GCIHS Town of Cranberry Isles Scanning Project 2015 By Anne Grulich, GCIHS Archivist ~ 1/27/16 From July of 2015 through December 2015 many folders from a box of Town of Cranberry Isles files that were once stored in the attic of the Longfellow School on GCI were scanned at GCIHS. (You will find a copy of all 501 digital scans on a DVD along with a printed copy of the thumbnail images included with this report.) We will return the scanned files to the Town Office whenever you like. In December 2015, a printed list of a document titled "Old Records from Town Office in the Schoolhouse Attic" was discovered among papers in a box of materials to be reviewed by the GCIHS Archives Committee. This document shed light on the box of folders that had been scanned as well as other materials in the GCIHS collection. Over the years, GCIHS has accessioned some of the Town of CI materials. There may also be more Town of CI documents among the GCIHS backlog of items awaiting review by its Archives Committee. (Information on these Town of CI materials is listed below.) Also in December 2015, a letter from Richard Beal, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, dated 10 Jun 2002, was located. Unbeknownst to this current GCIHS archivist, it authorized GCIHS to collect, clean, inventory, and file these Town Records and documents in our Museum Archives." As stated above, we have archived many items and are glad to continue to house this collection if the Town would like us to. In re-reading McLane's Islands of the Mid-Maine Coast this winter, I realized that he has included a lengthy list of highlights from these very Town of CI records. Interested parties should refer to pages 58-74. A total of 501 scans were made of documents from 41 Town of CI folders on a flatbed, legal-size scanner at 300 dpi. (Ideally, these documents should have been scanned on a large format scanner at 600 dpi, but GCIHS lacks the equipment and the staff.) Where documents were too large for one scan, multiple scans were made. Where information appeared on both the back and front of a document, both sides were scanned. If the reverse was blank, the reverse side was not scanned. The original documents were frequently folded two or three times and both sides were used. Some documents were written on small scraps of paper. In a few instances transcriptions or notes were made about certain scans. These text files are available in the digital folders with the scanned document. File naming conventions: Example: File folder name "1866" - the first document in this folder was too large for the scanner, so it was scanned in two parts, and since it also has information on the reverse, a third scan was made. The scans for this one document are labelled 1866_1A and 1866_1B and 1866_1C Example: File folder name "1866" - the third document in the folder has information on two sides and was folded in three sections, so two scans were made. The scans for this document are labelled 1866_3A and 1866_3B. Topics of scanned documents include: An 1831 liquor license School expenses Overseers of the poor documents Town meeting warrants Voting lists Appointments to town offices Payments for services Militia Records and certificates of marriage Lists of persons residing in town including birth dates and occupations Requests for weirs A list of items in the Town of CI file box that were scanned by GCIHS: Folders labelled by year for the years 1831-1843, 1846, 1849-1854, 1955-1956, 1857- 1868 Selected documents from these folders: Misc. Town Records Undated: (1 receipt scanned) Town Records - Misc., Islesford? (9 documents re: fish weirs in 1940s scanned) Town Records, Ballots Sept 1904: (1 ballot scanned; the packet of ballots secured with rope scanned as a unit) Voter Registers, etc., Warrants, Election (voting lists for 1940-1954 were scanned) A list of Town of CI materials currently located at GCIHS: (Note these are items that appeared on the recently discovered Town of Cl's file list) Ledger Valuation Books (listing islanders' real estate, personal property, and taxes assessed) 1927 and 1937-1954: These books are in the GCIHS collection with catalogue numbers 1000.29.358 through 376. Ledger sheets, "Records of Orders Drawn on the Treasurer, Town of Cranberry Isles", 1938-1954. These documents are in the GCIHS collection with catalogue number 1000.29.377. Notice to Mariners, Atlantic Coast, #114 1889, #131 Aug 1890, #132 Sep 1890, #133 Oct 1890. These notices are in the GCIHS collection with catalogue number 1000.29.83 Document, Sutton Island Houses, by George L. Paine & Hoyt Hottel, 1963. This document is in the GCIHS collection with catalogue number 1000.29.86 Indenture papers, servant George W. Colby indentured to A.C. Fernald, 20 Mar 1861. Papers are in the GCIHS collection with catalogue number 1000.29.93 Wooden ballot box containing official ballots for Cranberry Isles June 16, 1952. Box is in the GCIHS collection with catalogue number 1000.0.1063. State of Maine Department of Agriculture Dog License Application forms, filled in 1938- 1952. Documents are pending accession at GCIHS, reviewed in 11/10/13 meeting.