Preface.

"The memories of fathers are histories to their children."

Until within the past few years, the author of this work knew not who his ancestors were, prior to the life of William Hayford, who emigrated from Pembroke, Mass., to Sylvester Canada, now Turner, Me., in the year 1777. While in his younger days, when the children of the said William were some of them living at advanced ages, some information might have been obtained from them, yet those opportunities having been neglected, no one could be found two years ago who could impart to him the knowledge of whom the parents of the said William were, he being the great grandfather of the author. This led to extended inquiries, the result of which will be imparted in the following pages of this work, that future generations of this family may have the benefit of all the information he has been able to acquire of his early ancestry, with the sincere hope that it may lead some one interested and able to take up and carry forward the work to more fully satisfactory results.

So far as known no one of this race has succeeded, even in a limited degree, in furnishing a genealogical history of the Hayford family from colonial times to the present date, or any considerable part thereof; and all genealogical works of reference are barren and void of any important information in this line.

It is deeply to be regretted that our early ancestors were so exceptionally remiss and neglectful in the past, and that for the first fifty years and more of their residence in Plymouth Colony the town and church records failed to receive from them their proper attention. Especially in marriage and birth records there is found a great lack of such information as may be readily found in reference to other families of that time.

For these various reasons there must inevitably rest doubt as to the final conclusions herewith drawn, as to the emigrant paternity of this family, and the first two generations following; yet, after exhausting every known resource, and thoroughly examining the town, church and court records of each and every town

in which any one bearing the family name was known to have resided during the first one hundred years of their residence in New England, it would seem that no other conclusion could be reached.

One difficult feature in tracing this family has been the very many ways of spelling the name, even in the same family and generation, and that often the town officials made use of a different manner than the individual himself, which fact has undoubtedly often discouraged the enquiring mind so seriously as to cause it to despair of success, and finally abandon all effort to unravel the mystery. A tradition, however, exists in the Hayford Family, widely extended in its several branches, as handed down through many generations, "that our race sprung from three brothers who came over from England or Holland in the days of the early settlement of Plymouth Colony;" that one of these brothers went to sea and never returned; and that the descendents of one changed the manner of spelling the name from the Holland or English style to that of H-a-y-f-o-r-d, as it is generally found to exist after the earliest years of the eighteenth century, say about 1712-20. This will appear to have been

the case in the records that follow.

To the many kind friends who have furnished valuable information with family records, etc., the author would herewith acknowledge his great indebtedness and return his sincere thanks to each and all. Especially is he indebted to Mr. Byron L. Hayford of Milbridge, Me.; to the late Cyrus P. Hayford of Mt. Pisgah, Ohio, and Mrs. Helen P. Gilman of Boston, Mass. And also to Miss Eloise A. Hafford of Lakeville, Mass., for much of the history of the Hafford branch, as also valuable English history.

It is, however, to be regretted, that in numerous cases valuable statistics might have been added if continued requests had not been met with entire indifference and were often void of recognition. While errors must unavoidably occur, great care has been taken to make this history in the main correct and reliable, and although commenced with the intention of confining its records to the "William Hayford "branch of the State of Maine, that labor has led to results that have caused the writer to include all that is known by him of the entire race of Hayfords, and to supplement with brief genealogical histories of the Bonneys,

Fullers, and Chickerings, of whom he is also a descendant, and of the Phinneys, from whom his wife descended.

Once again, expressing the hope that this partial and necessarily imperfect work may stimulate some future historian to more complete efforts, I present it to its readers, sincerely trusting that it may be of some little value to those descendants of our common ancestors.

Canton, Maine, A. D. 1901.

THE AUTHOR.