The numbering system used in this book allows each person's complete line of ancestry to be identified from their number. Each character stands for a successive generation, the first generation represented by the first character, the second by the second character, and so on. The digit or letter of each character represents the birth order of that particular generation, to the best of our knowledge. Thus the author's number (1J3B4F3B6C) means (working backwards through the number) that he is the third child (the final "C") of the sixth child (the prior "6"), who in turn was the second child ("B") of the third child ("3") of the sixth child ("F"), who was the fourth child ("4") of the second child ("B") of the third child ("3"), who was the Richard who immigrated from England ("J") who was the son of our earliest known direct ancestor, also named Richard (the initial "1" in the number). Thus by dropping the last digit of any person's number, you have that person's father's number. Likewise, by dropping the last two digits you would have that person's grandfather's number, etc. Abbreviations used in this book include: b. refers to birthdate or born, ca. means circa or approximately, d. means deceased or date of death, m. means married or date of marriage, MM means Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends. Other numbers in parenthesis are code numbers that are for referencing the source of information for the fact stated.