Title: The genealogy and history of the Taintor family
First published: 1847
Description: This review is written by Andrew Cowdrey Tainter III who is the great-grandson of Dean Willis Tainter who wrote another Tainter History separate from this work. Both Dean Willis Tainter and Charles M. Taintor were well acquainted and Dean Willis Tainter visited Charles M. Taintor on several occasions. The volume being reviewed has a mistake on page 1 in the list of Children of Charles Taintor as the second generation, i.e., Micael, Charles, Jr., Joseph and Marie. Joseph was not a son of Charles Taintor. Also, Joseph is not listed with the other Children in the next generation. There is no concrete evidence as to who was the father of Joseph found to date even after extensive genealogical research. Joseph Taynter actually arrived in New England in April 1638, aboard the ship “Ye Confidence,” but Charles Taintor didn’t arrive until 1642. There are other assumptions inscribed as facts on pages 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 29. The mistaken assumptions will not be recorded here as they are too numerous to catalog in this short review. Genealogical information found below and should be used instead of those found in this volume. These are significant errors in the ancestral lineage from Charles Taintor and should not be used in genealogical research. The better use is found in another volume entitled “Tainter History” published in 1859 by Dean Willis Tainter. That book can be found as a PDF copy and is available by putting the search term “History and Genealogy of the Descendants of Joseph Tayntor.” On page 92 of that volume is an actual and correct list of the progeny of Charles Taintor through several generations. That particular listing, on page 92, is the one which any person doing serious genealogical research on the Taintor family should use. One should compare this volume’s listing of genealogy with the one in “Tainter History” and use that volume as one’s primary research list in order to get a more secure grasp on serious research. The volume here is well written but is replete with flaws by having made assumptions not borne out by scholarly research. Of course, one must realize that in the time it was written it is understandable how certain mistakes were made, based on incorrect assumptions without the same amount of information found today’s modern scholarship and resources. As far as the mistakes listed on the aforementioned pages are concerned, one should not entirely trust this volume for scholarly research. It one wants to contact the writer, one can send an email to atainter@yahoo.com to discuss this review.
People: Taintor family