Yakima Valley Genealogical Society spotlighting the book:

The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut by Frederic Gregory Mather, published in 1913, is held in our library at Yakima Valley Genealogical Society.

This 1,204 page book deals with the refugees from Long Island, New York during the American Revolution and the movement of the families as the British invaded Long Island, New York.

Mr. Mather did much research in documents to compile this wonderful book. His book starts out with a history of the Revolutionary War and how it affected Long Island, New York. He discusses the early peopling of Long Island, their environment, their economics, their religion and their stance as the war began. This book covers over 1,316 or more individuals who fled from the British. There are 638 pages of families that he researched who sheltered in Connecticut or were involved in Long Island in some way. Mr. Mather also has a chapter on refugees who fled from New York City to Connecticut in 51 pages. The general index of names in this book is around 22,428 names. There is a census taken in 1776 and he focuses on the refugees in this census. He delves into records of reimbursements to the families who had to supply the American troops, reimbursements for lost property the British stole during the war and for reimbursements of supplies delivered by ship owners and also military men who asked for reimbursement. He has a chapter on captains and masters of ships. There are appendixes on men that served in the military associated with Long Island. Mr. Mather has many charts, statistics, over 63 photos of homes, and also maps.

If you have family in Long Island and do not have access to this book, come spend a day in Yakima at our library to research the book alone!