![\"Thanksgiving\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Thanksgiving-300x193.jpg\")
<\/a>I’m betting they didn’t have Jell-o salad<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Well, here we are, launched into the holiday season<\/strong>.\u00a0 “Holiday season” being a euphemism for “gain five pounds”.\u00a0 Like most people, I consumed more food than normal\u00a0last week, further endangering my\u00a0cholesterol numbers.\u00a0 \u00a0I dove into mashed potatoes, gravy, pies and whipped cream like I was going to “the chair”<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 In my food stupor I also gave\u00a0some thought to the original Thanksgiving – the one where people actually got along and shared stuff.\u00a0 Can you imagine?\u00a0 The Pilgrims have been on my mind lately because earlier this year I applied for membership in the General Society of Mayflower Descendants<\/strong>.\u00a0 To say that the requirements for entry are stiff is an understatement.\u00a0 These people take their mission seriously; one can imagine hunched-over researchers with green eyeshades taking delight in stamping “Reject!” on the hundreds of applications they receive.\u00a0 Actually, there is ONE man who is the gatekeeper to the organization – it is he alone who makes the decision as to whether your documentation is up to snuff.<\/p>\n I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say this research is not for the faint of heart<\/strong>.\u00a0 One must provide birth, marriage and death certificates for every person in the descendant line, including spouses who aren’t even a\u00a0blood relation to the original Mayflower passenger.\u00a0 I don’t know about you but I can’t even find my own<\/strong> marriage license.\u00a0\u00a0 I asked myself several times during the research and collection phase of this process why I was going through this effort.\u00a0 I’m not sure I ever satisfied myself with a great answer except that I am a history buff.\u00a0 I love not only the facts and figures but the people who lived before us and shaped our world.\u00a0 No detail is too small.\u00a0 I am the type of person who goes through the National Gallery, looking at\u00a0the portraits wondering what the subject had for<\/strong> breakfast<\/strong> that morning.\u00a0 In the case of the Mayflower passengers I have also been looking for any hints\u00a0of DNA that might have trickled down to our generation and I have been pleasantly surprised to find some similarities.<\/p>\n The very serious William Brewster<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n John Alden<\/strong>, for example, was our forefather and was a “cooper” – or barrel maker – in England before setting sail.\u00a0\u00a0I immediately saw a connection; our brother Jack works for Fess Parker Winery and has great knowledge about barrel-making, not to mention his excellent ability to consume\u00a0their contents.\u00a0 We are also related to the Elder William Brewster<\/strong>, the religious leader of the Plymouth Colony.\u00a0 No relatives I know of\u00a0inherited his pious devotion, but prior to becoming an elder he worked as a postmaster and an English teacher.\u00a0 Brother Bob also worked for the post office during college and then taught high school English upon graduation.\u00a0 Finally, Priscilla Mullins<\/strong> (who later married Alden), was the spinner and weaver for the colony.\u00a0 And anyone who has seen my vast collection of yarn or knows me as president of the local knitting guild would see an immediate link.\u00a0 So who knows?\u00a0 Maybe there are some genetic traits that filter down.\u00a0 So far I haven’t found any\u00a0horse thieves \u00a0<\/strong>but we are descended from\u00a0several rabble rousers and a heretic burned at the Salem witch trials.\u00a0 Anyone who knows my brothers or me would testify that that apple didn’t fall too far from that tree either.<\/p>\n It’s also been interesting to see which famous people<\/strong> are related to Mayflower passengers and, by extension, us.\u00a0 John Adams, Dan Quayle and Marilyn Monroe are also related to John Alden.\u00a0 I’m not sure about John or Dan, but I know I’m related to Marilyn because, as my brother can confirm, every year on his birthday I do my best Marilyn Monroe to Jack Kennedy<\/strong> version of the “Happy Birthday” song.\u00a0 William Brewster’s\u00a0descendants include Bing Crosby, Cokie Roberts and Julia Child.\u00a0\u00a0I’m questioning my relation to Julia – I think the gene pool mutated somewhere between her and me.\u00a0 But I can carry a tune and I love history so I figure two out of three isn’t bad.<\/p>\n As I say, it’s a long and laborious process<\/strong>.\u00a0 I submitted my application on June 1 and I have yet to hear the status of it.\u00a0 I’m hoping that I catch the man who is the arbiter of all things Mayflower in a good mood the day he reviews it.\u00a0 Otherwise I may have to adopt Grocho Marx’s philosophy<\/strong> – “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson Well, here we are, launched into the holiday season.\u00a0 “Holiday season” being a euphemism for “gain five pounds”.\u00a0 Like most people, I consumed more food than normal\u00a0last week, further endangering my\u00a0cholesterol numbers.\u00a0 \u00a0I dove into mashed … read more![\"The](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/William-Brewster.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"mayflower-descendants\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/mayflower-descendants-300x232.jpg\")
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