Column: Are You a Mayflower Descendant?

Between today and Wednesday, my genealogy column, Roots to the Past, is available in the following Atlantic Canada newspapers:

Saturday: The Citizen (Amherst)

Saturday: Times & Transcript (Moncton)

Wednesday: The Lunenburg County Progress Bulletin (Lunenburg County)

Are You a Mayflower Descendant?

Snippet: In September 1620, 102 passengers and about forty crewmembers set sail from Plymouth, England, aboard the merchant vessel Mayflower. The passengers—determined to find religious freedom—wanted to start a new church in their own colony in North America. The Speedwell was to accompany the Mayflower on the journey, but leaks in the vessel forced it to return to port where passengers and their belongings were transferred to the Mayflower.

Due to rough seas, it took two months to reach North America. This may have also caused the ship to go off course, landing in Cape Cod on November 11, 1620, instead of the more southerly destination chosen.

During the first winter, half the crew and passengers perished from malnutrition, disease and exposure, leaving fifty-three passengers to establish the new colony. Their voyage, survival and success would go down in history as one of the more famous settlers’ stories in the New World.

To my knowledge, my ancestors have no links to the Mayflower, but my children’s do through their father. Their granduncle had hired a genealogist decades ago to complete the research. When the kids came along, he gave me a copy.

. . . To read more, pick up one of the above noted newspapers.