Friday, October 4, 2019

MAYFLOWER SOCIETY ~ Episode 2 – My Journey to become a member


As I wrote about on June 22nd this year, I am in the process of trying to join the Mayflower Society.  You can read my first post here THE MAYFLOWER SOCIETY ~ I’ve begun my journey to join–Come along as I take my first step

It’s been nearly four months since I submitted my Preliminary Review Form.  How much longer would it take until I heard from them either yay or nay?  They review the information you submit and then tell you if you can proceed with your application.  Oh my the waiting…………………….



Yes, that’s me, jumping for joy.  I received a phone call yesterday from the very nice lady who had reviewed my preliminary form.  She was happy to tell me that I could now proceed with my official application.  AND!!!!  That she is confident I should be able to join the society.  WOOHOO!!

Now what?  What is the next step and what do I need to do?

As with any society everything revolves around proving who you are and how you are descended from the patriot, the first settler or in this case the Mayflower passenger.
 
My mind was a whirl of thoughts as I started going over the documents and proof that I would need.

The very good news is that my 4th great grandfather has been proven.  His name is Isaac DOTEN (1768-1852).  I will need to provide proof of his marriage and everything down the line all the way to me.

(PLEASE CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)
Look at that.  Everyone I need information on is already in my tree.  The red lines indicate the ancestors who lead me directly to the DOTEN line I'm trying to prove.

What does that entail?  First of all, I’ve been a researcher for a long while now, over 16 years.  During that time I have recorded everything I could find about my direct line ancestors.  I use Legacy as my database, as well as having a working tree on Ancestry.  One thing I have is LOTS of records.  Some I have downloaded from various websites and others I’ve ordered directly from counties or states.

Here’s the types of records you need to begin an application process such as this one.  I’ll begin with me and list all the ancestors for whom I’ll need to gather records and what type of records I might need.  This is just a list off the top of my head and there may be more.

Me – Birth, Marriage
My Dad, Harry Norman Gould – Birth, marriage, death
My grandfather, Harry Whipple Gould – Birth, marriage, death
My great grandfather, William V. Gould – Birth, marriage, death, obituary
My 2nd great grandmother, Sarah Hart – Birth, marriage death, obituary, census records
My 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart – Birth, marriage, death, obituary, headstone, probate record of her father
My 4th great grandmother, Sally Follett – marriage, death, obituary, headstone, probate record

Doesn’t seem so bad, does it?  After all, those are the records we try to collect for all of our ancestors, right?  We’re talking about mostly records from the mid 1800’s.  That shouldn’t be too difficult.  Plus, as a thorough researcher I really should have most of these records already recorded, along with the images of those records.

The answer is YES.  I should have all of that.  Once I began to review my files I found I did have many, if not most of those records.  But, oh my, do those records have the information I’m seeking?  Are they all complete?  Was the information recorded properly?
 
Stay tuned for my next post to find out how many ways things can be recorded and what might it mean to my application process.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

4 comments:

  1. Way to go, Diane!! You've only just begun...and have some ways to go. Good luck!

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    1. Thanks Randy. I will enjoy the journey. And the reward will be worth it. Let’s hope it all works out.

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  2. Congratulations! We are DOTY cousins. I haven't filed a supplemental yet on my Doty line, but your application looks good with not too many generations to document. I hope to see you at one of the Mayflower events next year in Plymouth!

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    1. Thanks cuz. Another fun journey in my genealogy story.

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I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.