Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition

This book is unlike any book I've seen before. (I've browsed many bookstores)I'm an Anglo/European amateur genealogist with the good dumb luck of finding both Yankee and Virginian 17th century great grandfathers in 19th and 20th century public-domain books. Two of these have royal ancestry, one of whom, Col. Thomas Ligon, Henrico, Virginia, is found in this book. Capt. William Lawrence, of Flushing, Long Island, is not found within this book; line 130-28 is where his ancestress leaves the book. Line 53-27 resolved a mystery about a second marriage that relates Capt. Lawrence and Col. Ligon in the 13th century.The family trees of those New World immigrants bracket a sub-set of Magna Carta Barons with Scottish ancestry/political interests. Magna Carta genealogy is of greater interest to me because family is the backstory.Genealogy websites are as good as the information people provide. One difficulty of mine is knowing when I've reached the earliest recorded ancestor of any particular family. This book provides answers to those questions. This book indicates the primary source material where the information may be found. ASC = Anglo Saxon Chronicles.The antiquity of some families, Gallic Roman Senators, Byzantine Emperors, as example, explains the family trees I've found online that seem more mythical than historical. They probably have this book, too.'Ancestral Roots' is required for the serious genealogist. Its useful to the amateur genealogist and historian. Its fun to read for the information alone. Western Civ. in high-school might have been enlivened for a few days with this book. At such a remove in time, these ancient lines would be ancestral to all Europeans, wherever they reside.

Robert Abell is what is known as a Gateway Ancestor to Royalty. His ancestry is very well documented and is a dream come true for those of us who are descended from him, cause these families are well documented. The royalty thing is neat for the tree but not uncommon for those that are descended from early American Colonist. This is also a must for history buffs. My boyfriend enjoys reading through it cause in these biographies they are interesting stories from these historic people. Plus I’m hoping to learn more about my English heritage.

I was a little reluctant to spend this much on this book, but, as it turns out, I'm quite happy with it. I bought it hoping to find additional direct ancestors or more information about the several thousand that I already have in my tree. I've done both! As most genealogical researchers know, it's often more difficult to find information about women, but "Ancestral Roots..." has provided quite a bit of parentage information that I'd never found before.In addition, it contains a list of commonly-used genealogical abbreviations, names of the colonists discussed in the book and their line number, so they're easy to find, an index by name and title, and an expanded list of the references.My rating should actually be a 4-1/2. The only problems I've noticed are in the references to an individual's line and number, e.g. John of Gaunt, 1A-31. In some cases, these are incorrect. However, with a bit of searching, I've been able to find the person and correct the reference in pencil.As for the physical condition of the book, it arrived well packed and in perfect shape. All in all, I'm very happy with it--it was definitely worth what I paid for it.

This book was for a donation for our local Library. I am aure it willl be used quite often for genealogy research.

Just cut to the chase. This book is in its 8th edition due to the devotion of Weis and his colleagues who carry on his life work. Do NOT spend hundreds of dollars buying research that the geneologist gathers from free online sources. FIRST, if you have ancestors from Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Conneticutt and Virginia you very probably are descended from or cousin to many lines documented from about 350 A.D. Gallo Roman period right through to the Pilgrims, Puritans, etc. Why? Because as Nathaniel Philbrook states in his book, 'Mayflower,' 35 million AMericans are descended from the 52 survivors of the first winter in Plymouth. Why are they related to uddles of British and continental nobles? Because the some 2,000 Norman families who ruled England married the rest of Europes nobles and by 1600 they had grown to 20,000 and had more spare children than Davey Crooket has money. The spares took up Puritism and or wanted to flip properties in the new world. SECOND, load up a good family tree software program (about $30.00)... Spent 2 years entering...

When you read 'ancestral roots' imagine an oak tree with a tap root that goes as far down as the tree goes up. Looking for Brian of the Tributes, King of Munster from 976 to 1002? He's in here. So is Gudrod the Magnificent, King of Vermaland, murdered in the early 800s. The organization of family lines requires getting used to. After a day of trying to use the book's index I just started from page 1 [Cedric, King of the West Saxons, died 534] and my genealogy software's index. The data given is sufficient, well referenced and presented compactly. And most importantly HE DOES NOT SLIGHT THE WOMEN.

Absolutely essential for any serious or professional genealogist of Colonial America. I'm currently re-writing this into my own short hand just so it's easier for me visually. The best part are the books listed as references. Hoping to find some of those.

Book was as described and is a great source of information.

Specialized product for family tree researchers. Lots of detail of family lines. Excerpts may be available online but having the book in hand is much more useful.