What is SAR May I Join Patriot Leaders Battles Distinguished Sons
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What is SAR May I Join Patriot Leaders Battles Distinguished Sons |
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 | Establishing lineage
| Proving lineage
| Proving service
| Starting from ground zero
| Helpful Web Links
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WHERE TO START:
When a prospective member indicates an interest in completing his
application there are a couple of basic starting points:
1) Does the prospective member
If you have built or found a lineage back to your Patriot Ancestor you
can skip the "Establishing lineage" section and drop down to "Proving
lineage". 2) Does the applicant have a Patriot Ancestor in
mind? If he doesn't have a Patriot Ancestor in mind, does he know the name
of any of his grandparents or, hopefully, one of his great grandparents?
If any case, it is necessary to establish some sort of a lineage back to
a Patriot Ancestor. his seems to be the hardest part for most applicants
and, with the advent of the computer, it can be one of the easiest. You
should start with the "Establishing lineage"
section. If nothing is available you need to start at the "Starting
from ground zero" section.
![[rwbstript]](rwbstrip.gif){kind=small} ESTABLISHING A
"FRAMEWORK LINEAGE":
Establishing a framework lineage for an application is not all that hard.
This is not PROVING a lineage (which is a lot more involved) but
rather establishing a framework from the applicant to the Patriot Ancestor(s).
The expression "framework lineage" is used here to indicate it is
just that, a framework on which a proven lineage can be built. This "framework lineage" may contain multiple lines back to
Revolutionary War Patriots as we may not know, at this point, which Patriot
Ancestor will be used. This is true even if the applicant has a Patriot
Ancestor in mind - that one may not pan out. Remember, the goal is to prove
back to one Patriot Ancestor. After that supplementals may be used to add
other Patriot Ancestors.
The first step in establishing a framework lineage is to see what others
have done with those same names. There are a number of Internet sites (URLs)
where people have posted their lineages and these are a great place to
start.
The first one to look at is RootsWeb's Family Trees. Open your Internet
Explorer and enter Which name to start with? Actually it doesn't matter, but the easiest is
one is the oldest direct family member of the applicant that is known. As an
example we will us Margaret Herrington (Chapman) Little. We will enter
"Chapman" in the Surname box and "margaret herrington"
(when working with female names always use the maiden name). We can enter
her married name in the "Spouse" box if we wish. Click on "Search"
and take a look
at
what comes up. If nothing comes up try other names - the older the better.
There are other sites that you can search in much the same manner:
When you find a "line" on one of the above sites you can either manually copy the data to paper or use the power of the computer and download a GEDCOM file and create a new genealogy data base (or add to an existing one) using one of the many popular genealogy programs available. If you do not have a genealogy program on your computer, you can download a very popular, free one from the familysearch.org URL above or simply click here to go to the LDS download site. Download the first item. This software (PAF) is designed for the novice user but is powerful enough for those more sophisticated. If you are not familiar with genealogy software there certainly is one (or more) Compatriots in our chapter that will be glad to help you. Note that you can download many GEDCOMs and, after importing them to your genealogy program, merge the duplicate names to produce a usable "framework lineage" to use in the next step "Proving the Lineage". A further note - the computers in the Library are equipped with USB ports on the computer face which means you can utilize the new, very popular "Flash" drives to save your downloaded GEDCOMs. They are quite inexpensive at Best Buy or Circuit City - and they are much easier to use than the older floppy drives which is the other alternative.
PROVING THE
LINEAGE:
The working lineage established above CAN
NOT BE USED AS PROOF! The first step in proving a lineage from the applicant back to the
Patriot Ancestor is to read the official rules which may be found Don't send in an application without knowing what to send!
To repeat what is in the official rules, some of the most common sources
that CAN NOT be used are from the Internet. The working lineage produced
above is not proof nor is the many entries on the web such as from the LDS
The first three generations are normally proved with birth certificates,
death certificates and/or marriage licenses - many/most families have these
on hand or can easily get them. Note that photocopies are sent with the
application to National Headquarters - not the originals. It is always a
good idea to keep copies of all documentation forward with the application
in case questions arise.
The birth certificate should be the type that shows the names of the
parents - typically the mother's maiden name is included. Death certificates
are normally great proof documents in that they may contain proof covering
multiple generations.
The 1930 US Census is the next stop. Even an applicant just old enough to
join SAR should have grandparents alive and indexed in the 1930 US Census.
The County Library System may provide access to the US Census on line
through there membership in the Ancestry.com URLs. Note that you must access
the library version of Ancestry.com using one of the computers at a library.
The Alachua County Library System also subscribes to Heritage Quest which
may be accessed from your home computer (you do need your library card) but
it does not have all the various census records.
When accessing the US Censuses you must be aware that only heads of
households are listed prior to 1850 and thus do not provide good
genealogical proof for the early days of our country.
When you have located an ancestor(s) in the 1930 US Census start going
back - the idea is to the next earlier generation where the family is living
together to establish/prove the lineage. When you find an ancestor in the
1930 census calculate his/her age and then go back to an earlier census
where he/she would be a young child (i.e. still living at home).
Keep this up until you pass the 1850 census before which the census is no
longer "every name". You can still use the earlier censuses to
figure out where the family was/maybe living.
At this point check the SAR Patriot Index, which has thousands of names
of descendants of Patriot Ancestors. If you don't have it you can order it
from Progeny
Software.
If this doesn't work you can try the GenWeb
project. Follow the instructions and try the appropriate county web page
and/or use the Message Boards for the surname to post a query to see if
anyone else has researched your Patriot Ancestor's lineage.
Another possibility is to use the Find-A-Grave
web page. Use the "Begin
New Search" feature and see if the ancestor you are looking for is
listed. If he/she is listed the web page can not be used as proof but you
can post a request for a picture of the grave, which can be used as proof,
or you may be lucky and find one already posted. The "Search"
feature will not work well if you are looking for William Brown but if you
have a name such as John "Mentieth" you may have more luck - try
it. Note that you can limit your search. Setting the death year to "Before
1850" will put you in the right, general time frame.
Another possibility is to use the Library's Heritage Quest
service. This service provides access to thousands of books of genealogical
interest. The searching feature is not very strong but it is possible to
review a list of books that may help. Note that many library systems support
access to Heritage Quest.
Once the lineage is back to the Patriot Ancestor the first step is to
check the SAR Patriot Index (mentioned above) to see if the Patriot Ancestor
you are interested in has been used by a Compatriot. If so a copy of the
application may be ordered from SAR Headquarters in Louisville, KY. Note
that if the information on the SAR Patriot Index is complete you do not have
to actually order a copy - submission of a paper copy of an SAR application
with your application is not required but you do have to specify the SAR
National Number.
If you do not find your Patriot Ancestor in the SAR Patriot Index the
next step is to check the DAR Patriot Index (located in the City Island
Library and DeLand Library Genealogy Rooms). If you find your Patriot
Ancestor in the DAR Patriot Index you MUST order a Record Copy - your
Chapter Registrar can help you with this. The DAR charges $10 for a Record
Copy. Note that you MUST submit a "Record Copy" of a DAR
application with your SAR application. You can also get a list of Revolutionary War Pensioners on line from Heritage
Quest and download copies. See comments above
on how to access this Alachua County Library service.
Another possibility is using SAR's
This is the toughest nut to crack. I recently had a prospect who said
that he had some aunts who were, he thought, in the DAR but that he had lost
touch with these branches of his family. I could trace his line back to
around 1800 but could not get back another generation. Most of the line
would have some sort of notation such as "his parents came from
Ireland" indicating that line was not a good prospect to produce a
Patriot Ancestor.
In this case about all that could be done was to encourage him to contact
his aunt's families and see what he could unearth.
As it turned out the applicant remembered the town where his aunt died
and a Google Search brought up the name of the DAR Chapter there and some
e-mail addresses. Contacting the DAR members located the name of his Aunt
and her Patriot Ancestor and a copy of her application was ordered. Even
though it was a VERY old DAR application (hence could not be used for proof)
it did provide a lineage.
If the applicant has no lineage at all, the best approach seems to be to
start with the 1930 U S Census and work backward to the 1850 U S Census
following both the maternal and paternal lines but not pursuing those whose
parents were not born in the United States. Once back to the 1850 U S Census
revert to searching Here are some web links that may be helpful in researching a new
application (just click on the underlined words to jump to that site. You
will have to use your browser's "Back arrow/button" to return to
this page):
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