Membership
How to Join
Any person able to document their descent from one or more of the following Mayflower Pilgrims is eligible to apply for membership in the Mayflower Society:
In order to become a member of The General Society of Mayflower Descendants, an applicant must be able to prove their lineage from one of the individuals listed below, using primary documentation. To learn more about the process for genealogical research as well as the nature of primary documentation, visit our research page. For many people the investigative work as well as the documentation, has been accomplished, in whole or part, by another family member.
Click Here: Primary Documents List
Click here: Information on how to become a Junior Member.
Men on the Mayflower
- John Alden*
- Isaac Allerton+
- John Billington+
- William Bradford
- William Brewster+
- Peter Browne
- James Chilton+
- Francis Cooke+
- Edward Doty
- Francis Eaton+
- Moses Fletcher
- Edward Fuller+
- Stephen Hopkins+
- John Howland++
- Richard More
- William Mullins (Priscilla)
- Degory Priest
- Thomas Rogers+
- Henry Samson
- George Soule
- Myles Standish
- John Tilley+
- Richard Warren
- William White+
- Edward Winslow
Women on the Mayflower
- Mary (Norris) Allerton (1st wife of Isaac Allerton)
- Elinor Billington
- Mary Brewster
- James Chilton
- Sarah Eaton
- Edward Fuller
- Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins (2nd wife)
- Alice Mullins [Not yet proven to be the mother of Priscilla Mullins]
- Joan (Hurst) Tilley – widow of Thomas Rogers
- Susanna White – later became Mrs. Susanna Winslow
Children on the Mayflower who left descendants
- Bartholomew Allerton#
- Remember Allerton
- Mary Allerton
- Francis Billington
- Love Brewster
- Mary Chilton
- John Cooke
- Samuel Eaton
- Samuel Fuller
- Constance Hopkins
- Giles Hopkins
- Priscilla Mullins
- Joseph Rogers
- Elizabeth Tilley
- Peregrine White%
- Resolved
- * Includes descent from William and Allice Mullins and their daughter, Priscilla.
- + Includes descent from wife or child on the Mayflower.
- ++ Includes descent from John Tilley, his wife, and their daughter, Elizabeth.
- # Has known children, but no one has yet proved descent.
- % Born on Mayflower in Provincetown Harbor.
102 passengers, 40 crew on the Mayflower – 142 total
54 died the first winter in Plymouth Colony
>>> DNA/Historical Research may add or change information on this page. If you see data that is no longer valid, and can be proven, please contact a Society administrator so we may make revisions here. – Thank You!
The process for becoming a member is simple, straightforward, and enjoyable. Our Society Historian is ready to help you in any way possible and will endeavor to point you in the right direction when necessary.
Primary Documentation
- Vital records of birth, marriage, and death (You, your parents and grandparents)
- Bible and church records
- Marriage bonds or licenses
- Cemetery records and mortality schedules
- Probate records
- Land records: Deeds or property distribution
- Guardianship and orphan records.
- Contemporary family letters, diaries.
- Tax list.
- Pension and military records.
- Federal and State census records, 1850 and after.
- Gravestones and mortician records.
Steps Required for Membership
- Step One:Contact our Historian by email and express your interest in membership. You can reach the Historian by clicking here. (Notes: If your email does NOT include your email address, do not expect a response! Spam prevention measures are active) If you are not sure of your proposed lineage, the Historian will compare your proposed lineage with those of already approved members and try to determine if a match exists. This can often save hours of work trying to document an ancestor who has already been documented.
- Step Two:When you receive your Preliminary application form (a very simple one-page form) you will mail it back to the Historian with a non-refundable application fees. When our Historian receives your preliminary application and fees, a Worksheet will be mailed to you with clear instructions for completing the next step.
- Step Three:When you receive the Worksheet from our Historian, she will have filled in the first four or five generations from your Mayflower ancestor. The documentation for these lines is well-established and accepted by the General Historian of the Society. It will be your job now to submit documentation for the remainder of the Worksheet (More recent ancestors). Clear directions will be included with the Worksheet.
- Step Four:After you submit your documentation, our Historian will review it and advise you if there is anything lacking. When everything seems to be in order, the society historian will type the final Application and send it to you for review and your signature. When the signed final Application arrives back to our Historian, it will be sent, with all your documentation, to the Historian General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
- Step Five:Wait until you hear back from us! If and when approved and elected, you will receive a Tennessee membership number and General Society membership numberand will be contacted by our society shortly thereafter.
This may sound like quite a bit of work, and to some degree it is, but membership in the Society of Mayflower Descendants is very prestigious. It is a great honor to obtain membership in our society and part of the reason for is the high standard we hold in verifying the accuracy of our candidates’ applications.
