Early place names in pre-statehood Maine? What's the correct way to reference them.

Question

I get really confused on the correct way to reference places in Maine before 1820.  Records in FamilySearch usually refer to Maine, but I sometimes wonder if they should be Massachusetts.

Is it okay to use in the data fields "Massachusetts (now Maine)"?

Thanks for your help!

Comments

Forgot to mention, that it is never OK to put anything in parentheses in a location field. It gets flagged as an error and someone will have to come fix it.

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Do I see potential Nor'Easters for the Source-A-Thon? 

Answer 1

How it is referred to depends on the time period. A wonderful resource on WT is the spreadsheet on Colonial Place Names.

Comments

Thank you.  I'm a little confused by the organization, but I'm sure I can figure it out!

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The left column is state (or province) name. The first Previously column is what it was named before becoming a state and the timeframe. The next pair is what it was before that. It works backward in time.

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To make it simpler

After 1820 Maine, United States

1780 - 1819 District of Maine

1776 - 1779 Province of Maine, Massachusetts Bay Colony

1760 - 1775 Province of Maine, Massachusetts

1691 - 1760 Province of Massachusetts Bay

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1760-1776 Province of Maine, Massachusetts Bay Colony  as the Massachusetts Bay Colony became the State of Massachusetts in 1776

1776-1779  Province of Maine, Massachusetts

1780-1820  District of Maine, Massachusetts

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thank you Doug for making this easier.  It is sometimes difficult since the colonial names WikiTree has developed are not used in Family Search or other resource areas.

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Hey, it's my sheet. Awesome. Glad it helps and is being used.

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Steven, you mis-spelled Oklahoma on your spreadsheet in column A.