Joining the Mayflower Project? Look Here. [closed]

Question

Are you interested in improving the profiles of Mayflower passengers and their families?

The Mayflower Project currently covers the passengers of the Mayflower, their spouses, and their descendants for two generations or born before 1700, whichever is more inclusive. Please note that all Mayflower passengers and most of their family members already have profiles on WikiTree and should not be duplicated. If you cannot find yours, please ask. 

Anyone who has signed the Honor Code and has the Pre-1700 badge is invited to join the project. 

To Join - Follow these Directions: 

1. Read the Project page. 
2. Ask yourself: Do I actively want to participate in the project and contribute to the  Mayflower Project goals? See Project FAQ 
3. Add and maintain Mayflower in your Followed Tags on your profile. This is a requirement of membership.
4. Post an answer (not a comment) below, introducing yourself, and sharing why you are interested in the Mayflower Project and who your ancestor is (if you have one). Comments to this post will be removed to avoid confusion.
5. Add yourself to the participants list. 

If you simply want to acknowledge that you are the descendant of a Mayflower passenger and honor that passenger, Mayflower has a Sticker you can add to your profile. 

NOTE: Please click the  Answer this post  button to join. Comments will be removed after a response is made. Please keep this thread to its intended subject: joining the Project. For other subjects, please start a new post, using the Mayflower tag. 

Comments

Just a reminder to our newer members that all of the Mayflower passengers and most of their first 3-5 generations of descendants already exist of WikiTree and should not be duplicated. Please be sure to check carefully for your Mayflower-lineage ancestors before creating new profiles. When in doubt, please post questions to G2G with a Mayflower tag. Creation of duplicates just makes more work for your fellow WikiTree members.

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This post is now closed, but a new post for 2022 can be found here on G2G.

Answer 1

Hi all. I'm a decendant of Richard Warren and would like to find out more about him.

Comments

In order to join our Project you'll need to take a few more steps, firstly upgrading to full membership in WikiTree by becoming a Wiki Genealogist, as well as the other steps mentioned in the main 'question.'

But if it is just more information about Richard Warren you're interested in, besides our profile about him you may want to check your local library for the series of books entitled Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, they are bound in a distinctive silver cover. Richard Warren and his family are covered in Volume 18.

Hope this helps some.

Answer 2

Hello, I'm a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, among others in the PGM. My mom, recently deceased, attributed many of her health issues to our Pilgrim ancestors, as she inherited the Factor V Leiden gene.

I'm recently DNA tested through Living DNA.

I was a history major, graduated summa cum laude at University of Maryland Overseas. After my masters, I did some other post-graduate courses, primarily focused on research methods and writing.

As an Air Force medic, I had the privilege of serving overseas primarily in Turkey and England. I spent over 14 years abroad and have traveled extensively since age 3.

About 3/4 or my ancestors are Scandinavian, but my maternal grandmother was an Olney-Dyer-Delano-Alden. I'm looking forward to contributing here, in any way I can.

Jonathan

EDIT: I speak decent German, and can translate Turkish professionally. My Norwegian and Swedish is basic. Can reasonably read simple Greek and can have simple social interactions in Kurdish.

Comments

Welcome, Jonathan! Although your Kurdish and Greek linguistic skills probably won't be much needed on the Mayflower Project, I can see great potential in your research methods and writing skills being applied to our project profiles. 

Glad to have you with us. Feel free to contact me via private message, or post any questions to G2G using the Mayflower tag.

Answer 3

I'd like to join the Mayflower project since I am a direct descendant of William Brewster.  I am a Mayflower member through him.  I suspect I may have more Mayflower ancestors as both sides of my family come from New England in the early 1600s.

Comments

Welcome to the Mayflower Project, Patricia. I hope you find support and assistance through our project members, as there are many here who share similar ancestry. Be sure to post queries to G2G and/or post in the comments on profiles where you connect or have any questions.

You may want to consider a change to your personal profile to allow others to see your tree and how you might connect to them and/or the Mayflower passengers. More info here on [https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Privacy Help: Privacy].

Answer 4

Multiple family lines leading to before the Revolutionary war, my search has led me to look into my ancestry and the Mayflower. Recently on another site (RF) has me related to ~16 different people from the Mayflower so my search begins following up on these paths. Hopkins, Mullins, Soule, Samson, White, Brewster, Fuller, Cooke and Warren. Thanks for consideration.

Comments

Welcome Clifford. That's a lot of Mayflower ancestry for one person! Sounds like you have a lot of research to do to prove all of them. This is probably the best place of all to do it.

Best method: source every profile as you build it on WikiTree, being sure to prove each connection of child to parent as you go along. This is the same method you would use to apply for membership in the Mayflower Society, so it's good practice. Feel free to ask loads of questions!

Answer 5

I would like to join the project.  I've been researching my family for about 30 years and 20 years ago discovered the first proven line of descent from a Mayflower passenger for a person who never left England - Robert Tilley, son of John Tilley, who was serving his apprenticeship in Bedford, England when the Mayflower sailed. Particularly interested in the Tilleys and Howlands.

Thanks

Joy

Comments

Welcome, Joy. Since you're quite new to WikiTree, I'll suggest that you pay close attention to the details on the page Help: Pre-1700 Profiles. Being a project solely focused on the pre-1700 time period, we strictly follow all the sourcing guidelines. If you have any questions as you're building out your tree to connect to the Tilleys & Howlands, please feel free to ask! 

Answer 6

I am a direct descendant of Elder William Brewster through his daughter, Patience. Her line runs down through Patriot David Foster who settled in Williamstown, MA after the Revolution. His daughter, Charlotte Mary Foster married into my mother's Stilson Family line, relocating with her husband, Moses Stilson, to Delaware County, New York. I am gathering the full documents for that line at the present time (2021). Please feel free to contact me for information about these ancestors.

Comments

Hi David, 

Are you requesting membership in the Mayflower Project or just posting your interests? If you're requesting Project membership, you'll need to add Mayflower to your followed tags (see #3 above) and reply here again.

Answer 7

I am a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford through Mary (Bradford) Pellet [https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bradford-366]

and Willliam Pellet's [https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pellet-7]

son Obadiah Pellet [https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pellet-6]

I am quite new to Wiki-tree and Genealogy research, but many of my family members did detailed research on the Pellet(t) - Bradford lines and I'm working to fill in some missing details in Wiki-tree of the Pellet(t) family.

Comments

Hello Karen, Welcome to Wikitree and to the Mayflower Project. One of the goals of Wikitree is to have well sourced profiles. Keep this in mind as you flesh out your tree. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Sources

Answer 8

I have been working on my genealogy after a long break since March 2020. I just discovered a link to Francis Cooke, one of the passengers of the Mayflower. Consequently, I'm eager to lend a hand with the Mayflower Project if needed.

Comments

Hi Steven, Welcome to the Mayflower Project. As you add your family members to Wikiree, check to make sure you have sourced connections.  Also be sure to look for already existing profiles, so you don't create duplicates. Thank you.

Answer 9

Hello, I'm Nancy Rain (nee Scaggs) and I've been actively researching my family tree for about 10 years.  I've been on Wiki since February and love the idea of one collaborative family tree!  I would like to join the ranks of the Mayflower Project.  I am a descendant of John Alden/Priscilla Mullins. They are my ninth great-grandparents through my mothers family (Thayer). Priscilla's granddaughter Sarah Bass married Ephraim Thayer and many generations later here I am!  I also have my pre-1700 badge and am ready to contribute!

Comments

Welcome to the Mayflower Project, Nancy! Being a newer member, I'll just stress that we all follow the pre-1700 guidelines carefully. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message, or post to G2G. As you work out from yourself back to the passengers, try to thoroughly source any new profiles as you go. That helps both you, if you go to apply for GSMD membership, and others who may follow later. 

Answer 10

My name is Shari Clark Denker. Although I have always had a love of history, I have only recently become an Active Participant in discovering my own. My Great Aunt did a genealogy project in the 1940’s that was given to me and I caught the fire. I was mostly surprised to find her application to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, this information was not included in what I was given and to see it in her handwriting was overwhelming for me. I would love to be a part of bringing that feeling into other families! Thank you for considering my interest!

Comments

Welcome, Shari. It's a fascinating hobby, and we all understand your "catching the fire." It was my great aunt, too, who handed the baton to me. 

You've missed step #3 above: 

•  Add Mayflower to your Followed Tags on your profile.

Please add that so you are receiveing notifications that go out to all of our Project members. 

I notice that you're new to WikiTree, and want to mention that when you're building your Mayflower line here you'll need to create sources for each of your ancestor's profiles to prove your lineage, much as you would if you were applying for your GSMD membership. If you need help with citing sources on WikiTree there is a great group of Mentors that you can reach out to for assistance.

You don't mention the name of your ancestor who was a  Mayflower passenger.

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Thank you for your reply to my answer. Steven Hopkins is my 1st Mayflower Ancestor, I have since uncovered others and am grateful for the journey.

I am having trouble understanding the formatting for sources. Never worked in “computer speak” and if you could point me in the direction of “formatting for dummies” I will be grateful and proactive!

Thank you

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Hi Shari,

I would like to suggest you get in touch with the Mentors group to get some help, and you can also request assistance via one of the greeters who left messages on your profile. 

Welcome to the Mayflower Project!

Answer 11

Please accept me as a member of the Mayflower Project so I may contribute to the integrity and appearance of the profiles there.  I am a descendent of the Mayflower passenger Myles Standish and would like to set a suitable background image for Standish-491 and Standish-1 thank you for accepting the colony seal as their primary image.

Comments

Welcome to the Mayflower Project, Daniel! There are a lot of cousins of yours on the Standish line. Best of luck in collaborating with them on your shared ancestry.

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Thank you very much.

Answer 12

I am Juli Hardin. I have been researching my genealogy for 7 years now.  I have recently confirmed DNA connections with known descendents of William White, of the Mayflower line. I have been searching for the family of my ancestor George White who married Mary Lunsford, for 3 years. While the paper trail is not there yet, the DNA is. I matched through my GEDmatch to several established project leaders in the William White project. I cannot say just how exciting this is for me!

Comments

Welcome to the Mayflower Project Juli. Confirming your DNA is a match with others in that line is very exciting. And as always, the paper trail is the difficult part. A lot of our members are working in these same areas of interest, so if you have questions be sure to post them to G2G, tagged with Mayflower to reach your audience. 

Being a newer member I'll suggest that you also ask for any needed help to build the profiles that connect you to your Mayflower ancestor with sources to document your proof as you go along. It's excellent practice that will teach you how to document your line if you apply to the GSMD. 

Again, welcome!

Answer 13

I am a retired reference librarian with around thirty years genealogical research experience. My Ancestors include Francis Cooke Cooke-36 and James Chilton Chilton-4 and his unknown wife. As Mom's family was from Pennsylvania and Dad's from Kansas I'm as surprised as anyone to find myself here. However, some Massachusetts relations moved to Pennsylvania before the 1800 US census. Currently I am working on re-formatting and cleaning up each of my ancestor profiles, not just the Mayflower ones. My library will fully reopen in September 2021 and I will have access to a large collection (2-3 aisles of bookshelves) of relevant resources.

Comments

Hi Victoria! Someone whose career was spent as a reference librarian will find a warm welcome here. You'll obviously understand the need for sources and be able to understand our desire to document everything. If you have any questions or need help, feel free to reach out. It's good fun and great practice to work through your Mayflower lineage on WikiTree. Many people go on to file their applications with the Mayflower Society after they work through proving it here.

As for surprise in finding a Mayflower connection in your Pennsylvania & Kansas roots, don't be. I'm continuously amazed to find Mayflower descendants in the Carribean, in Europe and all over the deep US South. They were adventurous people, and I'm sure they engendered the same in their offspring. 

Answer 14

Hi, my name is Denise Miller and I've been going my genealogy for 20 years or more.  I recently made a connection to one of Francis Cooke's descendants, through my Washburn family line.  I think I would enjoy working on a team of researchers on this Mayflower project.

Comments

Hi Denise,

Welcome! You'll probably want to make contact with Daniel Washburn Jones, if you haven't already. He maintains a lot of the Washburn lineage on the Mayflower Project. 

Since you're a new WikiTree member, I'll suggest that you work on building one profile at a time from you outwards to where you connect to the Washburn line, adding thorough sources as you go along. Proving a Mayflower line depends on the sources for each generation.

Answer 15

Please add me to the Mayflower Project.  I am new to WikiTree and adding my family tree online.  My husband is part of the Mayflower Society of CT through Richard Warren.  He has been a member since 2005 and I would love now to do my family history to William White.

Comments

Welcome to the project, Karen. As I usually mention to newer WikiTree members - source as you build. If you work from yourself back to your Mayflower ancestor and supply sources that prove each connection (children to parents, and spouses) as you creat each profile, it makes your job easier both here on WT and when you go to apply for your Mayflower membership. You'll spot where your documentary evidence is lacking and can remedy it as you work.

This of course applies to all of your ancestor profiles, but it's especially helpful (and required on pre-1700 profiles) when working towards Mayflower or SAR/DAR ancestors.

Best of luck in your research!

Answer 16

Researching my family genealogy began with my New Brunswick family and as I followed several different lines back, I realized they had all come from US and gone to Canada as Loyalists after the Revolutionary War.  Then I went further back and discovered one line that went back to Mayflower passengers Francis and John Cooke and Richard Warren. As I continue my research, I hope to discover more ancestors from the great migration and Mayflower.

Comments

Hi Karen,

Welcome to the Mayflower Project. I took a quick glance at your tree (I'm forever nosey about people's ancestry), and I wonder if your Harding line will connect to the Mayflower as well. Capt. William Harding would be a good candidate for further research, also a possible member of a Loyalist family leaving from New England around the time of the Revolution. 

Best of luck in your research!

Answer 17

I am interested in Joining this Mayflower Project. I am a major contributor to the MayflowerDNA.org wiki, which is identifying the Y-DNA and mtDNA Haplogroups of Mayflower passengers, their spouses, and their sons and daughters in-law.

Comments

Welcome to the Mayflower Project, Raymond. I was surprised to see that you weren't alread a member. Your DNA knowledge will likely be highly useful.

Please just review the information on the Mayflower Project page, and add the Mayflower tag to any appropriate G2G query.

Not surprisingly you and I are cousins and share many ancestors (at least 500!), but our closest link is off-Cape, which does surprise me.

Answer 18

Hi,

I am Alan Condit. I knew that I had a direct tie back to Governor William Bradford. I went through the Mayflower passenger list in Relationship finder and discovered that I am a direct descendant of 7 Mayflower passengers, 5 on my father's side and 2 on my mother's side. On my father's side: John Alden is my 11^th great grandfather; William Bradford is my 10^th great grandfather; William Brewster is my 12^th great grandfather; William Mullins is my 12^th great grandfather; and Richard Warren is my 12^th great grandfather. On my mother's side: Francis Cooke is my 10^th great grandfather; and Jean (John) Cooke is my 9^th great grandfather.

I thought this might be a pretty unique set of relationships but in further examination I realized that every one of the relationships on my father's side was in common back to Joshua Bradford (Bradford-2022) the great grandson of William Bradford (Bradford-24). So anyone whose Mayflower direct descent lineage runs through Joshua Bradford should have the same multiple ties.

Comments

I think what you've discovered in your own lineage is fairly common. I am a descendant of 6 passengers in 4 families: Doty, Cooke, Rogers & Hopkins. When I look at the path to each of them the lines run through only 2 of my ancestors, a Turner and a Fish. In my case there's a lot of "pedigree collapse" when one of my Fish ancestors married a Turner, then their siblings also married. This isn't the only case either. I always say I'm surprised my knuckles don't drag on the ground.

Welcome to the Mayflower Project!

Answer 19

Hi,

I'm researching my family tree and have discovered that I'm related to four Mayflower passengers through my Boyd (Earls of Kilmarnoch) family line:

Relationship to the passengers:

Katherine (White) Carver - 10th Co 12 x Rem

Richard More Sr. - 5th Co 12 x Rem

Henry Samson - 8th Co 13 x Rem

Agnes (Cooper) Tilley - 7th Co 14 x Rem

Comments

That's fascinating, Phillip! My husband is an Ayrshire lad, and related to one of the (non-noble) Boyd families. It never occurred to me that there might be a connection between the Earls of Kilmarnock and some of the Mayflower passengers! 

If you'd like to join the Mayflower Project please add Mayflower to your followed tags and respond again here when that's completed.

Answer 20

Richard Warren (Mayflower Passenger) is my 11 GG and I am active in researching Colonial ancestors from my mother's side .  I am very interested in the New England colonies, particularly Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Comments

Welcome to the Mayflower Project, Robert. Please be sure to provide sources on the profiles you build that connect to your Mayflower ancestors, as it helps all of our members. And check to see if there are any profiles already built in your lineage, as most of the pre-1700 Mayflower descendants have already been created on Wikitree.