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Researching Your Patriot Ancestor |
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Module I - Getting
Started |
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Finding and documenting a Revolutionary War
patriot ancestor for membership eligibility in the Daughters
of the American Revolution (DAR) or the Sons of the American
Revolution (SAR) is not as difficult as many people believe.
With the resources available on
the Internet, it is possible to research your genealogy and
discover ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War
(1775-1783) in just a couple of hours. This can be
accomplished even when beginning with very little information beyond your grandparents or
great-grandparents.
This tutorial provides a step-by-step process
for finding any Revolutionary War patriots hidden in your
family tree and gathering the documents necessary to prove
the lineage. Follow the steps below to get started
with your research. After you have identified the dates and
places of birth, marriage, and death for your parents,
grandparents, and great-grandparents, proceed to
Module
II "Finding A Revolutionary War Patriot." |
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Parents,
Grandparents, & Great-Grandparents |
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The
first step is to take out a piece of paper and write down
everything you know about yourself, your parents, your
grandparents, and your great-grandparents. Focus on the following key points of
information for each generation:
- full name
- birth date and birth place
- marriage date and marriage place
- death date and death place
When recording the location of each
birth, marriage, and death, identify the county as well as
the city where each event occurred. County names are
important because most documents (e.g., wills, vital
records, etc.) are filed at the county level. A
helpful site for identifying
the county in which a town is located is
here. |
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Look Around Your
House |
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Look around your house for any
documents or photographs that may be helpful.
Important documents include:
- birth certificates
- baptismal certificates
- marriage licenses
- death certificates
- family Bibles
- obituaries
- military records
- wedding announcements
- newspaper clippings
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Contact Relatives |
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Contact your relatives to fill in
any gaps in your
information. If they have any of the
documents above, ask them to send photocopies. |
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Complete Ancestor
Charts |
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At this point, you may want to organize your information on
one or more
Ancestor Charts.
The Ancestor Chart links four or five generations in a
family tree and acts as a road map for your
journey.
When completing the chart, place the husband's name on the
top line for each couple, and list the wife with her maiden
name. |
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Continue to Module
II |
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Continue to the next module "Finding
a Revolutionary War Patriot." |
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