BY SAMUEL G. DRAKE, M. A.
[As one of this name has very justly been styled "The Father of Genealogy in New England," and has left behind him an enduring monument of his labors in this department of literature, it is deemed highly proper to commence our Genealogical Series with that of his family. It will be viewed, we doubt not, with great interest, by all lovers of such subjects, and more especially as the Memoir is from his own pen; that is to say, as to facts, it is entirely the same as that, which was published by the distinguished Genealogist himself; but the plan of it here presented, is new, and is probably preferable to any other hitherto adopted. Indeed there does not appear to have been any general fixed plan for the exhibition of Genealogies. The following method, the result of much reflection, is now offered for the consideration of those who may engage in preparing Genealogical Memoirs. Ed.]
Explanation of the Plan.
As the plan laid down may not be apparent at first view, the following explanation may be deemed necessary. The Arabic numbers running through the whole Genealogy, are to show not only the number of every individual descended from the same ancestor, but by the aid of them, the connection of every person is seen at a glance, and the ancestors or descendants may be traced, backward or forward, with the greatest ease and facility. One number set under another, or two numbers set against the same individual, show, in all cases, that such individual has descendants, and the lower number indicates the place in the series where the descendants are to be found; remembering that the Roman numerals are only employed to show the number of children belonging to the same particular family. For example, (18)/(59) VIII. Oliver,3 shows, that this person is No. 18 in the regular Arabic series, and that following (59), onward, his family will be found; the VIII is sufficiently obvious. The 3 at the end of the name, denotes the individual to be of the 3rd generation from the first in the series, and so of all other numbers in a similar situation; i. e., all those placed like an exponent at the end of names, show the generation. All names of persons having descendants, are necessarily repeated, in their order, but are not renumbered. Thus John3 (10) is repeated after 18, the (10) showing his original place in the series.
From what is said above it is thought the plan will be perfectly apparent on the most cursory perusal. The names of persons descended in the female line are printed in the ordinary Roman letter, to distinguish them from those of the male line, always printed in small capitals.
By this system of deducing or displaying descents, any corrections or additions may be made without disfiguring the appearance of the work, as for instance, (63) IV. Sarah,4 whose family is indicated to be given at (126); it will appear that other individuals were found belonging to her family after the work was made up, therefore a new entry is made of her at (164), and yet all is perfectly clear.
Although it is highly desirable, that individuals and families should succeed each other in the regular order of their generations, it is not always possible to make a genealogical memoir so; for it is apparent that in numerous instances, especially among the early families, we are obliged to pass over individuals, not knowing whether they had descendants; and when a long memoir is made up it is often found that many so passed over, had children. These therefore cannot have their proper place in the memoir without great labor, requiring a new draft of nearly the whole work. By the plan now presented we avoid the difficulty, in its most objectionable feature, by placing all such at the end of the memoir whenever we find them, with the same numerical references, &c., as employed throughout. Thus, in the following genealogy we have several placed in this manner for illustration; as for example, (110) III. Charlotte6 falls into the series, with her descendants at (174), while (83) I. Edward5 does not fall in till (176), and so of a few others.
In preparing this memoir the reader must remember, that the author published it in 1828, and hence, that the present tense often used by him, has reference to the date of publication. We make this note to avoid too frequent interpolations in brackets. Mr. Farmer had printed in 1813, sundry Family Records of different branches of the family, and in 1824, he issued an Appendix to it. This with the other part made about 30 pages in 18mo. These contained a good deal not found in his last work. All three are here incorporated into a regular and continuous genealogy. The copies of the first two printed works which I have used, have many manuscript additions and corrections in the author's own hand. The title-page of the Memoir runs thus:
A GENEALOGICAL MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY BY THE NAME OF FARMER, WHO SETTLED AT BILLERICA, Ms. Hingham, Farmer & Brown, Printers, 1828.