A preponderance of the thousands of subjects of the family essays referred to in this three-volume set were inhabitants of St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, Herkimer, Hamilton, Warren, Essex, Clinton and Franklin counties. In many cases the family head migrated into the state from Canada, Vermont, New Hampshire, or elsewhere in New England. Concerning the arrangement of the genealogies, the compiler commences many of the essays with an explanation of the derivation of the family's surname; he then traces forward from the oldest known ancestor to the principal subject of the essay. Then comes a detailed biography of the family member featured in the essay, including, in hundreds of instances, his photo, as well as an enumeration of collateral lines related to the principal subject. The index at the back of the final volume identifies some 4,500 descendants of the featured families.