This special commemorative issue of American Ancestors magazine focuses on the history, relevance, and impact of the Mayflower and its passengers. Drawing from our extensive staff expertise, as well as from partner organizations and outside authors, this issue is our second definitive guide to the 2020 anniversary. Tours, events, resources, and organizations from the United States, Wampanoag Nation, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands are represented.

Ancestral Lines of Iain W. F. Shepherd and Helen Waugh (Gray) Shepherd – Journeys in Time is a combination of outstanding research and beautiful presentation. The book explores the lives of multiple generations of the Barnewall, Hales, Shepherd, Beaumont, Waugh, and Gray families of Scotland, Ireland, and England. Their backgrounds are varied, from members of the military to farmers to musicians.

This extensive volume covers the direct ancestral lines of Thomas’s and Delinda’s grandparents. The four paternal families left England for New England and New York. Meanwhile, the four maternal families eventually lived in nearly every southeastern state. The marriage between the north and south makes for a genuinely all-American story. 

Foreword by Henry L. P. Beckwith
6 x 9 hardcover, 326 pages, illustrated
Published by American Ancestors in Sept. 2013

David W. Kruger, Foreword by Christopher C. Child

September 2018

Hardcover; 324 pages, illustrated

Author: David W. Kruger

Foreword: Ryan J. Woods

Published: January 2018

Hardcover; 5,150 pages in 6 volumes

Already a classic, The Great Migration Begins reflects immense scholarly resourcefulness and is a tremendous source for anyone researching early New England families. 

Each individual or family entry in this three-volume set includes (when known) the port or country of origin; when and on what ship they arrived in New England; the earliest known record of the individual or family; their first and subsequent residences; return trips to their country of origin; marriages, births, and deaths; and other important family relationships. 

In this 1841 publication, Young has gathered a number of lengthy documents covering the history of the Pilgrim Church in Scrooby and Leiden, the transfer of part of that congregation to New England in the 1620s, and the early history of the new plantation at Plymouth. Narratives were composed by William Bradford, Edward Winslow, and Robert Cushman, all of whom were participants in the events portrayed.

Alexander Young

Foreword by Robert Charles Anderson, FASG

6 x 9 paperback, 504 pages

Originally published in 1846, Young’s compilation of two dozen contemporaneous documents depict the preparations for the settlement of Massachusetts Bay Colony, the migration process itself, and some events from the early years of settlement. A key source for eyewitness accounts of the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 1620s and early 1630s.

By Alexander Young

Foreword by Robert Charles Anderson, FASG

6 x 9 paperback, 572 pages

Published July 2018

7 x 10 hardcover, 172 pages, illustrated