"People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors."

-Burke.

"He who takes no interest in the history of his ancestors, does not deserve to be remembered by posterity"

"Our fathers find their graves in our short memories and tell us how we may be buried in our survivors.” -Sir Thomas Browne, M. D.

"His tribe were God Almighty's gentlemen."

-Dryden.

PREFACE.

In 1851, Erastus Bostwick, of Hinesburgh, Vt., published a small pamphlet of fifty pages entitled "A Genealogical Register of the Name of Bostwick".

While this small book was prepared with a great deal of care, it was very incomplete in many ways, and some years ago I was prompted by a desire to see the history of our family put in such shape, as to place before the descendants of our emigrant ancestor, records of the early generations which might prove of value and interest to those now bearing the name of Bostwick or their descendants.

To that end, I have, during the past eight years, collected such records as it was possible to obtain, and the result is to be found in the pages of this book.

I do not claim that this work contains the name of every descendant of our earliest ancestor, but, as far as it has been possible to obtain them, it contains the names of all persons positively identified with the original line of descent.

To a considerable degree, the descendants in the female lines are also to be found, and these have been made as complete as possible, without devoting too much time to them.

I have had the usual experience of all genealogists in encountering several classes of persons, in preparing this work.

One class consists of those who seem to think that the compilation of this book has been done for the sole purpose of making money out

of others.

Another class is composed of those who have been "pleased that such a work has been undertaken," &c., &c., but who have failed utterly to respond to any request for subscriptions.

But what has been most aggravating, is, that there has been a number of persons who allowed themselves to be addressed again and again, and made no response or acknowledgement of the correspondence sent them. There have been, unfortunately, many such exhibitions of ungraciousness and poor manners, and many of these persons have been known to have in their possession some excellent records of their families.

I should like to print in full a list of those who have had neither the courtesy nor the decency to reply to letter after letter. such instances have left the record of an individual incomplete, I have