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INTRODUCTION.

'HE collection and arrangement of the material necessary for

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the history of an American family, requires an amount of labor far beyond the conception of those who read the results. The early settlers of this continent encountered a life of trial and hardship. Their homes were frequently situated far apart from each other, in an almost unbroken wilderness, and they lived in constant anxiety lest they should not be able to procure food for their families, while the dread of savages and wild beasts ever haunted them. Again, the uncertainty as to the result of their efforts, to make the settlement of a new country successful, must have had a depressing effect upon their minds. It was indeed a

severe test of their mental and physical qualities, and it is not strange, with such surroundings they overlooked some very important matters, and especially the preservation of many valuable documents relating to family history. This loss of material, with many other obstacles, combine to make the preparation of a genealogy a work of great difficulty. Yet with all its perplexities, the compiler of this record has found it a pleasant and profitable undertaking. Not only has it broadened his vision as to the qualities required for the settlement of a new country, and deepened his respect for those early pioneers, but it has shown how our common humanity is linked together, and has brought to light much information of a local character, which otherwise would have remained unknown. The gradual development of many of the principles which have become a part of our national life, is brought into view by the uncovering of the hidden springs which underlie the peculiarities of different communities, made up of families possessing such distinctive qualities.

The history here written is of one of the few families in this country which have sprung from a single fountain. All of the

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