If you have identified a lineage from a Mayflower passenger to you, and have some evidence that it is correct, we invite you to proceed with a Preliminary Application Form. To make your application process as efficient as possible, and reduce the potential of unnecessary expense we recommend waiting until you receive your personalized worksheet and instruction guide before obtaining additional documentation.

As part of the Preliminary Application Form, the applicant will fill out a lineage synopsis. This form lists only the names of each generation from the applicant back to the Mayflower passenger--no dates or places. During the application process, the Historian reviews the presented lineage and sends back a worksheet, annotated with proofs already on file in the Mayflower office. This normally means that no further proof will be required for at least the first five generations from the passenger. The applicant is reponsible for proving and documenting all other events on the worksheet. When you receive your worksheet you will also be given an instruction guide. This guide will contain specifics regarding documentation requirements and answers to frequently asked questions. Please do not submit documentation until after you have received your worksheet and instruction guide.

The "documentation" for an application consists of copies of source material used to support the connections between the generations, and the facts (birth, marriage, and death). Each generation should be supported by long-form birth, marriage, and death records for the line carrier and their spouse when they are available. The only time that vital records are not required is when a person (usually a grandparent) resided in an area that had not yet set up vital registration. In these cases, substitute records must be found.

The first attempt to document a lineage should use primary records. These are records that have recorded the fact in question at or near the time it occurred by someone with first-hand knowledge of the event. The most commonly used records after vital records are church, cemetery, census, probate, and land records. Occasionally these records are not available or do not fully support the fact or directly identify relationships. In these situations, you can use a combination of documents and also support the details with a secondary source such as a family genealogy or local history. After you have requested evidence, per the worksheet and instruction guide, the Historian will review your documents. If further documentation is needed the Historian will contact you with what to look for and where. This type of exchange is normal between the applicant and the Historian before the documentation process is completed.

If you are using published sources, we request copies of all the relevant pages plus the title page. If you are using the Massachusetts vital records series to 1850, the "Barbour" collection for Connecticut to 1850, or any of the Picton Press vital records to 1892 for a Maine town, all you need to do is provide the application references. Copies are not needed as we already have these books in the office.

Happy Hunting!

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