"When farmer Joel Dunton of Franklin, Massachusetts was killed by a kick from his plow horse on July 1, 1849, he left behind not only a wife and four children, but also a lasting mystery about his origins. Several area newspapers reported the accident, but no obituary was published and no personal information was provided about the victim. Was he an immigrant from Scotland, as some descendants believe? Was he a member of one of the Dunton families who'd resided in New England for generations? Decades of research have yielded no answers but the author has nevertheless managed to document detailed information on four generations of individuals who share ancestry with the mysterious Joel" -- publisher's description.