The public, generally, can take but little interest in the following pages. They are intended principally for the use of the descendants of Richard Haven of Lynn, Mass., who came from England, about two hundred years ago. To them they are respectfully offered, as containing some account of their ancestry, and collateral kindred, which may be interesting to most of them, and which they might not otherwise have obtained.<br><br>The town and church records of Lynn, Framingharn, Hopkinton, Holliston and Sherburne, and the Registries of Probate, and of Deeds, at Cambridge, have been principally relied on. And much assistance has been derived by comparing these with the recollections of aged persons, and by examining ancient papers, and the inscriptions on tomb-stones. For the full account of the Portsmouth branch, the reader is indebted to the kindness of Mr. Horace A. Haven, a distinguished graduate, at Cambridge, in the class of 1842, whose recent death has extinguised the fond and just hopes of his numerous friends.<br><br>The research has been extended much beyond what was, at first, contemplated, or was deemed practicable. And, after all, there are several branches, that have not been traced, and others but imperfectly. This has been owing sometimes to the impossibility, and sometimes to the difficulty and trouble of pursuing the inquiry; and sometimes also to the indifference, procrastination, and neglect of persons at a distance, to whom letters have been addressed, asking for information.<br><br>The Author began with little knowledge of his ancestors beyond his grand parents.