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Author: 1PeggyReeves
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.cato/454.1.1.2/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
I just want to answer one part of this...
The DAR is always accepting new applications, on any and every Patriot! What they do NOT
accept are undocumented pedigrees. In other words, you need to have proof in the form of
original documents for each link that you claim in your lineage. That means writing to
courthouses or Historical Societies in the places where your ancestors lived, and
collecting copies of the actual documents that were created by your ancestors.
In the early days of DAR, they didn't require proof of every link, they somehow
thought that people would be honest. Unfortunately, too many people have made things up
just to obtain bragging rights to say that they are descended from a famous General or
whoever. DAR in now trying to clean up the mess, and they require proof of every link.
You can no longer join by simply saying you are related to someone else who joined on that
Patriot. If that other person provided actual proof documents, then it will be easy for
you to get it, but if they didn't--you have some work to do in the way of gathering
records.
Acceptable proofs: Birth, marriage, death, and divorce certificates; wills and estate
settlements; deeds and other land records; burial records; military pension files and
service records; court records, tax records, original Bible records, church records,
etc... These need to be copies of the original documents, not abstracts found in
somebody's book. You need to have original documents to prove the b/d/m dates that
you claim, and to prove the link from one generation to the next (for example--a birth
certificate or church baptismal record names both the child and the parents. A will might
have the father naming his wife and children).
Unacceptable "proofs": Anything printed in someone's unsourced genealogy
book or "history of..." book, transcriptions found in online databases, online
pedigrees, and anything and everything at the LDS website, including the IGI and
"temple sealing records". It should be noted that the LDS church never, EVER
corrects a mistake, no matter how easily it is proven to be false with original documents,
and there is no way to put a post-em on their pedigrees to warn others that something has
been proven to be false. If you copy what they have, you are going to get sent up the
wrong branch of your tree sooner or later.
It should be noted that most "History of..." books were not written by history
scholars, they were written by various members of the community who wanted to brag about
their families. Few of them give any actual sources for their information. Online
pedigrees and the LDS website (
familysearch.org) are all loaded with speculation and
guesses, and things that are obviously absurd. They are not "verified" by
anyone, and people continue to consider them "authoritative", and copy them
endlessly, further contributing to the spread of wrong information. They all put the
disclaimer that their stuff is "not verified", but they continue to spread it
around anyway.
The books and websites can be very helpful, but you can't just copy what they say--you
need to order copies of the original documents to verify what they say. If they say your
ancestor died in a certain place and was a "prominent landowner", then see about
ordering a copy of that deed and see if there is a will or estate settlement at the
courthouse in the county where that ancestor lived. If the courthouse burned, you'll
need to look for other records such as church records, tax records, military records,
etc... (stuff not generally kept in the county courthouse).
Yes, the other thing that DAR asks for in the way of proof is documentation that the
person you are claiming as a Patriot actually served. How do you know they served if you
can't find military records for them? It's a fair requirement to ask people to
prove that the soldier they are claiming is real.
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