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iottew Publte Ubmtf MA Boston, 02119 ^ c;V9CS7l.Fg55. ].S75 PURCHASED FROM ^ 3^ MEMORANDA IN AID OF A GENEALOGY. :/ Number One. A Freeman Genealogy, I ** IN THREE PARTS, VIZ,, "' I. Memorial of Edmund Freeman of Sandwich, and his Descendants ; II. Memorial of Samuel Freeman ofWatertown, and his Descendants ; III. Notes, Historicaland Genealogical, of families of the NAME OF Freeman, distinct from Parts I. and II., OR WHOSE connection IS NOT CLEARLY ASCERTAINED. "Anoldmanwasseateduponamonument,andbusilyemployed indeepeningwith his chisel the letters of the inscription. . . . Motives of the most sincere though fanciful devotion induced himtodedicateyearstoperform this tribute to the memoryof the deceased. He con- sideredhimself as fulfillingasacred duty,while renewing to the eyes of posteritythe decaying emblemsof theirforefathers."—yideSir H'alierSco/i'sineniiau of"a stroll" intoa deserted "burial-ground." ^rttintE 1£bition. BOSTON: Franklin Press: Rand, Averv, and Companv, 1S75. C 57/ 5-6" .F^ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by FREDERICK FREEMAN, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. "1 \ 9 ARMS. Azure; three lozenges, or. Crest: a demi-lion rampant, ^//i?^, holding between his paws a like lozenge. Motto: Liber et audax. INTRODUCTORY. It is more than half a century since we initiated a habit of collecting and arranging '^-^i^erials such as are embraced in the 1 following pages. Tedious to one's self, and uninteresting to the reader, would be particular mention of periods of labor, intervals of suspension, incentives to a completion of the work, or discourage- ments that often seemed to forbid its further prosecution. At no time, however, have we been devoid of reverence for ancestry, or of a wish to contribute to a perpetuation of their memorial. But even now, after long-cherished intentions ofgiving some day to the press a Freeman Genealogy, we would, because of unpreparedness, post- pone the attempt, were it not for apprehension that a duty already too long deferred mayin thatcase be delayed forever. Therefore, without any further indulgence of presumptuous hope of a more auspicious future, we venture to gather up the materials that lie before us, and, without their being perfected as we have desired, submit them for the benefit of whom they may concern; with the trust that the volume will not be without interest to some of the thousands of Freeman lineage, and that, at least they may be of assistance to some one in future genealogical investigations. The argument long operative, that time may secure a more full and accurate report, has ceased to exert a controlling influence. The compiler feels that life is both short and uncertain, and presents these pages as they are. — I That an extended geneah^y, awork that has been aptly defined "the historyof the succession of families " the accomplished result ; — 6 INTRODUCTORY. being sometimes denominated "a genealogical table, " and often, not improperly, "a genealogical tree" the record beginning with the trunk or root, and extending to embrace the remotest branches, , that such a work, reaching through many generations and encircling numerous families widely scattered, can be perfected, no omission, or error occurring, is a success not to be expected ; as any person! conversant with thedifficulties invariably attendant on such investigations will concede. Ifthe present re;ult be no exception to thei general rule, it will not be justly chargeable upon the compiler thati he has not taken great pains and used due diligence to make the genealogy accurate and complete as possible. If by any it be objected that the succeeding pages are from beginning to end " a simply matter-of-fact document," presenting nothing offiction or romance, nothing designed for mere embellish- ment, and little thrown in forthe sole purposeofobviating the tedium of otherwise necessarily dry statistics, we are free to confess that such has been the rule to which we endeavored to adhere. The labor has been severely restricted, and to an indifferent eye may seem whimsically akin to the work of him whose acquaintance Sir Walter made inthe churchyard atDunnottar but nevertheless, kind ; rer'der, indulge us in the pleasure of saying, our employment has not been entirely uncompensative for we have found filially-serious ; satisfaction in endeavors to remove the moss-ofage from lineal and historic events, that the record may be legible to such as incline to read. — We only add a few words explanatory : I. In the pages following, the issues of the female branches of families are recorded for but one generation. The children follow the surname of the father. The line thus limited and suspended (forotherwise our labor wouldseem interminable) is thenceforward left for future genealogies to be written in memorial of surnames which by marriage were assumed. Many thousands of lineal descendants are thus of necessity passed by, whose names it would have given us pleasure to have proudly inserted.