AN ACCOUNT OF THE CENTENNIAL REUNION

June 18, 1884

PREFACE

To our Dear Cousins:

A wise man has said: "Other things being equal, we prefer to trust the man who has had a grandfather."

A desire to know something of our family history is a commendable curiosity. It is an incident of civilization. Only those who have had no grandfather, or those who have reason to wish they had had none, or those whose grandfathers would not wish to know them, can well be devoid of interest in the subject. Consequently, "family histories."

Your committee appointed to prepare and publish a history of "The Lyle Family,"agreed each to seek for suitable information. This was done, and at their first subsequent meeting, the other members, being in a clear majority, decided that the chairman must prepare and write the history. With the aid of the9ir information, and from facts ascertained from examination of various documents, and from a very considerable correspondence, the chairman has complied as well as his leisure time would permit.

Several causes have delayed the preparation and publication beyond the time anticipated. We hope it will not prove less interesting from the delay of a year; certainly it is more accurate. No doubt each one will conclude that someone or something has been omitted that should have been given. Well, dear cousins, give us the facts, and they may go in the next centennial volume.

It seemed best not to extend the history beyond the grandchildren of the Northampton County Lyles. Each one of the younger generations can readily trace his or her relation to the common ancestors.