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confined to the colonial period alone, yet they have done good ser- 
vice. ‘They have not yet published the result of their studies, yet 
papers have been read, and it is presumed that the public will soon 
have the benefit of them. These patriotic American women are 
not out of place when hunting up the musty documents of early 
American history; their nimble fingers can gather the loose or tan- 
gled threads of ante-Revolutionary fragments, and weave them into 
beautiful historic tapestry. 
But it is not only general American history that engages the dili- 
gent study of many of these investigators, but there is another 
branch which, of later years, has gained many ardent votaries, and 
that is, family history or genealogy. Old parish records, lists of 
emigrants, rolls of regiments, rosters of officers, old city directories 
and almanacs, and every conceivable ancient document that can 
throw a gleam of light on a family name, a disputed date, a place 
of residence, a clue to title or rank, is examined with painstaking 
assiduity. Those of us who have the management of historical 
libraries receive numerous letters making inquiries into family 
history. People from far and near want to know all about some 
relative concerning whom they know little themselves, but presum- 
ing that we know all about them, or can easily learnit. The 
investigation of some cases would require hours of patient labor, 
and to all excepting such all possible aid should be given. 
I have playfully advised some of our resident investigators not to 
go too far back lest they might encounter ancestors whom they 
would not like to recognize, and in reply to that a bright lady from 
a neighboring county observed that she found the farther back she 
went the better her ancestors became, which pleased her vastly, for 
she thought some of those not far behind her were no better than they 
should have been. ‘There are very few who go so far asit is said Dr. 
Johnson once did, although the same assertion is credited to some 
others ; when he was asked about his ancestors he gruffly replied: 
«« That all he knew about them was, that some of them were hung, 
and the rest should have been.’’ But it is true that no one not en- 
gaged in a historical library can have any conception of the number 
and character of the people who are inquiring into the history of 
their forefathers. One fact will show the interest which this subject 
has awakened. Before the year 1845 the whole number of genea- 
logical societies in New England alone was not over thirty, and 
twenty years after that there were 4oo, and since that the number 
Ge ee 
