“Any suggestions on where to start?”
“Try the state of Maine death records,” Grace advised. “And let me know if you get stuck.”
“Thanks.”
Grace gave her a little wave and disappeared back into the library’s Great Room. Annie stared for a moment at the computer screen. The whole state of Maine, huh? She took a deep breath and plunged in; “state of Maine death records” brought up the state’s official website and a list of items for genealogical research, including “Index of Maine Deaths, 1960–1996.” OK, maybe this wouldn’t be one of those needle-in-a-haystack searches. In fact, it was kind of fun so far.
She clicked on the death index and was rewarded with a page that would let her input the name, town, and dates she was looking for. All right, let’s try this out. She typed in “Morris” and “Jack” and “Stony Point,” giving the date range as 01/01/1988 through 12/31/1989. That ought to be close enough.
Immediately one record popped up: MORRIS, JACK L. - 8903367 - STONY POINT - 4/19/1989 - 48 years.
Annie felt a sudden sadness. She had hardly known Mr. Morris, but he had died so young. About Wayne’s age when he’d had his heart attack. Too young. Far too young.
She repeated the search process for Susan’s mother with the same speedy result: MORRIS, ELLEN P. - 8903368 - STONY POINT - 4/19/1989 - 45 years.
Too sad. Too sad.
OK, plenty of time for getting all emotional later on. Business now.
She had used the microfiche reader before, so it didn’t take her long to find the April 20, 1989, edition of The Point.
LOCAL COUPLE KILLED IN TRAFFIC COLLISION
by Robert T. Adkins
PORTLAND — Lifetime Stony Point resident, Jack Morris, 48; and his wife, Ellen Morris, 45; were killed yesterday afternoon when their 1985 Chevy Blazer was struck by another vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle, whose name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, also died at the scene of the accident. According to the Portland police, the ongoing investigation indicates that hazardous road conditions caused by yesterday’s heavy thunderstorms may have been a contributing factor in the collision. The Morrises are survived by their daughter, Susan, also of Stony Point.
It was just a stark little article on the middle page of the paper where they put the fillers. With a sigh, Annie printed out a copy of the page and of the obituary that ran two days later. Apart from being listed as surviving the couple, there were no other mentions of Susan.
“How’s it coming?” Grace asked when she came back into the Reference Room.
Annie showed her the printouts. “That’s all I’ve found so far.”
“Why don’t you check the records on when she sold the house?”
“That’s a great idea. Any suggestions on how I’d do that?”
“Look up the Lincoln County public records. There should be some information on their site.”
Annie went back to the computer. From the several possibilities that appeared, she settled on the one that said “Lincoln County Registry of Deeds.” When the site came up, she browsed around until she found a place where she could enter Susan’s name and a date range from January 1989 through December 1990.
Several records popped up, but it was the third one from the bottom that made Annie smile. MORRIS, SUSAN S. - BLANCHARD, PAUL & JUDITH - Deeds - Stony Point - 07/26/1989 - 1564-101. So Susan had sold the house in July of that year. Now what about the marriage records? If she had married around the time she sold the house, it should be easy to find the name of her husband.
Annie wrote down the information from the deed registry, but just as she was about to start looking for marriage records, Grace’s voice came over the intercom. “The library will be closing in five minutes. Please return all reference materials to the Reference Desk. If you have items you would like to check out, please bring them to the Circulation Desk now. Thank you, and please visit the Stony Point Library again soon.”
Annie glanced at her watch. Five minutes till five o’clock already? The Internet could eat up time faster than anything she could think of. At least she had found out a few things, and she had some actual dates to go on. It was a start.
She picked up her purse and the microfiche copies she had made and went into the main part of the library. Several people were waiting to check out books, so she gave Grace just a wave and a smile before going out to her car. She had a feeling she’d be back soon enough.
When she pulled up in front of Grey Gables, she saw the red Mustang parked in the driveway next door and decided to drop in. Alice opened the door, stylish in a black sweater set that must have set off her line of jewelry to perfection.