Maine, Aroostook County Deed Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of grantor and grantee Indexes and deed books for both the Northern District located at Fort Kent and the Southern District located at Houlton of Aroostook County for the years 1865 to 1900.

After the county's creation, a county land office was formed. Land transactions among private owners were then recorded by the registrar of deeds in the county office.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Deeds
 * Names of interested parties
 * Date of transaction
 * Legal description of the property
 * Monies exchanged
 * Details of the transaction
 * Names of witnesses

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The names of interested parties
 * The approximate date of the transaction
 * The location of the property

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Search for the land transactions of a couple and their children. The parents may have sold or given property to a son or daughter. Such transactions confirm relationships that might not be found in other records
 * Search for records of people in the county who shared a surname. These may have been the couple’s parents, uncles, or other relatives. Your ancestor may have been an heir who sold inherited land that had belonged to parents or grandparents
 * To find later generations, search the land records a few years before and after a person’s death. Your ancestor may have sold or given land to his or her heirs before death, or the heirs may have sold the land after the individual died. For daughters, the names of their husbands are often provided. For sons, the given names of their wives may be included. Heirs may have sold their interest in the land to another heir, even though the record may not indicate this. Continue this process for identifying each succeeding generation
 * Some counties were subdivided or the boundaries may have changed. Consider searching neighboring counties as well since that courthouse may have been more convenient for the person
 * One deed does not usually give sufficient information about a couple and their children. A careful study of all deeds for the person or the family will yield a richer return of information
 * For each parcel of land owned, you should obtain two documents: 1) the deed that documents when ownership transferred to the individual or the family and 2) the deed that documents when ownership was transferred to someone else

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of Maine.
 * Maine Guided Research
 * Maine Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * edited by Rhonda R. McClure, Genealogist's handbook for New England research 6th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society®, 2022 FS Library 974 D27mr
 * Deed records for the Northern District of Aroostook County 1846-1867; index 1846-1883
 * Northern Aroostook County, Deeds, 1865-1903
 * Southern District. Deeds 1839-1866; index 1808-1879
 * Southern Aroostook County, Deeds, 1866-1900

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * compiled and written by Edward Wiggin, comp and edited. History of Aroostook. Presque Isle, Maine : Star-Herald Press, 1922

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.