knoxcotn-digest Wednesday, December 15 1999 Volume 01 : Number 028

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Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 13:13:24 -0500

From: Leon Lookingbill <leonlook@greene.xtn.net>

Subject: unsubscribe

unsubscribe

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Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 13:26:06 -0800

From: "Billie R. McNamara" <knox@tngenweb.org>

Subject: Re: unsubscribe commands

Greetings, all!

In case you forget how to "manage" your mailing list participation, please

remember that SUBSCRIBE and UNSUBSCRIBE commands have to be sent to the

server, not the list.

TO: majordomo@rootsquest.com

BODY: unsubscribe knoxcotn [or subscribe, if applicable]

If you go on an extended vacation, you might want to use this to keep your

mailbox from overflowing. Rose-Anne and I plan to put the digests for the

list on-line, so you can catch up if you miss something.

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Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 17:15:33 -0800

From: "Billie R. McNamara" <knox@tngenweb.org>

Subject: Fwd: COMBS URL Announcement (New)

Forwarded for those who have related interests:

>Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 13:11:37 -0700

>From: C Hammett <carhammett@mindspring.com>

>

>As many of you know, in addition to being a USGenWeb Project CC, I am also

>the Coordinator of the Combs-Coombs &c. Research Group, Inc., a nonprofit

>public benefit corporation, whose 250+ Internet members research not only

>all Combs and Combs-Associated families (and var. sp.), but also have

>numerous "sub-projects," such as census and tax lists transcriptions,

>etc., most of which are linked to the applicable USGenWeb Project and/or

>American Local History Network (ALHN) pages.

>

>I am very pleased, therefore, to be able to announce that our Combs URL

>has finally been removed from the RW SPAM Filter, and that it is now again

>possible to post URLS that include www.combs-families.org.

>

>Our main page is at http://www.combs-families.org/~combs/, from which you

>can access our Combs Counties of Record, Combs Military Records, and other

>sites that include county- or area-wide records.

>

>On behalf of our 250+ Combs &c. Member-Researchers, I would very much

>appreciate it if you all would pass the word to other USGWP Lists since

>it's been months since any of our transcription announcements have been

>"post-able" to many state and county lists.

>

>Sincerely,

>

>Carole Hammett

>Warren Co, TNGenWeb

>http://www.tngennet.org/warren/

>Combs-Coombs &c. Research Group

>http://combs-families.org/~combs/

>USGenNet - "the Biggest=Little Safe-Site Server on the Internet"

>http://USGenNet.Org/

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Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 17:42:15 -0800

From: "Billie R. McNamara" <knox@tngenweb.org>

Subject: Interesting anecdote

The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy First Families of America

The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy

The Standard Genealogical Encyclopedia of

The First Families of America

Edited by Frederick A. Virkus

Volume I, 1925

F. A. Virkus & Company Genealogical Publishers, Chicago, Ill.

Preface

In the entire field of American bibliography there is,

perhaps, at the

present time, no single subject of more interest to so great a

number of

people in the United States as genealogy. This is demonstrated

by the

numerous lists of manuscripts and printed books upon the

subject. In

itself this fact is not remarkable, except for the further fact

that genealogy

has taken its place in American bibliography, within the present

generation.

From the first English settlement in America, at Jamestown,

in 1607,

and that of the Pilgrims, at Plymouth, in 1620, excepting in

family Bible

records and a few manuscripts, genealogical history was a blank,

so far

as printed records are concerned, until 1771. In that year, what

is believed

to have beep the first American family genealogy was printed at

Hartford,

Conn. Its title page reads: "Genealogy of the Family of Mr. Samuel

Stebbins, and His Wife, From the Year 1707 to the Year 1771." In

1829,

Farmer's "A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New

England,"

the first collected work in genealogy in America, was published.

In 1844,

James Savage, LL.D. (1784-1873), eminent as a historian and

antiquarian,

and president of the Massachusetts Historical Society,

perceiving the great

value of Farmer's register to future generations, undertook the compilation

of "The Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New

England,"

and published it in four volumes, 1860-1864. This work of

Savage's is

still regarded as the authority on early New England genealogy

and is the

distinguishing mark of the first epoch in American genealogy.

Savage may

be said to have been the father of American genealogy.

Subsequent to the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the

Mexican War, the first three patriotic societies were formed:

The Society

of the Cincinnati, in 1783; the Society of the War of 1812, in

1814, and the

Aztec Club of 1847, in 1847. These organizations kept aflame the

patriotic

spirit which is the soul of American genealogy.

To the small group of patriotic citizens of Boston that

organized, in

1844, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, belongs the

honor

of launching the first movement for preserving in systematic

form the

genealogical and historical records of the nation, and also for

the preserva-

tion of its revered landmarks. The New York Genealogical and

Biographical

Society was organized in 1869, and these two societies have

since been

foremost in genealogical research and in the preservation of

historical

landmarks.

A new era in genealogy began in 1875, with the formation at San

Francisco, California, of the Sons of Revolutionary Sires--the

first of the

modern patriotic societies in America--inaugurated July 4, 1876.

Coming

one hundred years after the great struggle for independence, and

membership

in it requiring proof of descent from a Revolutionary soldier, a

remarkable awakening to the importance of genealogy was

manifested,

which has since spread with ever-increasing force until to-day

it is a subject

of general interest. The period in which this awakening took

place may be

said to have marked another epoch--the second epoch--in the

history of

American genealogy.

The flame of patriotic fervor being kindled anew, other

societies sprang

into existence. The General Society of the Sons of the

Revolution, instituted

in 1876 and incorporated in 1883, was followed by the Society of

the Sons

of the American Revolution, in 1889. The women, not to be

outdone in the

promotion of patriotic spirit, organized the Daughters of the

American

Revolution and the Society of Colonial Dames of America, both

launched

in 1890; these were followed by the Society of Colonial Wars, in

1893; the

Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, in 1896; the

Society of

Mayflower Descendants, in 1897; and in the years following a

number

of other patriotic and hereditary societies were organized, all

of which

have contributed in a large measure to the preservation of

historical and

genealogical records. A list of these societies, with a

statement of their

objects and the qualifications for membership in each, will be

found in

a separate section of this volume (pages 999-1007).

About the beginning of the second genealogical epoch, private

research

resulted in a marked increase in the number of individual family

genealogies

published annually. From 1771, when the Stebbins family

genealogy was

issued, until 1900, a period of 129 years, there were only about

2,500

printed genealogies. As there are now (1926) approximately 6,000

listed

volumes on the subject, it will be seen that during the past

quarter of a

century more than 3,500 volumes were produced, the books

appearing at

the average rate of 140 volumes per year. If this rate of

production were

continued, a record of most, if not all, of the old American

families would,

in course of time, be assured.

All works of reference owe their chief value to accessibility

for reference

purposes. Unless they have a wide circulation, and especially

unless they

are found in public libraries, their usefulness is greatly

curtailed. The

circulation of family genealogies is generally limited to the

kindred of a

single family, and comparatively few copies reach public

libraries. This is

necessarily so because of the small number of copies of each

genealogy that

is printed. Only a few libraries in the country make any attempt

to maintain

a genealogical department, because it is a highly specialized

branch, and

therefore, genealogical works are accessible to the public only

at the large

library centers.

One of the principal objects of this work is to compress the

lineages

contained in the thousands of individual family genealogies into a single

volume, in order that every public library in the country may

possess the

very essence of American genealogy.

This book is a genealogical library in itself. It marks the

third epoch

in the history of American genealogy.

Though only a few years ago genealogy was regarded by many as a

"fad," and its study deprecated as an egregious display of

vanity, it is

to-day placed upon the dignified plane of an exact science by

those who

appreciate the importance of the subject.

As genealogy is the record of successive generations that

created the

events of history, knowledge of its relation to history

naturally belongs to

the educational equipment of every American citizen; and the

hope is

not unfounded that it will become a part of the curricula of the

universities

and colleges in conjunction with the study of history.

Biography alone does not account for personal traits and

characteristics,

but with a knowledge of both biography and ancestry of a

particular individual,

the student may be able to explain the source of the traits of

the son

of an ordinary sire or the derelictions of the son of an

illustrious sire.

Filled, as it is, with dependable ancestral lore, this book

offers a rich and

largely unexplored field for the study of the subject of

heredity in all of its

phases--a field unequaled by any other single volume in existence.

If the compilation of The Abridged Compendium of American

Genealogy

could have been begun two hundred, or even one hundred, years

ago, the

task would have been comparatively a simple one. In 1790, the

population

of the United States was 3,929,214, and, at the ratio prevailing

at that

time of about six persons to a family, there were about 654,869

families

in the country, practically every one of which was of Colonial

or Revolutionary

ancestry, and therefore potentially "first families." In 1920, the

continental population was 105,710,620, and, at the present

ratio of 4.3

persons to a family, there are about 24,583,860 families in the

United

States. The enormous increase in population between the years

mentioned

serves to illustrate that the longer the delay in the

compilation of a

national genealogy the greater the difficulties to be surmounted.

It remained, however, for the catastrophe of the greatest war

in

history to impress upon many thinking people the need for an

authoritative

work containing the lineages of contemporary Americans; and it

is a

simple statement of fact to say that this work was born of

patriotic spirit

to meet a national necessity, and that national service is the

ideal upon

which it is founded.

While not all families are represented in the volume that are

entitled

to inclusion in the list of "first families," practically every

name distin-

guished in the early history of the country will be found within

its pages.

With the inclusion of approximately 5,000 records and more

than 7,000

lineages, it is believed that this volume is an excellent

nucleus for a

genealogical history worthy of the country.

One of the pleasing results of the widespread correspondence

required

in the preparation of the work, was the hearty and generous

recognition

of its importance and the lively interest which was created,

eliciting a

flood of inquiries at the libraries and a new and unexpected

demand for

genealogical books all over the country. Thousands of persons

became

interested in genealogical research, and it is hoped that with

the con-

tinuance of the co-operation thus far accorded the undertaking,

this work

may be extended, volume by volume, until the records of all worthy

descendants of Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry are included

in The

Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy.

F.A.V.

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End of knoxcotn-digest V1 #28

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