This biographical and genealogical chronicle traces the descendants of Barnabas Horton from his arrival in America in the seventeenth century through successive generations. The author compiles extensive records from town archives, colonial documents, family bibles, and personal correspondence to map out the branches of the Horton family. Special attention is given to the original homestead in Southold, New York, which remained within the family for six generations, and various artifacts like the ancestral bible and musket that survived the centuries.
The volume details the migration patterns of the family as they moved outward from Long Island into Westchester County, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the western territories. It provides vital statistics, marriage dates, and biographical sketches for hundreds of individuals, noting their participation in civic life, the military, and religious communities. The entries highlight figures who served as magistrates, soldiers in the revolutionary war, and pioneers in newly settled regions.
While primarily structured as a genealogy, the text includes rich anecdotes regarding daily life in early America, frontier hardships, and the preservation of family relics. The compilation reflects the industrious, agrarian nature of the family, tracing their contributions to the development of local communities across multiple states.
The work concludes with extensive listings of collateral lines and indexes designed to aid researchers in connecting various branches of the family tree. The detailed records offer a comprehensive look at how a single seventeenth-century immigrant family expanded and integrated into the fabric of American society over two centuries.
