.Please note:
Too few people; too much to do.
When Dick Weber began this project seventeen years ago and then moved it to the
Internet ten years ago, he never dreamed that there would be more than 300,000
individuals in our database. Dick's workload has increased dramatically every
year. We now have a ten-year backlog of "regular" mail, and
we have not processed the majority of this year's e-mail.
It has become clear that we must cut back on some of what
we do. Since we became website-based, we have focused on information submitted
by e-mail, and material sent by regular mail has simply piled up as a result.
Our new focus is first to go through the many dozens of envelopes we have received
over the years containing Sprague family histories and research, and enter that
information into our database. The consequence is that there will be a significant
delay of months or years in our responding to or incorporating e-mail submissions
and suggestions. We will, of course, continue to read the e-mail. We will make
immediate changes to correct errors in our database, and we will respond to simple
suggestions.
Our focus at present, however, will be on the backlogged
material sent by regular mail. (26 Apr 2009)
The
Sprague Database is a computerized database containing information on more than
307,000 individuals from worldwide families of Sprague and Sprague-derivative
names. (Derivative names include Sprag, Sprage, Spragg, Spragge, Spraggs,
Spraggue, Sprags, Sprake, Spraig, Sprig, Sprigg, Sprigge, and Spriggs.) The largest
sections of the database document the descendants of (1) Francis
Sprague, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1623 and (2) Edward
Sprague's three sons (Ralph,
Richard,
and William),
who arrived in Massachusetts in 1629. The Spragg and Sprake lines are also major
sections. Further, we include another 1,900+ Sprague family lines or individuals
that do not yet connect to any of the major family lines in the project database.
To see these unconnected Sprague and Sprague-derivative lines, please go to reports.
The purpose of the Sprague Database
is to treat the entire Sprague family as a single entity. There are hundreds of
people researching their own lines, but until now there has been no organized
effort since the work of Dr. Warren Vincent Sprague ( Sprague Families in
America, published in 1913) to put this work together to benefit future
generations. The Sprague Project is unusual in that it places
equal emphasis on recording female and male descendant lines. The Sprague
Database is an invaluable resource for those interested in the Sprague
line.
Please note:
The identification system used on our website often causes confusion when the
initial letter "I" for each individual (I248000)
is mistaken for the number "1." As a result,
erroneous correspondence is sent to The Sprague Project developer. There is no
way that we can change this means of identification. When you correspond with
the developer, please keep this in mind and use the letter "I"
and not the number "1."
The Sprague Database holds the following
as of June 9, 2009:
Total individuals: 313,005
Deceased individuals (searchable
in website database): 231,233
Living individuals (not searchable
in website database): 81,772
Unconnected Sprague lines: 2,458
Individuals with the surname Sprague: 27,864
(Why so few Spragues in such a large database?
See FAQ.)
Unique Surnames: 24,225 Total
Families: 112,478
Total Sources: 3,292 Total Notes:
69,403
Size of current GEDCOM File: 160.1 MB
Major Sprague Groups:
Francis
Sprague descendants: 49,238
William
Sprague descendants: 53,756
Lt.
Ralph Sprague descendants: 18,118
Edward
Spragg descendants: 7,589 |
What's new in our update
of June 9, 2009:
- Database increased by 2,819 individuals for a total of
313,005
- Our major lines have been increased as follows:
Francis Sprague: 254 new descendants
William Sprague: 462 new descendants
Lt. Ralph Sprague: 1,565 new descendants
Edward Spragg: 245 new descendants
- A major update of the descendants of Elizabeth
Sprague (I59670) of the Lt. Ralph Sprague line. Elizabeth married Samuel
Mower.
- A significant update to the descendants of Levi
Sprague (I175786) of the William Sprague line. Levi married Henrietta
Clay Bevans.
User factoids about our
website |
Connect speed*:
Cable/DSL 59.2%
Unknown 26.2%
T1 6.0%
Dial-up 5.8%
|
Browsers**:
MS IE 69.7%
Firefox 22.1%
Safari 3.8%
Mozilla 2.3.0% |
Platform**:
Windows 90.6%
Macintosh 6.4%
Unknown 2.4% |
Screen res.*:
1024x768 47.4%
1280x1024 18.3%
800x600 9.1%
1440x900 7.8% |
* Per Google
Analytics for period 11/23/07 - 1/22/2008
** Per local statistics for period May 2009
|
|
Number of individuals
named: |
Sprage: 2
Spragg: 2,357
Spragge: 415
Spraggs: 321 |
Spraggue: 2 Sprags : 6
Sprague: 27,791
Sprake:73 |
Sprig: 1
Sprigg: 130 Sprigge:
3
Spriggs: 463 |
The contents of the Sprague Database
include information for both living and deceased individuals. However, only content
that applies to deceased individuals is made available for public study on this
Sprague Website. The sole source of genealogical information
on the Sprague Website is the Sprague Database.
In addition, supplementary material has been added to the Sprague Website
for the use of website visitors. For example, there is a listing of published
sources where information on the Sprague family has been found. This material
is located in the column to the left.
The Sprague Website has been developed
utilizing an innovative software product named The Next Generation of
Genealogy Sitebuilding (TNG). There are significant research facilities
available for the use of any visitor to the Sprague Website.
A comprehensive search facility allows the website visitor to search for all individuals
named John Sprague who were born in Vermont before 1844. A large number of search
fields may be used in combination. When an individual of interest is located by
a search, a variety of reports is available to show the Family Group Sheet for
the individual, an ancestral chart, a descendant’s chart, among others.
Since The Sprague Project places equal emphasis on both male
and female descendant lines and on Sprague spousal ancestral lines, there are
a large number of individuals with surnames other than Sprague recorded in the
Sprague Database. The Sprague Website provides
the facility for quickly determining how many of any given surname are recorded
in The Sprague Database. Reports are predefined to show such
information as participants in any of the 13 wars recorded in U. S. history. There
are also photos of individuals and photos of individual grave stones that will
be displayed as part of the individual data.
The objective of The Sprague Project
Developer and the Sprague Website Webmaster is for the website
to be an effective research tool for the massive amount of personal information
recorded in the Sprague Database. For an interesting introduction
to the Sprague Website, enter Chase in the Surname field and
Katherine in the First Name field to the left and then press “Search.”
When Katherine is located, click on her name and your fun will begin. Enjoy the
Sprague Website. May it provide much insight into your ancestral
history.
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