January
2006
Mayflower Society Membership
for Dummies (2 pages)
by Ed Sherman, State Historian
for South Carolina
864-963-4706
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ABC's |
A) To become a member of
the SMD, all you need to do
is complete (IN PENCIL) the
Final Application worksheet,
which lists every generation
line carrier and spouse from
you to a passenger on the
Mayflower... plus places and
dates for births, marriages
and deaths. For each there
is a space for a reference
to prove that detail.
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B) Send the FA worksheet
to your State Historian so
that person can review, sign,
date, type and forward to
the Historian General in Plymouth,
MA.
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C) Pay whatever fees your
State Historian requires for
applications. In most States
the Final Application fee
covers first year dues. Sit
back and wait about two months
for approval.
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| STEPS: |
1. The GSMD website is there
for interested applicants
(prospective members) to use.
The Society wants you to feel
comfortable using the site
and there are Society members
in every State to help you.
A contact person in each State
is found on the Mayflower
homepage.
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| GSMD web site:
http://www.mayflower.org/
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2. As a prospective member,
after pulling up the GSMD
site above, d-click on membership,
read while scrolling down
the page to the third paragraph
and D-click on "Preliminary
Review." Print the "Proposed
Application Review Form"
which appears and using a
pencil and printing neatly,
complete the form.
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3. Return
to the GSMD website homepage
and D-click on contacts. Every
contact in Canada and the
50 states will appear. Send
an Email to the contact in
your State advising them you
have completed the Prelim.
App. Rev. Form and would like
get it to then so they can
send it to Plymouth. When
you reach your State Mayflower
Society contact person, ask
them to detail every charge
you will incur so there will
be no doubt. OR, you can send
the PARF to Plymouth yourself,
but the Historian General’s
office will charge you $10
for results. If you call GSMD
in Plymouth, ask to please
speak to an Assistant to the
Historian General.
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Contact
information:
General Society of Mayflower
Descendants
PO Box 3297
Plymouth, MA 02361
508-746-3188 |
4. The
reason for sending the PARF
to Plymouth is that the Historian
General's office will scan
the PARF and check to see
if anyone in the history of
the Society has ever joined
on your same line. There may
be a person who has joined
on your line from a passenger
to within a few generations
of you. If so, the HG can
send a copy of that member's
approved application and all
you have to do is copy that
app down to where it changes
to your line--saving you hours
of work.
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| THINGS TO UNDERSTAND: |
D) There are only a few forms
a prospective member must
complete:
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1) The Proposed Application
Review Form from the GSMD
website.
2) The Preliminary Application
provided by your State Historian
(not every state).
3) The official GSMD Final
Application Worksheet provided
by your State Historian.
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E) Prior to the early 1980's
the HG office was more open
to any sort of proof for births
deaths and marriages. These
application numbers (with
scarce proof) are around 50,000
and lower. Today there are
more strict requirements for
proof. Approved applications
with numbers lower than about
50.000 could have been approved,
but do not contain the definitive
proof required today. If you
are lucky, they will send
you an app copy of someone
who joined on your line with
a GSMD number in the 60,000's
or higher. In either case
you have a solid, approved
app as a guide.
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F) The Historian General's
office in Plymouth has a large,
comprehensive library containing
many, many family genealogies,
vital records from many states
and books documenting the
vital records from most passengers
for five generations. This
saves you time also. This
means you do not need to get
photo copies of every document.
All you need to do is site
the book or record volume
and page number. --only those
documents which are not published
such as your birth certificate
(B/C), your mom's and dad's
and grandparent’s vital
records etc.
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G) Your State Historian has
a page of accepted abbreviations
for you to use on your penciled
final application. Example:
MF 22:419, which refers to
the book “Mayflower
Families, Volume 22, page
4, which is in the Historian
general’s library in
Plymouth. That line, say for
a birth, on your application
would read:
Elizabeth Baker, b. Marshfield,
29 JUL 1730, MF 22:419.
Each person on your final
app would have such a reference.
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