America 250: Mayflower Descendants
Discovering a possible connection to the Mayflower is exciting. Suddenly, your family tree stretches back more than 400 years to one of the best-known stories in early American history. But there is a big difference between finding a Mayflower passenger in an online tree and proving you descend from one.
My own Mayflower ancestor is Francis Cooke, who arrived at Plymouth aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Cooke and his family have been researched extensively. The hard part wasn't proving Francis Cooke existed. It was proving every generation between Francis Cooke and me.
Start With Yourself
Maybe your grandmother told you that you descended from a Mayflower passenger. Maybe you discovered the connection in an online family tree. Either way, treat it as a clue, not a conclusion.
Write down the proposed line of descent. Then start with yourself and work backward, one generation at a time. For every generation, ask “Can I prove that these people were this person's parents?” Birth, marriage, and death records are obvious places to look, but don't stop there. Census records, obituaries, church records, probate files, land records, newspapers, and cemetery records can all help establish relationships.
Don't Trust the Online Trees
Online family trees are useful. They can point you toward records and other researchers, but they aren't automatically evidence. It is easy to attach the wrong person, particularly when people share names or live in the same area. Once an error appears in one tree, it can be copied again and again. Instead of asking, "How many trees have this connection?" ask, "What evidence proves it?"
Find the Silver Books
Mayflower researchers have an excellent resource in the Mayflower Families Through Five Generations books, commonly called the Silver Books. Published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, these volumes document the descendants of Mayflower passengers. For my own research, the Francis Cooke volume provides a well-researched foundation for the early generations. But the Silver Books probably won't take you all the way to your family. At some point, you have to build the bridge between those documented Mayflower descendants and your more recent ancestors.
Expect a Difficult Generation
Most long genealogical lines have at least one generation that refuses to cooperate. A woman's maiden name disappears. A family moves west. Two men with the same name live in neighboring towns. The record you need simply doesn't exist. This is where you have to assemble the solid evidence. A probate record might name several children. A deed could connect family members. Census records might put them in the same household. An obituary could identify siblings. No single record proves the relationship, but together they can make a convincing case. And sometimes the evidence tells you the connection you started with was wrong. That's valuable, too.
Want to Join the Mayflower Society?
If your research holds up, you may decide to apply to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD), better known as the Mayflower Society.
Membership is based on documented descent from one or more of the Mayflower passengers who left descendants. You generally begin the process through the Mayflower Society in the state where you live. You'll submit your proposed lineage, and the state society will help determine what documentation is already accepted and what additional evidence you need.
You don't necessarily have to prove the entire line from scratch. Earlier generations in your lineage may already have been documented through the Silver Books or previously approved applications. Your job is to provide acceptable documentation for the generations that still need proof.
That might include birth, marriage, and death certificates; church and probate records; published genealogies; or other records that prove each parent-child relationship.
Once the application and supporting documentation are complete, the state society submits it to the General Society for final review and approval. The process can also help identify gaps in your research. If you've been relying on an online tree or an undocumented family history for one generation, this is where you'll discover that you need stronger evidence.
Build a Line You Can Defend
You don't have to join the Mayflower Society to research your Mayflower ancestry. But its emphasis on documenting each generation is a good standard for any genealogist. Finding Francis Cooke at the end of one branch of my family tree was fun. But the more interesting part was proving the chain of people connecting his generation to mine.
