Get on Board: Membership
Need help? Feel free to write to Sharon R. Ahearn, Historian NHSMD 207 Sandhurst Drive, Laconia NH 03246
or email Historian@nhmayflower.org
Membership Information
Any person able to document their direct descent from one or more of the following Mayflower Pilgrims is eligible to apply for membership in the New Hampshire Mayflower Society:
On January 1, 2010, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants amended its membership rules. In addition to the heads of households listed above, all passengers who have proven descendants are eligible to have claims of descent allowing membership and/or supplemental applications to be filed through them. For more information on this policy, please contact our society historian. The following list of women and children passengers left descendants.
Women passengers on the Mayflower with proven descendants
Mrs. Mary (Norris) Allerton, Mrs. Elinor Billington, Mrs. Mary Brewster, Mrs. James Chilton, Mrs. Sarah Eaton, Mrs. Edward Fuller, Mrs. Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins, Mrs. Alice Mullins (not proved to be Priscilla's mother), Mrs. Joan (Hurst) Tilley (widow of Thomas Rogers), Mrs. Susanna White (later became Mrs. Susanna Winslow).
Children on the Mayflower who left descendants
Bartholomew Allerton (had known children, but no one has yet to prove descent), Remember Allerton, Francis Billington, Love Brewster, Mary Chilton, John Cooke, Samuel Eaton, Samuel Fuller, Constance Hopkins, Giles Hopkins, Priscilla Mullins, Joseph Rogers, Elizabeth Tilley, Peregrine White (born on the Mayflower in Provincetown Harbor), Resolve White.
Note: Crew members of the ship are not to be considered passengers. The attribution of the status of "a passenger" has always been reserved for those men and women who remained in Plymouth after the Mayflower returned to England, having completed its purpose of bringing its passengers to their new home. -- Paul S. Bumpus, historian general, GSMD, from the December, 2009 edition of the Mayflower Quarterly.
John Alden *
Isaac Allerton **
Mary (Norris) Allerton **
John Billington **
William Bradford
William Brewster **
Peter Browne
James Chilton **
Francis Cooke **
Edward Doty *
Francis Eaton **
Moses Fletcher
Edward Fuller **
Samuel Fuller
Stephen Hopkins **
Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins
John Howland ***
Richard More
William Mullins
Degory Priest
Thomas Rogers **
Henry Samson
George Soule
Myles Standish
John Tilley
Joan (Hurst) Tilley
Richard Warren
William White **
Edward Winslow
*Includes descent from William and Alice Mullins and their daughter Priscilla.
**Includes descent from a wife or child who were also passengers on the Mayflower.
***Includes descent from John Tilley, his wife Joan and their daughter, Elizabeth.
Memberships Fees
Membership application fee - $275 includes first year's dues ($75).
Types of Membership: (No restriction to place of residence)
Annual membership dues - 18 years of age or older $75
A check payable to the New Hampshire Society of Mayflower Descendants (NHSMD) is due with the Preliminary Application. The entrance fee is non-refundable. A refund of dues can be requested, if application is not approved.
Members may file Supplemental Lines with a fee of $200 per line filed.
State Junior Members - New Hampshire "State Junior" membership for a relative of a Member is set at a one time enrollment fee of $30 with no annual dues for ages birth to 18 (no documentation required). At age 18, the individual is eligible to become a Regular Member by submitting an application with documentation and paying the fees and annual dues. There will be an option to remain a New Hampshire State Junior Member until age 25. At the age of 35 the Member has the option of becoming a Life Member by submitting the proper Life Membership fees.
Friends of NH Mayflower Members - This category is for relatives, spouses, students and persons interested in our society who are unable to document a direct line to a Mayflower pilgrim. There will be a one-time enrollment fee of $50 and no annual dues. The friends category is a state society membership and not a membership to the GSMD. Click here for further information and the application.
If you have any questions regarding the Friends category please contact Robert LaBelle.
Steps to Becoming a Lineage Member
Step 1.
Start by collecting documentation to prove that you are descended from a passenger on the Mayflower voyage of 1620. (The template here can help you keep track.) If a member of your family (past or present) has joined this or another state Society, you will have a head-start in the process of proving your lineage. You may request a copy of your family member’s lineage papers from the General Society. The General Society also has a Mayflower Lineage Match Service available to help you to determine what portion of your Mayflower lineage has already been documented in a previously approved application.
Membership in the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of New Hampshire, requires that parentage in each generation be supported by primary or secondary sources. Primary sources are preferable, as they include contemporary records of birth, baptism, or death; land or census records; family bibles; court records; and pension records.
All generations in the 20th and 21st Centuries should be fully documented using certified vital records for all events. Secondary sources include published family and town histories, newspaper accounts, obituaries and gravestone photos. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants has published the first five generations of Mayflower families, so you do not have to provide documents for these generations.
Step 2.
When you are reasonably sure that you have a provable Mayflower lineage, download the Preliminary Membership Application form below, complete it and mail it with a check for the $275 application fee, to the New Hampshire Society Historian, Historian NH Mayflower Society 207 Sandhurst Drive, Laconia, NH 03246.
Step 3.
The Historian will contact you and will complete a working application. The Historian will review your lineage records to make sure they are acceptable, according to General Society standards. He or she will then prepare the final lineage papers for your signature, and send them to the General Society in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for approval.
Step 4.
Upon approval by the Historian General in Plymouth, you will be notified by the New Hampshire State Society. Your certificates of Mayflower membership will be then mailed to you, or presented to you at the next meeting of the New Hampshire society.