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PREFACE SHORTLY after the previous edition of this book was published, a few belated letters, containing material intended for insertion, were intrusted to the subscriber by the author, to whom she had rendered some slight assistance in preparing the work for the press, with the injunction to preserve them with care for use in another edition, which must be kept in view, but which he should probably not live to superintend. In the lapse of years, and as the result of much correspondence, this nucleus has gradually gathered to itself the mass of records and memoranda which has, with much care and study, been wrought into a form convenient for publication, and is now placed in the hands of those who, by a fondness for antiquarian matters, may be led to an examination of this volume. It may not with justice be charged to the stupidity of the scribe, nor yet to the proverbial treachery of type, and the carelessness of the proof-reader, that errors occur in works of this character. Many, from lack of interest, fail to respond to letters of inquiry and requests for information, and in the multitude contributing material, may be some who have not facility in stating the intricacies of family relationships through many generations, in a perfectly intelligible way, and it is also true that many people write proper names and figures with a lack of care which makes the task of the transcriber one of extreme perplexity. Furthermore, it frequently happens that duplicate records received from different sources disagree in dates and in other particulars; and it is a consideration replete with satisfaction, that those who are the most accustomed to similar work will view with the greatest leniency the imperfections that may here be observed. It will be noticed that the Introduction has been rearranged, bringing together scattered paragraphs bearing upon the same subject, and that it has been enriched with much that is new and of interest concerning the origin and early history of the Yorkshire family, from whom we Americans bearing the same name have descended. In the former editions no fixed rule was observed in regard to following out the order of descent in female lines. It chanced that in the cases of the aunts of the author, Nos. 132, 140, and 141, three generations were given, and these have been retained in an abbreviated form; while, with these exceptions, in view of the fact that otherwise this much enlarged work would be swelled to impracticable proportions,--making it as much a record of other families as of that which inherits its patronymic from John Spofford,--it has been deemed best to fix a limit at two generations in the lines of those who have married out of the family name. This is much to be regretted in the cases of certain persons who have manifested special interest in the work, but whose relationship lies outside this limit, and it is hoped that this explanation may be accepted as a sufficient apology in the matter. The system of numbering, so satisfactorily used in the old book, has been retained. To aid those who are unaccustomed to the perusal of such records, it may be explained that each person receives a number when his name first appears, as a member of his father's family, and the same number is placed against his name where it recurs as the head of a family in the succeeding generation. A star (*) indicates that a name is so to appear, and the number of the generation is given at the top of each page. Lines of descent may thus be easily traced, both forward and backward, through the entire record. While the subscriber takes this opportunity to thank all who have rendered aid in her work by words of encouragement or by prompt and courteous responses to letters of inquiry, she considers herself under special obligations, which are hereby acknowledged, to Mr. Paul N. Spofford, of New York; Mr. Markham Spofforth, of London, England; Prof. John Boynton, of Syracuse, N. Y.; and Mr. Sidney Perley, of Boxford, Mass., for numerous historical references; to Mr. Edgar L. Spafford, of Troy, N. Y., for carefully collated records of many families; and to the committee rendering efficient service in superintending the mechanical details of publication,--Mr. A. A. Spofford, of Lawrence; Mr. John C. Spofford, of Everett; and Mr. Joseph H. Spafford, of Milton. APHIA T. SPOFFORD. |