In a message dated 12/8/2011 18:48:01 Eastern Standard Time, jbhorner@comcast.net writes: My great-grandfather Jacob Ressler, who died in 1936 a resident of Jeannette, was referenced in obituary in the 12/27/1936 Jeannette News-Dispatch as "a member of the Methodist church and Mayflower Council No. 159." Despite my research, I can only find one other internet reference to a Mayflower Council, that appearing in an obituary as well. Can anyone help me with what this organization was/is? All thoughts appreciated! Probably like the DAR, etc. Some proved an ancestor was part of the American Revolution. They are divided into clubs, organizations, etc. SAR, CAR, etc. Or "The Welcome Society." Enoch Abraham of Chester Co., PA to Fayette Co., PA was descendant of Dr. Thomas Wynn, who sailed with William Penn on the ship Welcome. This is rather more exclusive, like the Mayflower, since a limited number could have sailed on one single ship on one single voyage. There are still debates on who sailed on The Welcome, but it has been proven that Dr. Thomas Wynne was with William Penn as his physcian.. Or "The First Families of Hartford." The Orange Hill family of Westmoreland are eligible to join the society based on Orange's mother, Lucy Ensign, something granddaughter of a first settler. Or "The Colonial Dames." There are a lot of them and my daughters are eligible for the Philadelphia and Hartford groups, while I'm eligible for the Hartford and Colonial Virginia groups. Even "First Families of the Twin Territories"...residents before Oklahoma became a state. I'm a member of that. Simply people with ancestors who shared a common historical event. Check with the Mayflower Society headquarters. Plymouth, Mass. Go to the top. They should have records. I contacted Free Mason Headquarters in DC and they tracked down the organization in Georgia where my great something grandpap earned his rank prior to the Civil War. I didn't even know which great something grandpap earned the Scots Ring, but they found his membership. Shirley Maynard Hampton, VA