Guidelines for Applicants

Citing sources in your genealogical work is important. Instead of guessing where your information came from, or wondering how accurate your information really is, your source citation allows you to better evaluate the reliability of your data. All source documents must now be submitted electronically in .jpg format. Handwritten transcripts are not accepted. Whenever you find information, whether you open a book, or find it online or on a reel of microfilm, don’t transcribe it. Save all images (and the title page as applicable) as .jpg files. These digital copies of original records help document your line for membership.

Vital records come in two sizes, long and short form. Long forms are sometimes referred to as long form for genealogical purposes and can contain a wealth of information, information that you will not find on the shorter form, especially the names of the parents. Not all offices have them, but if you don’t specify, then you could miss out. For example, a certificate is often a short form, and is a fancy document on which has been typed the name, place and date of the event, as taken from the original record – but what you really want is the original record from which the information was taken. The original record could contain much more information than the bare facts of a certificate. In fact, a long form death record could also give birth date and place and names of parents – which could be a blessing if you have not been able to locate the birth record. There is no guarantee it will have what you are looking for, but it’s certainly worth a try (and the cost is usually the same). When long form records are available, they are necessary when documenting your Mayflower lineage for membership.

Conducting genealogical research in the New England states is a pure joy. And we have our early ancestors to thank, for unlike our later ancestors who were pioneers in new lands and had other things on their minds, they kept wonderful records. This doesn’t mean you are going to find every record you ever search for, but chances are you will find a majority of them.

When you begin documenting your Mayflower line, your first five generations have already been done by the General Society’s Silver Book Researchers. The Historian Team may have added additional sources past the sixth generation. Therefore, depending on the advice you receive from the Historian Team, you will probably need to begin documenting your line from generation #6 forward. It is always a good idea to concentrate on generations six to eight because it is these middle generations which can prove challenging. It is best to make sure you will be successful in documenting them before you go ahead and spend time and money on the easier generations where documentation will be more readily available although documents during these later time periods, will be available for a fee.

If your ancestors were on the move during these middle generations, then you may find it challenging to find the primary records you need. As new lands opened up and our ancestors were on the move, up through New York and into Ontario or through Maine into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, recording family events was not high on their list of priorities (those of us whose lines went into Nova Scotia fair much better), therefore when primary records cannot be located, secondary sources may be used. Whether or not the secondary sources you have are acceptable, depends on how reliable the source is known to be; our Historian will be able to advise you.

Since these generations are usually the most difficult, it is a good idea to complete the documentation requirements for these middle generations before you continue. It would be unwise to jump ahead and collect the documentation needed for your more recent, easier generations, only to find out later that you were unable to find proof of parentage for generation #7 and your application is at a standstill – after you have spent all that time and/or money on documentation for your later generations.

Once you have completed the documentation requirements for your first eight generations, those remaining should be much easier. Birth, death and marriage records should be available and when ordering these, remember to order the long form record. If a long form vital record is available for the geographic area and time period of your event, they are necessary to prove your lineage. If a vital record absolutely cannot be found or is not available from a record office, there are often alternatives we can use. See below.

Whenever a record cannot be found, don’t despair, there is usually another way around it, or another avenue to follow. For example, great-grandpa was born in 1865, married in 1890 and died in 1930. Registration of vital records did not begin until 1870, so no birth record for grandpa – no problem. He died “late enough” that a death record will be available and a long form death record may give his birth date and/or parentage. Some long form marriage records also name parents. Also available will be the 1871 or 1881 census which will place him with his parents and the 1901 census will give his birth date.

If you get stuck, have a problem, or are unsure what to do next concerning the documentation requirements, just ask the member of the Historian Team who is working with you.

Not all lineages are easy to prove, some are a little more challenging and the records a little more elusive. You may find that you have been unable to identify the spouse of one of your line carriers, or you are missing a couple of birth, marriage or death dates on your worksheet. Does this mean your entire application goes down the tube? Of course not. If you have a well-documented lineage and have proven the parentage of your line carriers, but are missing the odd piece of data in your early generations, it is likely that your lineage will still be approved. The society is not so unrealistic as to expect every lineage to be perfectly laid out or perfectly documented.