6
INTRODUCTION AND COMPENDIUM.
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comparative value of real estate from time to time since the settlement of
our country, the means used to procure a subsistence, the growth of the popu-
lar institutions, and the advance of civilization. Such a history enables us to
know of the difficulties encountered and the struggles passed through by the
pioneers in securing permanent settlements and titles to their lands, since made
productive, beautiful, and valuable by their persevering toils, and thus fostering
a love for the unimpaired preservation and possession of the homesteads of our
departed sires, as a patrimony worthy of our attachment and respect.
In recording the history and genealogy of our own immediate families, we
necessarily incorporate into the fabric, in marriage records, names from other
families, thus conserving the links belonging to other numerous genealogical
chains, which would have been lost in the visionary traditions of fleeting gener-
ations; by such means we form a repository to be consulted by antiquaries and
historians who may follow us. We also preserve the original spelling of names
of places and individuals, giving their derivation and marking the mutations that
have occurred from generation to generation. Fac-similes of autographs en-
graved for such a book show the comparative improvement in chirography; dates
of removals indicate the westward movement of the tide of civilization; bio-
graphical notices illustrate the advancement in science and art, improvement in
business facilities and educational advantages; and the whole work embodies
almost every element of history from a very remote date to the present, — val-
uable for preservation and interesting to the general reader.
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Having given my reasons for undertaking the compilation of this work, the
circumstances that served to enlarge its scope, and explained its value, I shall
now comprehensively describe some of the means employed for gaining infor-
mation and collecting the data now embodied in it; but in doing this, for want
of space, I must pass unmentioned hundreds of measures, - legitimate enough,
but original with me, - resorted to by me during my investigations.
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To many of my correspondents it will be unnecessary to say that I have
been a very inquisitive man, indeed every successful antiquary must possess
this faculty of asking questions, which is acquired by great application and
experience in historical research. One must not only be able to ask for
what he wants in a concise way, but he must present his interrogations in a
form that causes the one questioned to feel under an obligation to respond. To
awaken an interest in my undertaking with those who were at first indifferent,
and to stimulate them to action in the premises, has demanded tact and inge-
nuity, and there are many so obstinate, and some so extremely discreet, that all
the skill of correspondence has failed to draw them out. Experience soon
taught me that I must not ask too much in my first communication; a long
list of questions, involving genealogical data relating to several generations,
seemed too much to be undertaken, and the letter would be put aside; then
the success of the effort to procure the records would depend upon the way in
which the second letter of request was composed. In my initiatory inquiry I
would usually state, truthfully, of course, - that I had in my possession an
account of some branches of this family, and that I could not properly arrange
the records for composition without a statement respecting other families; then
I would ask for the names of grandparents, parents, uncles, or as the case
might be. Supposing this was all I wanted, my requests were, in most in-
stances, granted. To save expense, believing that every family ought to help
bear the burden of my undertaking, I did not enclose return postage in my
first communication; but, if I did not receive an immediate reply, I reminded
the person previously addressed, of my wishes, enclosing a stamp, which almost
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