The Descendants of William Hayward of Easton, Massachusetts by His Two Wives, Lydia Manley and Ann Holland - by Edward Wallace Phillips (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

The Descendants of William Hayward of Easton, Massachusetts documents William's life in the eighteenth century, his two wives, Lydia Manley and Ann Holland, his children who began the journey that settled America, from their moves to Western Mass., both Southern and Northern Vermont and Central Maine, and his grandchildren's moves to upstate New York, Ohio, and states further west. Extensively researched and documented, the book corrects many errors currently in widespread use in many family trees. The book makes extensive use of original vital records, land deeds and probate records, some family Bibles, and numerous early genealogies, correcting many of them where the original records were found. Over 1370 descendants were identified through five generations, and the book has an extensive index of every name and every place to help the reader locate their family.

Review Quotes

The William of the title is actually William⁴, son of William³ and Hannah (Newcomb) Hayward. This surname appears as both Howard and Hayward in various documents, often for the same person. This is a large family (perhaps multiple families) of southeastern Massachusetts and, of course, from there west. Using just about every imaginable source, cited meticulously, the author includes considerable detail, especially from land and probate records. In some cases he has corrected previous errors that have appeared in print. For example, in a careful discussion of Jr. vs. Sr. in land records, he shows that John Manley 2nd, first husband of William⁴ 's wife Ann Holland, died on 14 October 1759 during the French and Indian War. A Manley genealogy gave that date for a different John Manley. The children of William began the typical move west, two of them to Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and two others to Vermont, where Anna B.6 Howard/Hayward's probate named siblings, nieces and nephews, and her father Oliver⁵ 's will and Revolutionary War pension file identified the large group living in the town of Milton, Chittenden County. By the sixth generation many descendants were in New York, and the book carries many well into the twentieth century. Anyone facing the proverbial brick wall would do well to study Phillips's use of sources. -Helen Schatvet Ullmann. Published in vol. 175, p. 94 of the New England Historic and Genealogical Register