| M A S S E Y |
One Maryland Massey Family by George
Langford, Jr. 1901-1996 ©Cullen G. Langford and George Langford, III, 2010 |
| Topic |
Description |
||||||||
| Format |
Essentially,
I
have
followed
the
format recommended and used by the New England Historic Genealogical Society:
|
||||||||
| Massey
Numbers |
I
have
assigned
a
serial
number to each person surnamed Massey; I call
them Massey Numbers. These Massey Numbers resemble Social Security Numbers, and serve the same purpose - positive identification of each person surnamed Massey. My Massey Number master list is in Massey Appendix II. |
||||||||
| Confusing
Given
Names |
The
early
Masseys
named
many
of their children after their brothers,
sisters and cousins. A pleasant custom, no doubt, but it led to
confusion when it resulted in eight or ten Masseys, each with the same
given name, and with overlapping life cycles. The use of Massey Numbers
identifies each one; but to further clarify these situations, I have
diagrammed many of them in Massey
Appendix
III: Confusing Given Names. |
||||||||
| Bare-Bones
Records |
In
far
too
many
cases,
all we are able to find out about a given person
are his vital records - just the names, dates and places; practically
nothing of his life and career. |
||||||||
| Biographical
Sketches |
Where
considerable
additional
factual
material
is available I show a plus
sign [+] preceding the Massey Number, indicating that more material is
to be found under his own name and number. |
||||||||
| Ancestral
Trail |
Following
each
Massey
family
head
is a parenthesized sequence of names; this is
the ancestral trail, back to his emigrant ancestor. |
||||||||
| Bracketed
Dates |
Wherever
documented
dates
are
available,
I have used them. Where closely
approximate dates can be determined from census or similar records, I have used them, with the circa [c.] prefix. But there are many situations where documentation is of very minor help in determining dates. To facilitate further research, I have taken it on myself to assign these dates; they are not proven dates, but have been nominated by judgment and logic. I have bracketed these dates, so as to properly indicate their degree of accuracy; they are to be used for research only, and they should be used with caution. |
||||||||
| Source
Citations |
I
have
elected
to
list
all references pertaining to an individual at the end
of his history, rather than to have a single long list or
bibliography in a remote part of this book. [The page numbers in
italics, e.g. p.666, refer to
the data retained in George Langford, Jr.'s Massey Data Bank, retained in the
family - GL,III.] |
||||||||
| Most of the small biographies in this book have been built up from a multiplicity of small bits and pieces of information gleaned from a wide variety of sources. I prefer to have these sources immediately available to other researchers, who may wish to use them as stepping stones to deeper research than I have been able to do. For example, I have never read most of the deeds that I have listed, and it is quite possible that they contain facts or wording that would add to our knowledge. | |||||||||
| Spelling
of
the
Name,
Massey |
Our
Kent
Co.
and
Queen
Annes County Masseys usually used the spelling
M-a-s-s-e-y, occasionally the spellings M-a-s-s-y or Ma-s-s-i-e. So did
the Missouri branch of our family. So, I use the
spelling Massey in this book. A partial listing of the many variations
of the name Massey that occur in the records can be found in Massey
Appendix IV. |
||||||||
| Appendices |
Whenever
I
have
found
it
desirable to elaborate, or to explain, or to theorize, or
even to editorialize, I have resorted to the use of an
Appendix. I have done this so frequently that my appendices have
multiplied into Section IV of this book |
||||||||
| Gaps
&
Omissions |
These
exist
for
one
reason
only; all attempts to secure the missing
information have failed. |
||||||||
| We would feel most pleasantly rewarded if readers of this book would come forward with any of this missing information that may be in their possession, or available somewhere. | |||||||||
| Apology |
No
book
is
complete
without including the standard apology for its
inevitable errors, and this I now do, hoping that they may be few. |
||||||||
| George
Langford,
Jr. |