Mayflower Ancestors

In 1620 the Mayflower set to sea with 102 passengers, in hopes to find freedom in the New World, in the Virginia Colony. The passengers were suddenly surprised when they realized they had arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts instead. More than 100 hundred years ago a group of descendants from the original passengers onboard the Mayflower thought they should honor the memory of those brave enough to set sail by creating a special society. The Mayflower Society, founded in Plymouth in 1897, is just one of the many resources to connect descendants to their courageous ancestors onboard the Mayflower.

Descendants or those longing to find out if they could be connected to the passengers can use a host of resources to trace their genealogy. After all, it is anticipated that 10 percent of American citizens can draw their roots back to Mayflower descendants. You can start by visiting the Mayflower Society, which gives you history about the Pilgrims and the life they led. The society also provides a list of the passengers onboard and challenges you to prove your descent and if you can, you are eligible to be a member of the exclusive society. Those wishing to find their ancestors should search vital records first, such as birth, marriage and death certificates. If you wish to join the Mayflower Society you can also pay for an optional lineage review, which will give you a report with ancestral findings and tell you how to proceed in your quest to uncover the past.

Mayflower historian, Caleb Johnson directs his own Mayflower genealogy resource. The site also lists the names of every passenger onboard and even lists the spouse and/or children of some individuals. You can choose to research the Mayflower, the passage, life in Plymouth, the Wampanoag and much more. Johnson also provides visitors with background information on some of the Mayflower’s crew, which included around 25 to 30 people. However, only a few names of the crewmembers are currently known. Johnson offers visitors a host of primary sources, such as journals, sermons, court records, wills and letters that pertain to the Pilgrims. Johnson’s site also provides information on Pilgrim museums and societies. Not only are there general Pilgrim societies but also Mayflower family lineage societies that cater to a particular individual or family onboard. Pilgrims such as John Alden, John Howland, Edward Doty and the Hopkins family all have lineage societies.

Another valuable resource to discover your possible connection to the Pilgrims is the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which was founded in 1845. The group gives advice and resources on how to accurately trace your ancestors; it even lists common mistakes that are often made when researching the Mayflower. For example, the parentage of John Alden has not actually been discovered, although there have been various claims. This resource is useful for debunking myths and rumors about Mayflower genealogy.

Although you can start by searching the Internet, you will probably have to take your search offline and look into published books, public records or visit the towns where your ancestors or potential ancestors lived in. When researching, you should also remember that some residents of Plymouth moved to nearby towns, like Duxbury and Taunton.

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