One of the most important ships in American history, the Mayflower set sail in September of 1820 from Plymouth, a port on the southern coast of England. The ship carried 102 passengers hoping to start a new life on the other side of the Atlantic. They landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. The first winter was harsh, and only 53 passengers survived.
“Today, it is estimated that up to tens of millions of Americans have at least one ancestor who was among this group of early settlers. [Descendants of these Pilgrims have created societies to honor and remember them.]The following are the names of 31 adult Mayflower passengers currently known to have descendants: John Alden, Isaac Allerton, Mary (nee Norris) Allerton, John Billington, William Bradford, Love Brewster, William Brewster, Peter Brown, James Chilton, Francis Cooke, Edward Doty, Francis Eaton, Edward Fuller, Samuel Fuller, Stephen Hopkins, Elizabeth (nee Fisher) Hopkins, John Howland, Richard Moore, William Mullins, Degory Priest Thomas Rogers, Pricilla Alden (nee Mullins), Moses Fletcher, Henry Samson George Soule, Myles Standish, John Tilley, Joan (nee Hurst) Tilley, Richard Warren, William White, and Edward Winslow.” (The Mayflower Society)
The year 2020 will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage. Many of the Mayflower societies plan events to celebrate this anniversary. Not only are there Mayflower societies, but there are societies associated with the passengers that have known descendants of this historic voyage. These lineage societies allow membership only for persons after proving lineage to one of the above passengers.
AmericanAncestors.org (available at the FamilySearch Center) has created a new interactive website. (mayflower.americanancestors.org/) This website will be the world’s first online gathering of Mayflower descendants. The Harwich Mayflower Project is hoping to build a replica of the ship at Harwich, England to honor this anniversary.
If you are not sure whether you have a Mayflower ancestor, you can go to relativefinder.org to find out. Relative Finder, created at BYU, uses your information from FamilySearch to determine if you have Mayflower ancestors. According to Relative Finder, I am a descendant of three of the Mayflower passengers, information of which I was not aware until searching on the site. Armed with this new information I have a newfound interest and appreciation for the Mayflower and I can go to these societies and gather more information about my new found ancestors.
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If you have a subscription to American Ancestors magazine, be sure and check out their new "special" edition. It is "Your Guide to the Mayflower 400th Anniversary. It has a lot of great articles and there is even a beautiful chart that you can purchase that you fill out to show how your are related to a Mayflower ancestor. It is meant to be framed and hung on the wall. Lot's of fun stuff happening for 2020!
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