This book is a rich, historical compilation of the prominent Gaston family from many sources. It includes several files from major researchers as well as the author's addition of wills and pictures. Major researchers include Betty J. Carson, Linda Hull, and Robert Brice Land. It is a history of Jean (John) Gaston and his descendants. It is also a history of many of the intermarried families who fought and died in the Revolutionary War, especially in South Carolina. Jean (John) Gaston, and his immediate descendants, "left precious little in the way of documentation for future generations to build on. Virtually everything we know about the Patriarch has been handed down through oral tradition, which we call the 'Gaston Legend.'" Jean (John) Gaston was born about 1600, in either Scotland or France, of Huguenot decent. Although there is controversy regarding the date he emigrated from France to Scotland, records indicate that he fled France unmarried, married in Scotland, and his children included three sons: John, William, and Alexander, who immigrated to county Antrim, Ireland, about 1660-1668. Of these sons, probably John, whose name appears on the hearth-money rate list for Ireland in 1669, is of Magheragall, county Antrim. This John had, among others, several sons; some remained in Ireland and some immigrated to America, as did the sons of other brothers. The Gaston name can be found woven throughout America's history. According to tradition, in May 1780, news of the "Waxhaws Massacre" reached Fishing Creek and the home of John Gaston. John's wife, Esther, along with her sister-in- law, Mary McClure, left at once to help care for the wounded survivors who had been carried to the Waxhaw Meeting House. However, the most famous Gaston descendant is Chester Alan Arthur, twenty-first president of the United States (1881-1885). Early in the Civil War, Arthur also served as Quartermaster General of the State of New York. An every-name index adds to the value of this work.
