RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> Hancock County >> Swans Island >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Swans Island (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 Swans Island. 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 Swans Island ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Swans Island: Swans Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)
  • While the name of this community is Swans Island, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Swans Island may originally have been Swan's Island.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Swans Island might be written as Swan Island.

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 and doctors 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.

Swans Island 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 Swans Island. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Swans Island:

  • Hancock County     (The home county of Swans Island)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swans Island, with the one closest to Swans Island listed first.
    • Minturn
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Minturn is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minturn
    • Atlantic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Atlantic is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic
    • Frenchboro
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Bass Harbor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Bernard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Tremont
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Tremont is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
    • Oceanville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Oceanville is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
    • Seal Cove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Mountainville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Mountainville is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainville
    • Manset
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Manset is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manset
    • Brooklin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Haven
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Haven is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven
    • Stonington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swans Island, with the one closest to Swans Island listed first.
    • Isle Au Haut
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • North Haven
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Vinalhaven
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Pulpit Harbor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Pulpit Harbor is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulpit Harbor
    • Matinicus Isle Plantation
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Matinicus Isle Plantation is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matinicus Isle Plantation
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Matinicus
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Criehaven
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Criehaven is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Criehaven
      • Estimated population in 2015: 1 people
    • Camden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Owls Head
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Waldo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swans Island, with the one closest to Swans Island listed first.
    • Islesboro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Islesboro is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islesboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 562 people
    • North Islesboro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • North Islesboro is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Islesboro
    • Northport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincolnville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • East Northport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • East Northport is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Northport

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

Cemeteries Near Swans Island ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swans Island.

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 Swans Island - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Freethy Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Bernard Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Norwood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Hillrest Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery
    • The Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery
    • The Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pomroy Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #90411 <3>
  • Murphy Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Turners Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Height Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Flye Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (126 more) ...

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Swans Island had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Swans Island had a population of 323 people.

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

  • Atlantic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Atlantic is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic
  • Tremont
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Tremont is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
  • West Tremont
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Oceanville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Oceanville is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
  • Seal Cove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Seawall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Seawall is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seawall
  • Brooklin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • South Deer Isle
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • South Deer Isle is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Deer Isle
  • Southwest Harbor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • North Brooklin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • North Brooklin is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brooklin
  • Cranberry Isles
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Northeast Harbor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Deer Isle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Asticou
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Asticou is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asticou
    • Pretty Marsh
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Pretty Marsh is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Marsh

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

Newspapers Published in Swans Island ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swans Island.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swans Island, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swans Island.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Swans Island:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<4>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 Swans Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Swans Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.