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UPDATED INFORMATION

*****We had scheduled the book’s publication late in 2009 and then we said late this spring (2010).  The fact is, it is temporarily on hold.*****

We just announced to our Ambassadors, recently, that we have tentatively been given permission to digitize and index the Court records in Isle of Wight County, VA.    (See Below) This was an almost unconceivable idea when I started the book, a few years ago.   This is where the entire American Brantley family lived for the first 100+ years and  up into the mid-1700s.  We will make many new discoveries on the early Brantley family which has remained buried in the ancient and un-indexed records there.  It is about the most exciting event I have seen in my genealogy life. It will take most of the next six to eight months of my time to complete my participation in this project.  Even if this was not the case, I still would not go to press with the information pending and to be gleaned from these precious records.  We should be able within the next year to perhaps unravel, too, the conflicting information relative to the location of the original lands of Edward Brantly.

I would hope that the book will be out within the next 12 months, but I will not try to commit to a date of publication. Instead, I will try to provide updates on the website as the work progresses.  If you have not seen the Southampton section of our website recently, take a look.  This project has given us the credentials to proceed to Isle of Wight.   The indexes are tallying slightly over one million names. We expect the Isle of Wight records to exceed more than 1.5 million.

I am sure many are going to be disappointed at the postponement, but we just can’t publish now.

 




I believe I have completed most of the original draft of the Brantley book:  “The Brantley Family: Preachers, Planters and Pioneers of the South”.  

We are estimating 508 pages at the present but expect it to expand to perhaps 550 pages before completion. It is a little early, but I need to get a feel for how many books I should plan in the order. The books are less expensive, per unit, the more we print, but we do not want to print copies that we may not sell in the next few years. The capital layout and accumulating interest cost is too much.The number produced will only slightly exceed the number of commitments.  


Book Contents

The book will include genealogy data and history of the entire Brantley family of the United States since the arrival of Edward to Virginia in 1638 through 1900. It will, in addition, contain charts, maps, DNA analysis and numerous pages of studies, exhibits, documents and stories. Pictures of many of the pre 1860 kinsmen will be seen throughout the book. The name index itself will probably be close to 20 pages. We have entered the text and material in a rather tight format to save pages. There are narrow margins and while the font size will vary in different areas, they will usually contain times roman at 11 and 10 points.  We say the book is “fully packed”. The book will be bounded by a top of the line hard cover from the National Library Bindery. The book, based on the proposed pages and recent estimates, will run about $48.50 + shipping. Members of the Association will receive a small discount and Ambassadors enrolled for 2 years or more, will automatically receive a 10% discount on at least the first book.

We maintain that the book will contain perhaps the most comprehensive report of an early American family of any to date; addressing in addition to our early forefathers in Virginia, but basically every man woman and child appearing with the Brantley/ly surname in the US census through 1900, and in many cases through 1910. All purchaser’s of the book will receive a personal pedigree sheet if he/she provides us with enough information to identify their progenitor living in 1900.

The book is arranged by the states inhabited by our Brantley families. We start with Virginia, which of course was the first state known to be settled by our early ancestors.  While we identify many descendants there, and we ultimately refer the reader to other states where most of these descendants migrated. So the state chapters are basically arranged in the book, in order of the migrations, thereby, with accompanying maps, and charts, providing  the reader the ability to trace his ancestry both geographically and by lineage. This is a unusual approach, but it gives the reader/researcher a better picture of the history and movement of his family line. Click here to see a proposed table of contents.


Are you interested?

What I want to know is if you will want one of these and plan to order them when available. I would appreciate a response only if you plan to purchase a book or books when completed.  Send an email to BrantleyAssoc@bellsouth.net and place in the subject line, for example;  “Book yes 2 copies”. In the text section of the e-mail give us your mailing, e-mail address, and phone number.