My first experience with the Daughters of the American
Revolution was at the very beginning of my family research. As a matter of fact, the DAR was there to
help me solve the very first mystery that drove me crazy for weeks about my
great-great grandmother Eliza.
I had no idea that Eliza even existed. She died at the young age of 24 in 1872 in
Rosamond, Illinois (population 205), and before vital records were required by
the state. It wasn’t until I found a
tattered letter in the bottom of my mother’s files where I read the story of
the early death of Eliza. The letter
also mentioned the cemetery where she was buried, but that was 132 years ago
and a lot of time to erode the etchings on the oversized headstone.
When I called the county’s chamber of commerce, they gave me
the name of a local man who was the caretaker of this small but mythical
cemetery. Upon returning my phone call,
he first shuffled some papers and immediately confirmed that he did have a
record of Eliza being buried at the Rosamond Cemetery in 1872. In fact, he explained to me how the DAR spent
time in 1962 recording every headstone in the cemetery and it was the only
record he had with an index of older graves.
1962 may sound like yesterday, but every year that goes by is another
year for the outside elements to wear away the script on the headstone. And 50 years later, her marker is barely
legible.
What the DAR did to record a 90 year old headstone is
monumental to my family research today.
The Daughters of the America Revolution is a truly amazing organization
with dedicated volunteers and a commitment to preserving our American History,
including mine. And best of all, our
family was lucky enough to have a Patriot that fought in the American
Revolution. I was able to document this
Patriot, apply to the DAR, and successfully be accepted as a member within a
month of my first contact.
Based on what I have learned about the process of applying
to become a member of the DAR, here are some tips I can offer up for a
successful outcome.
- Visit the national Daughters of the American Revolution
website to verify if your Patriot has already been documented. If your Patriot is listed in the index, you
can then buy the lineage report that details how far down the line the society
has proven records. This will tell you
which ancestor in your line that you need to start documenting.
- Determine
which local chapter you are interested in applying through. Each chapter’s rules for applying are
different. I filed my application in
Chicago and it was a very easy process where I was able to send all the
documents via email. I didn’t even have
to print anything out. The historian
filled out the application for me and federal expressed it to me for my
signature. I was approved in all of 4
weeks. However, I also have worked on a
membership for a client in a very small town in Mississippi. This local MS chapter didn’t have a budget
for paper, so I had to mail 2 copies of every document. We were approved in less than 2 months.
- Do your legwork up front before applying. Gather all your documents for each generation
and make sure you have them scanned into your computer in file folders. I strongly recommend you save and send every
census record for each ancestor too.
These may or may not be needed, but I have learned over time that it is
better to include everything, otherwise there can be delays due to additional
documents needed.
- Each generation that requires documents needs to
show clear proof of a connection to their parents.
- Government Vital Records (Birth, Marriage and
Death certificates) are required for each generation. Once you get far enough back where vitals
were not mandated by the state, then records with clear proof of a family
connection to the prior generation need to be found. This can be in the form of Wills, Land Records,
Newspaper Obituaries, Pension Records, and Bible Records (as long as you have
the original bible in your possession).
- Effective January 1, 2014, the DAR will accept Y-DNA as a supplemental tool of
lineage.
Be patient and don’t get frustrated. Delays are inevitable as you need to
completely satisfy the society that you are tracing the correct lineage. But the reward is worth the wait, and your
descendants will thank you for your hard work in passing down this bit of
family history.
