We enjoyed the opportunity to respond. It was not difficult! Our family has benefitted from records carefully kept by our forebears, going back for centuries. These records, together with our personal knowledge of predecessors, back to early days of the twentieth century, indeed do give us a rich source of study and inspiration.

Until now, these records have never been compiled into a single account, although the Whiting family has left an impressive volume of their side, The Whiting Memoirs, published by Rand, Avery in Boston, in 1873.

Our grandchildren, and those to follow, can trace their roots with certainty fore more than 1,000 years and 28 generations, to ancestors who have become legendary. Foremost among them was William I (The Conqueror who triumphed in one of the most famous battles in history, the battle of Hastings, 1066, to become King of England. Six generations of his descendants who ruled England and much of France, are in the direct family line.

In addition to royalty from England, Ireland, Scotland and France, the family down to our day has included pioneers, clergymen, artists, physicians, musicians, composers, executives, entrepreneurs, farmers, tradesmen, and needless to say, many wonderful women who lived the traditional family roles. It is to them, especially, that we are indebted for the greatest portion of these records.

So the newer members of our family will find much from which they can draw inspiration and motivation. And that, of course, would be the principal benefit of this account. For the value of any history--even a family history--is not so much in the events of the past as in the lessons to be drawn from them and those who experienced them--and how this can be used to better the future for ourselves and our communities. Starting with our own surname, we have traced the lineage of each of the principal family groups, adding recollections of those we have known personally. A complete list of sources is provided in the appendix.

Although we have taken the Cullinan family as our starting point, we hasten to acknowledge the heritage of the other notable names herein: those closest in past relationship--Dooner, de la Portilla, Hearn, McCloskey, McGillin, Molyneux, Murphy, Nofer and Whiting; those more recently associated to our own lifetimes--Adams, de Barros, Craner, Dunham, Fay, Griffin, Kelly, Ouimette, Spencer and Stockard; and those more distant, but honored names--O'Neill, Power, and St. John.

Continued