I am at my wits end and am hoping that someone on this list can help me.  I had applied to the DAR for the second time and was denied yet again.  The pensioner is Edmund BIRD of Mt. Pleasant, New York.  His son is Daniel BIRD who was born December 23, 1791 in Tarrytown, New York and died May 27, 1829 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Since I cannot find either a birth certificate or death certificate for Daniel I used the following as proof:  Military Bounty Land Warrant 983, which clearly states that Daniel Bird was in fact the son of the pensioner, Edmund R. Bird .  The Federal Land Series, the Pioneer Land Grants of Guernsey County, the Tract Book and Entries U.S. Military District, and the Tax Record Guernsey County, all listing Daniel, son of pensioner Edmund Bird.  His birth is also listed as the son of Edmund BIRD in  "Families of the Colonial Town of Philipsburg" by Grenville C. Mackensie.  So this is the problem: he was awarded the land grant in 1821 but his father did not die until 1835.  For this reason they claim he cannot possibly be the son of Edmund.  Does anyone know about this particular BIRD family and does anyone know why someone would have been awarded a land grant from a father that was still alive?  HELP!