Need help with your Mayflower Society application?

Question

In case you missed this in my Profile, it was suggested to me that I add it here.

I am Lynne. I've done ancestor research for some twenty-five years. I've been approved on 2 GSMD applications, to William Brewster and Samuel Fuller Jr (Mayflower passenger and Edward Fuller's son), and another application was just sent off (passenger Stephen Hopkins).

I do ancestry research every-single-day, and I like to help people. People have helped me ("don't forget to explore the land records"). I believe in sharing rather than having someone reinvent-the-wheel. I.e., if I've already ordered a record, why should anyone else. I am currently 'on-the-clock' to complete my portfolio for BCG Certified Genealogist status. It is a LOT of work!

Please feel free to ask me about Proof Arguments (required when there's no primary or secondary sources). I've had 3 accepted with my applications; my 4th is deemed "very convincing" by my State Historian; and I also composed one for a distant cousin. The one done for a cousin follows a rejection of someone else's Proof Argument which relied on autosomal DNA. My proof, on that same line, is Extremely Complex but I think it could be a winner. If only she'd submit her application! As I advised her, I'll gladly share that 'proof' of Elizabeth Shaw as the daughter of Richard Shaw (to Wlm Brewster) with anyone.

In general, I'll answer any questions about the Mayflower application process. I highly recommend the GSMD Lineage Match ($75.00) for anyone who is close to finalizing their Mayflower ancestry. If your lineage is not already approved at any given point, you will be informed. Sometimes, surely, someone requests the Lineage Match and discovers that their own line is completely already proven! For me, I always have to 'prove' someone

Answer 1

I am supposedly descended  from Constance and Stephen Hopkins. I would like to know more about the GSMD process. Thank you.- Carrie

Comments

I was just approved last month on my Hopkins application, I'm through his son Giles!

Not knowing how much you know about membership in the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD), here’s a rundown.

It’s generally a good idea to do a Mayflower Lineage Match (or ‘Preliminary Match’) request. It’s $75, and may be done online. “…which portion of your Mayflower lineage has already been documented in a previously approved application, and which portion you will need to provide documentation.”

You might receive findings that show you are pretty-good-to-go, i.e., you only need to document a few generations prior to you (Great!); or, you might be informed that a sibling of your ancestor is approved but your line has not yet been submitted for application or that it was not approved for lack of evidence (still pretty good—If you have missing pieces, or compose a solid Proof Argument); or, you’ll be informed that, way back in the generations, an ancestor is not yet proven, though many have tried (not so good, fairly grim).

Your Mayflower Lineage Match response email (or letter) will be sent to you and to the Member Society closest to you. The GSMD response is often very wonderful, and well worth the $75! You’ll be given the General Society (GS) number for the approved application closest to your line (which may be ordered for $10), and be told from which Generation you will need to prove onward to yourself. They’ll also let you know if you might descend from another passenger (my Hopkins’ line and my Rogers’ line are the same from Generation 5 down to me).

You MUST join a Member Society because GSMD applications are only accepted through a Member Society -  but wait until you’ve made contact with the Member Society! There are 54 Member Societies, and you may join any one of them: your current resident State, your birth State, the State to where most of your ancestors migrated after Plymouth and thereby your Historian might be well-versed in local records… Each Member Society sets their own membership dues—mostly in the range of $50-75 per year. Again, ‘but wait’ until a Historian tells you have a pursuable application.

Then, generally, you’ll be contacted by the ‘new member’ officer, or maybe by the Historian. Your Historian will guide you from there. Mind you, I wrote, “guide,” they will NOT do research for you. For ‘unproven’ generations, you must submit the best available evidence. For generations, say, post-1880 or 1900 (like yourself, your parents, grandparents, and maybe great grandparents), you will be expected to have birth/marriage/death records. There is wiggle-room, or indirect evidence, like an obit or gravestone… and then, there’s a Proof Argument where you present a preponderance of circumstantial evidence (often mind-blowing, exhausting, circuitous, and in all ways a concentrated writing project and most likely a real pain to read and analyze). Ha!

Your GSMD application cost includes the first annual fee (I'm pretty certain), that runs around $150.

Hope this helps!

Best,

Lynne

Answer 2

My ancestor Zebulen Sutton is married to Mary Doty but this marriage was not accepted by Mayflower Society because of no documentation of marriage? Please help

Comments

For $5, you can purchase from New Jersey State Archives a marriage license for "Totten, Zebedee" and Mary Doty (search for "Mary Doty") from 1770. 

https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal//ColonialMarriages.aspx 

Is that what you are looking for? Is this the year-range. You don't seem to have a tree on WikiTree, so I don't know exactly what you are looking for. Did you do a GSMD Lineage Match and they informed you that the marriage of Zebulon Sutton and Mary Doty was not proven? 

Answer 3

Everything Lynne stated would give you a very good start. I definitely recommend doing the Mayflower Lineage Match to start. That personally saved me from having to do the first six generations because those were already sourced well. Other people I know have only had to do as few as back to their grandparents. So yes it's well worth the $75 investment.

If you believe you are descended from more than one Mayflower passenger, start with the one that is the easiest to prove.  Also don't hesitate to ask a question here if you get stuck on a certain part, because there are many on Wikitree that are more than willing to help!

Answer 4

I had GSMD do the Lineage Match for me. It was proven in my line that I am a descendent of Stephen Hopkins.  I have not started my application but will in the future.  The Lineage Match took some time but was excited when I received my results.

My next Mayflower ancestor to work on is Samuel Fuller.

Comments

Rachael, I was just approved on Hopkins last month, and was approved on Samuel Fuller, Jr. last year. Please let me know if you have any questions.

---

I will. Thank you very much!

Answer 5

Hi Lynne,

Can the WikiTree cousin relationships chart be used to create a GSMD Lineage Match? For example, I and Henry Samson are 6th cousins 9 times removed. But the chart at bottom shows 1. Henry and 2. Martha [his mother] is the daughter of [Martha's father]. There's no parent-child descent shown.

Comments

Sorry, no, a WikiTree chart is great for your own determining that you might be a Mayflower Descendant but the GSMD Lineage Match will tell you which of your ancestors have already been proven as descendants and which have not. That's very difficult to know on your own - unless you are piggybacking on a previously proven lineage (which we all do) that matches yours up to a pretty recent point (generally).

Also, I believe that many (perhaps all) State Mayflower Society Historians *require* the GSMD Lineage Match as a starting point: Is the application viable? Additionally, the Historian needs to be informed if a 'unknown' close relation (aunt/uncle/cousin) has been approved, thereby reducing the amount of required evidence (to 'prove' someone who is already proven).

---

Lynne,

Can you tell me how I could do this?

You wrote, "That's very difficult to know on your own - unless you are piggybacking on a previously proven lineage (which we all do) that matches yours up to a pretty recent point (generally)."

Thanks.

---

Unless you *know* of a proven application, either in your family, or mentioned on WikiTree or some other genealogical site, you cannot do this. That's why the GSMD Lineage Match is so very important.
From the Silver Books, we know the first 5 or more generations, generally into the 1700s, but many Mayflower lines are proven well beyond that time period. Searching the "General Society of Mayflower Descendants Membership Applications, 1620-1920," at American Ancestors, can help but it does not include applications beyond 1920 and some even previously approved applications will need to be updated with evidence.

---

Am I correct in saying that some of these older lineages have also been disproven? I can't put my finger on one at the moment, but I'm pretty sure there have some that have been removed since.

---

Yes, for instance, Mathew Fuller is currently under review and no new applications will be accepted, and priorly accepted applications might be deemed 'unaccepted' - I don't know what happens there. I faced that in one of my applications (Fuller via Bonham). Only a Lineage Match will provide you with a current status. Adviso: I DO NOT work for GSMD, I just know that the Lineage Match is invaluable.

---

Here's an example of what a Lineage Match request returns:
"Thank you for your interest in the Mayflower Society. We have received your Preliminary Review Form and have attempted to determine the best previously approved lineage paper in our files that follows your stated lineage.  GS#85173 (TN#474) matches your proposed lineage, from Mayflower passenger William Brewster, through the 8th generation: Albin Shaw m. Eunice Caldwell.  This is a moderately well documented paper, which then follows this couple's son, Richard Shaw; but we have no previously approved lineage papers that follow a daughter, Elvira Shaw.  This does not, of course, mean that your proposed lineage is invalid, only that no one has ever filed it as an application for Mayflower Society membership beyond the point of generation 8.

Membership to the Mayflower Society is approached at the state level, with contact information for the various state societies being found in the “Contacts” sections of our website, themayflowersociety.com. There are no residency requirements and a prospective applicant can approach membership through whichever state society they choose. Contacting the state society of your choice, as to full requirements in proceeding to membership, would be the prospective applicant’s next best step.  The historian of the Mayflower Society in the state where you reside will also receive a copy of this lineage review so that they will also be aware of your interest.


In general, an applicant will be required to prove their lineage beyond whatever point for which the Mayflower Society already has an up-to-date previously approved lineage paper on file. Usually, the best place to begin working back in order to link into an accepted lineage is with your immediate family.  Full documentation, including all applicable birth, marriage and death certificates, for the most recent three generations should be assembled.  When moving back beyond grandparents, documentation can be provided in the form of birth, marriage and death certificates, wills and other probate records, land records which state relationships, or, in the absence of these, published sources such as vital records of towns, town histories, published genealogies etc. Census records may also provide good corroborative evidence. There are a number of other types of records that can be used to prove descent from one generation to the next, but this is the challenge of proving a Mayflower lineage: finding these. Hopefully you already know some of this and perhaps your family has some of these documents.

As a standard disclaimer, we must call your attention to the fact that even though a lineage was approved in the past, it may not be approved today without additional source documentation. Even though a paper may list references, some of the sources cited may not be present in the file. Standards today require that such sources be provided. Many older applications have no documents with them at all. Often, many of the documents cited were never actually submitted because there were no copy machines available at the time of the original application. It may be necessary to update even more recently approved lineages, providing documents for events that have occurred since the lineage was originally submitted or to make up for missing or weak documentation."

---

Very interesting. Thank you for the in depth answer, Lynne.

---

Thank you, Lynne. Appreciate your in-depth answer.