The Society of Mayflower Descendants, Cleveland Colony (f. 1930), was organized by Mrs. Walter D. Meals as a colony of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Ohio. The number of members grew from 15 in 1930 to 290 in 1984. The activities of the colony include genealogical research on descendants of Mayflower passengers and distributing copies of the Mayflower Compact in schools. The stated purpose of the colony is to defend the principles set forth in the Mayflower Compact, a document the members view as the earliest expression of the ideas later proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. Membership is open to any proven descendant of a Mayflower passenger.
The Society of Mayflower Descendants, Cleveland Colony Records, 1930-1984 and undated, consist of a history of the colony, a petition for its charter, constitutions, minutes, membership data, genealogical information on members, reports, bulletins, financial records, information on events, correspondence, copies of addresses, scrapbooks, writings, newspaper clippings, reports of colony organizations, and miscellaneous documents. In addition to Cleveland Colony records, the collection includes material from the nationally based General Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Ohio, and other local colonies and state societies.
This collection is useful for anyone interested in the activities of the Society of Mayflower Descendants and of patriotic societies in general. Also valuable is the genealogical information on Mayflower passengers and their descendants, particularly in the Cleveland, Ohio, area and the state of Ohio.
The collection is arranged in six series. Each series is arranged by document type and then chronologically.
All photographs have been removed to PG 402 Society of Mayflower Descendants, Cleveland Colony Photographs.
Processed by Richard Hite in 1988.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4178 Society of Mayflower Descendants, Cleveland Colony Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gifts of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, Cleveland Colony in 1960, 1983, and 1984.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.