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Get
a Piece of Plymouth Rock
Plymouth Histories and Genealogies
(CD 23)
Reviewed
by Marthe Arends
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OK, I admit it, I was all over this CD drooling and fairly frothing
at the mouth with excitement when I saw it arrive. Imagine, an
entire CD chock full with SEVENTEEN volumes (yes, you read that
correctly, seventeen volumes all in one place!) of family histories,
vital records, lineages, and historical essays — all about
the Mayflower and related families. We're talking a veritable
cornucopia of early New England resources here! More than 248,000
individuals are included, as a matter of fact. Enough to make
even the most hardened New England researcher start salivating.
Although many of the "lineages" submitted by various society
members should always be eyed very closely and sourced completely,
some of the other resources on theCD provide valuable information
for researchers. The introduction notes that the "resources that
make up this Family Archive are also expertly sourced" which help
you, the user, to locate those sources to verify them for yourself.
The information found within this title falls into four basic
categories: biographical and historical sketches, genealogies
(with ancestry), historical essays of Pilgrim life and life in
the colony, and lineage records from Mayflower descendants. The
standard research caveat applies, no matter how tempting the source
looks — verify, verify, verify before you accept the data
as valid!
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November
23, 2000
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Related Data on CD-ROM |
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The following volumes are included on the CD (in image format,
I should mention, not a transcription):
- Cape May County Mayflower Pilgrim Descendants, 1620-1920
by P. S. Howe (details about Cape May County families descent
from John Howland and John Tilley)
- A Catalogue of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers
of the Colony of Connecticut by Royal R. Hinman (this volume
details approximately 2,000 individuals, including information
about "the time of their arrival, residence, station or occupation,
and names of wives and children.")
- Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Colony of Plymouth
from 1602 to 1625 by Alexander Young (another volume that
takes a good close look at the first settlers)
- The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers
by Charles Edward Banks (a book that covers 112 passengers who
"sailed on the first four ships [Mayflower, Fortune, Anne, and
Little James] to New England. Along with data on the passengers'
origins, family connections and later histories, it substitutes
proof for guess-work and blows holes in many cherished traditions.")
- Families Directly Descended from All the Royal Families
in Europe (495 to 1932) & Mayflower Descendants by Elizabeth
M. Leach Rixford (contains information about the descendants
of " Cerdic, first of the West Saxon kings, Alfred the Great,
Robert Bruce, Kings Henry I, II and III, Kings Edward I, II
and III, and many lines through Charlemagne, Louis I, the Earls
of Warren, the Dukes of Normandy, the Royal House of Portugal,
the House of Capet, the Counts of Anjoy, the Kings of Jerusalem,
and more." This is a great volume if you have any European royal
ancestors.)
- Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families by W. T.
Davis (a comprehensive register of Plymouth families)
- History and Genealogy of the Mayflower Planters (Volumes
I and II) by Leon Clark Hills (focusing mostly on the genealogy
of Stephen Hopkins, whose children intermarried with many of
the first families in the area)
- Lineages of Members of the National Society of Sons and
Daughters of the Pilgrims, Volumes I, II, and III (records
of the lineages submitted to the NSSDP)
- Mayflower Descendants and Their Marriages for Two Generations
After the Landing by John T. Landis (a collection of information
about the Mayflower passengers, their children, and their grandchildren)
- The Mayflower Reader: A Selection of Articles from 'The
Mayflower Descendant'" by George Ernest Bowman (this volume
is made up of articles from the first seven volumes of the MD)
- The Planters of the Commonwealth in Massachusetts, 1620-1640
by Charles Edward Banks (the volume covers 3,600 passengers
on the 96 ships that travelled to New England between 1620 and
1640, listing "names of passengers and ships, places of origin,
and places of residence in America...")
- Records of Plymouth Colony Births, Deaths, Burials, and
Other Records, 1633-1689 by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff (contains
the vital records listed in the title for several towns in New
Plymout, including records for Swansea, Yarmouth, Plymouth,
Sandwich, Eastham, Scituate, Taunton, Barnstable, and Rehobeth)
- Signers of the Mayflower Compact by Annie Arnoux Haxtun
(containing sketches of the signers with "considerable genealogical
information on the men and their families. Descriptions of arms,
lineages, and excerpts from wills and from other contemporary
documents are integrated with the historical and biographical
data.")
- Three Hundred Colonial Ancestors and War Service by
Elizabeth Rixford (this volume contains information about more
than 5,000 individuals)
- Topographical Dictionary of 2,885 English Emigrants
to New England, 1620-1650 by Charles Edward Banks (this book
lists individual's "English homes, names of ships in which they
sailed, towns in which they settled in New England, and references
to the printed or manuscript sources from which the information
derived.")
- The Truth About the Pilgrims by Francis R. Stoddard
(a great book that corrects a good many mistaken beliefs
about the Mayflower passengers and other early settlers)
- The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 by Charles Edward
Banks (a list of 700 passengers who travelled to New England
with John Winthrop in 1630. The information includes "name,
place of departure, places of residence in England and
America, occupation, church affiliation, dates of birth,
marriage, and death, and relationships to other passengers.")
I can't begin to tell you how much I love this CD! The
volumes contained on it are wonderful, for the most part
very useful, and with citations of sources that make it
easy to check up on facts. If you have early New England
or Mayflower ancestors, you are absolutely going to want
to check this CD out.
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Marthe Arends has
been involved in genealogy for 18 years. She has lectured on computers and genealogy
to many groups, has been the SysOp of a Fidonet genealogy BBS, has written articles
for a variety of genealogy publications, and currently writes fiction. Marthe has also written Genealogy
Software Guide and Genealogy
on CD-ROM, both published by the Genealogical
Publishing Company.
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