INTRODUCTION

Pages 3 & 4

The material in this book has been gathered from many sources. Much of it has been copied from books in the genealogical collections of various libraries, particularly the Library of Congress and the Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in Washington, D.C. Some of the material, on the other hand, has not been published before. The Gaskill section is largely original, and much of the information concerning the other New Jersey families has been taken direct from eighteenth century records. The Pennsylvania families had previously been the subject of more intensive research, but there too some points have been cleared up by reference to old records.

Insofar as the lines of descent in America are concerned, there is little possibility of significant error. The records are in most cases complete and indubitable. Only two important items are missing: the birth of the Daniel Gaskill who married in 1735 and the birth of Hannah Owen. Their parentage has been assumed on the basis of circumstances, and is undoubtedly essentially correct. Several other similar assumptions made in the course of the research were proved accurate before the book was ready for publication.

On the other hand, few of the family trees running back into England can be relied upon. The Heacock family and several others are proven correct for one or two generations prior to emigration. The Owen family of royal descent may be followed several centuries further, the records of nobility being more extensive and more complete.

Because of its effect on the lives and thoughts of most of our ancestors, a brief resume of Quakerism has been included. The great majority of the emigrant ancestors left their homes abroad and settled in the American wilderness because of persecutions brought on by adherence to this creed. While we may not sympathize with the ideas and customs of the early Friends, we must admire the steadfast, stubborn devotion to their faith which brought them to this country. Furthermore Quakerism shaped the spiritual life and determined the thinking of all these people down to the generation of Charles Clement Heacock.

Among our ancestors are some who have lived to almost 100, some who have died in their forties. Some have been prominent, many obscure, some wealthy, some poor. Some have been experts in the use of the English language, others illiterate. Most of the emigrants came from the British Isles, primarily England, during colonial days. Not a single ancestor of Charles Clement Heacock came to America after the Revolutionary War.

The Chester county Quaker meeting minutes for the first part of the 18th century were examined after the printing of the chapter on the early Heacock generations. The first Jonathan does not appear to have been a prominent or active Friend, for his name is mentioned only once after he presented his certificate from England. This was on 7 mo. 25, 1721 at Providence meeting, when Jonathan was appointed to investigate a member applying for a certificate. The record of the first John Heycock who settled in Bucks county in 1682, his land, and his death there can be found in Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd series, vol. xix, p. 261 and 523. This authentic record removes any possibility that this John could be identical with the John who was Jonathan's father.

The first work on the family history was done by Mary Heacock Streeter whose brief notes and outline of the family tree supplied the inspiration and the framework. Her indication that Timothy Gruwell's mother was possibly a Clement has been followed without result. It is impossible to show any likely connection between the two families and the material gathered on the Clement family has been discarded. Most of the research was done by Roger Lee Heacock, an officer of the Foreign Service of the Department of State, while stationed in Washington in 1945. Information concerning the recent generations has been obtained by Joel Gale Heacock, who visited West Branch, Iowa, in 1948, and by Guy Richmond Heacock, who compiled the record of the descendants of Joel and Huldah Heacock. The publication of this book was planned by Joel Gale Heacock, and several sections were printed in his Baldwin Park, California, printing establishment, prior to his death in 1949, and is being completed by his son Charles and his brother Roger in 1950. This book with its hundreds of records of comings and goings can not stop for sentiment or eulogy, but must concentrate on such simple facts as have been preserved. Nevertheless it is not possible to conclude this work without a thought for the daughter and the son of Charles Clement Heacock, without whose interest the book would not have been written and published, who however could not await its completion. The book is, therefore dedicated to the memory of Mary Heacock Streeter and Joel Gale Heacock.