Are you a Mayflower descendant? There are literally millions of Mayflower descendants living in the US and even more Mayflower descendants living worldwide. How do you research to learn if you are one of them?
Pilgrim Math
So in 1620 a ship known as the Speedwell set out for what would be America. Due to massive leaks it was forced to turn around. Half the passengers re-boarded a newer and smaller ship known as the ‘Mayflower’. It landed in what was then called the New World and changed North American history forever. Not all the 102 passengers made it through the winter. In fact only 51 did. But with the help of Tisquantum and Massasoit these 51 people thrived and have approximately 35 million direct descendants today worldwide, 10 million of them in the US. The Mayflower Society only has 30,000 members.
Pilgrim Lines-Start Here
How to begin: Most folks start with Ancestry.com. It’s a great tool to use to research what with all the cross referencing and hints they give. There are two issues that crop up here and must be addressed before you start building.
One…think of it like the Ways app. It’s only as good as everyone using it. So if there is incorrect information and everyone is sharing it, it doesn’t make the information suddenly correct. The second thing to note is that if you are interested in joining The Mayflower society, printed pages from Ancestry don’t cut it. They want copies of documents, not a bibliography list. So just because it’s a hint or a lot of people ‘say so’ make sure you are collecting the correct documentation to prove it.
Ancestry is a great online way to keep your family lines organized. Trust me, it gets REAL confusing REAL fast so I highly recommend this as a tool to use throughout the Mayflower descendant research process.
Charge: Anyone can get a free account. Subscription levels include access to more research.
Mayflower Pilgrim Genealogies Online
Boston based genealogical society ‘The New England Historic Genealogical Society and the General Society of Mayflower Descendants just made your research a whole lot easier
They have digitized and authenticated many Pilgrim genealogies and over fifty years of the ‘Mayflower Quarterly’ magazine.
Charge: Some of it is available for no charge and some of it requires a membership to view. It is an excellent source. www.americanancestors.org
The Famous Mayflower Family Silver Books
These are documented and authenticated families of Mayflower descendants for five generations. Wonderful! There are over 150,000 birth, marriage and death records in these books. They are a GIANT help. The trick is, of course getting there.
The thing is you have start with YOU and work your way backwards, generation by generation so it will be a little bit before you get to use these fabulous books. In the day and age we are living in you are likely looking at tracing 13-16 generations back so just know that if you can just get back for enough, there is a magic book (or books-there are 31) to carry you the rest of the way. 🙂
Charge: Mayflower silver books can be found in libraries and are available for purchase.
Step by Step How To Research if you are a Mayflower Descendant
- Get a method of organizing the lines you are researching.
- Start with what you know. Your birthday, your marriage, your parents birthdays, marriage, death if applicable. Make sure you have Birth, Marriage, Death records for each generation.
- Work backwards to collect documentation one generation at a time.
- When you get to the time period 1880s and back, get creative. Use family records, church records, County Clerk offices, local libraries.
- When you get stuck, reach out to The New England Historic Genealogical Society and use their resources.
- When you think you have a pretty clear path at least back to the 1700’s start looking in those glorious silver books.
- Preliminary Review Form
Preliminary Review Form
When you are feeling fairly confident about your research and you think you may be a Mayflower descendent, and you have enough documentation to prove most of what you have, now is the time to send in your Preliminary Review Form to the Society of Mayflower Descendants.
It’s pretty simple. Just fill out your name and address and then fill in the generations as you know them to be. The top generation is the Mayflower Pilgrim Ancestor and then simply add each generation until it gets to you.
Send it in!
The volunteer historians at the Society of Mayflower Descendants will use their resources to look it over and will send back directions on how to proceed.
When you receive it back, there will be little notes all over it. Those are their notes. The one you are looking for is ‘NFR’ and there will be a line across a generation. This means that the Society has sufficient documentation and ‘No Further Research’ is needed past this point.
What that means for you: You have to include the birth, marriage, death from you to that point…. BUT if you’ve been following my directions you basically have all of it at this point which is good because now a clock starts for the the Society of Mayflower Descendants and you have a year to get all the documents together and sent in.
The Society of Mayflower Descendants
It is now your efforts have been realized. In one single sheet of paper the line from you to the Mayflower has been recognized. Now it is up to you what you do with this information.
Is that satisfying enough to know you’ve been part of the American experience from the beginnings?
Or do you want to join the Society of Mayflower Descendants and celebrate it even more with all the cousins?
It’s a badge of honor for this country. Once it was a very revered thing to know this lineage. These days being a Mayflower descendant has been equated with not so lovely things alike being a supremicist. Times change.
I believe all ancestry should be recognized and honored. And Mayflower descendancy is a way for people to tie in to the legacy and story of the beginnings of this country. And in my humble opinion, any way to connect to our nation’s story is a good thing. It’s a healthy pride.
Before (and during) Pilgrims
The only non native settlement older then Plymouth is Jamestown and of course, it needs to be noted the over 500 nations that called this place home before that had as many settlements. This Family is proud of all our lines and we have several Native lines, some that can be documented to the same time period.
Disclaimer: When we are researching family genealogy in this time period, there is bound to be conflict. I encourage all searchers to take a deep breath. It was a different time and different thinking. This is not a justification for any foul action but rather a recognition. Our purposes are to research the facts and trace the lines, not to make judgement calls.
Native American Heritage Month
The Pilgrim Thanksgiving Myth
The Pilgrims didn’t really celebrate Thanksgiving in the sense of how it’s celebrated today. They DID set aside a day of Thanks after they survived that first long winter but Days of Thanks could happen anytime after undergoing severe stresses. It was actually against their staunch nature to ‘celebrate’ as we think of it today. They lived for God and and that was really about it.
Thanksgiving Truth
It wasn’t until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln finally made Thanksgiving a national holiday. This proclamation and the forty year effort of Sarah Josepha Hale made Thanksgiving a National holiday. It was primarily a means to keep a war torn nation together. (Very little to do with the Pilgrims and the Native Americans) It’s actually a great story and I give a fabulous presentation on it.
The Story of Sarah Josepha Hale
Are YOU a Pilgrim Descendant
Chances are because of marriages you likely won’t have the same surname as the original 102 passengers but if you think you might have ties to early American history, like the American Revolution, it doesn’t take too much more to go back to the Mayflower generation.
One thing I have learned in genealogy is don’t take the family stories or what you think you know as gospel. Most families tend to follow one lineage and often leave out whole other lines.
DNA testing is a good place to start.
400 Year Anniversary
The year 2020 is coming up and The Mayflower Society is making a push for more people to join to help commemorate and celebrate the 400 year anniversary of the Pilgrims arrival so now is the time to start researching the genealogy.
Resources
Ancestry is a great beginning resource! I’ve learned a ton on it! (Like the fact I have several direct lines to the Mayflower Pilgrims). I also learned I’m related to Abraham Lincoln and one of the first inter marriages of colonist and Native. Basically, I’ve now claimed Thanksgiving as my own personal holiday. LOL
But I digress… here’s some more helpful links.
A gift for your hard work (or inspiration to get your research started)
FREE Downloadable Printable Game: THANKSGIVING TABLE TALKERS
If you get stuck, don’t hesitate to reach out. This has become quite the hobby for me and if I can point you in a good direction I will. I wouldn’t have been able to find all the amazing things I’ve found without the help of others so if I can provide that for you, I will.
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Great post! I have also traced some of my heritage through Ancestry.com 🙂
Ancestry is a great place to start research on Mayflower descendants and pilgrim ancestors. Just be aware that the Society of Mayflower Descendants doesn’t take their info as documentable proof’. They need each descendants claim to be able to show research.
Just a clarification on “lines” versus “ancestors.” The Mayflower Society documents lineages through the adult males only, so the family unit of Isaac Allerton, his wife Mary Norris, and their daughter Mary Allerton is one line, but three people, not three lines.
I have six separate lines and 13 people through one ancestor. Lineages are reduced to being traced through the 26 surviving males. In my case, the marriage of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins is still just one line.
Wow! Great info! I have worked on my genealogy before and it’s so interesting.
That’s so cool! My family isn’t descended from pilgrims, but we do have my great-grandmother’s immigration record from Ellis Island when she and her family arrived in the country. Genealogy is SO fascinating!
That is a treasure for sure!!!! I think all genealogy is fascinating. So many wonderful stories for descendants to discover! Have you done any research to learn more of her story? I’ll bet it s a good one!
Well, this is fascinating! My mother is into tracing our genealogy, but I haven’t been too diligent to do the research. I do know that most of my ancestors came much later, but I can imagine how amazing it must feel to trace several lines back to the Pilgrims.
All the stories are just amazing. I haven’t met a boring one yet! Genealogy is kind of my jam so let me know if you need a hand with anything in the research department 🙂 There is a society for descendants of just about everything these days if you are interested. The research can be daunting but the stories are well worth the effort. 🙂
This is fascinating! Very interesting stuff!
Glad you enjoyed! I hope you are inspired to do your own research to find out who you are descendants of! All research doesn’t have to end in joining a Society like the Mayflower Descendants. The journey of learning the stories is very satisfying and worth the effort.
This is fantastic! My mother always said she qualified for the DAR and my neighbors were direct descendants of George Washington. I love genealogy!
OH yes! I’m an active member of both DAR and CAR. They are fabulous organizations…like the Society of Mayflower Descendants, they do require a bit of research but I have to say it’s well worth the effort to learn the stories. Let me know if I can help you research and enroll. 🙂 Once you are in DAR it becomes a lot easier to research descendants lines to the Mayflower so happy to help there too!
We have been tracing our lineage for about two years now (starting with DNA testing). It can get very complicated since record-keeping was very different than it is now. But is has been so much fun to uncover little nuggets!
I’m so glad to hear your research is going well! Indeed, it can get super complicated and will take SOOOOOO long to find just one thing but it’s really fun to explore. Keep mining! There are some great gems to be had! Do you have any interest in the Society of Mayflower Descendants or are you back that far yet?
Very interesting! It is so neat that you can trace your history back that far.
The research has been an adventure for sure. We seem to be descendants of Mayflower pilgrims and more. Every bit of research uncovers a new story about someone fascinating. Just learned about a couple in 1633 who got put in the public stockade for having premarital sex!
This is cool! I love doing genealogy and learning about my heritage!
Me too!!! Sometimes the research gets a bit frustrating but the stories I uncover are so worth it! Have you researched back to Mayflower pilgrims? Who are you descendants of? Perhaps we’re distant cousins!
That is so neat! All of my relatives came later, but I love knowing their story.
One thing I’ve learned in my research is all the ancestors have a story worth telling! Mayflower pilgrim or not, I haven’t met a boring story yet! They all contribute to what this nation is… treasure those stories you have! 🙂 Do you have a favorite ancestor story? Are you part of any lineage society? I find some of those to be helpful in research.
How awesome! Im working on my genealogy. Several lines are back to originating countries, with ancestors arriving well after the Mayflower. However I’m still tracing lines back that have men who fought in the Revolutionary War. Im excited by each new discovery I make. It’s so interesting, isn’t it?!
Researching the family is SUCH a fun thing! Are you a member of any lineage society? They can be quite helpful in research endeavors. The Revolutionary War is my favorite American time period! If you can trace your family there, you can likely join a society like DAR and CAR. It’s not a far stretch from there to seeing if you are Mayflower descendants. You might enjoy some of my articles on Daughters of the American Revolution and other family genealogy. I’m an active member of DAR and there are tremendous resources available in the society if you need help.