This original handwritten letter, dated October 2, 1846, was written in Owego, New York, by J. R. Drake concerning Mrs. H. Tinkham and an upcoming gathering of descendants of Mayflower passenger Captain Myles Standish.

The letter provides unusually direct evidence of descendants organizing around a shared family claim. Drake writes that Mrs. Tinkham had “a lively interest” in the matter because “the rights of her children are concerned.” Most significantly, he refers explicitly to an “intended meeting of the descendants of Capt. Miles Standish” and states that Mrs. Tinkham would “cordially cooperate” in whatever proper measures the group decided to pursue. He further asks that “the claimants” be informed that she remained willing to do whatever was appropriate in the matter.

The historical context makes the October 1846 date particularly important.

The Descendants Organized in 1846

Historian Justin Winsor recorded in 1849 that an association of Captain Standish’s descendants was formed in the fall of 1846 to investigate property in England that Standish had claimed through inheritance. The descendants raised more than $3,000 and appointed I. W. R. Bromley as their agent. Bromley departed for England in November 1846—only weeks after this letter was written—and returned in October 1847 without successfully establishing the claim. (Wikimedia Commons)

The claim itself had roots in Myles Standish’s 1656 will, in which he referred to lands in Lancashire and the Isle of Man that he said belonged to him by lawful descent but had been “surreptitiously detained” from him. Later historians cautioned that the broader claims made by some descendants to the Standish estates were not proven. (Wikisource)

Mayflower Descendants Organizing Before the Mayflower Society

The letter therefore preserves more than an inheritance dispute. It records descendants of a Mayflower passenger identifying one another, discussing the rights of family members, planning a meeting, and considering collective action in 1846—more than fifty years before the General Society of Mayflower Descendants was established in 1897.

The property was never recovered, but the correspondence survived.

It preserves a rare glimpse of Mayflower descendants organizing around their shared ancestry in the mid-nineteenth century.

Original letter dated October 2, 1846.
Holdings of the Mayflower Descendants Museum.