Ginger, the DAR is a little more genealogically liberal than the standards of say, the National Genealogical Society. Depending on what you DO have, we can probably work something out.

Have you tried census records (John Doe is the father, one of the sons is James Doe, correct age), tax records, court records (these are especially a godsend when the father died, he left either minor children [then you check to see who got guardianship] or a will), deeds, property transfers, cemetary records, etc etc.

Where we had troubles was proving my great-grandparents' marriage. The ONLY record we could find was by writing to the cemetary, where they had a notation that my g-grandfather paid $10 for the burial of his wife, Anastasia!

So, let's hear what you have! :)


ps - How I envy those whose ancestors kept a family Bible!!!!

Well, I was going to reply to a bunch of these, but honeychile did a great job of it. :D

Regarding evidence of ancestry: I was one of those souls who had to both prove a new patriot and had a hitch in one of the links. (Couldn't find a marriage certificate.)

"Proof" is based more on preponderance of evidence, rather than only certain straight-line documents. In the above example, I used a combination of census records, published birth records, and a death certificate to prove one person's parentage. We never did find a marriage certificate, but it didn't matter.

honeychile - you'd be proud of me, I was just elected my chapter's registrar (HEEEELLLLLLLLP!!!!!!! :p ) so I'm going to be cross-checking applications and supplementals, etc.

The links everyone gave are a good start for basic DAR membership information. I'm helping some family members get started on their paperwork. If anyone has questions beyond that, feel free to drop me a line. (If you're in Texas, I can probably give you more direction since I'm working w/ that state. Sorry, honeychile, I don't remember where you're from, so I don't want to step on toes if you're a Texan too.)

Re: "snooty". AOPiSilver, I think you're right about that being equated with "older". I know very few ladies who fall into the "snooty" category, and it does seem to be associated with age. Case in point: the Texas Fall Forum was held in the same hotel at the same time as the Capital City Gay Rodeo. A few older ladies were wound kind of tight about that, but the majority of the younger ladies were like, "Woo hoo! Party down!"

Anywho, cool to see some other pages out there. And add me to the list of ladies who will help out w/ membership.

Adrienne
:D

Congratulations on becoming Chapter Registrar, Adrienne!!! It is one of the more interesting & rewarding positions, but can also be frustrating. But since you also proved a new Patriot, you know all about the frustrating part!! If your chapter doesn't have a "Prospective Member Kit" yet, I'd be happy to send you one of ours - when I'm done tweaking it this weekend! And thank you for the nice things you said. :)

No, I'm not from Texas. My ancestoral lines blur between Virginia, Maryland, Delaware (that's a new one!), and Pennsylvania. My PA ancestors considered themselves Virginians until after "the unpleasantness"! And then, there's the one frustrating Massachusets line...!!!!

Question: I was told that you have to prove to 1630 for Colonial Dames by one lady. That seems unreal to me! Can anyone verify or deny that?

I have an ancestoral missing link that would take me there (actually, Mayflower), IF I could find the @#$%^&* proof for ONE lousy generation!!

Thanx much! We've got our Prospective Member Kit - it's on my desk looking at me right now, as I gear up for my installation in May.

One of our members is a Colonial Dame, I'll drop her a line and ask your question.

Also, PM or email me about the Mayflower connection. I may be able to help you there too.

--add
;)

Congrats and another ?
 

Congrats Add on the Chapter Registrar! Woohoo!

Are any of you in the War of 1812? I have had a bit of a time getting someone to contact me so that I could apply.
:)
Silver

Re: Congrats and another ?
 

So far, no. Our Hunter line would be either too young or too old, and I'm in the process of working on the McKinney/McCullough line more fully.

And then there's that frustrating link in Boston, whether it will pan out or not. I have my gg-grandmother's parents' marriage license, but no proof of them existing prior to then (1811). They would be the Challis/Sargent line - which is proved until about 1750 or 1760. So, I just need that one two generation link to see if I've been handed down family stories or family tall tales! :)

I've always said that our family motto is "Never Leave a Paper Trail!" :D

Silver, Adrienne - are either of you members of the Cameo Club? We just found out about it, and it sounds nice! I'll be asking more pin questions in the future - I finally have the chapter bar to go with my pin & one I found on ebay! I need to get my ancestor bar, though, before I feel it's proper to wear. :)

Sorry, no War of 1812 here, as far as I've been able to gather.
Closest I've gotten is Amer. Civil War - another of my father's ancestors fought for New York. (I've been trying to find out when/where he was stationed and if he was in the contingent portrayed in "Gangs of New York.")

No Cameo Club here - yet. We found a supplemental ancestor on my mother's side, and we're going to work on her paperwork. It is a possibility tho. I noticed that the minute the ink was dry on my nat'l number, relatives lined up to do the "short" paperwork for their memberships. :D

And your family and mine, honeychile, have the same motto. At least in my mother's line. :p We can find them after wandering all over the Hudson Valley up to Albany, but prior to that, nada.

--add
:)

I haven't worked on it for about 2 years, but I keep meaning to look back into it again. I'll try to look at it tonight and refresh my memory!

No kidding!!

Good for you, Ginger!

It's OK if other priorities take the place of research for a while and you have to go back to it. A lot of people go through this, especially if they have difficult histories to explore.

I was invited to check out the DAR when I was 19. I was 34 when my lineage was approved and I can tell you, it was more than worth the wait and work.

--add
:D

Cameo Club
 

Hi, Honeychile...
????? What Cameo Club? The Mother/Daughter Cameo pin? Something else?
My pin buying has been on hold since Mr. Silver and I made a purchase that has us snowed under.....
:)
Silver

Re: Cameo Club
 

Yes, that's exactly what I meant! I naively asked for the pin for Christmas, not realizing it was a separate "Club". Now that we've heard about it, we'd like to see about it. I find it somewhat incredible that my mama & I have been members for this long (we both went in at the same time), and no one had ever breathed a word about it until Caldwell called our Regent!

Honey, honey, honey....
You just need a high quality insignia chair like we have ;). [AOIISilver flips her hair over her shoulder and looks important.]Honeychile, you are just so welcome to visit our chapter any time that you need a pin lesson! Just remember not to mix organizational pins at our meetings unless you want a severe reprimand!
Seriously, the mother/daughter cameo is simply a goregeous pin and not too expensive.
What kind of insignia do you have? Have you seen the all diamond insignia?:eek: It costs as much as TWO of my mortgage payments.:eek:

When I first started picking out my insignia, Mr. A was looking over my shoulder. He took ONE look at the star/diamond insignia and said, "No." With a look that said without words, "Don't even THINK of trying to negotiate this one."

I have to order a few more pins so I can show 'em at state and national convention. Not that I'll measure up to the ladies who have 4 rows and wear them like armor!!

Adrienne
:D

I find this highly entertaining because DAR up here is veddy veddy snooty - and there's actually a good age range! The GP family will not ever be DAR members, but if there is a Daughters of the Irish Potato Famine, we are READY and willing to submit our paperwork. ;)

Hi honeychile, I am sure that his name is in the Patriots record. Here is my story:

I come from a long line of Sullivans from Newport, RI and New York. There is a Major General John Sullivan who fought in the Battle of Long Island and the Battle of Rhode Island. The name struck me since we have so many men in my family with the same name. Truthfully, I have no idea if there is any relation. My mother can trace our family tree to the mid 1800s in Newport, RI. A few years ago we went to Newport and checked their property records. My great great (great?) grandfather bought a house there in the 1850s or 1860s. That is as far back as I can go in my family tree. There were John Sullivans galore in those records. It is not an uncommon name so we probably aren't related to the Major General, but it would be cool if we are.

Anyway, I'm not pursuing membership in DAR. I actually never even thought about it until this thread. I am more interested in filling out my family tree. I am just not certain how to do this. It is entirely possible that my Sullivan ancestors came to the US from Ireland after 1847 due to the famine, but I haven't seen concrete evidence of this.