I found the following reference in "Early History of the Thorn Family" stating that Penelope Coles was the great granddaughter of John Howland of the Mayflower: Mayflower Index V 1-2 pp 236, 378, 404, 842, V 3 p 171. First question: What is the Mayflower Index? I do not think this is the "silver books" I see mentioned. Second question: Does anyone have information to continue the line after Penelope Coles: John Howland Elizabeth Howland married 2nd John Dickinson (some say Dickerson) Elizabeth Dikinson married Caleb Wright Elizabeth Wright married Joseph Coles Penelope Coles married Thomas Thorn Elizabeth Thorn married Zeno Carpenter Daniel Carpenter married Sarah Merritt Daniel Carpenter married Mary Phebe Carpenter married William Goodday Thanks for any advice! Marianne Gaertner

***-----Original Message----- ***From: MLGaertner@aol.com [mailto:MLGaertner@aol.com] ***Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 10:54 PM ***To: MAYFLOWER-L@rootsweb.com ***Subject: [MFLR] Descendants of John Howland *** *** ***I found the following reference in "Early History of the Thorn Family" ***stating that Penelope Coles was the great granddaughter of John ***Howland of ***the Mayflower: Mayflower Index V 1-2 pp 236, 378, 404, 842, V 3 p 171. ***First question: What is the Mayflower Index? Craig Rich, our esteemed list administrator, has provided a great FAQ page which answers many questions such as this. It's well worth reading even if one doesn't have a question in mind--there are answers there to questions one may not have known he wanted to ask. http://www.macatawa.org/~crich/mayfaq.htm On this question the page has: "What is the "Mayflower Index" and can it be used as a source on my lineage paper? A: The "Mayflower Ancestral Index" (MI), vol. 1, was published by the General Society in 1981, covering approved lineages of the families of Brewster, Chilton, Eaton, S. Fuller, More, Rogers, Soule & White as found in the files of the Society by 1981. The book itself describes it thus: "...a roster of the family elements of the members of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.... At best an index is secondary source material but it is not genealogical evidence. It may not be offered as documentation for membership in the Society." This is a guide only, to tell you which lines in the above families were approved before 1981. The index contains the names in the lineage only, no sources, no places or dates (save for the occasional "1710-1784"). Since the inclusion of a line in this book means the line was approved before 1981, these approved lineage papers in the Society's files may not be well documented."