Hi Kimberly; On Jul 17, 2012, at 11:25 PM, Mary E. Stewart wrote: "If this is your John Townsend, he is already an approved ancestor." There is a difference between an individual's patriotic service being approved by the DAR and approval of the lineage which leads others back to the individual. Something similar happened to me, regarding one of my ancestors: the purported ancestor remains approved, but the recent more stringent standards of the DAR have not been met by those who have in the past claimed to be his descendants when joining the DAR. Those already accepted under his name will be grandfathered out. Those who currently wish to join and normally would have an easy path as a legacy member now will have to prove that this man who performed the service is the ancestor rather than some other individual of that name. In my ancestor's case, a secondary source was used to make the original connection and was accepted at that time, but standards became stricter in recent years due to criticism of the organization for being "sloppy" regarding documentation and proof of lineage. This is actually an org! anizational change that I welcome. I believe Mary is right to point you toward your DAR Chapter: if you haven't approached local Chapter, you should. Each Chapter has a Lineage Records and Genealogical Research Chairman who should be eager to help you resolve any issues or questions you may have. Good Luck! Carol T.