The Quakers deliberately preserved their careful and detailed records of life events and peoples' movements in their meeting records, in order that their descendants should have the same sort and level of genealogical knowledge about themselves as the people of Israel, as recorded in the bible, where an individual's pedigree, known by heart, could run for a great many lines. Almost always, these records were one-liners. "Mary daughter of Ezra Thompson and Mary his wife born 7 8th month 1800" "Received from Ballymoney meeting in Ireland, James Thompson, 13, 12th month, 1650" that sort of thing. My father's family took some little pride in their Thompson identity and the Quaker heritage of that family - as per a single paragraph detailing the family of my father's grandmother in a Smith family history. But they had forgotten the entire story. I traced it through some of those Quaker records. I didn't have to trace extensively, because it was a locally prominent family whose genealogy had been compiled to a certain point. But the family history would have begun at the point of emigration to this country like that of most Quaker families, maybe a note of what place they were from in Ireland if they were lucky. But one of the Thompson brothers who emigrated wrote the following, beautifully written, entire history of his family, right into the minutes of the Quaker meeting where he settled in Salem, West New Jersey. He put it there, understand, because this man had the foresight to know that in time his descendants and those of his brother would forget their roots - and he knew that they would look for information in the Quaker records where their people had lived. Andrew Thompson's Thompson Family History Andrew Thompson entered the following family history into the Quaker records at Elsinboro, Salem County, New Jersey, where his family first settled. John Thompson, sonn of Thomas Thompson, borne in Kirkfenton in Yorkshire in the yeare 1635, and in the third month of that yeare, commonly called May. In the Yeare: 1658: the said Thomas Thompson and Elizabeth his wife, with their two sones John Thompson the elder and Andrew Thompson the younger, removed or transported themselves from the Afforesaid Kirkfenton in England into Ireland. In the yeare: 1665: in the beginning of that yeare the said John Thompson tooke to wife Jane Humbles, daughter of Thomas Humbles, late of the County of Durham in England but now dwelling in Ireland. Thomas Thompson, sonn of John Thompson by Jane his wife borne in the County of Wicloe and the parish of donard in Ireland. About the beginning of the seventh month in the yeare 1666. James Thompson, sonn of John Thompson by Jane his wife was born in Ireland in the County and parrish Afforesaid about the middle of the 8th month, 1668. Ann Thompson daughter of John Thompson by Jane his wife was borne in Ireland in the County and parrish Aforesaid about the beginning of the 9th month in the yeare 1672. Mary Thompson daughter of John Thompson by Jane his wife was borne in Ireland in the County and parrish Aforesaid the 25th day of the 10th month 1675. In the yeare 1677 the said John Thompson transported himselfe with his wife and his Afforesaid four Children and one man servant named William Hall, from Ireland to the Province of West new Jersey in America: they set sail on the 16 day of the 9 month in the ship called the Mary of dublin, John Wall being master, and landed at Elsinburgh in the Province of west new Jersey in America the 22 of the 12 month following. Andrew Thompson entered a similar statement about his own family. When I find it again, I will enter it here. For some reason, (????) every Thompson article and genealogy I've seen includes atleast half of this passage by Andrew Thompson. Someone even stuck it in the Chester County Historical Society, in the place where my line of descendants of this family settled - neatly handwritten on a bunch of little index cards. I guess all of us Thompson descendants are very proud of this ancestor. Yours, Dora Smith __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com