Broyhill Family History

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Broyhill Family Tree
   Introduction
   Organization
   Index
   Starts with James

 

Broyhill Family Tree

  This section is based on The Broyhill Family History - Part II, The Descendents of James Broyhill, which I published in 1976.  The following is the Forward from that book

Introduction

      The First part of the Broyhill Family History is tentatively sub-titled The Early History of the Broyhill Family.  when completed, it will trace the family's history from the dark ages through the American Revolution, ending with a detailed biography of James Broyhill .
     The Broyhill name is exclusively American and came into being when this James adopted the present spelling around 1806, about the time he moved from Virginia to Wilkes County, North Carolina.  All available evidence suggests that every natural born Broyhill in the United States - and thus the world - descends from James.  Although they are not "natural-born" Broyhill, this section attempts to list everyone who has carried the Broyhill name.  These include wives, adopted children and their descendants). 
    Our family name began abut the same time as our country and its history is very much a part of our nation's history: the early settlements, the western migration, the wars in which our men have served. They are very much a part of each other's epic story.       It somehow seems proper that this work be published on the brink of our nations and our family's 200th anniversary.
     The primary functions of this Second Part of the Broyhill Family History are to account for all known descendants of James Broyhill, show how they are related, and to provide a genealogical history of each.  By fulfilling these requirements alone, this book stands as the most complete and comprehensive account of the family ever written.
   However, I look upon it more as an outline than a completed work.  Over the coming years, I hope to expand the biographies, so that we may know more about our ancestors than simply their name and a few dates.  I would like to tell the story of each, but to do so requires a lot more information than I have now. It is hoped that the publication of this book, along with the names and addresses of family members, will stimulate interest in our history, resulting in a great deal more information becoming available.       Toward achieving the above goal, copies of this book will be placed in genealogical libraries in hopes that people interested in our history will contact the author.
     For the most part, the information herein is as accurate as that obtained by me. Articles have been cross-checked again the original source material, but the logistics involved have made sending out working drafts to family members or cross-checking information against civil records all but impossible.  Information has been obtained from hand-written records and letters, microfilms, and photocopies that often were illegible.  Also it came from conversation with family members, thus its accuracy is only as good as memory and the transcript. Thus this work may very well contain many mistakes and it is hoped that they will be called to the author's attention so that corrections may be made in the supplements.
    The family is growing larger each year and each new generation will add its own members and their stories. Our history will continue for as long as a family member lives.
     In some cases, my research into a particular branch took place a half dozen or more years ago and may not be up to date.  For these reasons, its probably more realistic to look upon this First Edition as a First Draft. As biographies become more detailed, new information is obtained and mistakes corrected, supplements will be printed from time to time.
     In script writing, I go through many drafts and the procedure that works best for me is somewhat standard in the film industry.  Simply replace pages that contain changes.  The format for this book was selected with that in mind and this is the reason you will some pages only half filed with information.
    At present there is no predicable time for issuing supplements. No doubt it will depend on the time it takes to obtain enough information to justify one. Each supplement will begin with a Print History page, which permits you to know at a glace if your copy of this book is up to date.
    The Alphabetical Index of  took four months to compile and type.  In was completed in December of 974 and does not reflect information obtained since then, although people may be listed in the text.  Rather than delay publication, a new index will be provided with the first supplement
     The Chinese have a tradition of recording all genealogical information with an official in the province of the family's origin. Even when families move away, the send back the information each adding it own story.  It is not unusual for a Chinese family to trace its family back a thousand years or more.  It would be nice to establish a similar system for our family records. Any ideas. 
     Your comments on this book as well as suggestions as to how it can be improved will be appreciated.

A Review of that Forward

    It's now been thirty years since I wrote the above.  In reviewing it, I find that most of the issues are still applicable.
     As far as mistakes, there were surprisingly few.  There were two mistakes in articles pointed out to me by family members and I discovered another.  Their was surprisingly little interest in the family history, so I saw no point in continuing to compile information on descendents.  Thus there were never any supplements.  My research efforts went toward compiling Volume I - The family's ancient history, which was published in 1993 and appears herein. 
      In the introduction to the long delayed Volume I, I wrote that since 1976, a great many family members have died and an entire new generation has been born and some of its members already have children of their own, so an update is long overdue.  A major obstacle to compiling one was the difficulty of obtaining and checking so much information.  The Internet provides a wonderful media for accomplishing that.  Thus the decision to publish this book as a web site.

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