The Washington Society of Mayflower Descendants is more than ‘just a boat.’

We are descendants of English Separatists who immigrated in 1620, aboard the ship Mayflower, to escape religious persecution and imprisonment under the reign of King James of England.

We are the offspring of the men who signed the Mayflower Compact, which has been called the ‘foundation stone of our American Democracy.’ While the ship was still moored in Provincetown Harbor, the pilgrims pledged to each other a ‘civil body politic’ in the absence of the jurisdiction of the English Crown, laying the ground work for both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. During a speech in Plymouth in 1802, John Quincy Adams, himself a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, stated:

… the Mayflower Compact [is] perhaps, the only instance in human history of that positive, original social compact, which speculative philosophers have imagined as the only legitimate source of government. Here was a unanimous and personal assent, by all the individuals of the community, to the association by which they became a nation. It was the result of circumstances and discussions which had occurred during their passage from Europe and is a full demonstration that the nature of civil government, abstracted from the political institutions of their native country, had been an object of their serious meditation.

We are amateur genealogists & historians who have verified our lineage, through vital records, wills, land grants, and other records, to the highest of genealogical standards, proving our family line descends from one of the 51 passengers who survived the Atlantic crossing and that first Plymouth winter. We honor the memory of our Pilgrim mothers and fathers, whose belief in religious freedom, civil liberties and undying courage became the bedrock upon which our nation was built.

Chartered in 1912, The Washington Society of Mayflower Descendants is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization of nearly 475 Mayflower ‘cousins’, WASMD is one of 54 ‘memberships Societies’ [the United States, the District of Columbia, Canada and Europe] within the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, founded in 1897, and headquartered in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Whether it be history or genealogy which brings you here, thank you for taking a closer look at the Washington Society of Mayflower Descendants.

Welcome!
Bruce David Harrington
31^st Governor