Richmond on the Kennebec

Even before I started to study my family history I knew that Richmond, Maine was an important town to my ancestors. I remember a family trip up to the Maine coast when I was about ten years old. My Mom told stories about similar trips when she was a girl and trips that her parents had taken years earlier.

When my family history research took me back to the Maine coast, it felt a little bit like coming home. I soon learned that a branch of my family had played a significant role in the early growth of Richmond during the mid to late nineteenth century. Maine had become a state in 1820 and Richmond was incorporated just three years later.

Richmond, Maine - click to explore on Google Earth

Not long after that my great-great-great grandfather, Marshall Spring Hagar, and then his brother, James Monroe Hagar, moved from Massachusetts to Richmond. They each started a family and took on prominent roles within the new town. Marshall and James began their careers as lawyers, but were increasingly active in the burgeoning shipbuilding industry, the expansion of the railroad and banking system, as well as other investments.

I would like to complement my family history research with a study of this small Maine town. I hope to learn how my family fit into the town; how they influenced and were influenced by their friends, associates, and neighbors. I want to explore the social history of the town and how the demographics may have changed over time. Hopefully I will also unearth anecdotes about the town that, while not directly focused on my family, will provide insights into the arc of their lives.

Syms Gardner signed his enumeration of Richmond on October 10th, 1850.

I plan to start with an analysis of the 1850 census to set a foundation for my understanding of the town's population. From there I will layer in subsequent censuses to see how the town changes over time. As I learn more I will determine what other record sets will help to further define this portrait of Richmond, Maine.