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Tennessee Society of Mayflower Descendants

Welcome to the official Tennessee Society of Mayflower Descendants website!

We are a non-profit, hereditary state society dedicated to preserving and recording our Mayflower ancestors through historical research, genealogy, and education. Our members have documented direct descent from one or more passengers who sailed from Holland and England to Plymouth, Massachusetts aboard the ship, Mayflower.

The passengers sought religious freedom by crossing the Atlantic in 1620 and forming Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims drafted and signed an agreement that formed a simple self governing community founded upon democratic principles. The Mayflower Compact is considered to be the precursor of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Twenty six men and three women of the original 102 passengers aboard the Mayflower have descendants. Genealogists estimate that today, there are over twenty million living persons who descended from the twenty nine Pilgrims.

The Tennessee Mayflower Society was organized on August 10, 1948 in Chattanooga, by Mayflower Descendants living in the State of Tennessee, to preserve the history of our Mayflower ancestors. Our members keep their memory alive through genealogy, historical research, education, library donations, preservation of historic records and sites. Our Society's Objectives

You are eligible to join our society if you can provide documentation that you are a direct descendant of a passenger who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. We invite you to learn more about our Society and encourage you to attend our meetings.

Whether you are interested in becoming a member, or simply learning more about the history of the Mayflower, we hope you will enjoy your time visiting out site.

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General Society of Mayflower Descendants

The Mayflower

by Barry Simon

Enduring heavy seas across the Atlantic, the Mayflower carried 102

passengers filled with hopes and dreams of colonizing a New World.

On November 11, 1620, the Pilgrims dropped anchor off the site of

present day Provincetown. An exploring party set sail in and about the

Cape Cod Bay searching for a suitable location to build their settlement.

On December 11, they decided on a site 26 miles west of

Proveincetown across the bay. This place had been named "Plimoth"

by Captain John Smith on his map of New England published in 1614.