2013-2017 Dr Shirley Margaret Haynie Godsey: Dr. Godsey has attended meetings in VA since 2009 and represented the FMC at six Governors’ Roundtable/Forums.  While Governor, Lifetime Dues became possible for members over 65, company meeting invitations began to be sent electronically to members with email, and all new members began receiving their FMC certificates by mail. The scholarship criteria was expanded to include graduate students majoring in early American history.  Shirley initiated an audit from the MS Secretary of State’s Office (Charitable Division) that showed the FMC finances in good standing.  She added the FMC to the Society’s tax-exempt group after two FMC Treasurers failed to file a tax return and lost the company its independent tax-exemption status.  She required that the annual 990-N filing be printed and archived in the Minutes Book to assure filing compliance, which is now mandated in the bylaws.  She was the keynote speaker at the Richmond meeting in 2017, presenting a power point presentation entitled “The Thirteen Lives of Captain John Smith.”   She and her husband, John Godsey, MD, have been generous donors to the Society for years, always crediting the FMC for their donations. 

During her tenure as a two-term Governor, the FMC’s status on the Roll of Honor reached the Ancient Planter and the House of Burgesses levels of giving.  During her tenure, FMC members supported the Wingo Fund, the Church Tower Fund, the Unrestricted Fund and Archeology Digs. She invited speakers from VA to give programs and established a policy mandating that all FMC programs be about some aspect of the Jamestowne era between 1607-1699, a policy now stated in the bylaws.  She wrote biographical sketches of members’ qualifying ancestors in collaboration with new members and posted them as Blogs on the Society’s website; additionally she wrote Handbooks for the FMC officers to delineate their duties in more detail, began a photo roster of members, and worked with the 2020 FMC Historian to get members to write personal autobiographies that have been shared with all members electronically.  She changed the yearbook from one printed every two years to a mini-notebook that could be easily updated by adding pages and included the ancestor sketches.  She also designed the FMC poster-board exhibit for display at a Governors’ Forum.  She currently serves as chair of the FMC Membership Committee, helps applicants with research, and invites guests who are potential new members to every meeting, and is the Company’s top recruiter.  She has also served on the FMC Scholarship Committee and two FMC Bylaws Committees.  She serves on the Society’s Annual Giving Committee and the Society’s History Committee.