Step-by-step
Finding your Mayflower Ancestors via the Web
Guy Moellendorf, Washington State Mayflower Society
The Ship Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Massachusetts in November 1620, starting the second
successful English Colony in America. The voyagers sought freedom from religious persecution of
Protestants in Old England.
Who were these passengers? The names and a brief biography of each can be found at:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wasmd/03-eligibility.html
Since 1980, the General Society has published over 8000 pages of genealogy and biography in 23
volumes. The books are titled Mayflower Families through Five Generations (MFTFG).
Could you be a Mayflower descendant?
Of the 27 passengers who had children, it is estimated that 10-15 million descendants are now living.
You may be one of them if you have early New England (VT, CT, NH, RI, ME or MA) or Canadian
ancestry.
The MFTFG books list descendants through five generations, the names the spouse and children
(where known at the time of publishing), and the sixth generation. The fifth and sixth generations have
birth dates between 1700 and 1825, so this birth time period is a good starting point for your ancestor
search. Spouses of the sixth generation are not listed. The surname indexes of each book are on the web.
Step-by-step, here is an example for finding your Mayflower ancestors on the Washington State
Mayflower website. Example: My grandmother in her records simply recorded “Mary Bonney, Mayflower
descendant.” Her records also stated: Mary Bonney, baptized 7 Jun 1741, Pembroke MA, m. 17 Jan 1760,
Pembroke MA, to Webster Hayford, b. 3 Nov 1736, Pembroke MA. Use these steps:
1) Go to the Washington State Mayflower website:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wasmd/index.html
2) On the home/Welcome page, go to the page bottom’s Search box.
3) Enter BOTH surnames for the married couple. Example: Bonney Hayford. Hit “Find”. This
yielded 11 hits, 5 possible book volumes (2, 7, 16, 19 & 20) and 6 possible Mayflower ancestors (James
Chilton, Richard Moore, Thomas Rogers, Peter Brown, John Alden and Henry Samson.
If you click on the hits, the index (SURNAME only) for each book is shown. Example hit: 03-Vol
20 Part 2 Passenger Henry Samson - Society of Mayflower Descendants in the ... Holmes Dorcas Samson
Bonney Volume 20 Part 2 Alphabetical Index ... Boardman, Bobbitt, Bochman, Bodfish, Bolles/Boles,
Bolton, Bonney, Boothby, Borden, Bosworth, Bourne/Born, Bowcut, Bowen
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wasmd/03-20-2_samson.html
4) Print the entire list of hits.
5) Next, pick a major library or library system. On the internet search their catalogue. Search by the
book’s name “Mayflower Families through Five Generations”. There is a separate volume for each
passenger. Check if EACH book is in the catalogue for the surname(s) wanted. Note also which edition is
available — you want the most current edition. If the desired book is not found, find another library that
has the books in inventory.
6) Visit the library that has the books of interest in stock. Typically the books cannot be checked out,
so one must visit in person. Besides public libraries in major cities, also consider private genealogy
libraries in your area. For example, in Washington State there is the Fiske Genealogy Library in Seattle.
Each book has an “all-name index” with first and last name, eg. “Mary Bonney”. The book with both
“Mary Bonney” and “Webster Hayford” listed on the same or adjacent page, is that “Eureka – I have found
it!” moment. In this example, the couple can be found listed in the Henry Samson book (volume 20) cited
in step 3) above.
Notes:
The website for your state’s genealogical society often lists the public and private libraries and
genealogy societies throughout the state.
Not on the internet? Then pack up your genealogy records and head to the largest public library with a
fairly complete collection of Silver Books. Usually, the books are lined up on one shelf. Search the name
indexes book-by-book. But, first searching the web by surname will save time.
The Mayflower Society has about 27,000 members and provides newsletters on history and social
gatherings in each state. It also provides verification of your lineage to the Mayflower voyage. New
members are welcome. Their website has a form for initiating the membership application in your state:
www.themayflowersociety.com