Our Pilgrim Ancestors

Every once in awhile, the people at Family Search, the free online genealogy platform I use to both research and record our family tree, will send along discoveries they have made for us regarding our ancestors. This week they sent a doozie! Those of us in the Greene family line are Mayflower descendants!

According to Family Search (and I confess I am taking this at face value rather than looking too closely at their conclusions) my 11th great-grandfather William Brewster, his wife Mary, and his sons Love and Wrestling were among the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower as it sailed to Plymouth in 1620. They are related to us through Sarah Drusilla Greene Whalen, paternal grandmother of my father Kendall Charles Whalen.

Additionally, William Bradford, who served as governor of Plymouth Colony for 31 terms, is our 2nd cousin eleven times removed. He is also through the Greene line, but through Dad’s maternal great-grandmother Amelia Greene’s side.

So, when we eat our Thanksgiving dinner this year, far from our loved one’s due to Covid, just remember that our earliest colonial ancestors were missing their relatives too.

Information attributed to: The Mayflower Society member applications and tree project in FamilySearch’s Historical Records were made possible through a joint partnership with the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and New England Historic Genealogical Society, also known as American Ancestors. The biographical information about the Mayflower passengers was provided through the Great Migration Study Project, sponsored by American Ancestors.

For more information about the Mayflower passengers and programs, visit Mayflower.Americanancestors.org. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Mayflower Society, see www.themayflowersociety.org.