Any person able to document their descent from one or more of the following Mayflower Pilgrims is eligible to apply for membership in the Mayflower Society:

In order to become a member of The General Society of Mayflower Descendants, an applicant must be able to prove their lineage from one of the individuals listed below, using primary documentation.  To learn more about the process for genealogical research, as well as the nature of primary documentation, visit our research page.  For many people, the investigative work, as well as the documentation, has been accomplished, in whole or part, by another family member. 

The process for becoming a member is simple, straightforward, and enjoyable.  Our society Historian is ready to help you in any way possible, and will endeavor to point you in the right direction when necessary.

Primary Documentation

• Vital records of birth, marriage, and death

• Bible and church records

• Marriage bonds or licenses

• Cemetery records and mortality schedules

• Probate records

• Land records: Deeds or property distribution

• Guardianship and orphan records. 

• Contemporary family letters, diaries

• Tax list

• Pension and military records

• Federal and State census records, 1850 and after 

• Gravestones and mortician records

The following steps are necessary for membership:

Step One: Contact our Historian by email and express your interest in membership.  You can reach the Historian by clicking here.  If you are not sure of your proposed lineage, the Historian will compare your proposed lineage with those of already approved members and try to determine if a match exists.  This can often save hours of work trying to document an ancestor who has already been documented.



Step Two: When you receive your Preliminary application form, (a very simple one-page form), you will mail it back to the Historian with a non-refundable application fee of $100.00.  When our Historian receives your preliminary application and check, he will mail you a Worksheet with clear instructions for the next step.



Step Three: When you receive the Worksheet from our Historian, he will have filled in the first four or five generations from your Mayflower ancestor.  The documentation for these lines is well-established and accepted by the General Historian of the Society.  It will be your job now to submit documentation for the remainder of the Worksheet.  Clear directions will be included with the Worksheet.

Step Four: After you submit your documentation, our Historian will review it and advise you if there is anything lacking.  When everything seems to be in order, the society Historian will type the final Application and send it to you for review and your signature.  When the signed final Application arrives back to our Historian, it will be sent, with all your documentation, to the Historian General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.

Step Five: Wait until you hear back from us! If and when approved and elected, you will receive both a Tennessee membership number and General Society membership number, and will be contacted by our society shortly thereafter.



This may sound like quite a bit of work, and to some degree it is, but membership in the Society of Mayflower Descendants is very prestigious.  It is a great honor to obtain membership in our society, and part of the reason for is the high standard we hold in verifying the accuracy of our candidates' applications.