Mark- It doesn't mean the "bar is low" to qualify for membership in DAR. It merely means you have to prove your ancestor either served in the military or in some other way rendered services to the Patriot cause and continued to do so (in other words didn't take the Tory side at a later date or be fined for not serving or something of that nature). So the ancestor has to have shown some support for the Patriot cause--maybe put up troops in their house or fed the troops and sold them cows for food -- something to support the cause. Patriotic Service is frequently how Quaker ancestors might qualify. For me, on my mother's line which were mostly Quakers, I didn't find a single qualifying ancestor. I had to turn to my father's Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors for DAR Patriot service. Joan In a message dated 1/15/2009 3:31:51 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > There are many quakers already established in the dar ( I have 4) that > qualified me. They weren't as neutral as believed. Perhaps, but the "bar" required to be a DAR "patriot ancestor" is low. One criteria for an ancestor to be considered a patriot is whether he took the oath of allegiance. But the oath was required, and refusal to take it was punishable by a variety of penalties -- including confiscation of one's entire estate. Some Quakers did lose their entire estates for this reason. We call their descendants "Canadians." If you find an ancestor on the DAR's rolls, consider asking, "Did he believe in the Revolution?" or "Did he just want those pesky Founding Dads to go away and leave him alone so he could farm in peace?" For many, it was a go-along-to-get-along decision. Mark