The Long Family Archive
Plymouth and Nantucket to Fall River and Fairhaven
The Long Family Archive maintains the documented genealogy of the family of John, Perry and Patrick Long, of the Westport area, from four generations of John Long, beginning with the John Long who crossed from Ireland around 1835, back through the founding families of Nantucket (Coffin, Folger, Macy, Gardner) and five Mayflower passengers documented in the Mayflower Families genealogies. Every line is sourced and tiered by confidence, link by link. The archive exists to keep this record intact for John, Perry, and Patrick Long, their children, and the descendants who follow.
I didn't write these stories. My family lived them, and other people wrote them down: in town records, wills, censuses, ship registers and old books. My job has been to find them, check them and put them in order.
Every link on this site is proven by a record, or clearly marked while the research continues. Where a family story couldn't be proven, I moved it to the Basement instead of pretending.
Most of the research happens in the winter, here in New England, so the archive keeps growing. If you see something wrong, or know something I don't, tell me.
John Long
Cousins and Convergences
The American line records documented cousinship to Benjamin Franklin, Major General Benedict Arnold V, Lucretia Coffin Mott, the astronomer Maria Mitchell, Senator Nicholas Gilman, and the abolitionist Levi Coffin II. Detailed proofs of each relationship are maintained as separate pages in the archive.
Both sides of the family left their old homes in the mid-17th century. Tristram Coffin emigrated from Devon in 1642 and left no record of why; in Ireland, the Cromwellian land settlement of the 1650s confiscated the O’Long lands in Cork. Their descendants met in the marriage of Carol Perry and John Patrick Long.
Four Paths Into the Archive
Search the Archive
Explore the documented lineage. Begin with the family tree or browse by line.
Nineteen Family Lines
From the Longs of Fall River to the Coffins of Nantucket, each documented branch of the family.
Four Generations of John Long
From 1835 Ireland to a law practice in Massachusetts. The lineage that gave this archive its name.
About This Archive
How the archive verifies and cites, and the standards that guide every connection in these pages.
Which line to follow?
A Long
Paternal line. Four generations of John Long from 1835 Ireland to a law practice in Massachusetts.
A Coogan
Irish side. Nellie, Owen, Raymond and the children who followed. Research ongoing.
A Perry
Maternal line through Carol. Traces through New England to the Mayflower.
A Visitor
Curious about New England genealogy, or landed here from a search. Start with the archive overview.
What’s New
New chapter: 1928: The Strike
The New Bedford textile strike of 1928 from the contemporary reports: the wage cut, the strikers and both strike organizations, the mill owners, and the National Guard. Capt. Charles F. Perry Jr.'s Battery D stood by in July and relieved another battery in August; the bayonets on 30 July were Battery E's.
18 October 2026On Main Street, and the Huttleston
The Perry homes at 147 and 149 Main Street, Fairhaven, 1917 to about 1930, and the Huttleston apartments across the street: the Perrys owned the corner from 1919 until the bank foreclosed and sold it in 1927. Two claims about Rep. John J. Long with no record behind them are now marked as family recollection.
18 October 2026From the newspapers and directories
City directories, town reports and newspapers add to the Perry and Swift pages: the Fairhaven High class of 1914, the Perry real estate offices, the 1928 New Bedford strike, Col. Perry's wartime command at Omaha, Le Roy W. Swift's printing company, and Charles F. Perry Sr.'s death in 1935. Herbert Miller Wall's death is corrected to January 1969.
18 October 2026New chapter: The Wreck and the Fine
A French ship wrecked on the Nantucket shoals in 1678, two thousand hides, and the Court of Admiralty that fined Tristram Coffin £343 10s, cut to £150 with his son James's bond. Tristram's letter to the governor is on his page, Tuckernuck is on the Coffin line page, and Capt. John Gardner, the brothers' 11th great-uncle, has his own page.
18 October 2026One voice: the Long brothers
Relationships now read as the Long brothers' (“the Long brothers' 10th great-grandfather”), every descent chart ends at John, Perry and Patrick Long, and the archive speaks in the third person. First person appears only in signed pieces by John.
18 October 2026The Harrisons of Tiverton
William H. Harrison died at Tiverton, Rhode Island, in 1855; his son William was born there in 1818 and his son Lemuel married there in 1841. Fanny P. Harrison's 1892 death record now sources her link to both parents. John Peckham II's Little Compton marriage date, from FamilySearch's tree, is flagged as doubtful.
18 October 2026John Patrick Long, from his obituary
John's father now has a full page: his schooling, forty years of law practice in Fall River, the family insurance firm, and his work for Bristol Community College and the Thomas Chew Boys and Girls Club, from his 2020 obituary. His parents are now a sourced link.
By the Numbers
Direct Paths
Nantucket Founders
The 1659 purchasers and the families that followed.
Mayflower Line
Five passengers among John’s ancestors.
Tristram Coffin
From Brixton, Devon, to Nantucket.
The Photographs
Primary-source images from the 1850s onward.
Sources and References
Confidence ratings, PIDs, and citation standards.
Selected Images
How the Archive Works
Every connection in this archive is rated for confidence. Primary sources are prioritized. Oral history is flagged as traditional. Where the archive is not sure, it says so.
The archive leads with what it found, not what it claims.
Primary Sources
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 15
Barney Genealogical Record
Nantucket Historical Association
Family photographs with original annotations
Complete index of sources, audit passes, and verification artifacts →