Very well expressed, Bill. You're right on the title for Beaman, and I agree with you that the compiled lineages are full of errors. I use his will abstracts, and that's about it. Even those have to be checked against the originals. But he attempted to do SO much! That's been the story right through RI research. It looks small, so many, from Austin on down, have tried to cover the whole colony. Sometimes it works, sometimes not ... Thanks for correcting me. Jane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Wright" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 4:55 PM Subject: [RIGENWEB] follow up > Jane, > > Great description of the Arnold and Beaman books. I would like to make a > minor correction and a warning with respect to the Beaman books. My > copies of the "red" books by Beaman have the title, "Rhode Island Vital > Records, New Series." I have not seen the CDs, so they may have been > relabeled. > > The warning is that some of the genealogies and lines of descent > published are erroneous or discredited accounts. The one I remember > off-hand (I am traveling) is the Gardiner ancestry. When Dr. Beaman > published it, I wrote him and asked for the basis of his parentage of > George Gardiner, the immigrant. Of course, that was useless because he > never responded to correspondence. Dr. Beaman re-published the account > of Miller and Stanton that relied on a tradition first published 200 > years after the fact. G. Andrews Moriarty published a contrary viewpoint > and more believable year of birth for George ca 1615 rather than the > 1599 (OS) baptismal record for a George that Miller and Stanton used. > > George's common-law or Quaker marrage to Herodias (Hick)s Long occurred > ca 1643-45. George's children's estimated births occurred 1644-1675. If > George was the baby baptized in 1599, then he was 75 when his youngest > son was born. > > The first proven record for George is in 1638 when he was admitted an > inhabitant of the island of Aquidneck. > > Moriarty said there is nothing except the similarity of names to tie > George Gardiner in RI with the George Gardiner in England. > > George's eldest son, Benoni testified in 1727 that he was ninety years > or older. This is the basis for Morarty and Stanton estmating Benoni's > birth as 1636. If Benoni's statement were correct, then he was probably > born in England and George was married prior to his marriage to > Herodias. But Benoni's children were born in the 1670s and later. This > fits better with a birth later than 1636. > > Everyone that has compiled a genealogy knows the embarrassment of > errors. Even the best of genealogies have errors. We owe a tremendous > debt of gratitude to both Arnold and Beaman for their work. I refer to > their books constantly when doing RI research. > > Bill Wright > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message