The volume commences with a learned Introduction that discusses the author's methodology, the venerable families of the Vineyard and migration patterns to the mainland, and it concludes with an every-name index exceeding 12,000 persons. What follows is a list of the most frequently cited surnames in that index: Adams, Allen, Arey, Athearn, Baker, Bartlett, Bassett, Baxter, Beetle, Benson, Bourne, Bradford, Bradley, Brown, Burgess, Butler, Case, Cathcart, Chase, Claghorn, Clark, Cleveland, Clifford, Coffin, Coleman, Cooke, Cottle, Covell, Crosby, Crowell, Daggett, Davis, Dean, Dexter, Dunham, Eddy, Fisher, Flanders, Folger, Foster, Gardiner, Gifford, Gould, Gray, Hammett, Hancock, Harding, Harper, Hatch, Hathaway, Hillman, Holley, Huxford, Jenkins, Jernegan, Johnson, Jones, Kelley, King, Lambert, Lewis, Long, Look, Luce, Manchester, Manter, Marchant, Mayhew, Merry, Morse, Nash, Nickerson, Norton, Nye, Osborn, Parker, Pease, Pope, Pratt, Presbury, Reynolds, Ripley, Robinson, Rogers, Rotch, Russell, Sears, Sherman, Skiff, Smith, Snow, Sprague, Starbuck, Stewart, Strong, Swain, Swasey, Tabor, Taylor, Thaxter, Tilton, Tobey, Torrey, Trapp, Vincent, Vinson, Waldron, Wass, Webster, Weeks, West, Wheldon, White, Williams, Wing, Winslow, Worth, and Young.