# I may be related to two Mayflower passengers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302 "2003-02-11T05:51:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/1 "2003-02-11T05:51:47Z")
My aunt has been doing some geneological research and has concluded that I am related to James Chilton and Thomas Rogers, both passengers on the Mayflower and signatories to the Mayflower Compact. I wonder if I should get a membership card or something. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/2 "2003-02-11T05:58:52Z")
Welcome aboard, cousin n times removed! You could try [here.](http://www.mayflower.org/pilgrim.htm) William White’s grandson, Resolved (yep, I know) married the daughter of the French guy who came over here in 1697 whose name I have. I’ve never bothered to join, but it’s nice to know that I have this ancient tie. You know, you’re probably a Son of the American Revolution too and all–lots of my ancestors were patriotic/unlucky/poor enough to have gotten entangled in all the wars, right up to my uncles, one to WWII, one to Korea. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/3 "2003-02-11T06:18:55Z")
Mr. Legend is related Peter Brown and Francis Cooke. It’s just a pity he married beneath him. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/4 "2003-02-11T06:26:31Z")
Dear Mehitabel– Are you really realted to William White? I’m not–but I’m an actor, and once played him on educational television. It was a kid’s show about the first Thanksgiving. So we’re sort of related. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/5 "2003-02-11T06:42:44Z")
Just so you don’t get the big head. I had the following question on a test in college (many moons ago). **What would Aristotle and Plato have thought of the passengers on the Mayflower?** The correct answer (not to be confused with my answer) was that they would have considered them a bunch of ignorant bumpkins. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/6 "2003-02-11T06:50:19Z")
I’m an un-Mayflower decendant. Despite having English ancestors in America since 1607, not a one of them was born north of Somerset Co., MD. So a very merry un-relativity to you. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/7 "2003-02-11T07:33:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\*Just so you don’t get the big head. I had the following question on a test in college (many moons ago). > > **What would Aristotle and Plato have thought of the passengers on the Mayflower?** > > The correct answer (not to be confused with my answer) was that they would have considered them a bunch of ignorant bumpkins. 😉 \*\* Well, why do you think we’re so proud? :wally Actually, they seemed to have a variety of professions and personalities. The main thing they seemed to have had in common was a dislike for people pushing them around. ---
**Author:** ![stellar7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@stellar7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stellar7)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/8 "2003-02-11T13:59:40Z")
Genealogy is fascinating. When my Mom passed in 2001, I began searching my roots; probably as a way to deal with the grief. I found I was descended from Sir John Clay who came here on the Treasurer in 1613. I also discovered that there is a monument to some gr gr gr (etc.) grandparents who were the first to settle an area called Clover Bottom in Virginia. Three of their children were killed by Indians in 1783 and a monument entitled “Torment in Stone” stands in Princeton, West Virginia (formerly Virginia) as a tribute to them. I keep meaning to venture there to see it. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/9 "2003-02-11T14:26:00Z")
My ancestors were among the first white settlers in New Jersey. Whoo-whoo! ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/10 "2003-02-11T14:26:25Z")
The tricky part is sharing this with people and convincing them you don’t think you’re better than them. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/11 "2003-02-11T14:48:04Z")
My grandmother was adopted and my grandfather dealt poker for John Dillinger. That’s as far back as I’ve gone. My friend’s daughter is a direct descendent of Abraham Lincoln. And my son is somehow related to Bart Starr. ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/12 "2003-02-11T14:57:06Z")
Just so long as your not related to John Billington–the Killer Pilgrim! It’s not considered the kind of connection you’d want to brag about among the Pilgrim-wannabes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stellar7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@stellar7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stellar7)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/13 "2003-02-11T16:04:53Z")
I wouldn’t hold it against someone if they were related to a murderer. Just like I wouldn’t applaud someone for being related to someone notable. It’s just fun to imagine how life was so long ago. John Billington - never heard of him, but it sounds interesting! I’m going to do a search when I have time. I love stories of how it must have been. From a lot of what I’ve read, there were a lot of puritans! I don’t think I would have fit in so well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/14 "2003-02-11T16:31:55Z")
There’s this site that provides some background on the incident. Pilgrim Hall’s info is sparse. [http://www3.ftss.ilstu.edu/cjhistory/casestud/billingt.html](http://www3.ftss.ilstu.edu/cjhistory/casestud/billingt.html) ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/15 "2003-02-11T16:40:20Z")
My Grandfather found out that we were related somehow to someone that was a carpenter on the Mayflower… How he came to this conclusion… Go figure. He’s into that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![stellar7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@stellar7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stellar7)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/16 "2003-02-11T16:47:20Z")
Thanks, laura!!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/17 "2003-02-11T16:51:08Z")
Glad to have helped, **stellar7** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stellar7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@stellar7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stellar7)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/18 "2003-02-11T16:59:50Z")
That’s pretty interesting, laura. It doesn’t say what happened to Billington, but with that crew, I bet it wasn’t good. I don’t think he intended to murder him. If he did, why didn’t he finish the job? Why bring him in for help and implicate himself? At the very most, he should have only been convicted of manslaughter, for firing his gun in the direction of the guy. ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/19 "2003-02-11T17:45:28Z")
Billington was executed for murder–sorry I forgot to include that info. You can find that at the Pilgrim Hall site here: [http://www.pilgrimhall.org/billingtonj.htm](http://www.pilgrimhall.org/billingtonj.htm) But that’s about all they have to say on the subject. Sorry for the hijack! ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302/20 "2003-02-11T17:52:47Z")
Doesn’t that mean you can join the Mayflower Society? You’d be in the company of such luminaries as Sydney Biddle Barrows! Although I think she may have been drummed out somehow after the demise of her business venture? Or maybe she just felt “unwelcome.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-be-related-to-two-mayflower-passengers/154302.md?page=2)