About Us
Welcome to the "Hastings
Memorial" website at thomas-hastings.org! This website,
which is a collaborative effort between Scott Billigmeier, Louise Hastings,
Ann Guenther and Julie Hastings-Barnes contains the fruits of our research on the ancestors and descendants of the
family's
progenitor Thomas Hastings
(c1605-1685) who came from England
to America (Watertown, Mass.) in 1634.
The title for this site comes from the Hastings
family genealogy by that name published in 1866 (it is available for purchase through the
New England Historic Genealogical Society or free online from
Google Books). Our ultimate goal is two-fold: Publish an update
to the Hastings Memorial genealogy which will expand the lines presented,
develop new and previously unidentified lines and carry as many
lines forward to our time as possible. Secondly, but no less
importantly, we are conducting the only known Y - DNA study of Thomas
Hastings and his male line descendants. The main purpose of this
study is to identify his origins in England and where the line derives
prior to its arrival in the British Isles.
Our vision for the
website itself is that it should follow the general parameters of a
peer review journal. What we mean by that is that everything
posted is closely scrutinized and fairly represents the state of
current research in terms of accuracy and completeness. No doubt
that errors can and will be found but, together, we have over 50 years
of genealogical research experience so a reasonable level of due diligence
will be applied to all material on the site.
At times, we will
post information which is open to debate or speculative and, when we
do so, we annotate it as such. The main reason for doing
this is to put the information "on stage" in the hope that
someone will come fourth with the missing piece of the puzzle.
In all cases, we
are striving to have the best, most accurate and most complete
information so please do not hesitate to contribute or correct.
