---
title: "Collecting published accounts: Part Two"
description: First, a clarification. When I pulled out Richard Newton’s name for the example in my last post, I did not check to see whether he was a Great Migration immigrant.
---

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# [Collecting published accounts: Part Two](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/06/collecting-published-accounts-2)

 Written by [Alicia Crane Williams](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/acwilliams) | Jun 15, 2015 2:14:49 PM

<https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg>First, a clarification. When I pulled out [Richard Newton](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/06/collecting-published-accounts/)’s name for the example in my last post, I did not check to see whether he was a [Great Migration](http://www.americanancestors.org/browse/publications/ongoing-study-projects/the-great-migration-study-project/) immigrant. Turns out he is. However, as his Great Migration sketch is not on the horizon, we will continue to pretend he belongs to the [Early New England Families Study Project](http://www.americanancestors.org/browse/publications/ongoing-study-projects/early-families-of-new-england/)!

Now, many of you are asking why I started my research with *Stevens-**Miller* and not with the massive 872-page work of Ermina F. (Newton) Leonard,* Newton Genealogy: Genealogical, Biographical, Historical; Being a Record of the Descendants of Richard Newton of Marlborough, Mass., 1638, with Genealogies of Families Descended from the Immigrants* [referred to by Torrey as “**Newton (#4)**”]. First, the *Newton Genealogy* was published in 1915, while *Stevens-Miller* was published in 1948 by a genealogist whose work would have been based on the earlier book. Presumably, any new discoveries made between 1915 and 1948 would be reflected in the latter volume.

Second, while *Newton Genealogy* is an extensive surname genealogy that includes a plethora of fully transcribed probate, land records, and other material, it is also what I call an “Elephant” because it is so big and has so much information spread over dozens of pages that it is difficult to pick out the facts that I want for my Early New England Families summary. *Stevens-Miller* is already a summary of *Newton Genealogy* and helps me organize my first draft. [Skip to the penultimate paragraph to learn the irony in that statement.]

I continue to look up the other citations listed for Richard Newton and generally find that they are rehashes from the *Newton Genealogy* or older, less complete treatments. A few are “mystery meat,” where page numbers are incorrect and I am unable to locate the exact reference (a common occurrence given that Torrey’s notes are often in pencil and always cramped and difficult to read). A couple of manuscripts are listed (“Warner-Harrington” and “Holman Ms: Loker”) that are only available at the library in Boston. Should I decide I want to see them, I will request copies from my colleague Chris at the library.

The last thing before beginning to “dump” information into a draft is to check for new articles or books that may be helpful. I find two articles by Douglas Richardson in *The American Genealogist* 55 (Jan. 1979): 86–87 and the *Register* 143 (Oct. 1989): 325–31 on the English origins of Richard Newton and his wife. I also find references to two recent all-my-ancestors works, one of which I wrote! I compiled *Stone-Gregg Genealogy, The Ancestors and Descendants of Galen Luther Stone and his wife Carrie Morton Gregg* in 1987 for my client Barbara Stone Chase, but had completely forgotten that one of the lines treated in that book was Richard Newton – ergo, I already wrote my own summary. Duh.

*Next*, [the “dump” draft](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/06/dump-draft/).

[View full post](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/06/collecting-published-accounts-2)

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