Excerpt from The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 3

Such a work of historical biography has never before been attempted. Previous works have either excluded the living, or limited them to a well-known few in the cen tres of activity. But this Cyclopaedia is unique. It has been prepared upon new lines which insure its being the biographical authority of the century. It is intended to make this Cyclopaedia National, representing the entire Republic, and reflecting the spirit, genius and life of each section.

It is acknowledged that the great forces which to-day contribute most largely to the growth of the country are the men who have developed its industrial and com mercial resources, and it is believed that, while literary workers should be accorded ample representation, those who contribute so much to the material and physical wel fare of the country deserve and command fuller recognition than has before been ao corded them in works of this character. Achievements in engineering, electricity, or architecture; improvements in locomotives, looms or ploughs, contribute as much to the advancement Of civilization as an epic poem or an Oxford tract; and the factors in these achievements are to be sought out, and given to the world through the pages of this Cyclopaedia.' In the United States there is neither a Nobility, nor an Aristocracy, nor is there a Landed Gentry, as these classes are understood in Europe. But there are, in the United States, numerous Families which have ancient lineage and records, and other families, founded in the soil, so to speak, destined to become the ancestry of the future. There is every reason why the genealogy and history of these families should be re corded and perpetuated. No native of any other land has reason to be prouder of his country than an American whose family name represents either direct descent from the early colonists or Revolutionary ancestors, or marked prosperity and success through intelligent, arduous, and faithful labor for the benefit of his country and the advancement of his race. One of the objects of the National Cyclopaedia is to fulfill for the United States this purpose, and supply an invaluable and useful means for establishing identity, relationship, birth, death, Official position, and other important data which are necessary to the making up of such family history.

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