Publisher's Synopsis
A comprehensive record of a family, a faithful history and genealogy, printed and illustrated in a book, distributed widely among the family, and deposited in the libraries of the country, is a greater benefit, and more lasting, than monuments of granite or marble. It will preserve for us the spirit, life stories, heroic deeds, and even the pictures of some of our pioneer ancestors. "In books lies the soul of the whole past time." The author was prompted to write this book by a worth} family pride, and a desire to benefit the family by preserving for the future some of the facts of its history in America. The interest aroused in family history by the "Gentry Reunions" in 1898 and in 1899 contributed very largely to the enthusiasm necessary to start such an undertaking. If the author had realized what it would cost him in time, work, and money, and how poorly suited he was for such a task, this book would probably never have been written. As the work progressed the scope of it assumed broader proportions than was first intended, and he realized more and more the great value of a book of history and genealogy to the family, and felt impelled, after starting the work, to persevere in its completion.
