Welcome to the official web site for the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Utah. This society is a nonprofit hereditary organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of our Mayflower ancestors through genealogical and historical research, commemorative activities, and educational outreach. In the spirit of the brave souls who sailed the Mayflower to the shores of Plymouth in 1620, the society celebrates the ideals of democracy and religious freedom that brought the Pilgrims to this land. The Utah Mayflower Society was founded in 1948. The Utah Mayflower Society is an official state society of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants headquartered in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Utah Society of Mayflower Descendants Spring 2024 Banquet
Join with your Mayflower cousins for our May 3 banquet at the Sons of Utah Pioneers building at 6:00 pm at 3301 Louise Avenue in Salt Lake City.
A delicious meal of Baron of beef and chicken marsala will be catered by Brown Brothers for a cost of $40. Green beans almondine, strawberry salad, Rosemary potatoes, and 3 desserts per person will be enjoyed.
A delightful program with the theme of early settlement our Pilgrim ancestors experienced in the migration west will enlighten us.
Seating for the dinner must be reserved no later than April 18th with no exceptions. The dinner will begin at 6:30 with the program beginning at 7:30.
We hope you will celebrate Pilgrims to Pioneers with us on May 3.
2024 Spring Banquet ($40.00) – Please specify name in the description box on the payment page.
There is much told about the migration west, the journeys across the plains and mountains to the Great Basin, and the causes of that massive movement out of the United States. Our story for the evening is not to repeat those stories, but to reveal the account of the historical settlement of the Great Basin and the even larger Latter-Day-Saint (LDS) area of colonization – from Mexico to southern Canada. While our pilgrim ancestors never came west, their descendants did! Many of these, our ancestors, didn’t end their travels upon arrival in what was to become the Utah Territory! What happened to them? A great many continued for many miles as part of the planned and organized settlement of the Great Basin. No where in American history was there such an ordered methodology employed in the settlement of land. What was that methodology, how was it decided where to send a group of folks, what were the requirements – skills, numbers, demographics, how long did they have to stay in place? Where did our Pilgrim descendants settle? What other Pilgrim descendants came west and became part of the story? Miners, soldiers guarding the Mormon trail at Fort Laramie…. The stories are fascinating and its time their tales are told.
Our expert speaker for the evening is Dr. Brian Cannon, Department Chair, History, Brigham Young University. Brian Q. Cannon graduated from BYU with a BA in American Studies in 1984. He completed
an MA in History at Utah State University in 1986 and a PhD in History at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison in 1992. Since that time, he has been teaching at BYU. He teaches
upper division courses in the American West in the Twentieth Century, Utah History, and
U.S. History from 1890 to 1945. Much of his research focuses upon agricultural settlement,
rural community development and federal rural policy in the twentieth century. He has
received fellowships or other awards from the Western History Association, the Agricultural
History Society, the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, the Ford Foundation and the
Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. He and his wife, Anna Lea, are the parents of one
daughter and four sons; and grandparents of five grandchildren
Honors and Awards
Gordon M. Bakken Award of Merit, Western History Association (2020 – 2021)
Award of Merit, Utah State Historical Society (2016 – 2016)
Memberships
Utah Historical Society (1999 – Present)
Agricultural History Society (1994 – Present)
Western History Association (1994 – Present)
American Historical Association, Pacific Coast Branch (1997 – 2010)
Program committee for the Brigham Young Chapter of the Sons of Utah
Pioneers
Past president of the Mormon History Association
Past president of the Agricultural History Association