Who Are We? Become a Member
Society of Mayflower Descendants Are You a The Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Illinois is a not-for-profit he- in the State of Illinois reditary and lineage organization. It is affiliated with the General Society of May- flower Descendants and in 1897 was one of the first state societies in the country to be recognized by the General Society. Mayflower Any person that is able to prove a blood- line to one or more passengers who sailed Contact: on the historic voyage to the Americas on Membership Secretary the ship Mayflower in 1620 is eligible to [email protected] apply for membership. The total current membership of the Illinois Society is about Learn more: 1,100 members. The governance of our www.illinoismayflower.com www.facebook.com/illinoismayflowersociety Descendant? organization is entrusted to the Board of www.twitter.com/ilmayflower Assistants, a body of elected officers and Instagram: @ilmayflower board members. We have no permanent or paid staff and rely completely on the volunteer and uncompensated efforts of General Society of Mayflower Descendants our membership. In addition to reviewing, approving and maintaining documented lines from May- flower passengers, the Illinois Mayflower Society provides educational programs, publishes a newsletter for members, main- tains a web-site, awards an annual educa- tional scholarship, awards two research The Mayflower Society P.O. Box 3297 grants to Newberry Library scholars, assists Plymouth, MA 02361-3297 non-members in searching family histories 508-746-3188 and provides support to libraries and www.themayflowersociety.com www.facebook.com/themayflowersociety schools across the state. www.twitter.com/gsmd email: [email protected]
Am I One? Membership Getting Started
Many families hold a tradition that they Any person able to document their de- Recommended Documentation: are descended from the Pilgrims, which scent from one or more of the following often kindles an interest in finding out Mayflower Pilgrims is eligible to apply for The best documentation to look for is more. Sometimes the stories of a May- membership in the Mayflower Society: vital records such as the birth, marriage, flower heritage are true and it is easy to and death certificates for each person. document a descent. More often the Other documentation might be published documentation is missing and must be genealogies, family documents and other researched and supplied to prove one's Mayflower Passenger List: official records. If you have a relative line. The good news is that advanced who is a member of the Society, you may research techniques, improved genealo- John Alden Samuel Fuller be able to use their lineage documenta- gy library collections and computerized Bartholomew Allerton Samuel Fuller (son of tion to help you with your research. Isaac Allerton Edward) resources have made it easier to track Mary (Norris) Allerton Constance Hopkins down your Pilgrim roots. Mary Allerton Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins Getting Started: Remember Allerton Giles Hopkins Many descendants of Mayflower pas- Elinor Billington Stephen Hopkins Memberships are handled through state Francis Billington John Howland sengers, for a variety of reasons, are not societies. The Society of Mayflower De- John Billington Richard More scendants in the State of Illinois looks aware of their Mayflower heritage. You William Bradford Priscilla Mullins may be one of those individuals. You Love Brewster William Mullins forward to assisting you in researching, should know that the majority of indi- Mary Brewster Degory Priest documenting and proving your Mayflow- William Brewster Joseph Rogers viduals who join the Illinois Mayflower er line. The first step is to contact our Peter Browne Thomas Rogers Membership Secretary via email: Society each year were not previously James Chilton Henry Samson [email protected] aware of their Mayflower heritage. Mrs. James Chilton George Soule Mary Chilton Myles Standish Francis Cooke Elizabeth Tilley To start the process, we’ll provide you John Cooke John Tilley with a preliminary application to be com- Edward Doty Joan (Hurst) Tilley pleted and returned. You will then be Francis Eaton Richard Warren Samuel Eaton Peregrine White assigned to work with one of our three Sarah Eaton Resolved White experienced state historians to docu- Moses Fletcher Susanna White ment your line. Edward Fuller William White Mrs. Edward Fuller Edward Winslow We look forward to having you join us at
the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Illinois.