Thanks for the information on the town website. I didn't know it existed! Also found Rumford, Maine's genealogy site http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=rum1800&recno=983 . Another great find. Located someone who is ostensibly related to Hiram Francis Abbott. Also had a list of Abbotts whose line extends back to England in the 16th century. Have tried to find the relationship if any of Joseph Abbott Nile, Hiram Francis Abbott, Joshua H. Abbott, Julia E. Abbott, Dean Abbott McCrillis, etc. Despite their having Abbott in their name and coming from the same region, some of these people who worked together quite closely did not have a common ancestor back to 1600! One of the things I do for a living is appraise estate collectibles. The first thing that happens when a loved one departs is the family throws away their history. Every scrap of paper goes out the door, including photographs, most of which are unlabeled anyway. A friend of mine who lived alone passed away this spring and a dealer in his collectibles purchased the residue after a local museum (Harvard University) got their pick. Turns out the man collected history and had some of the correspondence of an historical figure important in early 19th century Massachusetts. As the correspondence were just letters, they went to the curbside. It probably didn't matter that the person was not related. The well-intending relatives figured a clean house is a good house. His magazines were also discarded. He had two runs of collectible magazines which would have fetched $3000. But, magazines are not worth anything, are they? Over the years, I've worked for estates of internationally known collectors and the scenario is no different. The relatives frequently put the wrong appreciation on what is kept and what is discarded. A few people have designated a knowledgeable family member to take care of their "good stuff" and even the designated heirs have a problem holding on to the "good stuff". I am always thoroughly amazed that anything has come down to us. I have a date with an heir who says she has hundreds of photos of her great grandfather, Loren B. Merrill of Paris, Maine. (Please let it be true!) Merrill and his future son-in-law, Arthur Valley, mined in Greenwood, Maine on behalf of a student, Kenneth K. Landes (1900-1986), who was studying geology and had a grant to employ them. An influential paper, by Landes, came out in 1925 which was very exciting to me when I first read it. Even corresponded with the man back in 1970. Trying to locate his heirs proved that they had thrown all his papers out and didn't even have photos of dear old dad. A search at his universities where he taught revealed the same. Over the years, I've offered lobster dinner rewards for photos to be used to illustrate books and articles. A $20 reward is no incentive, but the hopeful finder can just taste the lobster reward! Have paid off on four such searches, so far. One was for a photograph of Nathan Perry (1830-1890). Had to accept an album which had an unidentified man facing the identified picture of the woman known to be Nathan Perry's wife. Other searches have been better. The story of the genealogist who fights the never ending battle between the significant other and the trash pile is true! Once you've found a record with info on it, you can't discard it. The assembly of original sources, or at least secondary sources, is not only time consuming, at best, but a resource for future genealogists in your family. Usually the local hysterical society can be a repository, but strangely enough, not the local library. The work of one generation will be undone by the administration of the next. The new librarian frequently discards historical ephemera. The stories I could tell! OK, I give. Yale University has had a long line of important scientists. One of the famous professors was getting exasperated when students began revering the paper documentation accompanying old laboratory teaching specimens. "Oooooo! Dana held this specimen. Oooh, this was Silliman's specimen. I don't believe it, this was George Gibbs' " The result was that the professor discarded all that unnecessary documentation - "Let's stick to the subject. I'm not teaching history!" At Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, a professor carefully nurtured a collection of local Maine specimens and had acquired several thousand. He wrote numerous articles, etc. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack and his replacement was not intere sted in local science. He was interested in Arizona and needed the space for his specimens. Out to the dump they went. A local man was a student and managed to find the specimens on the town dump and rescued what he could. That's back in the time when you could rescue treasures. A local Paris historian found pictures of Della Noyes (1868-1971!!) and her father Amos Oscar Noyes in the trash in the Paris dump. I guess the "waste transfer stations" of today should have bins marked "discard historical items here". On a different note. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to find descendants of people who were faithfully catalogued in the old reliable family genealogy? The "new ones" that get found and put in the databases and new editions of the family name genealogy have as much missing data as the early family members (1700's and before). Best Regards, Van