Page 53 - Family History

Family Stories

Washington State Pioneer Certificate

The Pioneer and First Citizen Certificate Program is sponsored by the
Washington State Genealogical Society. Both pioneers (those who lived in

Washington on or before 11 Nov 1889) and first citizens (those who arrived in
the state on or before 31 Dec 1900) are eligible for certification. Certificates are
issued to descendants of those pioneers and first citizens upon satisfactory
completion of an application and subsequent approval by the WSGS Certificate
Committee.

I had lots of experience filling out applications and obtaining supporting
documentation to prove my Mayflower heritage and so I decided to apply to the
pioneer certificate program as well. There were 13 generations to prove on my
Mayflower application but only 5 generations were necessary on my
Washington Pioneer application.

Herman Fisher

Herman Fisher
(shown in a family
photograph right) is a

Washington Pioneer.
I have several
ancestors that I might
have selected for a
pioneer certificate but

Herman Fisher, (my
great-great grand-
father) seemed the
best choice as I had
several very
significant proofs

that showed he was
living in Washington
prior to 1889 …

53