The following exhibits a certain number of the children mentioned who became as old, and older, than their respective fathers and of those who did not attain to such an age. In this I have excluded those families I could not ascertain, in consequence of having removed into other parts of our country, and of those untimely deaths not ended by nature's process, which leaves for calculation the following families. The left hand column of figures shows the number of those who became as old, and older, than their respective fathers, and the right hand column the number of those who did not arrive to that age, to wit: _Oldest_ _Youngest_ _Parents._ _Children._ _Children._ Capt. Cuddeback 2 4 Esq. Van Inwegen 2 8 Benj. Cuddeback 4 2 J. D. Gumaer 0 7 Peter Gumaer 0 4 Ez. Gumaer 1 2 Esq. Depuy 4 4 S. Depuy 3 Eb. Gumaer 0 6 J. Davis 1 6 Wm. Geegge 2 J. R. De Witt 4 5 ____ ____ 18 52 This calculation, being as near as I can ascertain the same, in respect of correctness, shows that only about one-quarter of the children of those families became as old as their respective fathers. This great degeneracy will naturally lead to an inquiry respecting the cause of the same. To answer which, or to throw some light on the subject in relation thereto, I consider it necessary to state the manner and circumstances of life of each generation, as near as I am able to do it, to wit: * * * * * THE FIRST GENERATION