A living archive — research maintained continuously since 1899. Maintained by J.F. Long, Tiverton, Rhode Island.

Richmond C. Winter vital data card, handwritten in pencil and blue ink

Richmond C. Winter. Born Fall River, June 25, 1839. Died New Bedford, Jan 17, 1912. “My grandfather — my Mother’s father.”

Long Family Archive

A family research project. Southeastern Massachusetts, 1620–present.

With roots in Devon going back to 1066.

Thirteen connected families across four centuries in southeastern Massachusetts — from the Mayflower to the Revolution to the whaling ports of Cape Cod. Built from vital records, military rosters, and a box of family photographs with handwritten annotations.

1066Hastings
1620Plymouth
1775Revolution
2026Today
The Journey

How We Got Here

This archive traces the path of interconnected families across the centuries — from medieval England to colonial New England, from whaling ports to Revolutionary battlefields, from Cape Cod homesteads to the present day.

1066

The Norman Conquest

Hastings, England
Sir Richard Coffin fights for William the Conqueror. Receives the Manor of Alwington, Devon. The Coffin estate at Portledge will remain in the family for over 500 years.
Traditional connection — not documented generation by generation until ~1280.
1620

The Mayflower

Plymouth, Massachusetts
Four documented ancestors aboard: Degory Priest, Richard Warren, Francis Cooke, and Stephen Hopkins. The first American generation.
1627

The Swifts Arrive

Sandwich → Falmouth, MA
William Swift I arrives from England. His descendants will settle Falmouth, build the Waquoit homestead, and serve in every American war through WWII.
1659

Nantucket Settled

Nantucket Island, MA
Tristram Coffin leads nine purchasers to the island. Eleven founding families documented in this archive: Coffin, Macy, Swain, Gardner, Coleman, Foster, Starbuck, Barnard, Pike, Greenleaf, and Folger.
1775

The Revolution

Falmouth & Dartmouth, MA
Solomon Swift (1745–1807) serves in the militia during the September 1778 alarm. Private, Capt. Fish’s company, Col. Freeman’s regiment. Confirmed in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, Vol. 15.
~1840s

Two Families

Fall River & New Bedford, MA
Richmond C. Winter (1839–1912) is born in Fall River. Leroy E. Swift (b. 1836) is born in Falmouth. Both end up in New Bedford. Their grandchildren will marry.
1861

The Civil War

At sea
Leroy E. Swift serves as a Navy Captain. His portrait in uniform survives in a hinged daguerreotype case, labeled by his granddaughter: “My father Le Roy W. Swift. His Father, a Navy Capt.”
~1900

Summer at Waquoit

Waquoit, Falmouth, MA
Le Roy Warren Swift marries Richmond Winter’s daughter. Their children summer at the Swift homestead in Waquoit, riding a horse-drawn carriage from Woods Hole, swimming in the surf, gathering with aunts and uncles on the bridge at Childs River.
2026

The Archive

longfamilyarchive.com
Forty-nine family photographs cataloged. Revolutionary War service confirmed. Thirteen family lines documented. The work continues.

“Many many years ago when I was very little.”

— handwritten in blue ink across a photograph of the Waquoit homestead, decades after it was taken

Explore the Archive

Family Lines & Stories

Methodology

How This Archive Is Built

Every claim in this archive is traced to a primary source where possible. Connections are rated:

Verified— FamilySearch PID confirmed
Sourced— documented but not PID-verified
Traditional— oral history or traditional genealogy
Research in Progress— actively being investigated

Where we’re not sure, we say so.

FamilySearch
PID-Verified Lineages
Vol. 15
MA Soldiers & Sailors
49
Cataloged Photographs
Barney Record
Nantucket Genealogy

Sources include FamilySearch (with PIDs for every verified ancestor), the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War compilation (Internet Archive, free public access), the Barney Genealogical Record at the Nantucket Historical Association, and family photographs with original handwritten annotations.

All Family Lines

Thirteen Lines, One Archive

Swift Falmouth, Cape Cod. 1627–present.

Winter Fall River & New Bedford. 1839–1912.

Wall New Bedford & Charlestown.

Jenkins Falmouth. 1659–1842.

Green Massachusetts. 1640–present.

Warren SE Massachusetts.

Arden Fall River area.

Peckham Rhode Island.

Coffin Devon, England → Nantucket. 1066–present.

Macy / Swain / Gardner Nantucket founding families. 1659.

Priest / Warren / Cooke / Hopkins Mayflower passengers. 1620.

Westcott Rhode Island. Providence founders.

Pelletier French-Canadian. 100+ ancestors.

Enter the Archive

Explore the family tree, browse photographs from the 1850s, or follow the ongoing research into Revolutionary War connections.