McCoy Training and Development Resources

FIND-YOUR-ROOTS

Cumberland County Deed Indexing Project

The Greater Portland Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society's current project is a plan to index the Cumberland County Deeds covering 1760 to 1794. President Carol McCoy along with Joe Anderson, MGS Publications Director, will be overall project managers. The GPC Board of Directors will also be sponsors of the project. The Portland Chapter is looking for volunteers to collect the data. Then a user-friendly, searchable CD index of Volumes 1-25 of Cumberland County Deeds for the period 1760-1794 will be created. This index will include all grantors (signors), grantees, location, date of signing and recording of deed, volume, initial page. This will make valuable contribution to genealogical research in Maine.

To see a presentation which gives an overview of the project, please click here.
Please contact Carol P. McCoy if you are interested in helping. She is coordinating who is working on which of the index volumes.

Forms to use for Data Collection
You will need the following forms to record the data from the Cumberland County Deed Index Books.
First page for data input to create initial index. You'll need to print one of these.

All subsequent pages for data input to create initial index. You'll need to print several of these, depending on how many names are in your volume.

Spreadsheet for computer input. Save this Excel file to your laptop, and use it if you want to input the data directly to your laptop. You will need to have Microsoft Excel software already installed on your computer in order to use this file.

Map 1871 - Plan of Cumberland County Maine

County map - State of Maine

Phase II Guidelines
Click here to read the guidelines for creating the information needed in Phase II of the project.

Here's a short sample of what the completed index will look like.

Phase II 1767 Estate Deed Sample - An estate deed from 1767. It is from Joshua and Ruth Curtis to Benjamin Ingersell & Heirs of Captain James Parker. There is a copy of the deed as well as a translation. You can see how the current index lists the parties and what additional information our index would indicate. This deed is more complex than most.

Phase II 1765 Agreement Deed Sample -A sample agreement deed. This sample agreement deed is between the heirs of Theophilus Bradbury, executed 1765; recorded 1767. This file includes a photocopy of the old deed as well as a translation. It also shows how to record this deed, which does not seem to have been indexed at all in the Cumberland County Deed Index (1760-1870). (Cumberland County Deeds Vol. 6:45.)

Transcription of 1761 Bond Deed from Nathan Partridge to Thomas Gray regarding settlement of New Boston (later Gray) Maine. Cumberland County Deeds Vol. 1: 182-184

NOT JUST DEEDS ARE RECORDED IN DEED BOOKS. Sometimes people were told they were NOT WELCOME. See the "Warning Out of Mary and Broadstreet Bookman" from New Gloucester, Maine 1774. Recorded 27 Feb. 1775, Cumberland County Deeds 8:14, Virtual Books Real Property Database, Cumberland County Maine Courthouse, Portland, ME.