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Maine County Court, Probate, Tax and Other Miscellaneous Records
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See Also Researching Court Records, Researching Probate Records, Research In Immigration & Naturalization Records and 
Researching Tax Records
On-Site County Court Records Search - Find nearly any Maine court record online! Many court records are not digitized yet, which signifies the only way to obtain these records is by visiting the actual Pennsylvania courthouses. Someone from our network of court-runners will go retrieve the records and then send you the outcomes. Average response time is 38 hours. Maine Civil Records include Lawsuits, Bankruptcies, Liens and judgments, Marriage/divorce judicial proceeding, Child custody, Civil rights violations ands Other. Maine Criminal Records include Violent offenses, Theft and robbery, DUI/DWI's, Drugs and alcohol, Sexual crimes, Some traffic violations, Behavioral.
Maine Historical Records - Databases include Maine Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Maine Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Maine Voter Lists & Census Records; Maine Immigration & Emigration Records; Maine Obituary Records; Maine Military Records; Maine Family Tree Records; Maine Pictures; Maine Stories, Memories & Histories; Maine Directories & Member Lists and much more....
Definitions of Common Court Terms
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Maine Court Records
See Also Research In State Court Records
An extensive array of courts has existed in Maine since the beginning of the settlements in the early 1600s. Jurisdictional changes are quite complicated. A detailed publication of the early records can be found in Province and Court Records of Maine, 6 vols. (Portland, Maine: Maine Historical Society, 1928), as well as on microfilm through the FHL. All of the original court records for York County are at Maine State Archives. Counties formed from York after 1760 (Cumberland and Lincoln) and 1789 (Washington) from York were also under Massachusetts jurisdiction, although these records appear not to have been microfilmed. Most extant court records to 1929 for all counties except Lincoln can be found at the Maine State Archives. Later court records after 1929 continue to be received by the archives. Lincoln County court records are at the courthouse in Wiscasset.
Before statehood, Maine’s court of appeals was the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature (1692–1780). This also served as the original court for some other cases such as murders. Records for this court are filled as “Suffolk Files” at the Massachusetts State Archives (see Massachusetts) where they are indexed. The supreme judicial court replaced the superior court of judicature after 1780. According to the Massachusetts State Archives, their holdings include circuit court records for this court for Maine counties through 1793.
Online access to some private held indexes to court records can be found through Maine GenWeb.
- Submit a website for Maine Court Records
- Maine Court Records, 1696-1854: This database is an index to early court records from the state of Maine.
- Order Maine County Court, Civil or Criminal Records
- Maine Court Books at Amazon.com
- Search Maine Court Records From All States
- Search Maine County Court Records
- Search Maine County Criminal Records with a Criminal Background Check
- Search for Maine Registered Sex Offenders in your local Area
- Maine Court, Land, Wills & Financial - Court records are an often overlooked, yet very valuable tool for finding information to assist you in your research. Land records, such as deeds, allow you to tie an ancestor to a specific place at a point in time. Other court records like those dealing with finances and estates often list related family members or give interesting details like the total value of property owned by your ancestors to add interest to your family history.
Maine Probate Records
See Also Research In State Probate Records
The county seat is where an executor or petitioner would go to commence probate, adoption, or guardianship proceedings. The earliest of Maine's wills have been published in William Sargent's Maine Wills, 1650–1760 (1887; reprint, Baltimore, Md.,: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1972), which covers the entire state since there was only one place for instituting probate proceedings. William D. Patterson's Probate Records of Lincoln County, Maine—1760–1800 (Portland: Maine Genealogical Society, 1895) extends Sargent by including all probate records, not just wills, and all of eastern Maine to 1789 when Hancock and Washington counties were set off from Lincoln. There were five probate courts by 1800.
Since probate records include more than wills, John E. Frost has been compiling the earlier material to compliment the wills. Maine Probate Abstracts, 1687–1800 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Microfilm Service Corp., 1986–87) is a microfiche edition of all York County probate records for the time period and not just wills. It is presently available at Maine Historical Society, the Maine State Library, New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the FHL. Mr. Frost is currently continuing to abstract the rest of the pre-1800 probate records. Maine State Archives hold the Somerset County probate records.
- Submit a website for Maine Probate Records
- Maine Will Abstracts, 1640-1760: Compiled in the late nineteenth century, this database is a collection of will records for residents of Maine Province between 1640 and 1760.
- Research In Probate Records - from The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy.
- How to Locate Printed Probate Records
- Advantages of Printed Probate Records
- Limitations of Printed Probate Records
- Maine Probate Books at Amazon.com
Maine Immigration Records
See Also Research In State Immigration & Naturalization Records
Although Portland, Maine, was a port of entry itself, with indexes to passengers arriving 1893 up to 1954 in the National Archives collection with copies at National Archives—Northeast Region (see page 11), many Maine residents are descendants of the Irish and other nationalities who passed through immigration in the ports of Boston and New Brunswick (see Massachusetts—Immigration).
- Submit a website for Maine Immigration Records
- Maine Immigration & Emigration - As our ancestors moved from one country to another, details about their lives were recorded on passenger lists and government documents. Immigration and emigration records can help you learn where your ancestors originally came from, where they went, when they left, who they traveled with, and more.
Maine Tax Records
See Also Researching in Tax Records
Maine participated in the U.S. Direct Tax of 1798, although the surviving lists do not cover the entire state. Landowners, renters, land and title boundaries, acreage, dwellings, value, and tax due are included in the lists. These records can substitute for some missing towns on the 1800 census (see Massachusetts—Census Records and Tax Records). What survives is on microfilm with a printed inventory at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston and the Maine State Archives.
The Maine State Archives has the 1837 Surplus Tax Census for Bangor, Portland, and the areas that were unincorporated at that time. Other tax lists exist throughout the years of Maine’s history, both before and after statehood. No survey has been done to catalog these. Reading through town meeting records may unearth what was recorded in the early nineteenth century. Later tax lists may be located at town offices.
