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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about East Franklin (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for East Franklin. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Name Variations for East Franklin ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for East Franklin: E. Franklin

You might be interested in other communities that are also named East Franklin. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for East Franklin.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

East Franklin is located in Hancock County.

To see how the shape of Maine's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Hancock County: Penobscot, Waldo & Washington.

Below are the counties that are near East Franklin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to East Franklin:

  • Hancock County     (The home county of East Franklin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Franklin, with the one closest to East Franklin listed first.
    • Franklin
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sullivan
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hancock
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • West Sullivan
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • West Sullivan is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sullivan
    • East Sullivan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • South Hancock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • South Hancock is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hancock
    • Goodwin Siding
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Goodwin Siding is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwin Siding
      • Goodwin Siding has also been known as:
      • Goodwins
    • Sorrento
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Franklin Road
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Franklin Road is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Road
    • Lamoine
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Eastbrook
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • West Gouldsboro
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • West Gouldsboro is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Gouldsboro
  • Penobscot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Franklin, with the one closest to East Franklin listed first.
    • Clifton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Clifton is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 901 people
    • East Eddington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • East Eddington is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Eddington
    • Holden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Holden is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holden <1>
    • Goodale Corner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Goodale Corner is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodale Corner
    • Brewer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Brewer is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,948 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brewer <1>
    • Eddington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Waldo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Franklin, with the one closest to East Franklin listed first.
    • Prospect Ferry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Prospect Ferry is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Ferry
    • Sandy Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Franklin, with the one closest to East Franklin listed first.
    • Steuben
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Cherryfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • East Steuben
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • East Steuben is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Steuben
    • Deblois
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Deblois is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deblois
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Milbridge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Harrington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Beddington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Columbia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Columbia is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
    • Addison
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Epping
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Epping is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epping
    • Columbia Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Centerville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Centerville is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to East Franklin, see our County-by-County Page for East Franklin.

Cemeteries Near East Franklin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of East Franklin.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for East Franklin - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for East Franklin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from East Franklin, with the one closest to East Franklin listed first.

  • East Franklin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Bayview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Salter Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Blaisdell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Gordon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • York Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Sumner Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Doyle Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Birch Tree Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (142 more) ...
    • Abbott Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bragdon Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Dyer Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<2>

While we didn't find East Franklin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of East Franklin.

These communities are listed based on their distance from East Franklin, with the one closest to East Franklin listed first.

  • Franklin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Hancock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • West Sullivan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • West Sullivan is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sullivan
  • Sullivan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • West Franklin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • West Franklin is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Franklin
  • East Sullivan
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Egypt
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Egypt is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
  • South Hancock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • South Hancock is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hancock
  • Franklin Road
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Franklin Road is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Road
  • Sorrento
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Ashville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashville is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashville
  • Lamoine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Marlboro
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Marlboro is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro
    • Hancock Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Hancock Point is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock Point
    • West Gouldsboro
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • West Gouldsboro is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Gouldsboro

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around East Franklin. See our List of 1890's Communities around East Franklin.

Newspapers Published in East Franklin ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around East Franklin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of East Franklin, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for East Franklin.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to East Franklin:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about East Franklin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- East Franklin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.