Rosalie in Bar Harbor, Me. God Bless America In God we Trust " ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Sylvester" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 6:34 PM Subject: [MEHANCOC] F.Y.I Fwd: Re: [Waldo County] [Fwd: DESTRUCTION OF BELFAST RECORDS] > This just in from Betsy Paradis, Reference/Special Collections Librarian > of the Belfast Free Library. Everybody please read. > > Regards, > > Davis Sylvester > Waldo County Listowner > http://www.feliixplace.com/genealogylists/waldocountymaine.html > > > > Hey everyone, > I'm just getting in on this so I'm not sure where this all originates, > but I can assure you that the City of Belfast is not planning on > destroying any Belfast vital records. I have just spoken to the city > clerk and can pass on a message from her to you which I will append > below. She is being bombarded by folks from this list but > apparently the original message was related to Waldo County > records, not Belfast records. If someone would be kind > enough to send me the original message or direct me to > a web site that brought this all about, I would be happy to > investigate and let you know what I find. > > Betsy Paradis > Reference/Special Collections Librarian > Belfast Free Library > 106 High Street > Belfast, Maine 04915 > (207) 338-3884 Ext. 25 > > Here is the message from the City Clerk: > > Hello my name is Roberta Fogg, I am the City Clerk in the City of > Belfast, > Maine. > > I have received a dozen or so emails regarding the destruction of > records > in the custody of Waldo County. > > First of all I would like to let you all know that I personally take > the > preservation of all historic and vital records very seriously, and only > dispose of records in accordance with the State of Maine, Department of > Archives, Disposition Schedule. > > That being said, I am not the person who has custody of any Waldo > County > records. The City of Belfast does not have custody of any Waldo County > records. The County of Waldo and the State of Maine, Department of > Archives is the only one's who would have custody of the county > records. > You should direct your concerns to the Waldo County Commissioners, via > Barbara Arseneau, County Clerk. email: [email protected] > or > you can call 207-338-3282. She is out of her office today at a > workshop, > but should be back in tomorrow. I am not sure who posted the original > message about destroying county records that mobilized your group, > but I > would caution people to first find out if it is accurate and > secondly find > out what records and under what conditions any destruction would take > place. Please do not believe everything you read or hear. Please give > people the benefit of the doubt. > > Finally I feel it necessary to give a brief chain of custody lesson to > people regarding government and government documents. There are three > distinct layers of government in Maine; Local (also know as > Municipal or > Town), County (there are 16 in Maine) and the State (or we just say > Augusta). Each branch of government is responsible for the care and > custody of our own records. Several branches of government do overlap, > usually with Vital Statistics (birth, death and marriage records), but > that overlap does not eliminate the individual branches > responsibility to > maintain their records. We are also required to comply with the > State of > Maine, Department of Archives, Disposition Schedule. This schedule is > located on the State of Maine website. > > I hope you find this helpful and will post this to your message > board for > all participants to read. > > Have a nice day, > > Roberta L. Fogg > City Clerk > City of Belfast > 131 Church Street > Belfast, Maine 04915 > PH 207-338-3370 > Fax 207-338-6222 > [email protected] > > > >