Web site offers history for Mayflower descendants

Nearly four centuries after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, there is a boatload of information available on the hardy band we think of on Thanksgiving.

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants, which continues to publish “Mayflower Families” books offering five generations on many of the Pilgrims who left issue, is considered the last word on Mayflower research.

The organization’s Web site, www.mayflower.org, presents good information on its activities and on the Mayflower passengers.

Maps and other data are included in the useful “The Pilgrims & Plymouth Colony: 1620,” a study guide by Duane A. Cline for teachers, students “and anyone interested in learning about the Pilgrims and their Wampanoag Friends.”

Categories include background about the Pilgrims, their decision to leave Holland, the voyage of the Mayflower, the arrival in the new world, the Native Americans, and the first Thanksgiving.

Updated last month, the guide provides information on the Mayflower dogs, Pilgrim clothing and furniture, Indian place names and maps, a map of the English hometowns of the Pilgrims, and a list of the passengers of the Speedwell – a companion ship of the Mayflower until it foundered and had to return to England.

I especially like the list of Mayflower passengers, which gives each person’s occupation, birth and death dates if known, spouse and number of children. For example:

“Isaac Allerton, tailor, merchant, Undertaker, Purchaser. Saint. 5th signer of Compact, b. England, ca. 1586.”

The listing goes on to give his three marriages, and marks his death between Feb. 1, 1658, and Feb. 12, 1658/9, in New Haven, Conn.

A “Saint,” as you may know, was one of the Separatists who had left England for religious reasons. “Strangers” were the passengers who were not Separatists.

For information on joining the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Maine, connect to the organization from the Web site, or contact the membership chairman, Ralph Thivierge, at 10 Rocky Ave., Topsham, ME 04086; or e-mail rthivier@blazenetme.net.

Libraries have many, many books on the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Colony. One that was new to me was “The May-Flower & Her Log: July 15, 1620-May 6, 1621,” written by Azel Ames. Published in 1901 and again in 1907, the book is not widely available.

Jeff Linscott, who has published books on the Linscotts and other families, decided to reprint the book, adding a preface and re-indexing it. It is available from him for $34, postage included, at RR1 Box 552, South China, ME 04538-9402; telephone 445-3970; Web site www.pivot.net/volume, as well as copies of the original.

The book includes information about the ship, officers and crew, passengers, members of the original company of Merchant Adventurers, cooking and provisions, and daily log.

3036. SANBORN-FOGG. Searching for burial places for my great-great-great-great-great grandparents, Josiah Sanborn and Olive (Fogg) Sanborn, originally from Exeter, N.H. Very possibly they are buried in Waldo County, where they were early settlers in town of Waldo in 1808. Josiah b. Nov. 19, 1771, to Josiah and Deborah (Bowdin) Sanborn. Josiah d. Nov. 12, 1856; Olive d. Aug. 13, 1856. They had sons John, David, Peter and Josiah. One possibility is that the parents were buried where they lived or on other private land. Also looking for info on great-great grandparents Gilman Roberts, 1831-1915, and Harriet (Dingee) Roberts, 1841-1877. Scott Sanborn, 190 Thirteenth St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone 942-7083.

3037. SIMPSON-DEFENTHON-FENTON. Seeking information on parents, siblings and resources for David Simpson, b. 1785, Durham, N.H. He may have been son of Mary (Defenthon or Fenton) Simpson, who d. 1819 in Newburgh, her husband William Simpson “having died a few years earlier.” Richard Spinney, 5 Spencer St., Ellsworth, ME 04605; or e-mail rspinney@hotmail.com.

3038. SHACKFORD-BARKS. Seek ancestry for Deborah Shackford, md. May 2, 1793, Blue Hill, Joseph Barks, not Banks as some have said. They were living on Swans Island, 1800. Probably he died before 1810. She was living in Trenton in 1830, age 70-80. Was she the Deborah baptized May 13, 1759, Dover, N.H., eighth child of William Shackford? Constance R. Hanscom, P.O. Box 125, Ellsworth, ME 04605.

Send queries with Maine connections to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or e-mail familyti@bangordailynews.net. Full name and address of sender is required, even if e-mail is used. Telephone number is not required.