Membership

Membership

The Bridger Family Association was formed in 2006 to honor our ancestor, General Joseph Bridger.  The BFA has more than 200 members in 34 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, and France.  Should you believe you have a Bridger/Pitt connection, review our Descendants and Resources information.  We would be pleased to assist you with any questions and hope you will consider becoming a member of the BFA.  Contact us through the Membership Inquiry Form.  We welcome prospective new members at our events.

The Association has three levels of membership:

Hereditary Member

A Hereditary Member can document their direct blood descent from General Joseph Bridger and his wife Hester Pitt to the satisfaction of the Association.  The Association may give reciprocity to the approval of an individual’s Bridger descent from other lineage societies.  A Hereditary Member may vote on Association business.   There is a $275 lifetime membership fee for a Hereditary Member. 

Associate Member

An Associate Member is interested in the Association’s mission and does not have to prove descent from General Joseph Bridger. An Associate Member may not vote on Association business.  There is a $125 lifetime membership fee for an Associate Member. The $125 fee can be applied later toward a Hereditary Membership.  If requested, the Association may assist an Associate Member with obtaining necessary documentation for their Hereditary Member Application.

Junior Member

A Junior Member under the age of 21 has a parent or grandparent who is either a Hereditary Member or an Associate Member.  There is a $50 membership fee, which can be applied later toward either a Hereditary Membership or an Associate Membership when the Junior Member reaches the age of 21.

The Association’s Board of Directors has granted honorary memberships to the following:

Honorary Hereditary Members

• Nancy Norwood
• Bridger Eglin
• Ray Smith
• James Edwin Bridges

Honorary Life Members

• Dr. Douglas W. Owsley (2009), Curator of Biological Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution
• Helen Ferguson (2010), the late owner of Whitemarsh
• Alain Outlaw (2016), Whitemarsh archaeologist
• David Carrington (2016), Church Warden, St. John the Evangelist Church, Slimbridge, England
• Patricia Carrington (2016), St. John the Evangelist Church, Slimbridge, England

Board of Directors

President Emeritus (2006-2025)
Jean B. Tomes, Founder, Cary, N.C.

President
George R. Bridger, Wilmington, N.C.

Vice Presidents
William P. Carrell II, Founder and Genealogist, Louisville, Ky.
William Hodsden, Suffolk, Va.

Treasurer
William Hodsden, Suffolk, Va.

Registrar
William P. Carrell II, Louisville, Ky.

Secretary
Merry Outlaw, Williamsburg, Va.

Social Secretary
Elaine Powell, Orlando, Fl.

Director of Communications
Janet Ross, Springfield, Va.

Chaplain
Bridger Eglin, Baton Rouge, La.

DNA Database Manager
Elaine Powell, Orlando, Fl.

Historian
Caryn Ann Cady Johnson, Virginia Beach, Va.

Webmaster
Elaine Powell, Orlando, Fl.

President-elect
Ray Smith, Tampa, Fl.

Board Members At Large
Cameron Bridger, Raleigh, N.C.
Joseph L. Bridger, Raleigh. N.C.
Justin Bridger, Fuquay-Varina, N.C.
Margaret B. Gunn, Williamsburg, Va.
Sally Goodhart, Lancaster, Pa.
Bonnie Bridger Mittelmaier, Williamsburg, Va.
Ginger Vereen Peters , Cary, N.C.
Lynn Rose, Suffolk, Va.
Tracy Birdsong Tomes, Tulsa, Ok.

Lifetime Board of Directors Emeritus
John Baxton Flowers III, Hendersonville, N.C.

Board Members Emeritus
James A. Bridger, Jr., Founder, Raleigh, N.C. (deceased)
Dr. Thomas Wirt Sale (deceased)
Genevieve Frost (deceased)

When Y-DNA testing became available for proving genealogical descent, several men who descend from Bridger families offered their test results for a Bridger DNA database through testing at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA).  The test results sorted the men into three separate Haplogroups — J-M172, R-M198, and R-M269 — which indicated that only one group would be a blood descendant of Joseph Bridger.

When the Smithsonian Institution reinterred the bones of Joseph Bridger in 2014 at St. Luke’s Church, researchers kept a femur bone to be used for further study and for DNA testing upon request of the family.  The Bridger Family Association, through the Smithsonian, contracted with the Harvard University Medical School’s ancient DNA testing lab to conduct the testing in 2021.  The Y-DNA test results revealed that Joseph Bridger was in Haplogroup J-M172.