Why do I have an image of the Mayflower on my blog you wonder.... well, there's something I've been keeping from you. No, really, I just haven't had the time to blog about it. So I thought I'd take this day.... the day when I have to finish shopping, wrapping, cooking, doing laundry & packing before I go to Decatur tomorrow.I have a problem, I know. I sometimes put off what I don't want to do. I don't want to do those things... I'm tired of doing those things, so I'll take a little break and fill you in on my story... My story of being a Pilgrim.
A few years ago my mom tells me that her friend, Jane, has been into genealogy for a while and she decided to do a little research on my mom's family. The more she researched, the more excited she got -- it turns out that my mom descended from Mayflower passengers. At least that what Jane said. When mom told me I thought, "that's pretty cool," but I'm also one of these people who wants to see the proof for myself.
So years go by and I pretty much forgot about it. Then this Thanksgiving when Macy was learning about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, I told her that there was a possibility that she was a descendant. She asked me to give her something that she could take to school to show her class. I got on the internet at about 5:00pm on a Friday, and the next thing I knew it was 2:00 in the morning! I know... I'm a computer addict (do you think there are CA 12 step programs out there for people like me???)
Anyway, it amazed me how much I could find on the internet about descendants of the Pilgrims, and especially about my line. And from what I can see at this point it definitely looks to be true. So I spent the next two weeks in obsession-mode, finding out everything I could on this family I never knew I had... joining every genealogical website and researching old documents, censuses, death & marriage records, etc.
Amazing... the ironies in life. Little ole me who never really even knew my mom's side of the family (she had her issues with them).... and my dad's side, well, let's just save that drama for another day... heck, I could create a whole blog just for that story! Anyway, I definitely would have never thought that I would ever be able to trace my lineage back to the 1500's in ANY way, but most certainly not to the founders of this great country.
So I guess you could say I've found a new hobby. I sent in the first application to become a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants -- they just got back with me yesterday after a month of waiting to tell me that although most certainly true, it is a "daunting task" to actually prove it. So therein lies my new mission -- proving it. I figure it will take somewhere between 2 and 5 years if not longer to do just that, but you know me... I'm a glutton for punishment especially when it comes to a big project.
I'll have to find birth, marriage and death certificates for every person from me & Jonathan up until my mom's great grandfather who was born in 1835. It seems there are already published volumes of information proving the lineage up until that point. So it sounds pretty easy... everyone knows who their great grandparents are, right??? Well, not so fast. Proving it is a whole other ballgame. Situations, for instance, where a person with the birth name of Joel begins to refer to himself as Joseph and therefore filling out every census or other document with "Joseph" makes it difficult to prove he's really Joel. And then you have to have documentation connecting Joel with his daughter "Blanche," my mom's grandmother, before there were actual birth certificates. It creates a pretty big problem... one that is only solved by actually researching through the county, probate & other records where they actually lived, which in my case is Michigan. Yikes -- that's a long way away! So someday... in between carpool, homework and laundry, I'll try to prove that I'm a Pilgrim!
Here's the lineage... if you're interested. And, oh, by the way, this is just to Myles Standish, the captain of the Mayflower. It looks like I'm actually a direct descendant of 7 people who were on the ship (although 3 of those people died within a few months of landing). Sounds crazy, I know, but there were only 49 people who lived after the first winter, so as you can well imagine, lots of people ended up marrying each other... then their children ended up marrying other Pilgrims children and on & on...
Parents………………………Son or Daughter
Myles Standish……………………………………...Alexander Standish
Barbara Allen
Alexander Standish……………………………...Mercy Standish
Sarah Alden
Caleb Samson……………………………………..…Rachel Samson
Mercy Standish
Moses Simmons………….………………………..Mercy Simmons
Rachel Samson
Nathaniel Simmons…………………………….…Stephen Simmons
Mercy Simmons
Stephen Simmons…………………………………Urania Sprague Simmons
Betsy Groton
Urania Sprague Simmons…………………..….William Savage, Jr. (proven until this point)
William Savage
William Savage, Jr……………………………..…..Joel Leslie Savage (my great-great grandfather)
Lucy Ann Terry
Joel Leslie Savage…………………………………Blanche Emeline Savage (my great-grandmother)
Charlotte Lockhart
Blanche Emeline Savage………………………..Florence Helen Fitzpatrick (my grandmother)
Frank Fitzpatrick
Florence Helen Fitzpatrick……………………..Micella Joell Fitzpatrick (my mother)
Lloyd George Groh
Micella Joell Fitzpatrick………………………….Amanda Lea Holliman
James Tony Holliman
Amanda Lea Holliman…………………………….our children, Madison, Macy & Jacob
Jonathan Scott Parker
So, it's very interesting -- at least to me -- but also overwhelming. Therefore, I'm taking a little break, going out with friends for dinner. Blog ya later!
