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From: "John Steele Gordon" <>
Subject: Re: Brewster Descendants (OT)
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 11:54:03 GMT
References: <200105272122_MC2-D35C-27DD@compuserve.com>


"Richard Ledyard" <> wrote in message
news:...

> In as much as Jonathan did not arrive on the Mayflower with his father,
> William, would descendents of Jonathan be considered of Mayflower descent?
> I'm descended from Jonathan also, and in my mind it strikes me that to be
> of Mayflower descent, you should have either accompnaied your parents, or
> have been born after their arrival.

Although Jonathan arrived later, his descendants are Mayflower descendants,
as is he, because, obviously, they descend from William Brewster and his
wife Mary (find out her last name and become an *instant* genealogical
superstar).

However, there are numerous instances where the *siblings* of Mayflower
passengers came later, and they and their descendants do *not* have
Mayflower descent. I descend from Josiah Winslow, for instance, brother of
Gov. Edward Winslow. But since he missed the boat, so to speak, his
descendants do not have Mayflower descent, at least through him.

I have a friend whose mother, anxious to get into the Mayflower Society,
proved her descent from one of the sailors who crossed on the Mayflower in
1620 but then returned to England with the ship the following spring, and
his descendants only came to America in later generations. The Mayflower
Society indignantly refused her application. One can just see them clucking
like a bunch of old hens over the very idea.

JSG


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