226 



W. H. Whit-more of Boston, the author of the " Hand-book 

 of American Genealogy," is engaged in the preparation of 

 a work which is intended to exhibit, as nearly as all known 

 accessible data will allow, the relative proportions of gentry, 

 yeomanry and nobility of the several American colonies. 

 In the course of his investigations, Mr. W. has found that a 

 large MS. volume, now in the library of Peter Force, at 

 Washington, D. C., copied from a similar book in the Ar- 

 chives of the State Paper Office, London, being exclusively, 

 a list of the names of criminals deported to the penal colony 

 of Virginia, contains many names of leading families of the 

 chivalry of the present day. 



Mr. G. then proceeded to say that Bishop Meade's work 

 'on the Old Churches and Families ol Virginia, was the only 

 record to which Virginia has hitherto appealed to prove her 

 general claim to Cavalier extraction. Yet we, quiet un- 

 pretending people of Massachusetts, can count more and 

 higher names in the list of onr gentility without any special 

 effort : and when Mr. Whitmore shall have given the subject 

 a thorough study, we shall undoubtedly, find that the pro- 

 portion of noble and gentle blood in the whole population, 

 stands, to that of Virginia, as ten to one. 



Mr. G. then enumerated some of our old first families 

 such as the descendants of Emanuel Downing of Salem, 

 whose son. Sir George, in 1664, united in marriage to the 

 Howards (the family of the Duke of Norfolk,) and his de- 

 scendant of the same name, founded Downing College, 

 Cambiidge, England. Also the Salem Curwens, who are 

 descended from the Helsington branch of the Workington 

 Curwens, at whose head stood Gospatric, Earl of Northum- 

 berland, one of the oldest and noblest families in Europe. 

 Among our Puritan clergy, too, are to be found not only a 

 large number ot distinguished graduates of Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge, but also many who were closely related to high 

 ecclesiastics in the English Church. Thus we have the 

 Nortons of Ipswich, were connected with Archbishop Cran- 

 mer ; the Eawsons and Wilsons, with Archbishop Grindal, 

 and the former also descended from Bishop Hooker ; the 

 Tales from Bishop Morton and Bonner; and the Chauncys 

 from Bishop Still. 



