(If you're not interested in DAR research, you might want to delete now and move on...) I would like to clear this up, because I work at DAR often...not as an employee of theirs, but as a paid researcher that others hire. I don't enjoy DAR jobs, because unfortunately I have DISproven more of their lines than I have proven, and that is not fun to tell a client. Since this is something I have a great deal of experience with, I'm going to answer several postings at once... First of all, you can no longer just cite another national number and get in. The reason is because in the early days of DAR they didn't require proof--you could pretty much make up any lineage that you wanted to...and everyone did! In fact, the oldest forms didn't even have spaces where you were asked for dates, places, etc. This caused problems later, of course, and the forms were changed. The forms have changed a number of times over the years. Second, there are quite a few members who got in by citing their lineage as it was published in someone's genealogy book--even though the book gave no sources. Goodspeed's and others are notorious for this. Things published are held in high esteem, but the fact is that these town histories were compiled by asking the old folks of the town to submit a piece about their families--which was then often enhanced and overblown and not necessarily remembered accurately. Everyone in those books was "prominent" and "educated", and all of the other words people want to see. I would say that the majority of pedigrees that I have looked at in the applications and proof files at DAR (and I have looked at hundreds of them) use someone's book as their biggest or only proof--even though it is not proof. These are the lineages that are often pretty easy to take apart. One person got in using "the book", and a train of others followed, citing that number. Third, while DAR is not "officially" accepting the old unproven lineages any more, it really depends who you are and who you know--and which volunteer reviews your application. They aren't supposed to accept flimsy proofs any more, but I have seen some lately. Sad but true. Fourth, it is true that DAR has removed some Patriots from the Patriot Index, but they DO NOT remove them simply because there is lack of proof. I wish they would, but oh, no, someone has to be very tenacious and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt something that is CONTRARY to what has already been accepted--even if the original application was accepted ages ago with no proof at all! You almost need an act of Congress to get one removed. I have tracked a number of "fakes" before, and the extent that some people would go to in order to become members is startling. One proof file had typed Bible records and an alleged letter from an ancestor, telling the family line. The same applicant had another family member write a little "book" to put in the DAR Library, just so she could cite the book, as well. The forward of the book, published a year before the application was turned in, said: "I am doing this at the request of a family member..." She was that desperate to prove she was descended from a General. Guess what? She wasn't. I found an affidavit in a scrip application file at NARA dated 1830, written by a neighbor of the family who had lived nextdoor to them forever, that named all of the General's children, both living and dead. The alleged person who was "a twin who ran off and married young" was not on the list! Fifth, there aren't "better records" that exist now. More information is being transcribed and put online, but the truth is that the same proofs that are required now were available long ago (and were probably in better condition long ago)--wills, deeds, administration and guardianship papers, court records, soldiers' pension files, death certificates, church records, etc... People want to take the easy way out, but the only way to "prove" your lineage is to go to the original source documents--not abstracts, not genealogy books, and definitely not online pedigrees. The online stuff can be helpful, because if you find an ancestor listed as having a will in a particular place, it tells you where to look and saves you some time that way--you know where to order it from. But you do need the original documents if you want to get it right. One of my family's old wills which is transcribed at ancestry.com leaves out one of the children! I have a copy of the original will, and the name is there. Another will transcribed at ancestry was done by someone who had no experience at all in reading old writing--the whole thing was badly transcribed, and all of the names were wrong. Good thing I looked at and copied the original on microfilm at the York Archives. It really is quite readable if you know what you're looking at. As for looking things up, I own the 2003 edition of the Patriot Index and can look up a name, but just because it's in the Patriot Index does not mean there will be proofs at DAR. In fact, quite often there won't be, but those names will stay in the Patriot Index until someone disproves the line. Looking things up at the DAR Library itself has gotten easier since they put in several computer terminals that can access their database. You can put in a national number or the name of a patriot or the name of a member. You can get a list of everyone who joined on a particular patriot and view their applications on-screen for free. That is a huge improvement over the old days. But they still charge you $10.00 per copy if you want to copy someone's application. They also charge nonmembers $6.00 per day just to get into the library. Soldiers whose names are not in the DAR Patriot Index doesn't mean that they didn't serve--it only means that no one has proven them. Don't get me wrong, the DAR Library has a lot of great resources and is definitely worth a trip. There are many volunteers who have done books where they have abstracted various court records, cemetery records, church records, etc... that are on the shelves. There are many family genealogy books, and some of them are actually well done. Mr. Harry Diehl has a book about a lot of families in Lancaster, York, and Adams Counties, and he cites his sources and his book is very useful for that reason (most genealogy books are not like that). There is a lot to be found in the DAR Library, as long as you remember that you really must order the actual documents and not rely on a book or abstract. Otherwise you run the risk of somebody like me coming along and finding original source documents at NARA or somewhere else that undo the lineage that you thought was proven! The purpose of genealogy is to reveal history, not to rewrite it. If anyone needs a Patriot Index lookup, please hit "reply all" and then go to the line that says: "To" and erase the "PALANCAS-L" address so that it only comes to me privately and doesn't burden all of the other list members. It's easy to do, and polite. Thanks! Peggy Reeves Burtonsville, Maryland R.M. Cousins Genealogy Service Member, DAR

I would like to concur with what Peggy has said as my Aunt is now submitting one family line that years ago was submitted with incorrect information. We have spent years working on documentation to correct the error before our family line is submitted to the DAR. Cheryl ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peggy K. Reeves" <peg@reevesweb.com> To: <PALANCAS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 12:29 AM Subject: [PALANCAS] About DAR research > (If you're not interested in DAR research, you might want to delete now > and move on...) > > I would like to clear this up, because I work at DAR often...not as an > employee of theirs, but as a paid researcher that others hire. I don't > enjoy DAR jobs, because unfortunately I have DISproven more of their lines > than I have proven, and that is not fun to tell a client. Since this is > something I have a great deal of experience with, I'm going to answer > several postings at once... > > First of all, you can no longer just cite another national number and get > in. The reason is because in the early days of DAR they didn't require > proof--you could pretty much make up any lineage that you wanted to...and > everyone did! In fact, the oldest forms didn't even have spaces where you > were asked for dates, places, etc. This caused problems later, of course, > and the forms were changed. The forms have changed a number of times over > the years. > > Second, there are quite a few members who got in by citing their lineage > as it was published in someone's genealogy book--even though the book gave > no sources. Goodspeed's and others are notorious for this. Things > published are held in high esteem, but the fact is that these town > histories were compiled by asking the old folks of the town to submit a > piece about their families--which was then often enhanced and overblown > and not necessarily remembered accurately. Everyone in those books was > "prominent" and "educated", and all of the other words people want to see. > I would say that the majority of pedigrees that I have looked at in the > applications and proof files at DAR (and I have looked at hundreds of > them) use someone's book as their biggest or only proof--even though it is > not proof. These are the lineages that are often pretty easy to take > apart. One person got in using "the book", and a train of others > followed, citing that number. > > Third, while DAR is not "officially" accepting the old unproven lineages > any more, it really depends who you are and who you know--and which > volunteer reviews your application. They aren't supposed to accept flimsy > proofs any more, but I have seen some lately. Sad but true. > > Fourth, it is true that DAR has removed some Patriots from the Patriot > Index, but they DO NOT remove them simply because there is lack of proof. > I wish they would, but oh, no, someone has to be very tenacious and prove > beyond a shadow of a doubt something that is CONTRARY to what has already > been accepted--even if the original application was accepted ages ago with > no proof at all! You almost need an act of Congress to get one removed. > I have tracked a number of "fakes" before, and the extent that some people > would go to in order to become members is startling. One proof file had > typed Bible records and an alleged letter from an ancestor, telling the > family line. The same applicant had another family member write a little > "book" to put in the DAR Library, just so she could cite the book, as > well. The forward of the book, published a year before the application was > turned in, said: "I am doing this at the request of a family member..." > She was that desperate to prove she was descended from a General. Guess > what? She wasn't. I found an affidavit in a scrip application file at > NARA dated 1830, written by a neighbor of the family who had lived > nextdoor to them forever, that named all of the General's children, both > living and dead. The alleged person who was "a twin who ran off and > married young" was not on the list! > > Fifth, there aren't "better records" that exist now. More information is > being transcribed and put online, but the truth is that the same proofs > that are required now were available long ago (and were probably in better > condition long ago)--wills, deeds, administration and guardianship papers, > court records, soldiers' pension files, death certificates, church > records, etc... People want to take the easy way out, but the only way to > "prove" your lineage is to go to the original source documents--not > abstracts, not genealogy books, and definitely not online pedigrees. The > online stuff can be helpful, because if you find an ancestor listed as > having a will in a particular place, it tells you where to look and saves > you some time that way--you know where to order it from. But you do need > the original documents if you want to get it right. One of my family's > old wills which is transcribed at ancestry.com leaves out one of the > children! I have a copy of the original will, and the name is there. > Another will transcribed at ancestry was done by someone who had no > experience at all in reading old writing--the whole thing was badly > transcribed, and all of the names were wrong. Good thing I looked at and > copied the original on microfilm at the York Archives. It really is quite > readable if you know what you're looking at. > > As for looking things up, I own the 2003 edition of the Patriot Index and > can look up a name, but just because it's in the Patriot Index does not > mean there will be proofs at DAR. In fact, quite often there won't be, > but those names will stay in the Patriot Index until someone disproves the > line. Looking things up at the DAR Library itself has gotten easier since > they put in several computer terminals that can access their database. > You can put in a national number or the name of a patriot or the name of a > member. You can get a list of everyone who joined on a particular patriot > and view their applications on-screen for free. That is a huge > improvement over the old days. But they still charge you $10.00 per copy > if you want to copy someone's application. They also charge nonmembers > $6.00 per day just to get into the library. Soldiers whose names are not > in the DAR Patriot Index doesn't mean that they didn't serve--it only > means that no one has proven them. > > Don't get me wrong, the DAR Library has a lot of great resources and is > definitely worth a trip. There are many volunteers who have done books > where they have abstracted various court records, cemetery records, church > records, etc... that are on the shelves. There are many family genealogy > books, and some of them are actually well done. Mr. Harry Diehl has a > book about a lot of families in Lancaster, York, and Adams Counties, and > he cites his sources and his book is very useful for that reason (most > genealogy books are not like that). There is a lot to be found in the DAR > Library, as long as you remember that you really must order the actual > documents and not rely on a book or abstract. Otherwise you run the risk > of somebody like me coming along and finding original source documents at > NARA or somewhere else that undo the lineage that you thought was proven! > The purpose of genealogy is to reveal history, not to rewrite it. > > If anyone needs a Patriot Index lookup, please hit "reply all" and then go > to the line that says: "To" and erase the "PALANCAS-L" address so that it > only comes to me privately and doesn't burden all of the other list > members. It's easy to do, and polite. Thanks! > > Peggy Reeves > Burtonsville, Maryland > R.M. Cousins Genealogy Service > Member, DAR > > > ==== PALANCAS Mailing List ==== > When replying to the list change the subject line if you change the > subject. > >