Once again Mayflower descendants, and descendants of those early residents of Plymouth, have cause to celebrate: 46 volumes of the illustrious Mayflower Descendant (publication of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants) are now available on two CDs. Those of you familiar with Mayflower research will recognize the name of editor of the first 34 volumes — George Ernest Bowman, noted Mayflower researcher. Bowman, secretary for the Society 1896-1941, transcribed thousands of records that would later be published in the Mayflower Descendant. The two-CD set contains information for approximately 200,000 individuals; the bulk of the information found falls in the period of 1600 to 1800, although I did see some references outside that time period. Volumes 1-46 were published from to 1899 to 1996.

The CD contains more than just the Mayflower Descendant; also included are a list of the Mayflower passengers (not just those who signed the Mayflower Compact), Middleborough, MA Vital Records (Volumes 1 and 2), and Pilgrim Notes and Queries, Volumes 1-5 (edited by George Bowman). As with other Family Archives CD, all names on the CD are indexed, and can be searched using the Search Expert feature, or by browsing through the master name Index. The CD is an image CD containing images of each page from the 46 volumes of the Mayflower Descendant; browsing through both CDs I did not see any pages that did not reproduce well, and was impressed with the quality of the images.

While my first instinct to search for my known Mayflower ancestors was rewarded with many hits, I found myself browsing through the volumes rather than searching for individuals. The Mayflower Descendant is a fascinating look at the Pilgrims and Colony members, with articles on a large variety of subjects; everything from the division of cattle amongst Plymouth members, to cemetery records, diaries, church records, vital records, deeds, wills, depositions, biographical features, inventories, notes, headstone pictures, autographs, miscellaneous records, in-depth features on the Mayflower passengers and their life in Plymouth, probate records, letters, and regular columns can be found in the Descendant's pages. Volume 17, for example, has the following contents (in addition to the tables of contents, indexes, and title pages):
 

July 1, 1998

Related Family Archives • Family Histories • Genealogical Records • Marriage Records • New England • Vital Records More Articles • New England Phone Book • A Primer For New England Research • European Migration and Your Family Origins Helpful Web Sites • New England On the Message Boards • GenForum: Emigration • GenForum: Immigration • GenForum: U.S.

• Autograph of Resolved White, the Mayflower Passenger
• Plymouth, MA Vital Records*
• Unrecorded Barnstable County Deeds*
• Middleborough, MA, Vital Records
• Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories*
• Eastham and Orleans, MA, Vital Records*
• Plymouth Colony Deeds*
• Morton Notes
• Cooke Notes
• Earle Notes
• Mayflower Genealogies
• Autograph of Maj. William Bradford, Son of Gov. William Bradford
• Gorham Notes
• Plymouth County Vital Records
• Hathaway Notes
• Little Notes
• Chatham, MA, Vital Records
• John Sunderland's Will
• Vital Records of Brewster, MA
• Unrecorded Plymouth County Deeds
• Autograph of William Pabodie
• Cushman Notes
• Ring Notes
• Tinkham Notes
• Burrowes-Tinkham Notes
• Howland Notes
• Vital Records of Halifax, MA
• Collection of Old Barrows Papers
• Wills of Lieutenant James Brown and His Widow Margaret
• Widow Elizabeth (Vaughan) Howland's Will
• Hawkes Notes
• Truro, MA, Church Records
• Will of Richard Bowin, Sr.
• Capt. John Gorham's Family Record
• Bradford Notes
• Freeman Genealogy

  * These items are continuing articles spanning several volumes.

Each volume retains its own title page, as well as the title page, table of contents, and index of persons and places for each issue (four issues per volume). I found the the Index to Subjects in this Section (Volume), located at the beginning of each volume, the most useful item; the subject index told me at a glance what church and cemetery records (items I am particularly interested in, were included in that issue). Other subjects listed included deeds (grantors, grantees, and abstracts), information about various ships, illustrations, marriage records, wills and inventories, and vital records by town.

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