Genealogy Books

For any genealogist researching Quaker lineage, this is one of the most essential books around! The book contains thousands of names, family associations, relationships, marriages, and a wealth of history!

This book is an excellent resource. Ms. Light's work has helped me decipher old documents related to our house, helped me figure out what was original and what was added on and solve a few mysteries as well. Highly recommended!

This book was a long time in the making. The present Lord Clifford inherited the project when his uncle died in 1969, reworked the research already done (with heavy recourse to the library of the House of Lords and the muniment room at the family estate of Ugbrooke), and passed it on to Sir Iain Moncreiffe. Sir Iain, one of the most highly regarded genealogists of the 20th century, corrected the manuscript and added considerable new material. At his death, Noel Currer-Briggs (also a very noted genealogist) took on the editorial role and readied the manuscript for press. With such a provenance, I'm willing to give a high level of trust to the material included. Pons, the founder of the family, was one of the proven companions of Duke William of Normandy and became one of the new king's barons in England. He is thought to have been a scion of the House of Eu (and therefore a grandson of Richard "the Fearless," the 3rd duke) and he was certainly a close friend of Richard FitzGilbert (founder of the House of Clare) and of Ralf de Toeni (who, Horace Round said, "was no ordinary baron"); the families were soon connected by marriage, as well. Pons's immediate descendants were marcher lords in south Wales, with nearly regal powers, for "in the Welsh March the king's writ does not run." "Fair Rosamund" Clifford, daughter of Walter FitzPons, was the mistress of Henry II and the probable mother of William Longespée, who became Earl of Salisbury. The subsequent history of the family is laid out with one generation, more or less, per chapter, through the first line of Clifford peers, which ended with the death of 5th Earl of Cumberland in 1633, then through the cadet line from 1357 down to the author himself, the thirtieth of his descent. This line remained Roman Catholic, which complicated things after the Test of 1673. Numerous graphic descent diagrams and lineage charts in the style of Burke's make the discussion easy to follow and there are frequent footnotes, as well as portraits from the 15th century on. Other branches of the family in Devonshire, Northumberland, Kent, Ireland, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, also are covered in some detail, and there are chapters on the name "Pons" in pre-Conquest Normandy and on the putative descent from Rollo the Viking. A model history of one of the most historically interesting ancient families in Britain.

Bertram Wyatt-Brown presents a compelling case that genetics predisposed at least six generations of my family to clinical depression. Bert also argues persuasively that nurture, the flip side of genes, produced its own persistent haunts in the family line--the Percy obsession with "honor," which he sees as aristocratic rectitude combined with a ruthless sense of entitlement to wealth and power. Exhaustively researched, methodically laid out, House is a solid work of history and a provocative and convincing text that often reads like a Southern-Gothic tale. It contains, however, a number of small errors, and one big blind spot: the question of homosexuality, its prevalence in the Percy family, and its relationship both to depression and to heredity. Bert falls victim to a common error, "the presumption of heterosexuality." Of Charles Percy's descendants through his son Thomas George, only four can be identified with certainty as lifelong Kinsey "6's" or near-"6's," that is, as exclusively or almost exclusively homosexual: my first cousin once removed, the writer William Alexander Percy, my aunt, Lady Caroline Percy, my great-great uncle, Leroy Pope Percy, and me. But the family history is rife with suggestions that plenty of us were at least bisexual (Kinsey 2's-5's), and that these Percys, like so many other queers labeled as sinners, outlaws, and mentally ill, also grappled with depression, in some cases to the point of suicide. I can only speculate as to why Bert is not more open to this evidence, but nevertheless, he was written an excellent book.

I started doing my family's genealogy about 2 months ago, and took out literally dozens of books from the library on the subject. This is the one I'm going to buy because it has such a great collection of resources, and easy to understand succinct chapters on the basic methodology of genealogy.

After reading How To Interview A Sleeping Man, it brought back childhood memories of how I use to love hearing stories from my grandmother Carrie and I reminisce about how she looked with her two platts on her head and beautiful light brown skin tone that look so beautiful on the back porch just as the sun going down telling us stories about our family history ..........Thanks Milli

Trying to establish a tribal connection from my Grandmother to myself suitable for inclusion in my tribe should be easy. After all, we are only looking at two or three levels of generations, right? However, it has been very difficult because of government & tribal rules as well as the difficulty in finding documentation from the turn of the century--the
ninteenth century! I scouted out this obscure book--that might even be a self-published copy--and it is a gold mine of ideas. I'm not sure how else you could find it, but if you are trying to establish tribal connections and running into a brickwall--this book could help you on the climb over the top.

This book is an essential one for anyone with Pennsylvania German ancestry. I highly recommend it. It is an immense treasury of genealogical information mixed in with wonderful photographs of Berks County landmarks and wit and wisdom. I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything!

This book deals with the Huff Geneaology. The Stories that are told give you a sense of what it was like during their time frame. The courage and the willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others.ie. the story of the lady who saved the lives of the crew aboard the ship during the storm. The shooting of Stonewall Jackson during the civil war. The Huffs being involved in the first peace officer being killed in the line of duty. As a history instructor at the college level I have found that this book has given me the roots to my past. And requiring my students to find their own roots brings history alive for them. This book has brought it a live for me and makes me proud to be a member of the Huff Family. They were a tough group of people who like others tried to do the right thing

The first permanent Huguenot settlement in New Jersey was made at Hackensack in 1677, with a second at Princeton a few years later. Following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685, Huguenots settled widely throughout the colony. This work, prepared by the former treasurer of the Huguenot Society of New Jersey, contains thumbnail genealogical and biographical sketches of hundreds of early Huguenot families in the Garden State, including Allaire, Baerdan, Barbarie, Bard, Bartow, Bassett, Bellangee (Bellinger), Bertolf, Bertrand, Berrien, Bessonnett, Blanchard, Bodine, Boudinot, Bourdette, Broucard, Brower, Carree, Corriel, Cossart, Demarest, De Baun, De Camp, De Cou, De Haut, de Mandeville, De Mott, De Vos, Du Bois, Du Mont, Du Puy, Durand, Durie (Duryea), Farrand, Freneau, Garrigue, Gaskill, Gaston, Gaudebec, Gerneaux, Guymard, Hamilton, Hasbrouck, Jacques, Joline, Kip, La Grange, Lafetra, Lafever, Lawrence (Laurents), Le Cock, Le Conte, Le Maistre, Le Roux (Larew), Le Seur, Lefevre, Lucas, Marchand, Mestayer, Noau (Noe), Parsell, Perrin, Piatt, Pintard, Prall, Provost, Roy, Rulon, Rougnion (Runyon), Stelle, Tiebout, Tillow, Trieux (Truax), Valleau, Vaquellin, and Vincent. This Clearfield edition features a new, more readable format with a new index.