In this publication of the Ancestry of Donald Joseph La Coste, and Ellsworth John La Coste, the author has tried to be as honest, and accurate as possble in regards to the 7800 or so persons included in this vast work. With scruplous care, and research diligence the author has conducted an extensive search of thousands of records, and has tried to indicate wherever possible to indicate where the information came from. With such a large undertaking dealing with almost 100 different families, it has become somewhat difficult in capturing all the source material used in the writing of this book. Wherever possible I have indicated the source material as a footnote next to the birth information of those persons, but I have very often included such information in the body of the text for many persons. This work starts with the Table of Contents which will indicate the separate chapters this work has been divided into. The first chapter deals with the basic Pedigree Charts leading from the author, and his brother, back as far as possible, and this chapter should be a guide to the reader. All the other chapters deal with specific families, starting with the author's surname of La Coste, and then Alphabetically starting with the A's and continuing unto the last letter of the alphabet. It ends with a surname index, which does not include other names found in the numerous texts dealing with this history, and it also includes a bibliography at the end, these sources being noted throughout the history. When a birth, Marriage, or Death date is not known, this author has left it blank, when it is assumed based on children's birthdates, and other information then this author has included the "ca." next to the probable dates. When an exact birth, marriage, or death date is included then the author has tried to indicate where this information was taken from such as a cemetery, vital, or bible record. If a church is recognized as the place of birth, marriage, or death, then it means that this author has actually copied this information from that church, it does not mean that the person was actually born in the church, or that this was a birth date. This history covers approximately 500 plus years in some cases, and more in others. It covers the areas of New Amsterdam, New York City, Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, Kings, and Rockland counties, New York. It includes data from Massachusetts, and Ct.. It also deals with the European countries of Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, and others. It includes information about famous cousins, and the kinship report near the end of this history will place the degree of relationship between the author, and his brother, with everyone included in the history. As new information comes in with regards to persons, and events in this history, then the author will include at a future date an addendum, which will be another book, that will add insight into this vast work. I want to thank the staff at Family Tree Maker, for making available the format for this vast work. Without their insight into arranging the format of this work, and allowing this author to download from his over 300 files, and many thousands of pages of notes, and to download from my word processor reports, this project would be still being worked on. It should be noted by the reader, that many large text/biographical notes in this work may be duplicated in other chapters because of the amount of generations included in those chapters. This process is not intended by this author, but because I was not able to extract such duplication without destroying the page numbering system, the author has kept this information intact, and has thusly mentioned this at this time. The author accepts any, and all corrections to this vast work, for no doubt some errors may exist. The author has spent over a year fixing relationship mistakes, and date errors and has cleaned up most, if not all of the obvious errors. I have also indicated wherever possible where I have differed with conclusions that have been reached by other historians, and have indicated why I believe they were in error, showing source material, and using the evidentual methods employed by Lawyers wherever possible. I have also indicated where I have conducted original research, and whenever I have borrowed other historians work, in some cases abstracting such. I have also indicated tough obstacles in my work, and showed my research methods to overcome this walls of obstruction. When I have not been able to jump this wall, and am still at a standstill, then I have indicated my research up to that time, and if I have come to a conclusion, that is not based on scientific fact, then I have indicated why, and welcome any corrections to my conclusions. Mystery still surrounds the origins of many persons, and I have tried not to assume where they came from unless I have firm foundation and cause to assume this. I have indicated where I believe they came from, especially when no information leads me there, by only indicating a country, and not a location. I hope all my relatives, both close, and distant enjoy this work, and that they develop a clearer historical perspective of their origins, which they should be proud of.
