Why are we changing the definition of the Mayflower Family?

Question

WikiTree now has a revised policy on colaboration for profiles of people born before 1700. To better comply with this policy that requires coordination with a project for any change to pre-1700 profiles, we are extending the scope of the Mayflower project to any Mayflower descendant born before 1700. Most of the Mayflower Passengers and Families also should be coordinated with the other projects which work on Early New England people.

The "how to" coordinate - An entry in g2g with the appropriate project tag seems to be the generally accepted way to coordinate. MAYFLOWER is the best tag for the Mayflower project.  

Comments

Thanks Becky.

Can you point us towards information regarding adding Mayflower descendants born before 1700 to the project? Is there a template for those profiles, are there designated sources, any discussion required, etc.?

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I am testing a template for Mayflower families. There is already a template for Mayflower Passengers All the Mayflower Passengers should already have their template. I will post the Mayflower Families one here when it is tested.  "Mayflower Families" is already a category and should also be added as appropriate.

Here are online (reliable) sources and some free space pages with more information. reliable sources:

Wikipedia, Caleb Johnson's Mayflower history, Mayflower Families for 5 generations, Great Migration Begins series. Most of these books are available from online book sellers.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Voyage_of_the_Mayflower

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Mayflower

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Mayflower_Descendant

Note: Anyone interested in joining the Mayflower Society should contact them directly for their requirements for membership.

 

 

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Thanks for this, Becky!

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Thanks Becky. I look forward to the template.

When the template is available for families, should the template only go on profiles born before 1700 or will it also include folks born later (that are in GSMD lines, for example)?

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OK, so. I have some Mayflower ancestry, as do various cousins. I stayed away from the Mayflower project because: It's always been a side interest for me, with other topics of much more interest. My tree is heavy in the colonial period. I've joined PGM and marked several appropriate ancestors, though I don't know anything about the administration of projects. I'm new around here, and also generally strive to avoid participation on committees.

So: I've got plenty of records in my own tree that say "Mayflower descended", though I've not always worked out the tie. It doesn't interest me that much. I guess I imagine that it has the potential to be ego-ridden, and I have no desire to butt heads. I just stay aside.

But with this new rule, I sort of can't. In the 180 years between when the Pilgrims landed and 1700, my own tree has lots and lots and lots and lots of overlap with the Mayflower descendents.

In my own tree, I was told there was a branch some generations back that claimed Mayflower descent. But I'm pretty sure that's a false claim, having worked out exactly where the sleight of hand occurred. So I appreciate there's much to sort out. I just have avoided going there, leaving the Mayflower questions to others.

With the new rule, do I have to? What, if anything, should I do about this?

BTW, does the Mayflower group do "Mayflower only", or do you use "Old Comers" like they did in the early days in Massachusetts, including the Fortune, Anne & Little James passengers?

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Basically, all you have to do is let the Mayflower project know about the change(s) you intend to make -- and your source(s), of course.

I'm a member of the Mayflower Project, so if you know exactly where a dubious lineage connects, just let me know and I'll look it up in the relevant "Silver Book" of Mayflower descendants -- there's a whole set at the library down the street.   By 1700 the grandchildren (and maybe great-grandchildren) of Mayflower passengers were starting to have children, so there should be authoritative research on all of these families.

My understanding is that the non-Mayflower Old Comers all fall under the PGM project.  Maybe that's a bit arbitrary, but the Mayflower has a special status among Americans, with intense interest among genealogists, so it makes sense to be in a category by itself.

When I was a child in Vermont, I researched the familiy trees of classmates for fun, and it was a game to see how many Mayflower passengers I could find in their New England family trees.  But in my own family, rooted in Nebraska and Missouri, I have found exactly one Mayflower ancestor for each of my parents, which is much more of a thrill.

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Many of the settlers who arrived on the Anne, the Little James, and the Fortune intermarried with the Mayflower Passengers and are treated with the Mayflower Project. I will start another thread to see if there is a concensus that all the spouses are to be catorigirized as "Mayflower Families".

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If I understand correctly, my ancestor (picked at random) Alice Adams Collins (Adams-16618), who was William Bradford's great-granddaugter, born in 1682, should now be categorized as part of the Mayflower Project. True?

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Dear Henry;

My situation is similar to yours. I didn't want to join the Mayflower Project, quite willing to leave it to others. But if its scope is going to expand so dramatically (already has done so?), I might have to do so.

Sigh.

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What we've said on the Puritan Great Migration project is that it covers anyone who emigrated between 1620 and 1640 excluding the "Mayflower" passengers, which have their own project. 

So, yes, PGM would include those who came on the Fortune, Anne & Little James. (BTW, Anderson in his series includes the Mayflower passengers; while we follow Anderson, we simply stay clear of Mayflower passengers because of the existing wikitree project.)

If there's anything we (the PGM project) should change, please let me know.