Part 3

The "clan" genealogy also finds a prominent place in local history. The annals of a town or neighborhood having been given, these are supplemented by monographs on the old families. Beginning with the first settler, his descendants are traced down, each family sketch becoming a "clan" genealogy on a small scale. This feature immensely increases the interest of town histories, and if the tribal genealogy needs any justification, it certainly finds it here.

Finally, there is the undoubted fact stated at the beginning of our chapter, that the "clan" genealogy has pre-empted the field. It is the work everywhere met, the book which is in every mind when a genealogy is thought of.

Special difficulties attend the compiling of this kind of work, and for the overcoming of these we have prepared a special notebook.

It should be remembered that if, instead of counting one man's ancestors, we should reckon one man's descendants, assuming an average, in each family, of three children who become parents, in nine generations some 9,841 descendants would have become parents, each with a wife or husband, making a total of 19,682 to appear in the tribal book, without counting descendants that leave no issue!

After the ninth generation the tribe grows with leaps and bounds that are truly mighty. A single additional generation, the tenth, would add a new crop of no less than 39,366 husbands and wives, making a total of 59,048 tribesmen entitled to a place in the book! And the eleventh generation--but peace! Our little work on the joys of genealogical research shall not be marred by the statistical bore who tries to scare with his wretched arithmetic!

In truth, formidable as the "clan" genealogy sometimes is, at present it seldom takes in ten generations, while our estimate of family increase is perhaps too great. And what genealogist, though he beg and implore information of the later generations, sending out hundreds of eloquent letters, is ever able to make a complete exhibit of a great tribe? Our figures should not terrify, therefore, but simply compel proper appreciation of the problem of the notebook.

How shall the data for a whole tribe be preserved until the day of compilation, and how can we keep it from becoming a jumbled miscellany that will drive us to despair?

The terror of the notebooks first dawned upon us just as we thought we had the matter well in hand. It was our first extensive investigation, and as the ancestral names increased on our research list we found that we must make a choice of methods. Should we search the authorities for one name at a time? Many advise this to avoid confusion, on the principle of choosing the lesser of two evils.

But it is a clumsy method, well nigh intolerable, which leads one to visit certain places and consult certain authorities for data on one name, and then return over pretty much the same ground for the second, the third, and all other names on a long list. We rejected the thought of such a system, determining that as each authority came into our hands we would extract whatever it contained on any of our names.

This settled, another question presented itself. Should we carry a separate notebook for every name investigated? Our list of names was so formidable that such an expedient threatened to transform the genealogist into a genealogical packhorse. Hence we preferred to carry a book or two at a time, to which we committed all our discoveries. Previous historical training had taught us to note the authority with each item, and we made rapid progress with the work. When one notebook was full, another took its place. What could be more simple and expeditious?

But the day came when we sat down to compile. Alas! our sins had found us out! A stack of notebooks lay before us, and through them all were scattered our data for each name, without system or chronological order. Oh, the despair of going through that pile of books, turning down pages and numbering items according to dates, in a desperate attempt to arrange the material for each name so as to compile the facts in a decent order!

In spite of all our care, the wretched books concealed desirable items until our manuscript had passed the proper place of insertion, sardonically calling our attention to the omissions when we were busy with another subject. How we grew to hate those notebooks, and how they tormented us with a plague of re-writing! We had a premonition that they would conceal some things to the very last; and, sure enough, having tortured us during the days of writing, humiliated us in the proof-sheets, and demanded a display of errata as the book went to press, they waited until it was nicely printed, bound and published before making their final disclosures!

To obviate all this trouble, we now have the Grafton Genealogical Notebook, American Form. As the last two words indicate, this notebook embodies the arrangement of the "clan" genealogy used by the most eminent American genealogists and adopted by such organizations as the New England Historic-Genealogical Society and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

This notebook consists of a succession of groups of pages, each group arranged with blanks to receive the data for a whole family. The facts are written in their proper spaces when first ascertained, and when the work of research is finished it will be found that the work of compilation has taken care of itself! In fact, the notebook is self-compiling. The blank spaces are arranged in the order of the statements as they are to appear on the printed page, the connecting words and proper punctuation being printed in the notebook. Having filled in all the spaces which our data requires, we simply draw a pen through the rest, and our book is practically compiled, for its own leaves may be sent to the printer as manuscript! The leaves are perforated so that they may be readily detached, and thus we are saved the labor and the possible errors of recopying.

For example, having written our introductory matter, we detach the leaves from our notebooks, group by group, beginning with the family of the common ancestor, followed by that of his oldest child, who had issue, and so on through all the families and generations in order. In this order, we consecutively number the leaves in blank spaces provided for that purpose, and if the "family" and "individual" numbers have not already been assigned, we note them in the proper spaces.

We may add that this notebook is equally well adapted for tracing all of the descendants of an ancestor, or those of the sons alone. Its use will be understood at a glance by experienced genealogists. Detailed instructions, however, with sample blanks filled out, have been prepared for those desiring them. These instructions completely initiate the amateur into the details of the best form of "clan" genealogy.[4]

FOOTNOTE:

[4] The Grafton Genealogical Notebook, American Form (copyrighted), can be had of The Grafton Press, Genealogical and Biographical Department, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Price, per copy, 25 cents; 12 copies for $2.50. The book is 5 1-4 inches wide by 8 1-2 long, and can be carried in the pocket. The instruction pamphlet will be sent to any address upon receipt of 25 cents. It is furnished free, _when requested_, to every purchaser of 12 copies of the notebook.

V

THE "GRAFTON" GENEALOGY

Under this name we introduce a plan of genealogy which we believe is destined to become more popular than the clan genealogy. This is the book for all who are interested in their own ancestral lines more than in the ramifications of a thinly-connected tribe.

It is the plan which permits a full discourse of all that is nearest to the heart. Its preliminary investigations thrill one with discoveries of the deepest personal interest. Its compilation permits all the humors and liberties of literary speech. Its every page and chapter is like a visit to ancestral halls, where the genial shades of forebears seem to gather round as we gaze at their portraits, listen to the old tales, handle the heirlooms and ransack the family papers.

The general idea of this genealogy is simple. It enables one to exhibit as many of one's direct ancestral lines as can be ascertained, or a sufficient number to make an interesting volume.

Where do we begin? With ourselves, James Smith! Next we put down the name of our father, William Smith, and the maiden name of our mother, Mary Jones, and under each name collect all the biographical data possible. In the next generation there are four names. There is our paternal grandparent, William Smith, Sr., still hale and hearty, and his wife, Mary Doe, of sainted memory, whom we remember almost as well as we do the fragrant odor of her inimitable pies and cake!

Then there is our maternal grandfather, Colonel Henry Jones, a soldier and a gentleman if there ever was one, and his young wife, Mary Summers, whom we never saw because she yielded her sweet life in the throes which brought our mother into the world. Have we not often mused over that dear face, gentle and beautiful in the old daguerreotype! Many a tear have we shed over her sad story--in the sentimental days, before the callous cares of this world's business crept into our heart!

The names of all these we put down, gathering the materials for full biographies, and thus we continue with our eight great-grandparents, our sixteen great-great-grandparents, our thirty-two great-great-greats, and so on until we have unraveled the glories of the entire ten generations (if we can boast so many in America), with their 1,022 ancestors and 512 surnames.

The reader may ask, "Is this not as bad as a 'clan' genealogy? How shall we manage all these names and the reams of data?"

The fact is, however, that he who can boast himself to be in the tenth generation in even a single line is fortunate, and must have had an American ancestor contemporary with the Jamestown gentlemen or the Mayflower pilgrims. Undoubtedly many of our lines go back on this side of the Atlantic only four, five or six generations. Such cases subtract materially from our 1,022 possible ancestors and 512 surnames.

And let us suppose that when the Dutch stem of Schermerhorn and the French stem of de Lancey come into view in our family tree, we find Joneses again, and--yes, a little research proves that these Joneses also descended from the emigrant, Stephen Jones, the ancestor of our maternal grandfather, Colonel William Jones. The Jones stock is a fine brand, and three strains are none too many, but their appearance subtracts two more surnames from the theoretical number.

Furthermore, while we may be able to find our way back from generation to generation with almost ridiculous ease in some cases, such luck is usually too good to last. It is a rare vein which yields family connections at every stroke of the genealogical spade, and one such line may have to console us for a number which we mine slowly and painfully, and for some others which yield no results whatever beyond a certain point. In truth, most old American families pan out fairly well, with here and there a golden nugget of peculiar lustre, or a diamond of the first water; but we are seldom troubled by finding more of this wealth than we are able to handle.

In making the investigation, we should aim to collect data for a very full account of each ancestor, with a portrait, autograph, the history of his possessions, photograph of the homestead, his old letters, his Bible and will--in fact, any and all materials which picture clearly his character and affairs. When we have finished collecting, our accumulations are worked up into monographs on each one of the lines traced, each monograph enriched by illustrations and accompanied by an appendix in which we exhibit in full the documents and extracts constituting the proofs of the descent. We recommend that each monograph be introduced by a chart, exhibiting the pedigree from the earliest known progenitor down to the person whose ancestry is the subject of the book. This adds a valuable feature, and makes the whole line clear at a glance. After all the monographs are completed, they should be arranged together for publication in one volume.

If expense is not much of an object, it is especially interesting to prepare for one's own library one copy of the edition printed, sumptuously bound and enriched with original documents, or certified copies of them,--old prints, silhouette portraits and other illustrations gathered solely for that copy. In fact, some people may prefer to limit the edition to this one copy. These ideas may be followed in the Grafton plan of genealogy with brilliant results. A proper method of research, with the necessary means at its disposal, should result in the accumulation of an abundance of interesting illustrative matter for such a book.

The Grafton plan of work calls for a notebook in which the display of the genealogical statistics of a family takes a subordinate place. What is wanted is a notebook in which an indefinite number of pages may be devoted to the data of each ancestor, with some index system which will make all instantly accessible, and some ready means of rearranging the pages. These ends are achieved by a notebook equipped with the Grafton Chart Index, which is quite different from the notebook mentioned in the last chapter.

The Chart Index affords a diagrammatic display of one's ancestry for ten generations--spaces for writing in the names of every one of our 1,022 theoretically possible ancestors, each in his proper place. Each name is located by a Roman numeral, indicating the generation to which it belongs, and by an Arabic figure, indicating its place in that generation. With each name also appears a blank space in brackets, to receive the number of the page of the notebook where the data of that name begins. And at the top of this page in the notebook are written the generation and place numbers of the name in the diagram.

Do we wish to know where to look for the data bearing upon a certain person? We glance at his place in the chart and there find the page reference to his place in the notebook. Or, with our notebook open at a certain place, do we wish to know the ancestral connections of the individual there treated? We glance at the numerals which head his data, and thus learn his place in the chart, which displays at a glance his relations to all the lines and other individuals of our entire ancestry, so far as determined. The body of the notebook is detachable from the cover and chart-index. When its pages are full, another section may be attached, which becomes Section B of one great notebook, this process being repeated as often as desired, the one index covering the whole. If the data on John Smith begins on page 50 of the first section, the page reference in the chart will be A50, or simply 50. If it begins on the same page of the next section, the reference will be to B50, and so on.

The leaves of the notebook are perforated and easily detachable. When the work of investigation is complete, or at any time in the process, the data can be rearranged in any order desired. When the data for one complete line has been gathered, we may wish to arrange it in the order of descent and begin the delightful task of working it up for the printer while other lines are still being investigated.

The Chart Index may be obtained separately. It can be used simply as a chart, to exhibit one's entire ancestry, or may be adjusted as an index to some system of notebooks which the reader already has in hand.[5]

The notebook referred to in our last chapter may be used to advantage in conjunction with the one just described.

For example, John Smith, the first of one of our lines, may have had eight children. While the "Grafton" genealogy will dwell at length only upon that one of the children who is our ancestor,--Stephen Smith, for example,--his seven brothers and sisters will be briefly noticed, although their descendants will not be followed unless it be to call attention to distinguished relatives in some of these collateral lines. Having given the history of the first John Smith in full, we append a condensed account of all his children, other than the one who is our ancestor, after which we take up the latter, Stephen Smith, in full. The notebook devised for the "clan" genealogy will serve admirably for collecting the skeleton of facts desired for these notices of the brothers and sisters of our ancestors.

The research necessary for a "Grafton" genealogy sounds every note in the gamut of joys peculiar to ancestry-hunting, and adds a special appeal to those who wish to join one of the patriotic societies. If the line of our surname fails to yield ancestors who had the foresight to qualify us for membership in a given organization, it may be that another line will give better results. Or if our name is already on the roll, it will be pleasant to be numbered among those who have qualified through more than one ancestor. Who knows what riches lie hidden, patiently awaiting a discoverer, to reward him who systematically carries back all of his family lines?

The "Grafton" genealogy recommends itself to us, even if one of our lines has already appeared in a "clan" genealogy, and that line the one through which we inherit our surname. In Europe, where titles and property are inherited by male children, under the laws of entail and primogeniture, a legal significance attaches to the line of the surname, and to most Americans this line is of special interest. Nevertheless, it often happens that our ancestry along this line is less brilliant than along some of the other lines. In that case we will not do full justice to our surname until we reveal the glory of the sturdy stocks which our ancestors had the good sense to engraft upon our line by marriage.

Our line may appear in its due place in the great tome of the clan, but does it shine with the splendor worthy of our immediate ancestors? Is it not almost hidden from sight among so many other lines? And when we find it, is there anything more than a concise epitome of dry facts under the name of each ancestor?

No doubt the tribe-embracing plan prohibits all else, but is this all we want? Do we not desire a full history of each ancestor, with all the interesting facts, traditions and illustrations which can be brought together? Then let us set to work to gather these, and to make our own line the subject of the first monograph of a Grafton genealogy, which will show all the luxuriant branches of our particular family tree, a happy intertwining of many stocks and surnames, of which we are the final product. Those who work in the hope of realizing a profit from the sales of the printed book should consider the possibilities of the Grafton genealogy. What gives interest to a genealogy? Not the later generations, but the earlier stems and origin of the tree, ascertained through historical research. Instead of presenting one such stem and appealing to a single tribe, why not exploit all the stems of one's ancestry and appeal to as many great tribes of descendants? The prospect certainly seems as favorable for marketing a genealogy which sets forth researches on the origins of many American stems as for the other kind, which only interests descendants of a single stem. But whether the finished work embodies the "clan" or the "Grafton" plan, its sale will principally depend upon the application of proper methods in getting the book before the public. This subject will come before us a little farther on.

We add a word on our right to assume the rôle of godfather toward the plan of genealogy discussed in this chapter. We claim no patent-rights over the bare idea of a work which traces more ancestral lines than one. But where, outside of these pages, will the reader find a recognition of the possibilities of such a work? Where else will he find its plan developed and presented so that its advantages may at once be seen by the ancestry-hunter? The rights of occupation and colonization are certainly ours, although we exercise them with a royal largeness of heart! We have developed this rich territory, only to throw it open to the world. Having ourselves cultivated its fertile fields with pleasing results, and transformed a barren wilderness into a blossoming garden, we now invite our friend, the reader, to step in and take full possession!

FOOTNOTE:

[5] The chart-index and cover (copyrighted), with notebook, can be had for $1.25; 12 copies for $13. Additional sections of the notebook, 25 cents each; 12 copies for $2.50. The chart-index alone, 50 cents per copy; 12 copies for $5.50. Address, The Grafton Press, Genealogical and Biographical Department, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

VI

THE PRINTING

Whether the offspring of our love and labor be a clan or a Grafton genealogy, we will now suppose it has attained its maturity. It will grow no more. Not alone is the research complete, but our data has been compiled into a book in manuscript form. What next?

We sincerely trust that no genealogical worker who reads these lines has any other thought than that of giving the fruit of his labors to the public. The whole genealogical world protests against any other idea. It is a patriotic duty as well as a moral obligation to put it in print. Having ourselves profited from the printed pages of many a worker, shall we refuse to repay the debt?

We hope better things of every reader of this book, and assume that all his researches are to appear in print as soon as they can be put into proper shape. It matters not whether we have much or little, one page or a thousand, enough copy for a chart, a pamphlet or a volume: it should be printed and published. If we have worked out only a single ancestral line, and have no leisure for further work, or must turn away from such labor for some time to come, let us print what we have collected.

If we commit our manuscript to type, we are quite likely to receive a rich reward. Some one sees our production, gets into communication with us,--being interested along the same lines,--and very soon we find ourselves learning things we long desired to know! Hundreds can tell of such experiences.

Do not hesitate to print because your work is fragmentary or incomplete. Sometimes one strikes a genealogical "snag," and, do what he may, is unable to proceed in the work of investigation. Under these circumstances some genealogists become discouraged, holding back their entire work for years in the hope of solving their perplexities. This is the wrong way. It is much better to print the work in its incomplete form, frankly setting forth the difficulties encountered. This has many times resulted in the solution of the problem. Some one, somewhere, may hold the key, and as soon as our printed page catches his eye he will supply the needed link.

Sometimes two genealogists, unknown to each other, are at work on intersecting lines, which cause them the greatest perplexity, while each has in his hands the precise facts which would solve the other's puzzle. In this situation they may grope on for years without making material progress. If they would only print what they have completed, each would discover the complement of his work in the other, and each could then go on with his task rejoicing.

Printing in itself is another reward. The exultant thrill of actual authorship is only felt when we see our work in black and white on the pages of the printed volume. This is the true goal of literary desire.