Who Is Eligible To Join?

Any person who is able to document their descent from one or more of the following Mayflower Pilgrims is eligible to apply for membership in the Mayflower Society:

Many families hold a tradition that they are descended from the Pilgrims, which often kindles an interest in finding out more. Sometimes the stories of a Mayflower heritage are true and it is easy to document a descent. More often the documentation is missing and must be researched and supplied to prove your line. The good news is it that advanced research techniques, improved genealogy library collections and computerized resources have made it easier to track down your Pilgrim roots.

Why should you join? This brief article 'Why Join The Mayflower Society' presents some interesting reasons. Always remember that we are never more than one generation away from losing our American heritage.

All memberships are handled through the individual state societies.

Regular Membership

All persons over 18 years of age who are descendants from a passenger on the 'Mayflower' on the voyage which terminated at Plymouth, New England, in December 1620, are eligible for membership in the society.

Junior Membership

All persons who are less than 18 years of age, who are descendants from a passenger on the 'Mayflower' on the voyage which terminated at Plymouth, New England, in December 1620, are eligible for Junior membership in the Texas Society.

Membership in The Mayflower Society is based on the documentation you supply proving the line of descent from one of the above listed Mayflower Pilgrims to yourself. The best documentation to look for is vital records such as the birth, marriage, and death certificates for each person. Other documentation might be published genealogies, family documents and other official records. It may be relatively easy if other members of your family are already members, and their documentation is already on file with the Mayflower Society in Plymouth.

Or it may be more challenging if you are several generations removed from previously accepted family members, and you need to find the documentation for those generations. This also applies if the most recent approved application was done back in the days when the Society did not require as much documentation as it currently requires.

The Society has already done the research for the first five generations of each Mayflower Pilgrim, and published this information in several volumes of the "Mayflower 5 Generations" books, also known as the "Silver Books" due to their silver colored covers. These books are available for your use in many libraries, historical and genealogical societies.

The process itself can take quite a while, mostly depending on how long it takes you to do the research and gather the necessary documents. The process is thorough, and you will learn many new things about your family. It is a very rewarding experience.

We strongly encourage you to start with the on-line Preliminary Lineage Review form on The Mayflower Society website.

There are several benefits of doing this:

• You will know if the Society will accept the lineage you have listed,
• You will know exactly what documention you will need to supply,and
• You only pay the Application Fee if you decide to go ahead and apply for membership.

It typically takes Plymouth 5-6 weeks to complete their research and send you the resulting report. This report identifes all of the documentation which you will subsequently need to acquire and submit if you decide to continue the membership process.

When you start the application part of the process, make sure that you let the Corresponding Secretary know that you have used the on-line form. The Historian should already have a copy of the report and all of the information needed to prepare the Worksheet mentioned in the following Step 6.

Please follow the following process.

1: Contact the State Corresponding Secretary (see the Contact Us page on this website) to order a copy of the Preleminary Application.

2: Fill out and mail the Preliminary Application, along with the required fees (the Application fee is NOT refundable), to the Corresponding Secretary.

3: The Corresponding Secretary will send your Preliminary Application to the Historian for evaluation and determination of the need for additional information.

4: If necessary, the Historian will instruct the Corresponding Secretary to send you the Preleminary Lineage Review Form (PLR) to fill out with the names of your Ancestors and whom they married. (You must be a "Direct Descendant" of one of the Mayflower passengers listed above.) When you have completed the PLR, send it directly to the Historian.

5: The Historian checks your line in the appropriate "Silver Book". If all is correct for the first 5 generations, the Historian will then ask the Society for the most current application of someone who has been approved on this line.

6: When the Historian receives this information, a partially completed Worksheet will be prepared from the accumulated information and sent to you, showing the required documentation which you need to provide. This will include each of your listed ancestors and all of his/her spouses.

7: You send this finished Worksheet back to the Historian along with 2 photocopies of each document. These photocopies DO NOT need to be certified.

8: The Historian then verifies all of the received documemtation, makes sure that every document required is with the Worksheet, prints out the Final Application, and mails it back to you for your signature.

9: You sign and return it to the Historian for approval and submission to the General Society for approval.

• Please DO NOT mark on the documents, the Historian will do this according to the Society's requirements.
• Please Do not send original documents or photographs.
• All photocopies should be on 8 1/2 x 11, letter size, NOT 8 1/2 x 14, legal size.
• The only acceptable documents from on-line sources (such as Ancestry.com, Genealogy Library, Genforum, etc.) are copies of the actual census pages and copies of actual pages from books.
• Please remember to print the "cover page" or "Title page" when submitting pages from books.
• Documentation is needed for all names, dates, places and relationships that you have listed on the application.
• Nicknames are written in "quotes".
• A woman is referred to by her maiden name or if a widow as Mrs. first, middle (maiden name), widow surname, i.e. Mrs. Jane Ann (Smith) Doe.
• Although there may not be birth records for that time period, Census, Death and Marriage certificates may be used as Secondary Sources, if the appropriate information is on them.

Below are the Primary and Secondary Sources that the Society will accept for admission. Of course, there are other sources you may send to see if they qualify. If you feel you have other legimate sources, or if you have any questions, problems, or problems obtaining the required information, please contact the Historian at historian@texasmayflower.com. To escape the Spam Folder, please type Mayflower in the subject line.

(From the Historian's Manual)

• Vital Records of Birth, Marriage or Death, etc., Church Records, Bible Records which provide relationships w/Title Page, if possible
• Marriage Bonds and Licenses, Deeds, Probate Records, Guardianships or Orphan's Court Records
• Military and Pension Records Cemetery and Morticians Records (usually for death only)
• Family Letters and Diaries of that time period will be considered

• County & Town Histories, Family Genealogies (published only)
• -Federal & State Census (from 1850 to 1930...if relationships are not shown, will be considered Circumstantial Evidence only)
• Newspaper Obituaries, Newspaper Marriage Accounts;
• Photocopies of the photos of Gravestone Inscriptions
• Affidavits (dependant upon time period)

• Employment Record-private Industry,
• Business/Trade License Apps,
• Letters from Town Clerks and Town Historians,
• Orphanage, Asylum, Prison Records,
• Cemetery Associations,
• Masonic Records,
• Burial Permits,
• School Records,
• Social Security Application,
• Social Security Death Index (must have document);