For example, John Smith, the first of one of our lines, may have had eight children. While the "Grafton" genealogy will dwell at length only upon that one of the children who is our ancestor,--Stephen Smith, for example,--his seven brothers and sisters will be briefly noticed, although their descendants will not be followed unless it be to call attention to distinguished relatives in some of these collateral lines. Having given the history of the first John Smith in full, we append a condensed account of all his children, other than the one who is our ancestor, after which we take up the latter, Stephen Smith, in full. The notebook devised for the "clan" genealogy will serve admirably for collecting the skeleton of facts desired for these notices of the brothers and sisters of our ancestors. The research necessary for a "Grafton" genealogy sounds every note in the gamut of joys peculiar to ancestry-hunting, and adds a special appeal to those who wish to join one of the patriotic societies. If the line of our surname fails to yield ancestors who had the foresight to qualify us for membership in a given organization, it may be that another line will give better results. Or if our name is already on the roll, it will be pleasant to be numbered among those who have qualified through more than one ancestor. Who knows what riches lie hidden, patiently awaiting a discoverer, to reward him who systematically carries back all of his family lines? The "Grafton" genealogy recommends itself to us, even if one of our lines has already appeared in a "clan" genealogy, and that line the one through which we inherit our surname. In Europe, where titles and property are inherited by male children, under the laws of entail and primogeniture, a legal significance attaches to the line of the surname, and to most Americans this line is of special interest. Nevertheless, it often happens that our ancestry along this line is less brilliant than along some of the other lines. In that case we will not do full justice to our surname until we reveal the glory of the sturdy stocks which our ancestors had the good sense to engraft upon our line by marriage. Our line may appear in its due place in the great tome of the clan, but does it shine with the splendor worthy of our immediate ancestors? Is it not almost hidden from sight among so many other lines? And when we find it, is there anything more than a concise epitome of dry facts under the name of each ancestor?