BIOGRAPHICAL SOUVENIR

Until quite recently but little attention has been given to the preservation of biography, except in as far as it pretained to the preferred classes - persons who had been prominent in governmental affairs, or distinguished in their profession or calling, or in some way made conspicuous before the public.

Within the past decade, however, there has been a growing demand from the popular classes for the preservation, not only of biography, but of family genealogy, not altogether for its immediate worth, but for its future value and a laudable pride in it perpetuation for coming generations.

That the representative public, as well as the more illustrious citizen, is entitled to the privileges and benefits afforded by a work of this kind need no assertion at our hands, for one of our greatest Americans has said that the history of a country resolves itself into the biographies of its stout, earnest, progressive and representative citizens. This medium then serves more than a single purpose: while it preserves biography and family genealogy, it records history that probably would not be preserved in any other way; the expediency, therefore, of placing biography and genealogy in book form is beyond question.

The difficulties experienced by the collectors in gathering the material for this volume, forcibly illustrate the necessity for works of this character; in a majority of cases it is found that nearly all reliable trace of ancestry is lost back ot the grandfather and grandmother - even in many families where prominence and intelligence would seem to guarantee better things.

No pains have been spared to make the facts to be found within these covers accurate. With but few exceptions the material has been gathered from those most immediately interested and then submitted in type-written form for correction and revision.

To the patrons who have made the work possible, and those who have rendered assistance by furnishing material, we tender our acknowledgments.