Three volumes of early American settlers and, in most cases, descriptions of their families, places of residences and occupation. If you have American Colonial ancestors, this material may be of great interest!
Three volumes of early American settlers and, in most cases, descriptions of their families, places of residences and occupation. If you have American Colonial ancestors, this material may be of great interest!
As a genealogical guide, the references included in this text can be incredibly helpful in finding additional information about your family. Many of the entries include a list of references and it is important that you seek out those materials to ensure accuracy.
At times, very little was known of an individual when this material was published, so it is common to see, “Francis Hutchinson, Concord, died 1661” (page 278). At the very least, these entries should be considered clues to other original records.
The amount of information listed varies greatly from entry to entry, but the records often include the following information about your ancestor:
Name
Age
Birth year
Birth place
Spouse name
Children’s names
Occupation
Known settlement location
There are three published volumes in this set, all created by Henry Whittemore, and published in 1898. His compilation only lists surnames through Pryor and is incomplete.
Volume 1: pages 1 - 176, surnames Abby – Ellmer.
Volume 2: pages 177 - 284, surnames Ellmes – Jansen or Janson
Volume 3: pages 285 - 438, surnames Jansen or Janson – Prior or Pryor
Whittemore’s work includes references to Savage’s Genealogical Dictionary, various other books and sources of information. This work is a tool to help you find those original documents; use it like a detailed table of contents versus a final source of information.
Volume 1 also contains corrections, available in the last pages, received by the compiler.
It is important to remember the context in which these entries were written; all locations – unless otherwise specified – should be considered part of the original 13 Colonies of America. Thus, an entry that simply states “Concord” could be assumed to be Concord, Massachusetts. When in doubt, reference a historical gazette for assistance.
Use this material in partnership with other Colonial-period reference materials.
Be cautious of surname variant spelling, as it was very common to have the same individual name spelt in many ways over their lifetime during this period.
Remember that this compilation was created long before many of the most common genealogical resources were widely available. The information you find should always be carefully evaluated alongside other sources.