Home - Friend Family Association

The Friend Family Association of America Museum – Library (operating expenses), and websites are run entirely on annual membership dues and generous donations from our members, visitors, and the community. The staff of the Friend Family Association of America 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 Friend Family Association of America (a non-profit organization) we offer two methods. We are able to accept a donation through PayPal. Also we have a mail-in form to mail the donation to our National Headquarters.

Please click on this link to go to our donation page:

Donation Page

Thank you !

Note: Your gift is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Welcome Friends!

Welcome to the Friend Family Association of America website!

Our organization was started 45 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 and the values they cherished.

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 an international organization, with memberships in Europe and Canada, as well as the United States.

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 Patty Thompson. (Patty’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.

Friend Family Series of Books

The Friend Family Association of America is proud to announce over 40 new books that are only available through our organization!

Covering a large number of Friend Family members as well as associated families, these books are for sale in our store.

In the column on the left is a listing of the newest books in our Friend Family Series of Book. The complete listing is found in our on-line store.

All orders will be sent by first class mail, as soon as possible, barring inclement weather. Due to weather conditions at our headquarters during the winter months, our volunteer staff will ship orders twice a month.

For additional information, use the navigation bar at the top of this page or by clicking here:
Store

Friend Family Association Membership

The Friend Family Association of America is an international organization with its membership connected to the Friend Family.

We offer two memberships, yearly ($25.00) and lifetime ($250.00).

For additional information, use the navigation bar at the top of this page or by clicking here: Membership

Biennial Member Meeting

Every other Year the Friend Family Association of America holds a Biennial Member Meeting of our organization to elect our Board of Directors positions that are due to expire and for other business as is specified by the President.

SPOKT

The Friend Family of America uses Spokt™ for our members to share photos, documents, videos and news that would be of interest to other members.

Our membership to Spokt™began shortly after MyFamily announced that it was being retired in September 2014.

All information that was on MyFamily has been saved and is starting to be placed on Spokt™.

Spokt™is by invitation only, so if you are interested in joining Spokt™, please contact us at friendfamilyassociation@gmail.com and you will receive an invitation from our Spokt™site.

We look forward to seeing you on Spokt™.

Garrett County Tour

While visiting our National Headquarters and Museum, plan to stay a few days longer and enjoy the attractions and beauty of Garrett County, Maryland, seen in the video below.

DRONE VIDEO OF FRIENDSVILLE

Hope you enjoy this drone video of Friendsville, Maryland! The sound is a little off so you might want to turn it down a bit first. Be sure to check back for additional videos of interest.