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On March 22, 1898, one year after the General Society of Mayflower Descendants was established, the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the District of Columbia was chartered. On 28 April 1898 the Society was organized with twenty-two members. Throughout the intervening years this Society has been a vibrant organization whose principal objective has been to expand its membership, its service to that membership, and, in the process, perpetuate the meaning of the Pilgrim experience, and whose leaders have excelled on the national level and whose roster of members over the years reads like a Who's Who in America. It now has 550 members.
Though chartered in the District of Columbia, the reach of the Society has expanded well beyond its initial focus to encompass a large segment of nearby Northern Virginia and adjacent Maryland counties and beyond. From its first meeting, on April 28, 1898, the Society's membership has grown steadily from an initial membership of twenty-two to 220 by 1948, 330 by 1956, 450 by 1969, to the present 550 members. The current roster of members includes representatives from thirty-seven states and several European countries. This expansion of membership is directly attributable to the expertise and determination of the several Membership and Junior Membership Committee Chairmen. The leadership of the Society's officers over the years has been the key to the Society's success in expanding membership and programs. Through the one hundred year history of the Society there has been continuing strong leadership in people, ideas, programs, and most significant only in recent years, drawing women into key positions within the organization. The Governors of the Society have always been outstanding in their professional fields and important in furthering the Society's aims and programs. The Society's founder and first Governor, William Lowrey Marsah, served from 1898 to 1901.
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