Utah Society Spring 2023 Banquet
The Utah Society met for their Spring banquet at the National Society of the Sons of Utah Pioneers Headquarters in Salt Lake City on May 5. There were over 60 attendees at the banquet, representing almost all 22 of the Mayflower passengers who are known to have descendants. During Roll Call, it was determined that John Alden was the ancestor with the most descendants present (over 12). Society business was discussed, including the volunteer work done at RootsTech 2023. We invite General Society members to come to Utah for RootsTech 2024.
As part of the Society business discussed, Secretary Jill Dewsnup was nominated as the Assistant General, and she will represent the Utah Society at Congress in Plymouth this September. Governor Susan McEvoy will also be representing the Utah Society at Congress. Utah Membership Chair Kayla Glover was thanked for her hard work in keeping the membership rolls up-to-date.
The guest speaker for the evening was Charles A. Castleberry (Chuck), a descendant of John Howland. Mr. Castleberry has done seven years of extensive historical research, spurred by restoring a family home near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. John Howland, best known as the boy who fell off the Mayflower, engaged in fur trade with Native Americans near present-day Portland, Maine, for 25 years to pay the debt of the Plymouth Colony. As a signer, and possibly the scribe, of the Mayflower Compact, Howland was also an important figure in treaties with Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag.
Mr. Castleberry spoke about the influence the Mayflower Compact had on other important documents, declarations, and petitions important to the founding of our Nation. These included the Iroquois Great Law of Peace, the 1688 Germantown Petition Against Slavery, the Initial Draft of the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.
It was a lovely evening and a wonderful way to begin celebrating the Utah Society’s 75th anniversary.
Submitted by: Thomas Portlock GSMD DGG – Utah and Jill Dewsnup, Utah Secretary