Page 142 - Family History

Family Stories

General Society of Mayflower Descendants

My next step to prove heritage,
was to apply to become a member
of the “General Society of
Mayflower Descendants”. They
are a lineage society

headquartered in Plymouth,
Massachusetts with strict
requirements for membership. I
filled out their application, paid a fee and completed a required lineage chart
that ended with me. They wrote me back. They convinced me I needed copies (for

additional fees) of other member applications where we shared common
descendants. And so, I got those too. I had applied for membership to the General
Society in Plymouth but they then sent notice of my application to the
Washington State Mayflower Descendants Society. Yes, every state has a local
Mayflower chapter! I was to apply with them next. So, I filled out another
application for membership – this to the Washington State chapter, paid a fee

and completed another lineage chart. Shortly after that, they wrote to tell me
that my lineage was already proven down to generation eight! I was to collect
and submit sufficient “standards of evidence”, vital records such as birth,
marriage and death certificates, newspaper obituaries, etc., to prove my lineage
from generation nine through thirteen (me).

Collecting the Proofs

I began collecting the required documentation and proofs. I started this off by
first making a visit to our local vital records office to request a copy of my birth
certificate and also one for my mother and father (more fees). Surprise! My

birth certificate had two very significant errors on it! All my life I never
imagined that my own birth certificate might be wrong! After all, I had a
wallet-sized card issued by the hospital where I was born. All of the information
on the card was correct – it even had an official seal on it. But, as it turns out,
the wallet card is not a proof nor a sufficient standard of evidence – and so I

obtained my error-laden “official” State of Washington copy. On it, my

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