Your 4-volume history-genealogy on Matthew Whipple of Ipswich, Mass. and Descendants is a monumental work of scholarship!  Barbard McLean Ward, Ph.D, Director/Curator.

Your history-genealogy of Matthew Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts has benefited many members of the Society who are using it to further their own research and it will benefit generations to come who will map their families.  I thank you on behalf of the Trustees of the Society.  Timothy Hullquist, President. PO Box 388, Malone, NY 12593.  13 Oct. 2009.

It is amazing the amount of work and dedication that went into gathering the data for this publication.  Marjorie Ingebresten, Acquisitions Librarian.  26 Oct. 2009

Blaine, I am deep into reading Volume One of your book and am fascinated by the history you have documented so well and can’t imagine how you managed all the details.  It is an invaluable addition to my genealogy and will be passed on to my son.  You have done an outstanding job which will be a benefit for generations to come.  Thanks.  October 22, 2009.

Reviewer Ted Mills wrote:

15 Generations of Whipples is outstanding for it abundance of family information and the scope and richness of its historical content.  One can hardly imagine a more thorough or carefully written family history.

Volume 1 is an edcation in itself as it traces the Whipple story over nearly 500 years of English and American history.  Each of its 18 chapters includes end notes that add depth and flavor as well as detailed family records.

Volumes 2 and 3 contain an astounding amount of genealogical information organized by generations.  Included are approximately 24,000 individuals, 4,500 surnames, and 3,200 places beginning about 1510 in England and ending in 2005 in the United States.  Included are 250 pictures and illustrations and voluminous end notes with detailed sources and definitions.

Volume 4, includes 865 pages of both genealogical and historical indexes which helps readers easily find their way through the first three volumes.  It also includes a massive bibliography of sources.  Malone’s Schryer Center for Historical and Genealogical Research is fortunate to have this resource available for family researchers.

Blaine Whipple’s wide-ranging genealogical knowledge is wondrous.  This history-genealogy begins in England in 1560 and ends in Portland, Oregon in 2007.  From his 9th great grandfather Matthew Whipple to his son Scott Whipple, all of the family members are documented.  This includes approximately 20,000 of Matthew’s descendants, 3,500 surnames, 8,800 marriages, and 3,200 locations.  From his 52 years of research, Whipple was able to collect enough data to include 3,331 historical data endnotes and 15,099 genealogical data endnotes.  Whipple descendants from all 50 states include a Declaration of Independence signer, two U.S. Presidents, a Nobel Prize winner, a Civil War general, a pioneer photographer, a civil engineer whose mathematical formula made modern bridges and skyscrapers feasible, the founder of the Oldsmobile Automobile Co. (the only major auto designer to produce and sell steam gasoline, and electric cars), and a 7th great grandmother who was convicted of being a witch in the 1692 Salem, Mass. witch trials and sentenced to be hung.

Transcripts of witch trials, court, land, tax, church, and legislative records; maps, wills, estate inventories; records from the French and Indian, Revolutionary War, Civil War, and Spanish-American War are all included.  The genealogy includes female as well as male descedants.   Kristen Forbes, Valley Times, Beaverton, Oregon, 11 June 2009, Living Here section B1, B4.

This prodigious work on descendants of Matthew Whipple of Ipswich, Mass. treats every generation of the author’s ancestry in detail.  Volume one is a readable history, volumes two and three present a traditional treatment of approximately 20,000 descendants in male and female lines, and volume 4 contains indexes and bibliography.  Several appendixes treat related families.  The work contains an enormous amount of information and helps readers gain a feel for time and place.  Perhaps the most amazing aspect is the extent of endnotes which include background information of all sorts.  It is delightful to imagine the Whipple children playing “Hot Cockles” by the windlass on their 1638 trans-Atlantic voyage.  Helen Schatvet Ullmann, CG, FASG, Action, Mass.  National Genealogical Society Quarterly, March 2009, 74-74.

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Blaine Whipple is the authority on all persons named Whipple.  He’s written five volumes on the subject and his research takes him much deeper than who married or beget whom.  His chapter on the long sea voyage, for example, describes travel conditions: what the travelers ate, where they slept, what they wore, what essentials they carried to start their new lives, even the games the children might have played.  He was passionate and determined as he followed the trail of his descendants to every place they ever lived including England, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, Ohio and various states to the west.  His Whipples aren’t just names on a massive family tree.  They live in context as Blaine details what life was like for them and others of their time.  Rebecca Rule, Northwood, NH.  Concord (NH) Monitor, May 4, 2009.

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This incredible publication in 4 volumes is thoroughly researched and documented, is a fabulous resource on an early Massachusetts family, and a must for Whipple researchers. Volume I contains the family history and includes much biographical information. Thousands of descendants are in the genealogical sections (Vols II and III). All are well documented and include full biographical details. Mr. Whipple spent over 50 years compiling this information and the detail and expert documentation makes it a first class publication. “Book Reviews,” Connecticut Genealogy News, a publication of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc., Glastonbury, CT, Vol. 1, No. 3, Fall 2008, 2.

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All four volumes of this book include a concise, easy-to-read table of contents making an easy quick reference regardless of which volume is being read. The writing style is cogent and the historical volume (Vol. I) reads as if it were a novel. The use of then current examples of trade and customs frames the time period — 1560-2007 — being discussed and provides a depth of understanding about lives of each ancestor. Extensive end notes are included and some are as interesting as is the main text.

The Genealogy (Vols. II and III) employs the Modified Register Style format which is easy to read and comprehend. There is a history Index and genealogy Index. The latter lists the maiden names with the married names of the females, a valuable addition. The Bibliography separately identifies Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Manuscripts, Genealogies, Letters, and other sources. The Indexes and Bibliography are in Vol. IV.

This is a phenomenal work and surely will become a standard reference for those doing research on Whipple families and those with ancestors who married into the family. “Book Reviews,” The Bulletin of the Genealogical forum of Oregon, Inc. Portland, Oregon. Volume 58, No. 1, September 2008, 41-42.

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For those with Whipple ancestors, a new compendium is now available. Blaine Whipple has compiled 15 Generations of Whipples: Descendants of Matthew Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts, abt. 1590–1647, An American Story. Researched over the course of five decades, this massive work traces the lines of approximately 20,000 descendants, including two presidents (Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Delano Roosevelt).

Volume one gives historical context while volumes two and three comprise the genealogical section. The fourth volume contains an every-name index and a bibliography of sources. This set is available at the NEHGS research library. Michael J. Leclerc, editor, eNews, NEHGS, Vol. 10, No. 38, Sept. 17, 2008.

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We are pleased and proud to have your volumes in our library in Boston. They are actively being consulted by Whipple descendants, among whom I am one. I congratulate you on a most impressive achievement. It is a remarkable work and adds considerably to our collections. D. Brenton Simons, President and CED, New England Historic Genealogical Society. 7-29-08.

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What a wealth of information! I am truly amazed you were able to complete such a huge project. They are beautifully bound and the amount and scope of information is mind-boggling. I am impressed with the scholarly manner in which it is written. Thank you and congratulations on a great accomplishment. Mary Lou Klassy (a proud Whipple cousin).
Minnetonka, Minn. 6-15-08.

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The more we view these books the more we realize how much work and research you did to write them. Susan West, Tucson, Ariz. 12-23-07.

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Your work is remarkable and I hope it will be treasured by our many cousins. Jean Maris, Lakeland, Fla. 1-11-08.

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I have loved what I have read so far and once I get over the flu I will wish that I did not have to cook, clean, work, etc. so I can sit and read. If given a chance to vote on the Family History Book of the Year, I would chose this book. Mary Ann (Whipple) McPherson, Littleton, Mass. 1-4-2008.

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This is an amazing piece of work; a fantastic resource for History buffs or people interested in the details of this growing country. Readers will find these volumes a treasure of information. Janet Peters, Vancouver, Wash 2-14-08.

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I want you to know how much I enjoy and value your four 4 volume Whipple Genealogy. They are full of yellow stickies to mark particular pages of major interest to me. Barbara Modisett, Chapel Hill, NC. 2-15-08.

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I am really enjoying reading our family history. I was especially thrilled when I saw my first cousin once removed L. Dale Whipple on the back cover with a comment. David Lee Whipple, Akron, Ohio. 15 March 2008.

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I am very impressed with your work. What a monumental task. It is truly amazing to have a genealogy completed in such a fine manner. Thanks. Barbara MacDonald. Woodland, Calif. 17 March 08.

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What a mammoth project you have completed. Congratulations on your industry, persistence, and scholarship. Tom Whipple, New South Wales, Australia. 3-20-08.

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Congratulations on a truly amazing work. Everything is first class: the genealogical information, the biographical data, the historical perspectives, the binding, the print and paper quality, the cover design in color. Thomas L. Gallaher, Muscatine, Iowa.  3-27-08.