History about our hometown and families sometimes comes from the least expected places. One such place would be a booklet that was, at one time, mailed to all town residents.

The “Statement of the Financial Affairs of the Town of East Lyme and Report of the School Committee” is a great small gem for the history of our town. Just like the newspaper of yesteryear, the reports covered everything to do with our town: who ran it, who maintained it, who cared for the unfortunates down on their luck.

Everything was laid out in black and white like salaries for the selectmen, teachers, fire and police. All are accounted for, and it’s amazing what they made for salary, which in today’s market wouldn’t be a whole heck of a lot.

And names, lots of names, some of which are still familiar today. Names of those who helped maintain our roadways and shoveled snow or maintained our greenways, those who transported students to school and the teachers who taught them. Names of those who provided for others by way of clothing, food, fuel, board and care, medical assistance and, yes, funeral expenses.

The town paid out a total of $1,310.08 to the folks who helped the less fortunate for the fiscal year ending September 1926 (which is the report I’m pulling information from).

The earlier reports also listed records of births, deaths and marriages. The marriage reports not only list the groom’s full name but the bride’s full name. Having a maiden name helps tremendously for those who are shaking branches of their family tree.

Though the birth report mentions only the sex of the child, it does contain the birth date and parents’ names. The death report lists the age in years, months and days along with the death date.

On a sad note, some children born that year did not live to see the next year and as they were listed as either male or female in the birth report they do have a name in the death report. Rest in peace, little ones.

If you happen to have financial reports tucked away somewhere in the attic or basement and you really enjoy shaking branches of your family tree or want to learn more about our town’s past, drag them out and dust them off and start reading.

Every Monday (except holidays), members of the East Lyme Historical Society meet at the East Lyme public library in the East Lyme Room from 10 a.m. to noon. The East Lyme Room contains the society’s archives, and volunteers are always welcome to help in the maintenance and preservation of the collection.

Dawn Shea is a member of the East Lyme Historical Society. To learn more about its mission, visit eastlymehistoricalsociety.org online.