The Monmouth inquirer., 1924-11-27
az John DICKINSON SHERMAN

Q !. !: J: !: ! !.
| - il1AINhOOI IINAf, according 70
III u American tradition, Is init
al a mately connected with the
A M Pilgrims and New England
while at Christmas any
thought of the beginning OF
" the American celebration OF
~ the day takes us back to
Virginia and to the jolly
Dutch burghers of New Amsterdam.
And this is historically correct. For
the mass" in Christmas shows that
1t was an annual church festival in
celebration of the anniversary of the
birth of Christ. The Pilgrims, as ev-
eryone should know, had separated
from the Established Church of Eng
land In part because of their dislike
for its ritual. Therefore. while ac-
cepting the great event of Christmas
day they disparaged its observance.
Thanksgiving day. however. estab-
lished itself naturally. as the out
growth of the conditions of the col
Ony The turkey, which the friendly
Indian hunters offered to them, came
naturally to be the big thing of the
Thanksgiving feast. And so did the
pumpkin pie, for this was the agricul-
tllre of the Indian: corn in hills, with
a climbing bean; pumpkins between
the rows.
So, If anyone should celebrate
Thanksgiving day with enthusiasm 1t
is the descendants of the Pilgrims
who came over in the Mayflower. No
body knows just how many of them
there are today, but more than five
thousand are enrolled in the member
ship of the General Society of May
flower Descendants and the society Is
growing. It's no easy matter to get
on the rolls, either. There is a his
torian general who traces all lines of
descents. Altogether there are prob
ably between 5000 and 1000 descend
ants scattered all over the country.
There were 102 passengers on the
Mayflower when she sailed from Plym
outh, England. on September 16, 1920.
One man died on board ship and one
male child. Oceanus Hopkins. was born
In midAtlantic. 1t might seem that
with an original band of 102 there
might be scores of lines of descent,
but such is not the case. The May
flower scions in this country today are
In reality descended from only % pos
sible lines. The intermarriage of the
Pilgrim families is responsible for this
reduction. Four lines are practically
extinct.
Louis Efingham de Forest, historian
of the New York Society of Mayfower
Descendants, says that many lines have
been extremely prolific, while others
through the centuries have almost dis
appeared from the earth. The Brad
ford, Brewster. Rowland and Alden
lines perhaps have been the most pro-
life, while the number of Standishes
and Allertons Is comparatively small.
The descendants of the original Gov
ernOr WinsIOw are now living in Can
ada. When the Revolutionary war
broke out they decided for the cause
Of the king and moved across the
border. The WinslOws of Mayfiower
descent now found in this country are
of the line of the original Governor
Winslows br ither.
The 10 more or less prolific family
lines are those of John Alden, Isaac
AllertOn, William Bradford. William
Brewster. James Chiffon, Francis
Cooke, edward DOty, Edward Fuller,
DR. Samuel Fuller. Stephen Hopkins.
John Rowland, Degory Priest, Thomas
Rogers, Henry Samson, George Soule.
Miles Standish. Richard Warren. VIII