than admire the beauty of the old maps.
The right map can add to our ancestors’ stories. There are so many kinds of maps; plat maps, political, atlases, gazetteers, etc. An understanding of the basic differences in maps will help you figure out if you are likely to find what you want from a given map.
The purpose of political maps is show the boundaries agreed on by politicians, rather than physical features of the land, although they usually show some of those too. For example a political map of Maine may show the counties’, cities’ and state’s borders. The best political maps have indexes of the towns within their area. They may also detail major bodies of water, roads, and possibly churches, government, or other sites.
Topo, or topographical maps indicate what the land is like, such as where the lakes and rivers are, how high the hills and mountains, where the land is swampy.
Plat maps show land ownership; sometimes indicating the names of owners, what crops may be planted, how many acres were owned and occasionally even the numbers and types of dwellings.
An atlas is a bound collection of maps which usually includes many charts and tables. A gazetteer may contain maps but its focus is on a description of a territory and what may be found there.
One of the best resources for maps is LDS Family Search Centers like the ones in Bangor and Caribou. Their web portal makes thousands of historic maps available, and the ability to zoom-in on an area is unmatched by any home (or most library’s) computer.
There are historic maps which show the old political borderlines. There are current maps which compare the changes in county boundaries over Maine’s history. Your town or county may have changed names or borders more than once. A neighboring town may also have changed, so search for records under those old names, too.
Assuming you have found the map you wanted, what else can it add to your family’s story? A historic topo map can show you that the reason your 18th century ancestor ignored the nearest town and attended church across the state border may have been because there was a swamp, river or mountain between them and the closest center; thus you may not have found family baptismal records in the only church in their town. Looking where they may have most easily traveled during their lifetime may lead you to the records you seek.
Historic plat maps may show that your great-grandparents harvested enough corn to sell, or were dairy farmers, or foresters. These maps may show long-gone buildings, which finally explain why your grandparents built on the second best view, rather than the best view on the old homestead. Once you begin to see how a new or historic map can expand your family story, you will be off and running.
Editor’s note: Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft, who has been doing genealogy for over 30 years, is a freelance genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com. The Aroostook County Genealogical Society meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at the Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center, 163 Van Buren Road, Caribou, at 6:30 p.m. Guests and prospective members are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
