Cape Cod Library of Local History and Genealogy: A Facsimile Edition of 108 Pamphlets Published in the Early 20th Century. Two Volumes; by Leonard H. Smith Jr.; Paper; 2,066 pp.; Published: 1992, Reprinted: 2004; ISBN: 9780806313245; Item # CF5473D

It is well known that Cape Cod families are difficult to trace. Only the probate records survived the burning of the Barnstable County Courthouse in 1827, and similar disasters have taken their toll on the Cape's town records. Many of Chatham's records, for instance, were lost in a fire, and Yarmouth's records of the Revolutionary War period have been missing for years. Even so, many important Cape Cod town records still exist: the problem is that so few of them are in print. So it was fortuitous when Col. Leonard Smith stumbled upon a series of pamphlets published at Yarmouthport by Charles W. Swift in the early part of this century under the name Cape Cod Library of History and Genealogy. A series of 108 pamphlets! Although contributors to the Cape Cod Library included such celebrated genealogists as Josiah Paine (author of History of Harwich), William C. Smith (known for his History of Chatham), and Amos Otis (Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families), the series never reached a large audience, and is today virtually inaccessible. No library in the country holds the complete collection of 108 pamphlets. With great diligence, Col. Smith put together a complete collection for himself, arranged the pamphlets in the order in which they were published, and then, to make the material usable, compiled an index of names. In just over 2,000 pages he has managed to put together a reference work that compensates for the chronic shortage of printed Cape Cod source material, and it is available now in this splendid two-volume consolidation. See for yourself. The contents are listed below. Volume 1: Cape Cod Byways; The Descendants of John Jenkins; Plymouth Trading Corporation; Summer Street-Hawes Lane, Yarmouthport; The Baker Zone in West Dennis; Cape Cod Land Titles; Permissive Use of the Common Lands of Proprietary Plantations; "Cast-Up" Lands; The Prince-Howes Court Cupboard; The Cape Type of House; Shipbuilding at East Dennis; The Nye House at Sandwich; History of Sandwich Glass and the Deming Jarves Book of Designs; Description of the Farris Windmill in South Yarmouth; William Swift and Descendants to the Sixth Generation; Old Shipmasters; Church Councils; Homer; The South Dennis Meeting House; Old Indian Meeting House at Mashpee; The Revolutionary War Service of Nathan Crosby; The Revolutionary War Service of Ansel Taylor; The Oldest Public Library Building in the U.S.; The Geological Formation of Cape Cod; Fast Runs of Clipper Ships; The Romance of a Barnstable Bell; Glass-Making in Sandwich; Thomas Foster of Weymouth and His Descendants; The Robbins Family of Cape Cod; Bangs Family Papers; Puddington-Purrington-Purinton; Thomas Howes of Yarmouth, Mass., and Some of His Descendants, Together with the Rev. John Mayo, Allied to Him by Marriage; Early Settlers of Eastham, Book 2; Early Settlers of Eastham, Book 1; Nicholas Snow of Eastham and Some of His Descendants, Together with Samuel Storrs, Thomas Huckins, Elder John Chipman, and Isaac Wells, Allied to the Snows by Marriage; Edward Kenwrick, the Ancestor of the Kenricks or Kendricks of Barnstable County and Nova Scotia and His Descendants; Early Chatham Settlers; Stephen and Giles Hopkins, Mayflower Passengers, and Some of Their Descendants, Including an Eldridge Line; Old Quaker Village, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts; West Yarmouth Houses Seventy-Five Years Ago, from Parker's River Westward; A Mayflower Line; Hopkins-Snow-Cook; Atwood Genealogy; Newcombe Genealogy; Early Wheldens of Yarmouth; Descendants of William Hedge of Yarmouth; Thomas Clarke, the Pilgrim, and His Descendants; Burgess; The Yarmouth Families of Eldredge; Richard Taylor, Tailor, and Some of His Descendants; The Cross Families of Truro and Wellfleet; The Mayo Family of Truro; Deacon John Doane and the Doane Family; A Brief Sketch of the Life of George Webb, A Cape Cod Captain in the Revolutionary War; Genealogical Sketch of Descendants of Jeremiah Howes of Dennis, Mass.; The Lumbert or Lombard Family; Eastham and Orleans Historical Papers; Richard Rich of Dover Neck; John Robinson of Leyden and His Descendants to the Sixth Generation; The Yarmouth Family of Gray; and The Yarmouth Family of Chase. Volume 2: A Genealogist's Letter-Book: Correspondence of Amos Otis Relative to Colonial Ancestry Book 1; Book 2; Book 3; Stephen Hopkins; The Hedge Family of Yarmouth; The Hawes Family of Yarmouth; The Rider Family of Yarmouth; The Hall Family of Yarmouth; Barnstable Sea Captains; Cape Cod Sea Reminiscences; Paine or Payne Truro; The Crowell Family of Yarmouth; Descendants of Yelverton; The Crowell Family of Yarmouth; Descendants of John; The Baker Family of Yarmouth; Descendants of Francis; The Baker Family of Yarmouth; Descendants of Silas; The Taylor Family of Yarmouth; The Lombards of Truro; The Hinckleys of Truro; Historical Address Delivered by James W. Hawes, August 1, 1912, on the Occasion of the Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Incorporation of Chatham, Confined Chiefly to the Period before 1860; The Baxter Family of Yarmouth; The Berry Family of Yarmouth; The Matthews Family of Yarmouth; The Sturgis Family of Yarmouth; The Crosby Family of Yarmouth; The Hallet Family of Yarmouth; The Bassett Family of Yarmouth; the Bray Family of Yarmouth; Gorham Families of Yarmouth; The White Family of Yarmouth; Hedges; Covel; Nickerson, Children of William (1) Nickerson; The English Ancestry of Edmond Hawes of Yarmouth, Mass.; Stone Family; "Hoppy" Mayo, Hero of Old Eastham; Dillingham Family; Ancient Houses; John Munroe and Old Barnstable; Ryder; Atkins; Nicholas Busby; Eldred, Eldredge; William Nickerson; The Crowell Families of Yarmouth; Sandwich and Bourne, Colony and Town Records; Barnstable Town Records; Francis Baker and Some of His Descendants to the Seventh Generation Book 1; Book 2; and Provincetown's Yesterdays.