Hitchcock Family History
Where the family came from, and how they got here

A brief history of the Hitchcocks, and all the families behind the name

“People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors,” Edmund Burke wrote. This is one family’s look backward: nearly five centuries of direct ancestors, traced from England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden through colonial New England and Virginia to the South and Midwest, with every documented move drawn on a map, the wars they served in, the moments of history they lived through, and a profile for each person.

How to use the site

Ask

Type a question in plain words: who someone was, when and where they lived, who fought in which war, who came from where. Say who you are with Viewing as at the top right and it will tell you how you’re related.

The map

Every move the records show, coloured by year. Choose anyone to see the journeys of their ancestors converge on them; turn on military service (dotted lines, crossed swords for battles) and notable events (stars and anchors). Time period and Surname filter everything.

The tree

A pedigree you can start from anyone: open generations one at a time, drag and zoom, and click a person for their profile or their journey on the map.

People

Everyone on the site in one list, searchable by name or place, with photos, life stories, military service and notable events marked.

Profiles

Each person’s life in brief: a portrait where one survives, dates and places, a timeline, service and moments in history, parents, spouses and children, and the line of descent.

With thanks to those who came before us

None of this began at a computer. Long before any record could be searched on a web browser, grandparents, great-aunts, and others passionate about their family history did this work the slow way: writing to county clerks and cold-calling distant cousins, waiting weeks for an answer; copying entries out of courthouse ledgers and church registers; cranking through reels and reels of microfilm; prowling cemeteries with crayons and construction paper; scrawling names on the backs of photographs; and writing down what they’d found for themselves and their posterity.

It is their work at the foundation of everything you can enjoy here. Nearly every line on the map rests on something one of them discovered and documented, often with no way of knowing who would ever read it. This site is offered in gratitude to them and to everyone who remains committed to that labor of love.

What’s documented, and what’s inferred

The people, dates and places come from the family tree kept on Ancestry, built from censuses, vital, church, land, probate, military and pension records, newspapers and family papers. The routes between places are not in the records: the “likely routes” follow the roads, rivers, canals, sea lanes, railroads and highways of each move’s year, and they are inferences. Military itineraries mark each stop as documented for that man, his regiment’s movements, a family account, or a guess.

Living family members are private: their names, dates and photos are published only in encrypted form, and appear once the family password is entered (the lock at the top right).