A Mayflower Voyage Interrupted

By Roy W Short

After years of pounding Internet genealogy websites, visiting courthouses and libraries I finally uncovered what I presumed to be a solid linkage between me and a card carrying, Compact signing, Mayflower passenger. Preliminary checks of fundamental birth, marriage, death and parental data encouraged me to give the local Mayflower Society Librarian a call. I was apprehensive because my fellow amateur genealogists warned me that the acceptance process was arduous and the chances of success were minimal for someone (like me) who did not know what he was doing. It might be worth the trouble though since membership in The General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) is reputed to be the “Holy Grail” and my appetitive was wetted.

It started off easy enough. The Librarian suggested I send her my proposed ancestry to Mayflower passenger John Howland, along with some money. She would then arrange to return to me the first six prior approved descendants of Mr. Howland, which match my family tree. That would document at least six of the thirteen generations and greatly reduce the effort, or so I thought.

True to her word a couple weeks later I received a formal application with the first seven generations populated with content drawn from Mayflower Families through Five Generations[1] GSMDs official set of references (AKA “The Silver Books”). The preliminary review validated the following generations:

1.John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley –My Pilgrim & Wife

2.Desire Howland and John Gorham

3.Lydia Gorham and John Thatcher

4.Hannah Thatcher and Nathaniel Otis

5. Hannah Otis and Benejah McCall

6.Faith McCall and Asa Harris

7.Hannah Harris and Gamaliel Barnes

This was great because I had already received certification from the Sons of the American Revolution(SAR)for my linkage to Rev. Gamaliel Barnes. I reproduced my documentation from the SAR application and completed the Mayflower form. The local GSMD Historian must review applications before they are passed on to Plymouth so I sent it to her expecting a favorable response.

What I received back was a rejection.

What, how can this be? I had done everything right! She calmly explained that the Mayflower Society pays no attention to what other organizations accept

and GSMD qualification standards are often much higher than others. In her view, there remained one unproven link in my ancestry to John Howland - no direct evidence was provided establishing Gamaliel Barnes and wife Hannah Harris as the parents of Caroline Barnes, my ancestor. I had submitted the following indirect evidence:

  1. An extract from Landmarks of Oswego County, “The History of Parish, NY”[2] which established:
  2. Gamaliel Barnes migrated to Parish, NY with his son-in-law Stephen Morse in 1803.
  3. They were among the first white settlers and built the first houses there.
  4. Elder Barnes subsequently started the Colosse Baptist Church in Mexico, NY in 1806.
  5. Another extract from Landmarks of Oswego County, “The Town of West Monroe”[3] which declared that Caroline Barnes was the first schoolteacher in the town in 1810. According to the 1850 US Census[4], 1855 NY State Census[5] and the 1860 US Census[6] she was born circa 1895 and was living in West Monroe, NY, which is 12 miles from Parish and 20 miles from Mexico.
  6. An extract from The Mexico Independent Newspaper[7], which confirms the schoolteacher story above.
  7. A third extract from Landmarks of Oswego County “The Town of Mexico”[8] which listed Caroline Barnes among other “documented” Gamaliel Barnes children (along with his wife Hannah) at an early meeting of the Colosse Baptist Church in the same Parish, NY school where Caroline taught. The actual Mexico church had not yet been erected. She was sitting with her brothers and sisters!
  8. An excerpt from The Genealogist[9]journal, which listed many of the children of Gamaliel Barnes and Hannah Harris, but regrettably omitted a couple of them - including my Caroline. The article did however allow that there might have been other children. Although negative evidence, I included it because it did show their birth years and Caroline’s presumed 1895 slot was not filled.

This seemed to me (and SAR) to be a compelling circumstantial case that Caroline was the daughter of Gamaliel Barnes and Hannah Harris. She lived in the same town(s) and was born about the right timeper the Census records. There was however no document showing direct linkage.Unfortunately, Gamaliel and Hannah did not leave wills and the Barnes land records in the area did not reveal her name connected to this family.

In the months following the rejection I performed many more searches and returned to the Salt Lake City LDS Library. It was there I discovered I had apparently missed a reference to Caroline in another bookThe History of Oswego County, New York[10]. In the book there was a poorly worded biography of one of Caroline’s sons, Oscar Dwerdin [Duerdin]. It not only linked Caroline to Gamaliel Barnes, but also confirmed the schoolteacher story again. I had to read it many times to figure out what the author was saying, but it finally made sense. Here is the passage:

“Dwerdin, Oscar F. B., was born in West Monroe in 1826, son of Edward [husband of Caroline], a native of England, who came to Constantia [another nearby town] in 1820, and three years later removed to what is now West Monroe. His first wife was Martha Hepworth, and their children were Anna, James, Betsey and Martha.

His wife died in 1822, and he married second Caroline, daughter of Elder Gamaliel Barnes, a Baptist minister who settled in Mexico in 1815. She was the first schoolteacher in the portion of Constantia, which is now West Monroe. Their children were Sarious, Antoinette, Oscar F. B., Hannah, Rosetta, William and Victoria. Rosetta, Oscar and William are the only survivors of the family. The father [Edward] was prominent in local church affairs, and served in many of the town offices. He died in 1861 aged seventy-six years. His wife [Caroline] died in 1867. At the age of nineteen subject [Oscar] began teaching school, at twenty-one was elected town superintendent of schools, which office he held three years. About 1851 he assumed full charge of the farm and cared for his parents till their death.”

This was my “smoking gun”. I repackaged the application and sent it back to the Librarian. She thought this helped, but was doubted it would be enough to satisfy National since it didn’t mention the Mayflower descendant Hannah Harris (Gamaliel’s wife) in the passage. I encouraged her to submit it anyway because there was no evidence that Gamaliel had ever married anyone else and her grave was in the Colosse Churchyard[11]. Hannah had to have been her mother.

Low and behold, it was approved, although they couldn’t resist declaring the Caroline Barnes-Hannah Harris connection as “weak”. It didn’t matter, I was in and that is what was important at the time. I must admit I am now a little unsatisfied however and will continue searching for better direct evidence. I don’t like the feeling that the approval came with reservations.

It was a frustrating experience (and it took nearly ten years) but it was worth every minute. I proudly display my certificate for all to see.

[1]Lainhart, Ann Smith, and Jane Fletcher Fiske. Mayflower families through five generations : descendants of the Pilgrims

who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620. Edited by General Society of Mayflower Descendants. Vol. 23. No 2. General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2010.

[2]Churchill, John Charles; Child, W Stanley; Smith H Perry,Landmarks of Oswego County, New York. Syracuse New York: D. Mason and Co., 1895. “The Town of Parish” p.660-661,Facsimile reprint. Hathi Trust. ( Accessed 24 Apr 2015

[3]Churchill, John Charles; Child, W Stanley; Smith H Perry,Landmarks of Oswego County, New York.. Syracuse New York: D. Mason and Co., 1895. “The Town of West Monroe” p.830, Facsimile reprint. Hathi Trust. ( Accessed 24 Apr 2015

[4]1850 U.S. Census, Oswego, New York, West Monroe, database-online, 365, dwelling 190, family 195, Edward Duerdin; digital image,Ancestry.com( : accessed 24 Apr 2015); citing NARA microfilm.

[5] 1855 New York State Census, USA, population schedule, Constantia, [Page], dwelling 20, family 99, for Caroline Duerdin; digital image, Ancestry.com ( : accessed 24 Apr 2015); Citing Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York..

[6]1860 U.S. Census, Oswego, New York, West Monroe, database on-line, 20, dwelling 173, family 173, O F B Duerdin; digital image,Ancestry.com( : accessed 24 Apr 2015); citing NARA microfilm 803838, roll 838.

[7]Smith, Elizabeth. "Let's Reminisce-West Monroe."Mexico Independent19 May 1960. p 10. : Accessed 24 Apr 2015.

[8]Churchill, John Charles; Child, W Stanley; Smith H Perry,Landmarks of Oswego County, New York.. Syracuse New York: D. Mason and Co., 1895. “The Town of Mexico” p.600-601, Facsimile reprint. Hathi Trust. ( Accessed 24 Apr 2015

[9]Stover, Margaret Harris, and Gale Ion Harris. "Asa and Anna (Ely) Harris of Connecticut and Nova Scotia." Edited by Pinchon Press. The Genealogist (The American Society of Genealogists) 20, no. 1 (2006): 99-100.

[10]The History of Oswego County, New York with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: Published by L.H. Everts & Co., 1877.

[11]1829 - Find A Grave, Database And Images ( : Accessed 24 Apr 2015), Memorial Page For Hannah Harris, Find A Grave Memorial No. 20138272, Citing Colosse Cemetery, Colosse, Oswego, NY.