The U.S. Census records for the extreme northern strip of land in Maine have been missing for more than 150 years, but now have been found. In fact, a transcription of those missing census records is even available on the World Wide Web. I found some of my ancestors listed on the Web site, more than twenty-five years after I first looked for them in the National Archives microfilm!
In 1820, the land of the Saint John River Valley in what is now Maine and New Brunswick was disputed territory, claimed by both the United States and Great Britain. A government official, such as a census enumerator, could be arrested and incarcerated by the British authorities if he dared to enter this disputed territory. When I found the towns were not listed in the 1820 U.S. census records on National Archives microfilm no.M33, reel no. 38, I assumed that the census takers (enumerators) never set foot in the disputed territory. It seems that I was wrong.
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