The mission of the Friend Family Association of America is to collect, record, preserve, and share the history of all family groups, to strengthen all family relationships, and to deepen appreciation for those who came before us and the values they cherished.

The organization was started 30 years ago by Colonel Lester Friend with the purpose to collect, record, preserve, and share the historical and genealogical history of all family groups and to strengthen family relationships, and to deepen appreciation for those who came before us

We do this by:

• Promoting historical and genealogical research.
• Providing a strong and purposeful organization to be a resource for the local school system, libraries, interested students and historians and the general public.
• Providing a National Heritage Museum as an educational institution.
• Creating an educational environment to make the public aware of their lines of descent from those patriots who came to the American shores in search of freedom and a better way of life.

The Friend Family Association of America is now a national organization with memberships in Europe also. 

The headquarters building is located in Friendsville, Maryland, which houses the  museum and library.  Although the library is a non-lending library, research information may be requested for many lines including but not limited to the FRIEND family..

Through the years, as  our files have grown, we have added information for many other associate lines, some of which are; Bittinger, Brant, Broadwater, Browning, Casteel, Coddington, Custer, Cummingham, DeWitt, Enlow, Fearer, Fike, Forsythe, Frantz, Frazee, Garletts, Glotfelty, Green(e), Harvey, Hoye, Riley, Savage, Sines, Sisler, Ward and Wilt, plus many more too numerous to list.  As time reveals our ancestral lines we discover even more associate family names. It has also become apparent that there are several lines of Friends, coming from Sweden, England and Germany.    

It is hoped that you too will share your genealogical research with the association in order to assist others with their research; find new links to your own family line, and to help preserve the records of those who have gone before us. Information may be submitted by CD, pedigree or family group charts.

Having a connection to the FRIEND line is not a requirement for submitting, requesting information, or for becoming a member of the FFAA.  The association is open to all.  Become a member today and receive our quarterly newsletter, The Friendship News. 

 If you have questions regarding this site or would like further membership information, please contact Pat Thompson. (Pat's E-mail)

If you are in the area of Friendsville , Maryland , we invite you to stop by, visit the Friend Museum , the Friend Store, and take a stroll along the river nearby.

Christmas Open House at our National Headquarters

The Christmas Open house took place on November 26, 2011. Our readers are invited to visit the Friend Family Association of America's website to see more pictures of the event, and some members of the Local Committee, volunteers who assist visitors at the FFAA headquarters during our open season. To view the additional, full size photographs Click Here

The Christmas Open house took place on November 26, 2011. Our readers are invited to visit the Friend Family Association of America's website to see more pictures of the event, and some members of the Local Committee, volunteers who assist visitors at the FFAA headquarters during our open season. To view the additional, full size photographs Click Here

L-R Jennifer Pletta, Jane Fox, Shirley Drent, Jimmie Dale Friend, Wilma Friend and Carol Squires, members of the Friend Family Association of America Local Committee, volunteers who greet visitors at the FFAA headquarters. (Not pictured are Ina Hicks, Carol Sisler, Janice Hileman, Judy Robeson, Tom Fike and Chairperson Hugh F. Friend.)

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How you can help. The FFAA Museum - Library (operating expenses), and web sites are run entirely on annual membership dues and generous donations from our members, visitors, and the community. The staff of the FFAA are all volunteers. We are happy to receive any amount for a donation and are appreciative of any amounts we receive. If you would like to donate to the FFAA (a non-profit organization) please print the donation form and send it to the FFAA with your donation. Thank you !

"John Friend Sr. of Friendsville, MD"  2nd Edition by Patty (Friend) Thompson and Patrick T. Smith The "John Friend Sr. of Friendsville, MD" 2nd Edition" is now available at the Friendship Store Online. See the PDF format index for this and the other books by clicking here: Index of Friend Family books

The Friend Family Association of America  (FFAA) announces the release of another book in the Friend Family series.   "Susannah Friend-House, Daughter of John Friend Sr. Books I"   by Patrick T. Smith and Patty (Friend) Thompson   "Susannah Friend-House, Daughter of John Friend Sr. Books I" is now available at the Friendship Store Online

The Friend Family Association of America is proud to announce nineteen (19) new books that are only available through our organization !

"Susannah Friend-House,
Daughter of John Friend Sr.
Books I"

“John Friend Sr. of Friendsville, MD”
(2nd edition)

Friend Family Association of America Newsletters "The Friendship News" on CD

"Andrew Coleman Friend"

"Jonathan "Sugar Joe" Friend"

"Joab Jonah Friend of Grimes Point, MD"

"Josiah Green Friend of Swanton, Maryland" book one and two

"Friendsville, Maryland: A Brief History"

"A Brief History of Friend's Delight, Sang Run, Maryland"

"Joseph Friend, Sarah Green and Their Descendants of Friendsville, Maryland"

"William Edmundson Friend of Friendsville, MD (The Gun Maker)"

"Collection of Obituaries"
see index for this book

"Elijah Friend (1814 to 1869) of Sang Run, MD"

"Cornelius Ward Friend"

"John Friend Jr. of "Friend's Delight" Sang Run, Maryland"

"Selected Cemeteries and Gravestones of Garrett County, Maryland:
see index for this book

"The Maps and Papers of William H. H. Friend, 2nd Edition"

See the PDF format index for the Friend Family series of
books(unless otherwise marked) by clicking here: Index of Friend Family books

Genealogical  Research

FFAA Newsletter

Friend Family Photograph Album

We have numerous links to assist you in your research for your ancestors

and

Our own Friend Family Association of America Document Archive Center is now online and available to all members of the Friend Family Association of America.

Please visit the Research Center for more information.

The FRIENDship NEWS is the official publication of the Friend Family Association of America, which is published four times a year.

Some copies of our previous newsletters are available to members in our Friend Family Association of America Document Archive Center and more are being added.

Click here to learn more.

We hope you enjoy our collection of historical photographs. To browse our collection  please click on the photograph album image above or click here.

 If you have any photographs you would like to share, or information about the subjects you see here, please contact :

Jeff Custer

Friend Family Store

National Headquarters

FFAA Message Board

The Friendship Store has unique gifts! Are you FRIEND proud? Have you shopped at the Friendship Store lately? Take a look around in our new online store. And see many of the most unique gifts you'll never find any where else but at the Friendship Store in Friendsville, Maryland. Check out the store's online catalog

While our members come from all over America and England, our Headquarters is located at the intersection of First & Maple Streets in Friendsville, Maryland.

It is housed in the old Bank building and it is the home of the Friend Family Association's library, museum and store described at the  National Headquarters web page.

A little more sophisticated than a slate board and chalk, we use ProBoards, the Internet's premier forum provider, to assist our members and friends to keep in touch with each other.

Visit the Friend Family Association of America Message Board

Click here to enter

Membership

Gathering of Friends

This Date In History

We Want You!

To join us in our adventure of researching our families and their histories.

Are you a member yet?

Come join us and received a great Newsletter and much more!

Click here to learn more!
 

Every other year the Friend Family Association of America holds a Gathering of our organization and members to research our genealogy, hold seminars, and to elect our Board of Director positions that are due to expire.

 Please click here or on the 2012 "Gathering" button above for more information on our "Gathering of Friends" event

New In the Friendship Store

New in the Photograph Album

New In the Friendship Store

Givins/Friend photographs and more.

See this new addition to our Photograph Album!

The book "Andrew Coleman Friend" has  been added to The Friendship Store

The Friend Family Association of America
P.O. Box 96
261 Maple Street
Friendsville, Maryland 21531

Contact us by telephone at (301) - 746-4690 (during our open season)
or by e-mail at membership (year round)

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