Sedgley, George Burbank. Genealogy of the Burbank Family and the Families of Bray, Wellcome, Sedgley (Sedgeley) and Welch. Farmington, Me.: Printed by the Knowlton & McLeary Co., 1928.

Sedgley goes far deeper into the Burbank fmily than I do in my paper of ten years ago, John Burbank of Rowley, Massachusetts and Some of His Descendants.

His research into the family’s early generations is exceptional, covering original records such as deeds and town papers. Extensive extracts and transcriptions are given as well as discussions of their content. While few explicit sources are listed in Sedgley, he provides enough hints for the reader to start tracking them down in their respective repositories. I, on the other hand, relied more on published sources which are open to error and are possibly less reliable.

One of the primary differences between Sedgley’s book and my paper is that Sedgley accepts as given fact the marriage of Lydia Burbank, who was born on 7 April 1644, to Abraham Foster about 1655. I noted that the whole family group is suspect because of the age differences between the two individuals.

Another difference is the discussion of Mary Burbank’s family in Arundel, Maine. Mary was born about 1733 and married John Fairfield in 1751. Sedgley orders the children in a different manner than as laid out in my listing. I agree with Sedgley’s statement that good records on Arundel families are hard to find. My own family has origins there, so knowing where to look is important.

Overall, I see this genealogy as a good starting point in the research of the Burbank family. It is well written and explains a great number of sources.

NPM