OUR MAYFLOWER FOREMOTHERS #3: Tracing Our American Roots

OUR MAYFLOWER FOREMOTHERS: Story Index
OUR MAYFLOWER LINEAGE: (SMITH, Ona Dort Post, Mae Dort, Lydia Winsor, Mary Secord, Lydia Harris, Asa Harris, Faith McCall, Hannah Otis, Hannah Thacher, Lydia Gorham, Desire Howland, 1620 Immigrant Elizabeth Tilley, 1620 Immigrant Joan Hurst Tilley)

“Our Mayflower Foremothers” is a series of posts that trace our American roots back to the year 1620. In the coming weeks I will attempt to provide a glimpse into our unique female lineage that first converged through the marriage of Mayflower passengers, the Tilley’s, whose daughter Elizabeth provided the maternal foundation for four hundred years of American-born Mayflower descendants that is now in its seventeenth 'GloverSmith' generation through my mother's descendants.

This journey of four centuries (1620-2020) will begin with the family heritage of my sixth great-grandmother, Faith McCall. Faith was the mother of the only male generation in this Mayflower lineage: Asa Harris IV. Faith’s great-great grandmother Desire was the first American-born daughter of Mayflower passengers, Elizabeth Tilley and John Howland.

Since previous posts have already focused on the more recent Mayflower-connected generations of Harris, Secord, Winsor, Dort, Post, and Smith, this series will trace each generation prior to Asa Harris simply because his mother, Faith McCall, marked where our Mayflower branch met up with subsequent generations. Faith’s matrilineal Mayflower ancestry will highlight each of her preceding generations based on the surnames of her “The Great English Migration” immigrant ancestors, each providing their own special stories. Theirs are the stories that shaped American history -defining the heritage of our family …and a new nation.

Remember, each generation will be based on the male immigrant whose last name provided the branch from which our female ancestor was born. For instance, Faith had eight sets of great grandparents, most of whom were the original immigrants but some were already first-generation Americans. Although I won’t be able to tell every story, I will endeavor to share with you some of the best recorded and most interesting ones. At times, I will also include stories of some amazing accomplishments by cousins, uncles, and aunts that may surprise you, too.

Our matrilineal (female line) ancestry grew from among these patrilineal (male line) branches of 17^th Century immigrants (and more):

JAMES McCALL (@1650)

HUMPHREY TURNER (@1628)

WILLIAM RANDALL (@1635)

JOHN OTIS (@1635)

NICHOLAS JACOB (@1633)

NATHANIEL THOMAS (@1635)

ANTHONY THACHER (@1635)

JOHN GORHAM (@1635)

JOHN HOWLAND (@1620) ~ Mayflower passenger

JOHN TILLEY (@1620) ~ Mayflower passenger