pp. v-viii

"This book is neither a history of the Old Colony nor a history of Plymouth. It contains matter lying, for the most part, outside of the domain of history, and will therefore, it hoped, fill a place in Pilgrim literature not already occupied. Its division into two parts seems necessary in consequence of the widely differing nature of the materials of which it is composed.

"The First Part, largely devoted to abstracts of titles of estates, is prefaced by so much matter of a purely historical nature as is needed to throw clear light on the methods by which the estates were originally secured to the Plymouth colonists. While not a few readers may find in the prelimi nary narrative something to interest and instruct them, it is believed that all descendants of the Pilgrims will follow the abstracts with an eye eager to identify localities associated with the lives of their ancestors.

"The Second Part consists of a. Genealogical Register, based on the records of the town of Plymouth, and includes all the marriages and births therein entered, down to the present generation. To this has been added a large amount of material gathered from the records of other towns; from family Bibles and old papers, from the Probate Records and the Registry of Deeds; and from tradition. It is believed to contain nearly every name connected with Plymouth before the present century. In both parts ancient dates, unless otherwise stated, are made conformable to the present style.

"It is hoped that the chapters on the Burial Hill, the streets, the ancient local names, the Fire Department, the schools, and the churches will enhance the interest of the book to many readers.

"Three maps accompany the work. That of the harbor and bay of Plymouth in 1605 is taken from a translation of Champlain’s voyages, published by the Prince Society in 1878, by the kind permission of Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, the editor. This map has a special interest, because it shows the configuration of the harbor of Plymouth, with its islands and headlands, when visited by the first European of whose explorations in that quarter we have any positive knowledge. The map of Burial Hill delineates its boundaries, paths, ancient graves, and other interesting features, and designates the burial-places of many families. The map of Plymouth in 1701 is the result of the author’s investigations. It exhibits the streets and ways existing at or near that time, with the houses of about two-thirds of the inhabitants, and the names of their occupants within what was called the mile-and-a-half tract.

"It was the intention of the author to add a chapter on the modes of living of our ancestors, as disclosed by the inventories of their estates, but want of space in a volume already larger and more cumbersome than he designed forbids. These inventories are recorded in the Old Colony records beginning A. D. 1633. They are very minute, and enumerate not only the houses, lands, and live stock, but also all household and farm utensils, all books and every article of furniture or apparel, and furnish ample material for an accurate judgment of both the habits and customs of early times, and the tastes, culture, and worldly condition of the early colonists. In the light of these inventories many articles, inconsiderately claimed by their possessors to have been brought to New England in the Mayflower, must be referred to a later period. It will not be safe to exhibit a china or porcelain teapot or mug as a Pilgrim relic when no article of either china or porcelain is found in these tell-tale lists before 1660. The fact that tea was a rare luxury in England as late as 1657, and was sold at that date at £6 per pound, fortifies the story which these inventories tell.

"Neither were forks used in England when the Pilgrims left it; and travellers of that period speak of the use in Italy of forks instead of napkins as a new and curious one. The English were in the habit of holding their food in a napkin with the left hand, while with the right they cut it with a knife and carried it to the mouth. A habit now esteemed vulgar was once universal, and, like many a good old Saxon word, has been borne down to the present generation on the under current of the uncultivated and unrefined portion of society. It was the back of the knife, however, which entered the mouth, and the protuberance on the back of old-fashioned knives, which doubtless many now living have seen, is a relic of an old custom which lingered after the habit of eating with a knife had disappeared. We accordingly find in the early inventories large numbers of napkins and an entire absence of forks.

"Chairs were, in early Pilgrim days, articles of luxury, the use of stools being almost universal. Only a few families indulged in these luxuries, and up to 1650 the inventories contain a smaller number than is probably now claimed to have been a part of the burden of the first ship.

"It is to be hoped that at an early day the publication of the Old Colony Records by the Commonwealth will be resumed, and that these interesting inventories of the estates of the Pilgrim Fathers will be permitted to reveal the secrets of Pilgrim days.

"In a work of this character, the author cannot expect that either his Abstracts of Titles or his Genealogical Register will be found entirely free from errors. He is content to claim credit only for faithful labor and an honest purpose, and as he has corrected many errors of others, he leaves as a legacy to those who come after him the correction of his own.