26 January 2019

Maine, Tombstone Inscriptions, Surname Index, 1620-2014

For those with ancestry in the State of Maine, a newly updated database at FamilySearch should be of great interest. That database, Maine, Tombstone Inscriptions, Surname Index, 1620-2014 is a collection of extracts taken from headstones in various cemeteries located from all parts of the state of Maine. The digital images of the original cards are in the possession of the Maine State Library in Augusta.
The record below is for Samuel A. Cohen, who was born in 1904 and died in 1960. It states he was buried at Beth Jacob in Auburn, Androscoggin, Maine. According to the record his wife, Betty N., who was born in 1909 and died in 1958 is also buried there.

www.familysearch.org

An interesting item about this database is that married women are usually listed twice, once under their married name and once under their maiden name, which is a great benefit to researchers. This record calls the cemetery Beth Jacob, however a search of the Find A Grave website (www.findagrave.com) shows both of them buried at the Temple Shalom Synagogue cemetery, also located in Auburn.

www.findagrave.com
This may appear confusing but can be easily explained. In 1982, Congregation Beth Jacob and the Lewiston Jewish Community Center merged to become the Temple Shalom Synagogue.