Celebrating Mayflower Ancestors This Thanksgiving Week






If you've read any of my past posts you know that I descend from indigenous people of Cape Cod, but, I also descend from many Mayflower passengers.  Being a native Cape Codder almost guarantees a Mayflower connection.  Having ancestors on both sides of the story reveals a lot about the complex history of the region.  But as it is Thanksgiving week, I am focusing on my Mayflower ancestry in this post, an ancestry I am proud of.  

Photographed above left is my great grandfather William Morgan and his wife's sisters Lila Holway and Addie Taylor, all of Yarmouth.  They were visiting Plymouth, Massachusetts, along with William's wife Violet, my great grandmother, sometime after 1921 when the statue was erected, but before 1939 when Violet died.  I estimate this picture to have been taken approximately 1930. The four of them are pictured above right standing in front of what appears to be the Plymouth Rock Monument.

The statue of Massasoit was completed in 1921 by sculptor Cyrus Edwin Dallin to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims. It is situated across from Plimoth Rock, and is the location of annual protests on Thanksgiving Day since 1970. 

From Left to Right: Francis Salter, Dorcas Donley, my mother Verna Morgan, Florence Whitehead,
and Florence Boesse at the 300th Celebration of the Founding of Yarmouth

While William Morgan's family was from Ireland, Violet, Addie, and Lila Chase descended from Yarmouth's original settlers. They were Mayflower descendants (as well as of indigenous ancestry) and perhaps that is why they were visiting Plymouth together for this off Cape excursion.  My introduction into genealogy was researching and applying for Mayflower Society membership through this Chase family. I was ecstatic that my application was approved through Pilgrim Thomas Rogers; my foray into genealogy was off to a great start.

Here is the approved line to Thomas Rogers:

Thomas Rogers       -      Alice

Joseph Rogers        -      Hannah

John Rogers            -      Elizabeth Twining

Eleazer Rogers        -      Martha Young

Elizabeth Rogers     -      Nathan Bassett

Peninah Bassett      -      Samuel Bassett

Peninah Bassett      -      Owen Chase

Orinza Chase           -      Ezra Covil

Julia Etta Covil         -      Franklin Howes Chase

Violet EV Chase       -      William Morgan

Vernon Morgan        -      Harriet Nelson

Verna Morgan          -      Derge Bear

Me

Later I submitted a second application for Elder William Brewster. Although the path through records was not as clean and clear cut as in the first, the application was approved.  

Here is the approved line to William Brewster:

Elder William Brewster

Patience Brewster     -     Thomas Prence

Mercy Prence            -     John Freeman

Thomas Freeman.      -     Rebecca Sparrow

Mercy Freeman          -     Paul Sears

Ann Sears                  -     Ebenezer Bangs

Edward Bangs           -     Huldah Clark

Huldah Bangs            -     John Covill

Ezra Covill                  -     Orinza Chase

Julia Etta Covill          -     Franklin Howes Chase

Violet E.V. Chase        -     William Morgan

Vernon Morgan (my grandfather) etc.

This same family also has several other potential Mayflower lines which need to be verified (or debunked) to include Howland, Cooke, and separate trails through Giles and Constance Hopkins.  Looking at my grandmother Harriet Nelson's ancestry .... there is a whole other set of Mayflower passengers to investigate to include Howland, Soule, Cooke, Bradford, Alden, Warren, Hopkins, Allerton, Billington, Standish, and Brewster!  I hope to work on verifying at least one or two of these in 2024.  

Happy Thanksgiving!




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