Early Maine Deeds & Wills

This database is based on the Early Maine Deeds & Wills CD-ROM issued by NEHGS in 2006. 

From the introduction to the CD-ROM:  This database will contain the contents of William M. Sargent's Maine Wills 1640 – 1760, published in 1887, and York Deeds, published between 1887 and 1910.  These two sources constitute a vast amount of primary genealogical and biographical data on Maine's earliest settlers.  Until it achieved statehood in 1820, Maine wills and probate records were filed in the office of the county Registrar of Probate — a practice derived from Massachusetts.  In 1687 York County began to record wills and other probate documents in a separate set of books apart from the court records and deeds.  The York County Deeds include land conveyances recorded between 1647 and 1737 and mention not only people who lived in what is now Maine but many others who either were moving in or out of the state.  This database contains alphabetical lists of the grantors and grantees, and names of other persons mentioned.  The transcription and publication of the original volumes of Maine Wills and York Deeds was made possible by acts of the Maine State Legislature, and for this all genealogists with ancestors in colonial Maine owe a debt of thanks.

As-of November, 2009, this database now contains all Volumes 1-18 of York Deeds.  Maine Wills 1640 – 1760 will be added in the future.

The original CD-ROM Is available in out Boston research library, call number F18.E27 2006 CD  

To locate additional genealogy and local history resources, search our library catalog.