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| Discovering Nicholas Ackley by Nancy Mattison; cover image from author |
As mentioned in a recent post, there is a new book about Nicholas Ackley that has just been published. Nancy Mattison, a 7th great granddaughter of Nicholas, has written a comprehensive story of Nicholas's life, blending known facts with information about the laws, norms, and customs of the time to create a very readable and enjoyable account of the first known Ackley in colonial America.
I've had an opportunity to read a pre-publication copy of the book (several times), and it is well worth your time. In addition to a well-researched telling of Nicholas's life story, you'll learn what life must have been like for Nicholas and his family in colonial Hartford and Haddam as one of the earliest settlers of Connecticut. The book addresses much of the misinformation about Nicholas that has proliferated across the internet, and makes sound arguments in support of the most likely circumstances of his origins and parentage. There are several helpful appendices covering topics such as Nicholas's alleged ancestry, details of his land ownership, the concept of inhabitants and freemen, and his children. In short, this book collects all of the known information about Nicholas Ackley that until now has been scattered across the internet and organizes it into a well thought out, factual tale of survival and perseverance of an early Colonial American family.
"Discovering Nicholas Ackley" is available for sale now at lulu.com and will soon be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. If you are a Nicholas Ackley descendant or are researching the Ackley family, I highly recommend adding this book to your library. It is both a good story and a good genealogy reference. You can learn more about the book at the author's website here. You can order the book from lulu.com come here.
