With the recent news of Blowdryavich (as one blog I read called him.....), I'm guessing some Serbian Orthodox who were proud of one of their members reaching so high in government is like finding that your Mayflower ancestor is John Billington - yeah, you are eligible for the Mayflower Society, but he was the first Englishman convicted of murder in North America and the first executed for any crime in New England. Just a little bittersweet......(In contrast, Stephen Hopkins gets one not only Mayflower Society eligibility but First Families of Virginia consideration.....although Hopkins may not have been much better than Billington......)

(Side note: Billington's one of the few I haven't found in my tree.....of the 29* recognized passengers who've left descendants, I'm descended from at least 13, and likely more, as I have a few dead ends in the area.....of course, the latest estimate I've seen says somewhere between 10 and 35 million American can claim Mayflower descent [John Alden and Priscilla Mullins may have 2 to 4 million descendants themselves......], so it's not that exclusive a club....)

I did my undergraduate degree in Chicago, in public policy, and the current news has me almost nostalgic....... it was a great university and a great city to spend five winters in ;-)

Updated to add this link - I smiled at this one.....

Of course, if I were still in Chicago, I could hear Franklin speak more often ;-) Although, looking at the current schedule, living in Maine year round would do it, as well.... now that's an idea ;-)

*IIRC, the number used to be fewer, and it was all men, but it looks like they've added a few women.....although I haven't kept up enough to know why some wives are on the list and others aren't. For example, Mary (Norris) Allerton is listed, but all her children were with Isaac Allerton. So why not list Dorothy (May) Bradford, whose only child was with another passenger? Something to look into when I can't do anything else post-surgery this weekend...... Plus, there are some 'duplicates' -- if you are descended from John Alden, you are also decended from William Mullins, as William's only surviving daughter married John Alden. Ands why isn't Priscilla listed if her husbandf and father are? Hhhhmmmmmm....