What do I need to prove (that is missing) to the Mayflower Society?

Question

I am of the White family of the Mayflower.  I am a decendent of Julia (Juliette) White.  Father is Henry. Then, Jonathan, Humphrey,Jonathan, William White.  I don't know how far the line has been proven. I have records from me, her gg-grandaughter through Henry.  Is the line proven after that?.

Comments

You might try looking for the Mayflower White "Silver book" - that will show your the 5-7 generations that they generally accept because they are so proven. Your challenge then is to link to one of those lines. The society has changed some of their proof standard in the past several years - accepting some things they did not accept before. Rootsweb has a Mayflower mailing list that can help you with some advice.

Answer 1

You can go onto their website and for a small fee submit your proposed line which someone will research and see if they can find a matching documented line.  This will give you the information for how far down the line has been proven and give you a starting point for where you would have to provide additional documentation.

https://www.themayflowersociety.com/membership-info16

The following is information sent to me in email after a successful proposed lineage search.

"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."

 

Comments

Thank you very much for sharing!

Answer 2

To find a fairly well documented line would not be that hard.  Would be willing to help.

Accually joining there society requires money and what the call a sponser. And probably some sort or reliable info. If you can document at least 70 or so years and then the census records would be available. And then their own records. Contact me if you like with your current info and can possibly help. Best to maybe post your line here at least that branch and then perhaps might have access to more info and help.

Sincerely,

Michael Lechner

Lechner-18

Comments

Most state societies no longer require a sponsor and they welcome new members. If you encounter a Society that requires a sponsor, ask the State Historian to sponsor you. Joining the Mayflower Society is relatively straight forward, as long as you have a well-documented line back to about 1900 — meaning you must acquire birth, marriage, and death certificates (hopefully ones that identify parents). These are sometimes expensive. If you or someone in your line had multiple marriages, you have to document those as well. Application fees vary from state to state, as do the annual dues.

The first five generations are well documented and Mayflower Silver Books now cover most families up to the line carrier in the 6th generation. For the most part, that covers the period through the American Revolution.

The major problem most applicants encounter is the sparseness of records for generations 6 through 10. Census records did not  explicitly identify family relationships until 1880. Also, fires in court houses, churches, and Chicago destroyed many records.

Answer 3

I contacted my state Mayflower Society and requested an application and told them that my uncle had already received certification.  The only thing I need to do is get them birth certificates for my father and me.  I'd suggest you email your state society and let them know the line and ask how far back you'd need to go.