Historian's Information and Instructions
Eligibility
Adult membership is open to those 18 years and older who can show proof of direct descent from one of the passengers on board the Mayflower when it arrived in the New World in 1620.
A Junior Membership program is offered for those under age 18 who can meet the same requirements proving their descent from a Mayflower passenger. For more information please the Junior Membership section.
Mayflower Passengers with Known Descendants:
John Alden† Isaac Allerton† Mary (Norris) Allerton John Billington† William Bradford
William Brewster† Peter Brown James Chilton† Francis Cooke† Edward Doty
Francis Eaton† Moses Fletcher Edward Fuller† Samuel Fuller Stephen Hopkins†
Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins John Howland† Richard More William Mullins†
Degory Priest Thomas Rogers† Henry Samson George Soule Myles Standish
John Tilley† Joan (Hurst) (Rogers) Tilley* Richard Warren William White†
Edward Winslow
† Includes descent from wife or child on the Mayflower.
* Includes children by her first husband.
There are member societies in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Europe and Australia.. By virtue of membership in one of these societies, everyone is a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. You may apply to any member society, regardless of your residency. Transfer of memberships between state societies is permitted as well as dual memberships between multiple state societies.
Fees and Categories
Membership Application Fee: The application fee is $315 which includes the first year's dues. Should the applicant not be approved by the General Society, the $65 dues will be refunded.
Annual dues: The dues are $65.00 per year.
Life Memberships: We no longer offer new life memberships. Because the General Society dues have continued to rise, we ask that all existing life members consider making an annual donation to the Georgia Society.
Junior Membership: There is a one time $45 application fee. Please refer to the Junior Membership section for more details.
Lapsed Membership: The reinstatement fee is $25 plus the annual dues for the current year and the previous year.
Supplemental application fee: The fee is a onetime $150.
Application Process
During the application process for membership you should be prepared to be able to prove the births, deaths, marriages and divorces of descendants and spouses in each generation beyond those documented in the Mayflower silver book series, which is generally the fifth generation.
Documentation must include complete information on all births, marriages, and deaths, and must clearly prove the connections between generations.
Some applicants are able to base their application on a previously approved paper. You might be uncertain of the validity of your lineage, or you want to see if there may already be an approved paper closely following your proposed line. The Mayflower Society in Plymouth offers a service, Mayflower Lineage Match. https://www.themayflowersociety.org/join/mayflower-lineage-match. You provide them with your proposed lineage which they will evaluate. Depending upon the results, you may be able to use their evaluation to develop your application. While there is a fee for this service, it can potentially save you a great deal of research time. If you use the service the State Historian will be copied on the results which are sent to you.
For forms and detailed information on the application process, contact the State Historian, Sam Marble, gamayflowerhistorian@gmail.com.
You will be provided with a preliminary application form, a “Guidelines” sheet with helpful instructions and a worksheet to track the information you have found during the research phase of the application process.
When you have accumulated all of the necessary documentation to proof your lineage and are ready to apply, you will mail all of the paperwork to the state historian for review. The member society historian will guide you through the process of strengthening and completing the application. Once the application is approved by the member society historian, it is mailed to Plymouth for review and approval by the Historian General, after which you will be notified.
Supplemental Applications
If you are descended from more than one family on the Mayflower and would like to document this, a supplemental application may be submitted after an initial lineage has been approved. Please refer to the fee section above.