Frank Allaben

“ Our little work on the joys of genealogical research shall not be marred by the statistical bore who tries to scare with his wretched arithmetic!
In truth, formidable as the "clan" genealogy sometimes is, at present it seldom takes in ten generations, [Pg 42] while our estimate of family increase is perhaps too great. And what genealogist, though he beg and implore information of the later generations, sending out hundreds of eloquent letters, is ever able to make a complete exhibit of a great tribe? ”

“ The notebook devised for the "clan" genealogy will serve admirably for collecting the skeleton of facts desired for these notices of the brothers and sisters of our ancestors.
The research necessary for a "Grafton" genealogy sounds every note in the gamut of joys peculiar to ancestry-hunting, and adds a special appeal to those who wish to join one of the patriotic societies. If the line of our surname fails to yield ancestors who had the foresight to qualify us for membership in a given organization, it may be that another line will give better results. ”

“ The libraries have become wonderfully popular, thronged by multitudes who have enrolled themselves in the army of amateur genealogists. So onerous has become the work of handing out historical and genealogical books that in some large libraries such works have been gathered into alcoves which are thrown open to the public, where the ancestry-hunter may help himself.
Formerly such public records as deeds and wills constituted the special preserve of the lawyer. But his monopoly is a thing of the past. The genealogist has invaded this domain and established equal rights. ”

“ The only genealogist who may hope for any measure of financial success by his own efforts, is the author of a "clan" genealogy who has systematically [Pg 68] gathered the names and addresses of the living representatives of the "tribe" his book exploits. These may be circularized, and appealed to on the ground of family pride and of fair play. The least they can do for a historian who has toiled for their glory is to take a copy of his book. ”

“ Do we not desire a full history of each ancestor, with all the interesting facts, traditions and illustrations which can be brought together? Then let us set to work to gather these, and to make our own line the subject of the first monograph of a Grafton genealogy, which will show all [Pg 54] the luxuriant branches of our particular family tree, a happy intertwining of many stocks and surnames, of which we are the final product. Those who work in the hope of realizing a profit from the sales of the printed book should consider the possibilities of the Grafton genealogy. ”

“ But the experienced publisher is like an old fox that has learned the ways of hounds and hunters and is not easily caught. Such a publisher knows the best mediums, where a modest notice almost always brings good returns, and one cannot do better than to reap the fruits of his experience. ”

“ The nooks and [Pg 10] crannies of civilization are their hunting-grounds—any corner where man has left a documentary trace of himself. Behold them, eager enthusiasts, besieging the libraries, poring over tomes of deeds and wills and other documents in State and county archives, searching the quaint and musty volumes of town annals, thumbing dusty pages of baptismal registers, and frequenting churchyards to decipher the fast-fading names and dates on mossgrown tombstones, yellow and stained with age, or cracked and chipped by the frosts and rains of many seasons! ”

“ The moment of first hearing the facts, when the joy of discovery and the satisfaction of making progress are upon us, is the psychological moment for making our notes. It is a positive delight while the fever of enthusiasm is high. As our informant begins his story, let us interrupt with the cry of the enthusiast, "I must jot that down!" Out comes our notebook, conveying to our friend a very distinct impression of the importance of being accurate. ”

“ In Europe, where titles and property are inherited by male children, under the laws of entail and primogeniture, a legal significance attaches to the line of the surname, and to most Americans this line is of special interest. Nevertheless, it often happens that our ancestry along this line is less brilliant than along some of the other lines. In that case we will not do full justice to our surname until we reveal the glory of the sturdy stocks which our ancestors had the good sense to engraft upon our line by marriage. ”

“ It should be remembered that if, instead of counting one man's ancestors, we should reckon one man's descendants, assuming an average, in each family, of three children who become parents, in nine generations some 9,841 descendants would have become parents, each with a wife or husband, making a total of 19,682 to appear in the tribal book, without counting descendants that leave no issue!
After the ninth generation the tribe grows with leaps and bounds that are truly mighty. ”

“ The facts are written in their proper spaces when first ascertained, and when the work of research is finished it will be found that the work of compilation has taken care of itself! In fact, the notebook is self-compiling. The blank spaces are arranged in the order of the statements as they are to appear on the printed page, the connecting words and proper punctuation being printed in the notebook. Having filled in all the spaces which our data requires, we simply draw a pen through the rest, and our book is practically compiled, for its own leaves may be sent to the printer as manuscript! ”

“ Finally, choose a printer and publisher who is a book-making genius. The author is dependent upon the printer for the best suggestions for style of book within the limits of cost decided upon. There are masters of the art of making books who, having learned the author's mind as to price, have an ability almost amounting to genius for suggesting the perfect thing within the limit named. They have the character of the work in mind, and they suggest an ideal combination of type, size of page, illustrations, paper, margins and style of cover. ”

“ Nevertheless, the "clan" genealogy has its place. The recognition of tribal relations has become popular, and family organizations, with the occasional function of a "family re-union," are rapidly increasing. Many of these organizations, embracing all the known descendants of a common ancestor, elect regular officers, and in a few cases the whole tribe has a legal status as a corporation.
The tribal genealogy is also favored by many who hope to make a profit by the sale of their book. A fair-sized tribe is considered a promising field for such an enterprise. ”

“ Many others must have the work of research done for them; and the Genealogical and Biographical Department of The Grafton Press will place the best skill and experience in genealogical work at the service of any one desiring it. Investigation will be taken up from the beginning, or at any stage, and will be carried to the first American ancestor of a line, or continued with a view to establishing the European connections. When the service of this department is desired, all facts of one's ancestry, so far back as known, should be communicated in full. ”

“ Genealogy is worthy of better things!
Choose a printer and publisher who has taste and enthusiasm, who is unwilling to resort to cheap material, ordinary type, and careless labor for the sake of a wider margin of profit on his contract. It is not difficult to select the right man. ”

“ We appreciate the great labor involved in compiling an authoritative work and understand the temptation to compile a book of mere assertions. But we see no honest escape from the obligation to give authorities, nor is escape desirable. For it is a sad fact that some, who support themselves by means of genealogical investigation, manifest no great anxiety to do honest work. They are careless in gathering their facts, and their pretence of having surveyed a field is no assurance that desirable data have not been overlooked or wilfully neglected. ”

“ But though the excitement of the chase is over, its pleasures are by no means spent. Is there no story to tell, no tale of our difficulties and exploits? Next to the exhilaration of the hunt itself, what can compare with the mellow joy of going over it with a comrade! ”

“ In the matter of immediate sales, such books are not unlike others: some have a good run and others sell more slowly. Nor can the author or publisher be certain in advance of the fate of a book. The favor of the public is a peculiar thing, and the quality which makes a book popular is frequently beyond the power of analysis or the ken of the prophet.
In the case of "clan" genealogies, much depends upon the size of the "tribe," its financial circumstances, degree of family pride, and proper education in a genealogical direction. ”

“ If the reader is not himself an expert genealogist, or is printing his first work, the services of the right kind of proof-reader are still more indispensable. But, in fact, all writers are largely dependent upon the printer and proof-reader for the systematic carrying out of a correct style of punctuation, capitalization and spelling. ”

“ Furthermore, while we may be able to find our way back from generation to generation with almost ridiculous ease in some cases, such luck is usually too good to last. It is a rare vein which yields family connections at every stroke of the genealogical spade, and one such line may have to console us for a number which we mine slowly and painfully, and for some others which yield no results whatever beyond a certain point. ”

“ To all who can afford the extra expense, we recommend the literal application of the legal method. To apply it to collateral lines would be difficult and expensive. But it is the true method of demonstrating our direct ancestral lines, and it is especially desirable for the line from which we have inherited our surname. Strictly legal proofs of descent, competent to establish the genealogy in any court of law and to justify its entry as "proved" upon the [Pg 26] records in any European college of heraldry, constitute most valuable and interesting family heirlooms. ”

“ If expense is not much of an object, it is especially interesting to prepare for one's own library one copy of the edition printed, sumptuously bound and enriched with original documents, or certified copies of them,—old prints, silhouette portraits and other illustrations gathered solely for that copy. In fact, some people may prefer to limit the edition to this one copy. These ideas may be followed in the Grafton plan of genealogy with brilliant results. ”

“ Our third form of practical assistance in research work is designed to make known the resources of the New York libraries to those who cannot reach them, or who have not the time to become familiar with their contents. Taking the sum of its library [Pg 28] facilities, New York City undoubtedly offers the genealogist the best opportunity on this continent to consult American sources, and is unrivalled in the possession of works on the genealogy and heraldry of mediæval and modern Europe. ”

“ Features of mystery still remain, and if we knew all, it is possible that we could lay claim to a picturesque pirate—a most desirable addition to any family line, and especially so if he escaped hanging. ”

“ What is wanted is [Pg 50] a notebook in which an indefinite number of pages may be devoted to the data of each ancestor, with some index system which will make all instantly accessible, and some ready means of rearranging the pages. These ends are achieved by a notebook equipped with the Grafton Chart Index, which is quite different from the notebook mentioned in the last chapter.
The Chart Index affords a diagrammatic display of one's ancestry for ten generations—spaces for writing in the names of every one of our 1,022 theoretically possible ancestors, each in his proper place. ”

“ But while genealogical research affords all the excitement of the chase, it is followed by no reproach for having taken life, but by the permanent satisfaction peculiar to the benefactor of mankind. The ancestry-hunter does not kill, but brings to life. ”

“ We will suppose that at last the task of investigation has come to an end. We have run our family lines back as far as our plan contemplated, or as far as we were able to do with a reasonable amount of research. Perhaps most of them go back to the original emigrants, but it may be that in a case or two we have had the good fortune to make connection with an old family stem in Europe. In any case, the work is now done. We have made our discoveries, and scored triumphs not a few. ”

“ It will not require much space to indicate the main sources of information in genealogical research. Having decided to trace back our own lines, we naturally turn first to the living members of our family. If we have parents living and accessible,—grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, cousins, or others who are likely to know more about the family than we do,—let us consult them, personally if we may, by letter if we must. We expect to learn most from the older members of the family, provided that their faculties are unimpaired. ”

“ They count their members by tens of thousands, their rolls are steadily increasing, and new societies are constantly being organized. There is scarcely an achievement in which our ancestors took part which has not been made the rallying-point of some flourishing society. All these draw life and nourishment from the mighty stream of genealogical research. We must prove that we have had ancestors, and that one or more of them had the distinction celebrated by the particular organization at whose door we knock for admission. ”

“ The services of The Grafton Press can be secured as the publishers of any good genealogy, as well as in all the other capacities hitherto mentioned. Probably such a connection would approach as near to the ideal set forth in this chapter as any which it would be possible to make. Added to all the rest, it certainly would secure the hearty co-operation of an experienced firm which pushes the works of genealogists with special zeal and enthusiasm.
The publishing of a "clan" genealogy will be cheerfully assumed at any stage in the production. ”