Robert N. Tate Bible

One frustration in research is finding conflicting information about events and people. Robert Tate's Bible record is a good example of a document that is wonderful to have but of uncertain reliability, partly because the variety of handwriting betrays multiple authors of different eras. Even the wedding date for his daughter, Ann (Tate) Fairfield, conflicts with her own marriage certificate. Sometimes we're fortunate enough to have multiple sources for data that allow us to deduce the logical result; other times, we can offer only an educated guess.

Robert N. Tate's diaries

Diaries are are a very personalized source of information, though, as always, this source needs to be checked against other sources, when available, to determine accuracy. Robert N. Tate's diaries are exceptionally accurate and a wonderful glimpse into 19th-century life.

Emily (Fairfield) Duncan (Gen. 9) wrote a very helpful overview of her life and heritage. The linked document here is an edited version that includes bracketed notations where Emily's diary conflicts with other records or sources of information.

Several Fairfield ancestors served as selectmen in Wenham. Selectmen were officials elected to administer the public business of a New England town and have a kind of executive authority. The number is usually from three to seven in each town.

Election Returns

The royal lineage of Sarah (Skipper) Fairfield (Gen.2) is documented in the Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists by David Faris, 2000 (o.p.). Several online databases also document the lineage. As always, verify sources through your own research. Gedcom files available, upon request.

Fairfield authors