BOWDOINHAM

Marilyn Hinkley has spent a large part of her life making sure the lives of others are remembered.

That effort was honored last week by the Bowdoinham Historical Society, which recognized Hinkley for her work with the town’s cemeteries.

In 1976, she took on the demanding task of mapping and recording the gravestones at each known Bowdoinham cemetery at the time. According to the historical society’s treasurer Betsy Steen, Hinkley’s work then has been the basis for all cemetery record-keeping that has taken place in the ensuing years.

Steen was Hinkley’s supervisor for three summers, and praised her work ethic and attitude.

“She was a joy to work with,” said Steen. “Conscientious, self motivating, thorough and fun to be with.”

Hinkley worked on her task for five summers, starting her freshman year at Smith College. She carefully mapped each of Bowdoinham’s cemeteries on cards, placing names in their prop- er places, and even outlining each gravestone to look exactly how it stood.

The job wasn’t easy — Bowdoinham has a large number of cemeteries. Elaine Diaz, a member of the Bowdoinham Cemetery Advisory Committee, said the town has about 60. She believes the high number could be a result of residents being spread out, and families wanting to be buried close to home.

Hinkley’s brother Frank Connors was president of the historical society at the time she worked there. He said the high volume of cemeteries in Bowdoinham made the society come to the decision to catalog the information. Many are old family plots that can become forgotten as families move on.

“We decided back in the mid-’70s, before any more time went by and before any other cemeteries were lost, that we should catalog their information,” said Connors. “Remember, this is in the days before computers, so the best way to list was still with index cards.”

At the recognition event, Hinkley was quick to point out she wasn’t alone in her task.

“Betsy Steen, among others, was there to help me and answer questions along the way,” she said.

Hinkley spoke about her process at the meeting.

She would go out to a cemetery each day and begin mapping, before returning to the office to add the careful details of each gravestone. In addition, each gravestone has its own index card, carefully drawn by hand.

“It was fun,” she said. “It was a great job for a college or high school student.”

Committee formed

Three years ago, Bowdoinham formed the Cemetery Advisory Committee. In the spring of 2016, the committee organized an effort to go into the cemeteries and help with upkeep and restoring gravesites. Diaz said there’s still a strong list of people in the community willing to help.

“I have a list of about 50 volunteers,” she said, adding, “We could always use more.”

Diaz said another goal of the committee is to add to Hinkley’s records. It is currently working to keep up with gravestones that have been added since the time of the mapping.

About seven years ago, former Bowdoinham Historical Society President Todd Woofenden developed a website and method to get Hinkley’s records on the web. In 2015, the historical society received a Maine Arts and Humanities grant, which gave it the funds to complete the task of adding all of the cemetery records as a link on the society’s website.

“To this day, Marilyn’s work is an invaluable resource for people searching their roots in Bowdoinham,” said Connors.

Hinkley’s original maps and gravestone renderings are available to view on the Bowdoinham Historical Society’s website at bowdoinhamhistoricalsociety.org/cemetery-card-collection.

The work Hinkley did over those five summers, in part, must have influenced her career path — she went on to serve as the executive director of the Yarmouth Historical Society, where she worked for 25 years.

chris@timesrecord.com