I run into a lot of the same. People who claim to have relatives that came over from the Mayflower. Just simply let them know that, "wow! I did too! Can we compare notes?" and then proceed to ask what organizations they gleaned their information from. If they're serious about it, you'll get a serious conversation and, no doubt, a lot of really good information that can help you in your own research. If they just heard it through the grapevine, then dismiss it as something they just want to say because it's sounds good. Stubby Tate "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: I don't think there will ever be a way other than to just tell them they must "work with what they know and then backwards" documenting everything till they can trace ANY line back to what the Society has already proven. I belong to and ADAMS list and couldn't begin to tell you how many people have been told by family tradition that they are related to the Presidents' Adams. (in addition to Pres. Wilson) Just as MY family was told. My grandmother's mother was a Wilson and HER mother was an Adams. So my grandma's Grandmother was the Adams. You'd think that would be a relatively close source. Well my Adams line came from Ireland into SC. The presidents weren't Irish and were in what CT? like in the 1700's. My Adams were in SC pre-1820. I was lucky enough that my Mayflower line was well documented prior to me so all I had to do was trip over it.... Then began my document searching. You'll never fix your problem I'm afraid. Janean Original Message: ----------------- From: [email protected] Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:54:20 -0500 (EST) To: [email protected] Subject: [MFLR] General Hi, In my conversations with people, I generally bring out in conversation about genealogy. People invariably tell me there relative came over on the Mayflower. Its almost always a surname that was not on the Mayflower. Its always thru a relative. then like the latest its thru Alice Atwood , William Mullins wife. Except Alice doesn't-T have a surname. I guess I should keep quiet, unless they intend to really follow it thru. Its the same in the Francis Cooke association. They will see some bodies name in the 10th generation. That's the same as there name. And think they are related to Francis Cooke. Any suggestions on how I should deal with these people? Scott ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message --------------------------------- Cheap Talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.

I had heard for years that I had Mayflower ancestors, that we were descended on my Dad's side from William Brewster. It was a cool story as a kid, and a source of interest as I got older. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I actually started finding out that there were /eight/ lines back in my genealogy to the Mayflower. There are many, many people who are descended from those who crossed over on the Mayflower - and instead of being snotty and having an attitude about it as if 'we're better because we did the research' - there should be an encouragement and an attitude of excitement. If your family has a story, there is always a chance it is true. May myths and legends have a kernel of truth - and, isn't part of the reason we do this research and source-searching and proofing of lines so that /our/ descendants can say, with pride, that they, too, are descendants from the brave and desperate folks that came over on the Mayflower? Kess Leake-Campbell Lorton, VA