Is the "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations Descendants" no longer accepted as a reliable secondary source?

Question

As a descendant of John Fuller (Fuller-2798) through his son Abner Fuller (Fuller-5501) born abt 1737 in Colchester, Connecticut as is set forth in MacGunnigle, Bruce Campbell. "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass, December 1620, Volume Four, Third Edition, Family of Edward Fuller." Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2006, I was surprised to find that this line has been changed on wikitree to a descent that contradicts this text. I have welcomed so much new information and support on wikitree, but in this case, I am concerned that an error has been made.

Comments

Now corrected.

Answer 1

It certainly is, Doug. It appears that a mistake has occurred and the original parents will be reinstated shortly.

Thanks for noticing and bringing it to our attention.

Answer 2

The Mayflower "Silver Books" (Mayflower Families through Five Generations series) is at the time of publication a totally valid source. However, after their publication, future discoveries may be made which may invalidate some lines or add other lines of descent.

As was mentioned previously, your line through Abner Fuller and his father John Fuller is still valid.

I have recently co-authored an article (in The Mayflower Descendant) documenting where Capt./Dr. Matthew Fuller of Barnstable could not be a son of Edward Fuller of the Mayflower. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) currently is not accepting applications through this line. They are accepting lines of descent through Samuel Fuller (born 1608) as son of Edward Fuller.

The GSMD is in the process of creating a new Silver Book for Edward Fuller. As part of this process, they are conducting research in England to hopefully determine whether Capt./Dr. Matthew Fuller was a step-son of Edward Fuller (that is to say, Matthew may possibly be a son of Mrs. Edward Fuller by a prior husband, who also had the Fuller surname). 

Once this new Silver Book is published, the GSMD will no longer accept the previous edition, but in all honesty, this doesn't really matter as the current GSMD application process does not require documentation for any information they have already published in the Silver Book series (as long as this information has not been contradicted by a more recent publication like the Mayflower Descendant article I co-authored).

Comments

I'm looking forward to reading your article, and hope that the GSMD soon finds the answer to the question of who Matthew Fuller's father really was.

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I've been warring with the MS over the fact that they gave me WRONG information regarding my lineage to John Billington. I cut and copied their "facts" from one of their little fairy books, stating exactly what I have been trying to source for 2 years now! I was astonished. They are going to have to start accepting DNA as a source further than 3rd generation SOON. Clearly a LOT of the information in those books are incorrect, because memories fade, However, DNA/science doesn't lie. Step into the 21st century!  :)

Azi~

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I don't think it's because "memories fade," but more that genealogical research is always ongoing and errors are found and new evidence is weighed. DNA is some of that new evidence and it is providing excellent information in some cases. I do think that calling the silver books "fairy books" is rather harsh since they are based on solidly sourced research. New documentation will always be evaluated and changes made to any lineage based on it.