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How to Read the Genealogies in Gary Boyd Roberts's Books
 
A kinsman and fellow researcher was having a frustrating time understanding the genealogies in Gary Boyd Roberts's book, Notable Kin, vol. I (1998. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston), and she asked me to explain them to her.  Below, I am sharing that explanation with you.

As an example, I have chosen Julia CHILD, the chef and TV personality.  I deliberately picked her as an example because 1) she is our cousin and, 2) she has one of the longer, more complicated genealogies.  Most of the lineages are shorter and easier to follow.

Roberts separates the generations by semi-colons and the couples within a generation by commas.  Where surnames are duplicated in a generation, he will note in parentheses which set of parents produced which child.  Not all lines are known or followed, so the number of couples does not double with each generation.  Italics are Roberts's own and indicate shared ancestors with the late Princess Diana (see Roberts's book, American Ancestors and Cousins of the Princess of Wales. 1984.  Genealogical Publ. Co., Baltimore).  Roberts's entry for Julia CHILD (p. 20) reads as follows:
"Mrs. JULIA (McWILLIAMS) CHILD (Mrs. Paul Cushing Child), b. 1912, chef and television personality; John McWilliams & Julia Carolyn Weston; Bryon Weston & Julia Clark Mitchell; Isaiah Weston, Jr. & Caroline W. Curtis, Clark Ward Mitchell & Ellen Theresa Shaw; Isaiah Weston & Sarah Dean, Elisha Mitchell & Lucinda Brewster, Samuel Shaw & Sarah Snell Bryant, sister of poet William Cullen Bryant (q.v.); Josiah Dean, Jr. & Sarah Byram, William Mitchell & Elizabeth Ward, Jonathan Brewster (III) & Lois Marsh, Peter Bryant & Sarah Snell; Josiah Dean & Jane Washburn, Eliab Byrm & Sarah Leonard, Edward Mitchell, Jr. & Elizabeth Cushing, Jonathan Brewster, Jr. & Zipporah Smith, Philip Bryant & Silence Howard, Ebenezer Snell  & Sarah Packard; Nehemiah Washburn & Jane Howard (parents of Jane & Silence), Ebenezer Byram & Hannah Hayward, Edward Mitchell & Alice Bradford, Jonathan Brewster & Mary Parish, Ephraim Smith & Hannah Witter, Abiel Howard & Silence Washburn, Zachariah Snell & Abigail Hayward, Abiel Packard & Sarah Ames; Samuel Washburn & Deborah Packard, Joseph Hayward & Hannah Mitchell (parents of Hannah & Abigail), Experience Mitchell & Mary __ (2nd Wife) (parents of Edward & Hannah), Daniel Brewster & Hannah Gager, Ebenezer Witter & Dorothy Morgan, John Ames, Jr. & Sarah Washburn; John Washburn, Jr. & Elizabeth Mitchell (parents of Samuel & Sarah), Thomas Mitchell & Margaret Williams (parents of Experience), John Gager & Elizabeth Gore, Joseph Morgan & Dorothy Parke; Experience Mitchell & Jane Cooke (1st wife)."
To make the genealogy more readable, I've put each generation on a separate line in a table below, and I have distinguished each line in color (though I had trouble finding enough distinguishable colors).  I'm afraid you will have to scroll left and right to view the entire table.
1 Julia McWilliams
2 John McWilliams & Julia Carolyn Weston
3 Bryon Weston & Julia Clark Mitchell
4 Isaiah Weston Jr. & Caroline W. Curtis, Clark Ward Mitchell & Ellen Theresa Shaw
5 Isaiah Weston Sr. & Sarah Dean, Elisha Mitchell & Lucinda Brewster, Samuel Shaw & Sarah Snell Bryant
6 Josiah Dean Jr. & Sarah Byram, William Mitchell & Elizabeth Ward, Jonathan Brewster (III) & Lois Marsh, Peter Bryant & Sarah Snell
7 Josiah Dean Sr. & Jane Washburn, Eliab Byram & Sarah Leonard, Edward Mitchell Jr. & Elizabeth Cushing, Jonathan Brewster, Jr. & Zipporah Smith, Philip Bryant & Silence Howard, Ebenezer Snell  & Sarah Packard
8 Nehemiah Washburn & Jane Howard, Ebenezer Byram & Hannah Hayward, Edward Mitchell Sr. & Alice Bradford, Jonathan Brewster & Mary Parish, Ephraim Smith & Hannah Witter, Abiel Howard & Silence Washburn, Zachariah Snell & Abigail Hayward, Abiel Packard & Sarah Ames
9 Samuel Washburn & Deborah Packard, Joseph Hayward & Hannah Mitchell, Experience Mitchell & Mary __ , Daniel Brewster & Hannah Gager, Ebenezer Witter & Dorothy Morgan, John Ames, Jr. & Sarah Washburn
10 John Washburn Jr. & Elizabeth Mitchell, Thomas Mitchell & Margaret Williams, John Gager & Elizabeth Gore, Joseph Morgan & Dorothy Parke
11 Experience Mitchell & Jane Cooke
In following Julia's ancestry, we find that the McWilliams line drops out almost immediately because Roberts only traced the lines through her maternal grandparents.  The Mitchell line is followed the longest.  Other lines are followed in the male line for a generation or two or three or four, then daughter out and another line is followed.

Roberts leaves me somewhat uncertain about the Mitchells.  He tells us Thomas Mitchell and Margaret Williams (10th generation) are the parents of Experience Mitchell (in the 9th).  Fine.  One would guess from his given name that Experience in the 11th is the grandfather of Experience in the 9th, but then, why are the names of Experience Mitchell and Jane Cooke not italicized?  If Thomas Mitchell is an ancestor of Princess Diana, so are his parents, so their names should be italicized, too.  And we don't know how Elizabeth Mitchell fits in.  Is she a sister of Thomas's?

A sample lineage from the above would be:

John WASHBURN, Jr., & Elizabeth MITCHELL
_Samuel WASHBURN & Deborah PACKARD
__Nehemiah WASHBURN & Jane HOWARD
___Philip BRYANT & Silence Howard WASHBURN
____Peter BRYANT & Sarah SNELL
_____Samuel SHAW & Sarah Snell BRYANT
______Clark Ward MITCHELL & Ellen Theresa SHAW
_______Bryon WESTON & Julia Clark MITCHELL
________John McWILLIAMS & Julia Carolyn WESTON
_________Julia (McWILLIAMS) CHILD

For another sample lineage derived from the above, see the common ancestry of Julia Child and my mother, Nina Gale (Straub) Matthiesen.


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