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By Faith Alone: One Family's Epic Journey Through 400 Years of American Protestantism
"The first photo I took of St. Nicholas Church [in Great Yarmouth, England] . . . is still my favorite of all the pictures I took. It is difficult to describe adequately what I felt standing before the church my ancestors had called home four hundred years ago. This was where it had all begun for my family ten generations ago, and I was in awe."
Bill Griffeth had been a TV journalist covering Wall Street and the world of high finance for a quarter of a century. But when he made the startling discovery that his eight-times great-grandmother was convicted and executed during the Salem witch trials of 1692, he began to research the biggest story of his the four-hundred-year history of his family and of our country’s Protestant roots. It was a history that dated back to the seventeenth century and the English Puritans and Separatists who fled to North America for an uncertain future.
His travels took him to the fishing village in England where his earliest ancestors lived and worshipped; to the Netherlands where they sought refuge from persecution; and to the sites in New England and New York where they were members of colonial villages with legendary Salem, Plymouth, and New Amsterdam. They were Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Methodists, and they had a surprising connection to the founder of the Mormon Church.
Griffeth’s account includes not only the stories of his long-forgotten relatives but also of some of their neighbors and colleagues whom history still remembers, including Plymouth’s great governor William Bradford, New Amsterdam’s swashbuckling director general Peter Stuyvesant, the infamous Salem witch trial judge Colonel John Hathorne, and the stouthearted Methodist bishop Francis Asbury.
By Faith Alone is a rich history of our country’s Protestant heritage. It is also one man’s journey of more than ten thousand miles and four centuries, and it captures his personal desire to understand the courage and faith of his distant family members and to better appreciate how religion and the context of history shape his own life even today.
Bill Griffeth had been a TV journalist covering Wall Street and the world of high finance for a quarter of a century. But when he made the startling discovery that his eight-times great-grandmother was convicted and executed during the Salem witch trials of 1692, he began to research the biggest story of his the four-hundred-year history of his family and of our country’s Protestant roots. It was a history that dated back to the seventeenth century and the English Puritans and Separatists who fled to North America for an uncertain future.
His travels took him to the fishing village in England where his earliest ancestors lived and worshipped; to the Netherlands where they sought refuge from persecution; and to the sites in New England and New York where they were members of colonial villages with legendary Salem, Plymouth, and New Amsterdam. They were Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Methodists, and they had a surprising connection to the founder of the Mormon Church.
Griffeth’s account includes not only the stories of his long-forgotten relatives but also of some of their neighbors and colleagues whom history still remembers, including Plymouth’s great governor William Bradford, New Amsterdam’s swashbuckling director general Peter Stuyvesant, the infamous Salem witch trial judge Colonel John Hathorne, and the stouthearted Methodist bishop Francis Asbury.
By Faith Alone is a rich history of our country’s Protestant heritage. It is also one man’s journey of more than ten thousand miles and four centuries, and it captures his personal desire to understand the courage and faith of his distant family members and to better appreciate how religion and the context of history shape his own life even today.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionMemoir
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 20, 2019
Protestant history recapped through the lens of family history. The chapters on the Puritans, living in the Netherlands prior to their coming to the New World on the Mayflower, were the most interesting to me.
June 27, 2017
Bill traces his family back to England/Mayflower and brings it forward, within the framework of the religious beliefs, particularly Puritanism and Methodism. Fascinating.
November 19, 2017
Author walks in the shoes of his family history over 400 years
February 5, 2020
Having done genealogical research on my own family, I am always interested in reading about other researcher’s results. When a family member contacted Griffeth with some family questions, he became seriously interested in finding answers. Beginning with his grandmother Griffeth’s Woolsey family, he weaves his family’s stories into 400 years of American history, visiting many of the places where they lived. He begins with the Puritans in England, follows them to the Netherlands, and then to America shortly 1620. He follows his family’s faith journeys as well as their geographical ones in this well-written and enjoyable genealogical account.
July 17, 2009
This book, by a TV financial journalist, combines history, genealogy, and religion in a memoir of the author's family covering nearly 400 years of American Protestantism.
Griffeth came late to genealogy, and in fact most of the genealogy work in the book was done by cousins, whom he credits. When a cousin sends him the family tree, Griffeth is surprised and a bit shocked to find that he's related to Rebecca Nurse and Mary Estey, executed during the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. Exploring further, he also finds Mayflower ancestors (Pilgrims) as well as Puritans. He makes the trips that many of us only dream about, to Plymouth, England and Leiden, Holland, and then to Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Boston area, and Salem and Danvers, Massachusetts. (Danvers is the current name for Salem Village where the witchcraft accusations centered, and the Rebecca Nurse homestead is a museum there.) Finding a Methodist circuit rider in the family, he also visits locations in New York and New Jersey in search of family history. As best I can tell, Griffeth is a church-goer. He seems comfortable when asked to preach at a Methodist church founded by a collateral ancestor, though he does cop out by reading excerpts from the ancestor's journal.
I felt that the book was "padded" somewhat with a few too many excerpts and complete quotations -- the Mayflower Compact, the Lord's Prayer, services from the Book of Common Prayer -- mostly very familiar stuff to me, since I share much of Griffeth's family religious history and more besides. Quoting the entire baptismal service from the Book of Common Prayer, for example, seemed excessive to me, but perhaps Griffeth was erring on the side of caution so that unchurched readers would not be mystified.
I think this would have been a better book if the author had talked about his own religious upbringing and faith and how he and his wife are raising their two children, rather than simply making the book an encomium to his ancestors. But perhaps I'm just envious because this is the book I should have written, or should still write.
Griffeth came late to genealogy, and in fact most of the genealogy work in the book was done by cousins, whom he credits. When a cousin sends him the family tree, Griffeth is surprised and a bit shocked to find that he's related to Rebecca Nurse and Mary Estey, executed during the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. Exploring further, he also finds Mayflower ancestors (Pilgrims) as well as Puritans. He makes the trips that many of us only dream about, to Plymouth, England and Leiden, Holland, and then to Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Boston area, and Salem and Danvers, Massachusetts. (Danvers is the current name for Salem Village where the witchcraft accusations centered, and the Rebecca Nurse homestead is a museum there.) Finding a Methodist circuit rider in the family, he also visits locations in New York and New Jersey in search of family history. As best I can tell, Griffeth is a church-goer. He seems comfortable when asked to preach at a Methodist church founded by a collateral ancestor, though he does cop out by reading excerpts from the ancestor's journal.
I felt that the book was "padded" somewhat with a few too many excerpts and complete quotations -- the Mayflower Compact, the Lord's Prayer, services from the Book of Common Prayer -- mostly very familiar stuff to me, since I share much of Griffeth's family religious history and more besides. Quoting the entire baptismal service from the Book of Common Prayer, for example, seemed excessive to me, but perhaps Griffeth was erring on the side of caution so that unchurched readers would not be mystified.
I think this would have been a better book if the author had talked about his own religious upbringing and faith and how he and his wife are raising their two children, rather than simply making the book an encomium to his ancestors. But perhaps I'm just envious because this is the book I should have written, or should still write.
October 10, 2015
I don't want the three-stars rating to mislead anyone - I did enjoy this book quite a bit. The history is well-researched and presented in such an interesting way, through the author's journey to discover more about his roots. The only downside was the way the last two sections felt rushed, especially the last one about his family's rural Kansas existence (none of the depth from earlier sections - perhaps because this era is just too close to look at objectively?). I picked this up at the library on a whim and ultimately I'm glad I did. It rekindled my own passion for genealogy and provided excellent insight into the Puritan and early evangelical movements in the United States.
July 5, 2012
Griffeth follows three separate "limbs" of his family tree from England to Holland to America, as part of the great Puritan migration. Griffeth focuses on the power and vitality of their faith in their decision making. It includes a great chapter about two of his relatives who were executed for witchcraft in Salem, showing the reality of what took place there, both to the praise and critique of the church. The book is light reading and shouldn't take anyone more than a few hours, and really, really ought to be read. Highly Recommended.
October 22, 2011
I really appreciated all the research this author did to trace his family's protestant faith back 400 years. Sometimes it was a bit monotonous and difficult to keep track of his family tree, but I'm glad I read it. Also gave me a good education on other Christian denominations - was especially surprised to hear that Joseph Smith (founder of Mormon religion) family came of of the Congregational Church!
April 6, 2008
The author's family is an interesting vehicle to explore US Protestant Christianity: from the Puritans to the Salem witch trials to the Methodist circuit riders. The genealogy bored me at times, but it was a nice anchor for wandering through religious history.
April 27, 2010
Suggested subtitle: "One Man's Obsession with his Family Tree."
A quick skim was too much. And does anyone really care how the people he interviewed were dressed? I will now pass on to another unsuspecting victim the first-edition author-inscribed copy foisted on me.
A quick skim was too much. And does anyone really care how the people he interviewed were dressed? I will now pass on to another unsuspecting victim the first-edition author-inscribed copy foisted on me.
August 16, 2012
This was another great genealogy read. Mr. Griffith traced his ancestry back 400 years. He followed their journeys and their worship through their travels, Europe, the Mayflower, Salem, Revolutionary US and finally to Kansas. It is a fascinating journey to go on with him
February 2, 2008
Another great read. Combining Faith of God and ancestory. Even if your not into geneaology a great read of America's founding fathers and mothers Faith in God.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews