Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on Mayflower descendants, focusing on some early members of the Society of Mayflower Descendants. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Today I resume my series on “Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who,” featuring a photo of the elected officers of the Society of Mayflower Descendants taken in September of 1930, with some history on the organization.

In this photo we see: (front row) William A. McAuslan of Providence, Historian General; Wilfred H. Munro, Deputy Governor General, Rhode Island; Addison P. Munroe, Governor General, Rhode Island; Walter I. Woodman, Captain General, Maine; Mrs. James G. Walker Jr., Deputy Governor General, Oregon; (back row) Thomas Denny, Governor General, New York; Seldon H. Kilgore, Deputy Governor General, Kansas; Burnham C. Colburn, Deputy Governor General, North Carolina; Robert M. Boyd Jr., Deputy Governor General, New Jersey; Frank H. Briggs, Deputy Governor General, District of Columbia; Very Rev. Harry St. Clair Hathaway of Philadelphia, Assistant General, and former Elder General.

In 1923 the annual Mayflower Banquet took place in Washington, D.C., and Deputy Governor Frank H. Briggs (1857-1938), one of the subjects in the above photo, was among the many attending.

His photo (on the left), along with those of Governor Carter Brewster Keene (center) and James M. Beck (right), speaker for the event, are featured in a Washington Times article with the headlines: “District Boasts 350 Descendants of Mayflower Pilgrims. Big Factor in City’s Life. District Branch Organized in 1898 – 100 to Attend Annual Meeting Tonight.”

Frank Herbert Briggs was born in Maine to Benjamin Franklin Briggs and Sarah Gilbert (Dillingham) Briggs and is a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers John Alden, Priscilla Mullins, William Mullins, Francis Cooke, William Bradford, and William Brewster.

Frank married Alice Clifford Frye (1859-1943), daughter of U.S. Senator William Pierce Frye and Caroline Frances (Spear) Frye.

The Washington Times newspaper article provides a background on the history of the Mayflower Society, current members, and some famous Mayflower descendants:

Descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, members of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the District of Columbia, to the number of a hundred or more, will celebrate the annual meeting of the society tonight at a dinner at the Franklin Square Hotel.

…Among those who will address the society will be Governor General John P. Tilden, representing the national headquarters, and James M. Beck, Solicitor General of the United States, who will deliver the principal address.

It is understood that Solicitor General Beck’s address will prove a surprise, although its nature has not been made public.

The District of Columbia Society is regarded as one of the strongest units making up the national society. It has a membership of more than 350. At this season of the year, however, a considerable number of the members are out of the city. Of those who have been absent a number will return to the city to attend tonight’s annual function.

Among the guests who will be present will be Major General Greeley, the Arctic explorer.

…An idea of the importance of the District of Columbia Society’s relation to the national organization is seen in the election of two of its members to the post of governor general. Local society members who have held that office are Thomas S. Hopkins and General Leonard Wood.

The Society of Mayflower Descendants in the District of Columbia was organized April 28, 1898, with twenty-two charter members. Included were William Lowery Marsh, William Wallace Case, Nathaniel Emmons Robinson, Hattie L. Alden, Sherburne G. Hopkins, Thomas Snell Hopkins, William F. Alden, James Bowen Johnson, Henry P. R. Holt, Algernon A. Aspinwall, Isabel S. Chamberlin, Mary L. Robinson, Emily E. Robinson, Marcus Benjamin, John Louis Ewell, George Congdon Gorham, Frank Birge Smith, Alonzo Howard Flark, Harry Weston Van Dyke, William Park Metcalf, Edwin Allston Hill and Ellen Hamilton Smith. A majority of the charter members are still members of the society.

William Lowery Marsh is conceded to be the founder of the society. He was three times elected to the office of governor, covering the period 1898-1901.

When organized it was not expected a membership of more than fifty would be secured for several years. The society, however, made a strong appeal to those who regarded themselves as eligible to membership. It now numbers approximately 350 active members.

The location of the society at the National Capital has resulted in its enrolling a large number of persons in the South who were eligible to membership, but had no State societies of their own. As the later units are organized they naturally claim as their own such of the members of the local society as live within their several provinces.

Of something more than local interest is the fact that five Presidents of the United States traced their ancestry to Pilgrim forefathers. They were John Adams and John Quincey Adams, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant and William Howard Taft.

The gavel used by Governor Carter Brewster Keene has an interesting history. It was made from a piece of oak taken from the old manor house occupied by Elder Brewster. The wood was obtained by William Wallace Case, a charter member of the society, while on a visit to Scrooby in 1899, who presented it to the society.

Perpetuation of the memory of the band of Pilgrim passengers on the Mayflower is set forth in the constitution of the society as its chief object. Every lineal descendant over eighteen years of age of any passenger on the Mayflower on the voyage which ended at Plymouth, Mass., in December 1620, is eligible to membership in the society.

Organizations of Mayflower descendants exist in many of the States. During recent years efforts have been made to bring into the organization every person who can prove descent from a Pilgrim ancestor. It is believed by those interested in the society that it is functioning in a highly efficient way in keeping alive the sentiments and ideals of the Pilgrim, and that with an ever-expanding membership it is destined to become one of the great moral agencies in shaping national character.

Officers of the District Society are: Carter Brewster Keene, governor; John B. Blood, secretary; Thomas F. Whittelsey, treasurer; Dr. William S. Washburn, surgeon; Frederick W. Mitchell, captain; the Rev. John P. Hubble, elder; and Algernon A. Aspinwall, historian.

Note: some of the graphics in this article have been AI enhanced.

Create a free account at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.

Note on the header image: “Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor,” by William Halsall, 1882. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.