Kennebec County, Maine Genealogy

Guide to Kennebec County, Maine ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Maine Online Genealogy Records

Description
Kennebec County was named for Kennebec River. The county is located in the southern area of the state.

County Courthouse

 * 1799 - Register of Deeds has land records from 1799.
 * 1799 - Probate Court has probate records from 1799.
 * Town Clerks have birth, marriage and death records.

Parent County

 * 1799 - Created 20 February 1799 from Lincoln County.

Boundary Changes

 * Four partitions:
 * 1809 - Somerset County 1 March 1809
 * 1827 - Waldo County 7 February 1827
 * 1838 - Franklin County 20 March 1838
 * 1854 - Androscoggin County 18 March 1854

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places / Localities
==== Neighboring Counties ====

Androscoggin | Franklin | Somerset | Waldo| Lincoln | Sagadahoc

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this census area:

Extinct towns and plantations:

Cemeteries

 * 1620-2014 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1676-1918 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1780-1999 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court

 * 1718-1957 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1837 - 1965 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Land

 * 1718-1957 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1760 to 1799 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1761-1818 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1799-1863 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1799-1900 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1799-1906 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1824-1871 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1835-1838 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection - index and images

Local Histories

 * Illustrated History of Kennebec County, Maine : 1625-1799-1892. 2 volumes. c1892. Editors: Henry D. Kingsbury, Simeon L. Deyo.  New York, New York : H.W. Blake.  Online at:  Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Vol. 1 - Google Books, Vol. 2 - Google Books;.
 * The Kennebec Valley. 1887. By Seth Harding Whitney. Augusta, Maine. : Sprague, Burleigh & Flynt.  Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust;.

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military

 * 1676-1918 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1718-1957 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1866-1938 - U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938 at Ancestry.com $

Revolutionary War

 * 1835 - 1838 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

Civil War

 * -1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 2nd BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("B")
 * -1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 3rd BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("C")
 * -1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 4th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("D")
 * -1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 5th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("E")
 * -1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 6th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("F")
 * -1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 7th BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY ("G")
 * -1st Regiment, Maine Cavalry
 * -16th Regiment, Maine Infantry, Company B.

Online Records
 * 1862-1865 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

World War I

 * 1914 - 1950 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

Naturalization

 * 1718-1957 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1918-1991 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

Newspapers
Maine Newspaper Archive. Indexes Free; Digital Page Images $ (GenealogyBank $) Twenty-two early Maine 18th and 19th-century newspapers, 1785-1898 online. Indexes (free); digital images ($). These newspapers are from Augusta, Bangor, Belfast, Brunswick, Castine, Eastport, Falmouth, Hallowell, Kennebunk, Portland, Saco, and Wiscasset.

Early Maine newspapers routinely reported on news, obituaries, births, marriages etc. from around the state. Be sure to search the indexes for all Maine newspapers to find your target ancestor.


 * 1800-1870 - Hallowell, Kennebec County, Newspaper Archive:
 * 1801-1805 - Kennebec Gazette. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1801-1805. at GenealogyBank. $
 * 1801-1861 - Augusta, Kennebec County, Newspaper Archive:
 * 1809-1835 - American Advocate. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1809-1835. at GenealogyBank. $
 * 1810-1815 - Herald of Liberty. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1810-1815. at GenealogyBank. $
 * 1814-1827 - Hallowell Gazette. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1814-1827. at GenealogyBank. $
 * 1832-1961 - Age. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1832-1861. at GenealogyBank. $
 * 1839-1870 - Maine Cultivator and Hallowell Gazette. Indexes Free, Digital Pages $. 1839-1870. at GenealogyBank. $
 * 1872-87, 1889, 1895, 1903, 1915 and 1939 - Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, Maine) at Ancestry.com $


 * Maine Newspaper Project at DigitalMaine Repository

Probate
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1584-1999 Maine, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1584-1999 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1760-1979 at FamilySearch.org - How to use this collection - images
 * 1799-1850 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1779-1915 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection, images
 * 1779-1915 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1799-1930 at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Vital Records

 * 1589-1966 - Maine, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1670 - 1921 - at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * 1828-1887 at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1876-1879 at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Societies and Libraries
Kennebec County Historical Society Website

Maine Genealogy Kennebec County Website

Family history Centers

 * Waterville Maine Family History Center

Websites

 * The Kennebec County MEGenWeb Project, a member of the MEGenWeb Project, an affiliate of the USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Kennebec County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Kennebec County (backup site)
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Kennebec County
 * Oakland Area Historical Society - Facebook Home - records, photographs, history, genealogy of the Oakland area.
 * Kennebec County, Maine History and Genealogy (Genealogy Trails)