1700-1776 American Ancestry

Published between 1887 and 1899, the 12 volume book series American ancestry : giving name and descent, in the male line, of Americans whose ancestors settled in the United States previous to the Declaration of Independence, A. D. 1776 by Thomas Hughes.
We have indexed the Surnames in volumes 3 to 12 in the dataset below.

Book Introduction: “Josephus regarded genealogical study as of the utmost importance, and in giving an account of his personal history, boasts ” I have traced my pedigree as I have found it recorded in the public tablets.” And it is in harmony with such feelings that the present work on American Ancestry has been undertaken.

The names of only those who can trace their lineage to an ancestor who was settled in America previous to the Declaration of American Independence are admitted, and when it is remembered that there was only a population of less than two millions and a quarter in the whole of the United States in the year 1776 (exclusive of slaves and Indians), it will be seen that but a small proportion of the present population can claim the honor of being descended from the original American stock ; and consequently in ages to come, the arrival of the Virginian colonists, the emigration of the Puritan and Dutch settlers, as well as the settlement of the Quaker and Huguenot refugees will form as memorable epochs in the history of the Great Republic as the Saxon and Norman conquests of Great Britain now do in the history of that country.

A few centuries hence Americans will experience as much pleasure in tracing back their ancestry to those periods as the English now do to the days of William the Conqueror.” [Source: Introduction]

How to search: Enter a Surname, or partial Surname in the box below and press enter. If any matches are found a list will be presented. Simply click on the name to bring up the page in the old digital book which is hosted by Archive.org.

Some names will have multiple listings (for different volumes) in the book and each unique page will be shown by the small square boxes to the right of the name. If you hover over each square you can see the details such as volume and page number. Select, or click, on the square box to bring up the page at Archive.org

Alternatively, if you would like to browse the book on Archive.org follow one of the links below to volumes 1 to 12. The data in each book is arranged in alphabetical order and volumes 3 to 12 have an alphabetical appendix.