Reviews

REVIEWS ABSTRACTS - Connecticut’s Pennsylvania “Colony” 1754-1810, Susquehanna Com pany Proprietors, Settlers, and Claimants. By Donna Bingham Munger. Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2007. Volume I: The Proprietors. iv+189, paper, $40.00. Volume II: The Settlers. iv+152, paper, $35.00, Vol¬ ume III: The Claimants. iv+154 pages, paper, $35.00. Records of the Susquehanna Company are available in published form in the eleven-volume Susquehannah Company Papers [not Susque¬ hanna, as repeatedly indicated in Munger]. This series is more often used by historians than genealogists. There is, however, an important group of records that are only incidentally referred to in the classic publication. These are the account books of the company, the nitty-gritty transactions of this attempt by Connecticut to solve its overcrowding problem by establishing a settlement in what is today solidly Pennsylvania. Munger has taken a most interesting cut at the records. Each of the three volumes looks at the transactions from a different point of view: that of the proprietors, settlers, or claimants. Each volume begins with an extensive Historical Setting reflecting that point of view. Anyone with an interest in this area should read all three settings. There is, of course, some overlap in events narrated, but the change in viewpoint provides a significantly different narrative, important for unbiased understanding. . Each transaction from the account books was entered into a database. Each volume, then, presents the pertinent information from the transac¬ tion for the people of focus for the volume. For Proprietors, sorted by grantor: grantor, grantee, their residences, land/share description [size] and location, amount, deed and recording dates, and account book refer¬ ence. For Settlers, sorted alphabetically: name, date present, place, notes, and source code. This volume pulls together a number of sources and may be the most valuable for genealogists. The Claimants, alphabetically: claimant’s name, date acquired, township, division, lot, acres, source for the claimant, name of patentee with references to patent book and survey book, drawer [i.e., person who drew], and chain of title. This is an invaluable resource for researchers, whether family researchers or historians, in gaining a broad perspective on the Susque¬ hanna Company and the hundreds of individuals involved. 92 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 45 (2007) 2007 Reviews 93 Bounty and Donation Land Grants in British Colonial America. By Lloyd deWitt Bockstruck. Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007. XX+296 pages, hardback, $42.50 from the publisher. The British crown was involved in conflicts with its European neigh¬ bors that extended to its North American colonies, from Nova Scotia to Florida. In those colonies it was faced with conflicts with the Indians on the frontiers. And, upon occasion, it was faced with uprisings against itself. The crown needed soldiers, but was land-rich and money-poor dur¬ ing most of the colonial period. Bounty land— land offered as an induce¬ ment to military service— was a solution. Donation land— land given to a veteran or his heirs after the conflict— was often seen by the crown as a way to induce experienced soldiers to settle on the frontier, providing a buffer against the Indians. Bockstruck explains in the Introduction that the meaning of these terms have become blurred over time. Each entry lists the soldier, the war, the colony of service, the colony in which the land was granted, and, if appropriate, the name of the heir receiving the land. Bockstruck does not note the source for each individual entry. The Introduction lists the sources used in the compilation on a colony-by-col¬ ony basis. In Pennsylvania, the New Purchase was the location of dona¬ tion land, specifically chosen to help establish Pennsylvania’s right to Susquehanna land also claimed by Connecticut. FAMILY HISTORIES Abraham Chattin (cl692-176l ) and Grace Mills of Woodbury Creek, New Jersey, and Their Descendants. By William Brooke Fetters. Decorah, Iowa, Anundsen Publishing Company, 2007. xiv+411 pages, photographs, illustrations, maps, index, hardback, $40.00 including postage; order from the author, 10450 Lottsford Road, #5017, Mitchelville, MD 20721. Abraham1 Chattin was a Quaker who first appeared in the records of Abington Monthly Meeting in 1716 when he requested a removal certifi¬ cate to Newton Monthly Meeting in Gloucester County, New Jersey. It was there that he married Grace Mills. The family settled on Woodbury Creek. The author includes an analysis of many of the property owners in the area. There are chapters on the sons of Abraham and Grace: John, Nixon, Abraham, James, Francis, and Josiah. The author is very careful about assumptions, carefully labeling his analysis of the children of John and Mary Mills as “Grace’s presumed siblings.” Like many New Jersey residents residing close to Philadelphia, espe¬ cially Quakers, the Chattins had occasional connections with Pennsylva¬ nia. Most notable might be James2 Chattin, who had trained as a printer under Benjamin Franklin, but after a brief career as such is found more frequently in land records. The author provides honest and interesting matter in the appendices, ranging from a list of references to James Chat¬ tin in the Pennsylvania Gazette, to selected papers from the divorce of