The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-10
SOME NEW BOOKS.
Records Of y Pioneer Family.

Records OF n Pioneer Family,
II Is not without a wide interest
that family pride produces the record
OF It's collective past, for in any such
esary must he included the intimate
details of fireslde and homestead which
are all too commonly lacking to the
more formal histories Of the larger units
OF society One factor enters into the
production Of family histories in this
land of ours which IN itself tends TO
endow the product with a higher quail
ity than in other and better documented
lands. Without the custom Of primo
geniture 10 preserve for long periods
the line Of ancestors, without heredit-
able titles ncccSsitatiug the keeping Of
documents Of sucyegS sion from the
orig. nal patent. who yer in this Coun-
cry endeavoys To- complete family
record must he filed with enthusiasm
and this enthusiasm results in the pro-
ductlon of 2 work which never is al
lowed to become psrfunctory in its
performance.
This Is essentially the quality NJ the
work OF Mrs EoREEf W DE FoREsr in
A WaliOoH FdWVy IN iH',rioI tIough-
con Mifflin Company The family has
never come to such high estate in the
ton as certain OF the lines. or MasSa-
Chusetts, Of virginia and uf South car
DINA. Yet 1t has hcrn found active in
the wars which established - &. mmun-
fly Of folk upon the eastern snaboard
of this continent the French and In
dian wars. the Revolutionary struggle.
hut It's members have been content to
serve as privates and rs sublltcrns. 1t
may not have contributed tn the SITS Of
Governors and statesmen Of high place.
yet II has served in parish and county
offices and some of it's members have
gone to the Legislature. II has done
good service on the soil. pioneer ser
vice in lands taken from the unwilling
Indians. and In the fitness OF time Il
has returned To New York i'm commerce
and in the liberal professions Really
II is a family of which to be Justly
proud. the bone and sinew Of the
country.
The enthusiasm with which Mrs. De
Forest has entered upon and with un-
Tagging zeal has prosecuted her CLEAN
ings through remote repositories of his
torical documents will serve as ample
excuse for certain lapses Of execution
In a line of research which has devel-
oped a literary form of its own and for
certain failures to see the solution II
special problems which are familiar to
all those who have learned To use an
Client muniments. We note merely as
examples very few. In the bronza
medal Of ANesues she proposes the
reading IS. EEidi G. tici de Avcsnis'
fSeal NJ Giles clerical dean Of Av'sncs)
whereas the reading Of the principal
words is plainly "Egid clci" and in the
latter the 81" is found with cross bar
easily read as "clerici," therefore the
two words refer in the genitive to Giles
the Priest. Similarly in the subscrip-
ton Of an early letter where "N ~
appears in the text she expands the two
letters into "nomen nesc!o," whereas
M Is the customary Latin plural alb.
hrcviation Of "nomina." as may be fount
after further devolution in the cate.
chism ~. or NJ" In the Guiana journa
she sets note of eXplication upon IN,
phrase "au bord de radmiral" which
sounds as IL he were on board ship
or course the ship is meant. for in IN,
seventeenth century admiral was use,
moro commonly Of the chief ship of
squadron than Of the commander of tn,
eNpedl;iOn, as W. see in Millions "th'
mast Of some great ammiral"