On 15 Feb 2003 12:58:35 -0700 Lawsacre@msn.com writes: > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > My question is: where do people begin when trying > to trace Mayflower ancestry? A short answer would be that you don't - as you work your way back you eventually stumble across a Mayflower ancestor. It helps if you have a strong suspicion that one particular branch might pan out. In my case my paternal grandmother had always said that she had Mayflower ancestry through her paternal grandmother, Sarah H. Bonney. Grandma thought her grandmother was descended from Thomas Bonney, Jr., who married Dorcas Samson, daughter of Henry Samson of the Mayflower. My early research found that Thomas Jr.'s sons died without children, and that we are actually descended from his brother Joseph, who didn't marry a Pilgrim's daughter. In the course of my research on the Bonney family, though, I found that one of Sarah's great-grandmothers was Sarah Cooke, a descendant of Pilgrim Francis. My grandmother was incorrect about where her Mayflower ancestry came from, but she did indeed have it - and from other Pilgrims as well. Dale H. Cook USGenWeb Plymouth County MA Towns http://www.rootsweb.com/~macbrock/sites.html