Quadricentennial—Medallions
On this distinctive New Year’s Day, I sent out this message to everybody it seemed to fit:

Beloved Mayflower-descendant kin—

Happy New Year! And not just any new year: as you may know, 2020 is the Quadricentennial: 400 years since our Pilgrim ancestors arrived in Plymouth and set the pattern for self-government in the New World. The Society of Mayflower Descendants (General, Massachusetts, and Utah) has acknowledged my proven descent from four Mayflower passengers, and that heritage is yours, as well.

That Society has also issued, as of today, a commemorative insignia to be placed on the gravestones of descendants, and I plan so to adorn a half dozen that qualify in our certified ancestral line:
Quad
  • Benjamin Smith (Captain—1724-96), my fifth great-grandfather, buried in Sandisfield, Berkshire, Massachusetts;
  • his daughter Rebecca Smith Hurd (1750-1806), also buried in Sandisfield;
  • her great-granddaughter Frances Mariah Stillman Neff (1830-1903), buried in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah;
  • her daughter Alfaretta Neff Seely (1873-1943), buried in Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah;
  • her daughter, my mother Leola Seely Anderson (1910-68), buried in San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California
  • AND, once they clarify the rules, my own grave in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Handsome, no? This isn’t a fundraising letter: I’ll be happy to bear the costs and procedural hassle (they’re charging $20 a marker), though if you were to desire the satisfaction of contributing, I wouldn’t refuse delivery. I send this in the hope of enriching your lives with a renewed appreciation of our unusual heritage and the blessings of liberty and self-determination that we enjoy because of the farsighted sacrifices of our Pilgriim ancestors. If you should be moved to affiliate yourselves with the Society, and if I can facilitate that, I’ll be honored to help out.
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