The Knowles Collection: January 2019

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.

Growth and Change

In the 12 years since the Knowles Collection was first published, the numbers have climbed from 7,500 to over 1,4000,000. So many of our ancestors left their native lands for new homes. Because of that movement the collection will now be in 6 different databases. All of them will be under the Knowles Collection umbrella. They are Jews of The British Isles; Jews of the North America; Jews of Europe; Jews of South America and the Caribbean; and Jews of Africa and the Orient and the newest one, Jews of the Southern Pacific.. This is a great indication of how universal our families are, and of how much still needs to be done.