Land Records; Deeds - An Introduction

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An online genea pal familiar with my current research of the LINDSEYs and the goal to prove / disprove a relationship between Edwin Galloway LINDSEY, my third great grandfather and Archibald LINDSEY, the man I believe to be Edwin’s father and my fourth great grandfather, recently sent a document – a deed – that she had come across for Archibald LINDSEY.  I hope all of you have genea pals that you collaborate with; they are a Godsend! 

After days of searching for  . . . anything on Archi and his family and coming across leads only to have them either dead-end, dry up, or, add to the labirynth of confusion that I was already trying to navigate, I threw up my hands in frustration, and whined - yes, whined - on one of the FaceBook groups that I belong to about my frustration and that Archi had induced a migraine.  The following morning I had an email from my genea pal with a record attached that was for an Archibald LINDSEY.  And, she hoped that it was for my migraine inducing Archi.  BINGO!  Not only was it for my Archi, but it helped prove who Archi’s last wife was – Hannah. 

“The Lindsays of America,” by Margaret Isabella Lindsay, notes that Archi was married three times.¹  While a typed double-spaced paper included in the supporting documents submitted with the 1953 DAR lineage application states, “Who his three wives were, I have not found out.”² 

However my LINDSEY cousin recently sent me a scanned copy of the Michigan Return of Deaths, Bay County (West Bay City) which recorded the death of Archi’s daughter, Nancy S (LINDSEY) Orton, and listed her parents as Archibald and Isbel LINDSEY.³  

So I now have the given names of two, of the three, of Archi’s wives.

To this point, in all my research, I have been kept busy by looking for and collecting the obvious source documents – birth, marriage, divorce, death - however, I know that there is a treasure trove of source documents out there that go beyond the traditional vital records.  These non-traditional records sets potentially contain a wealth of genealogical gold – given names, surnames, family members, who is married to who, etc.  So, I was looking forward to learning what this deed on Archi contained, so I dove – head first – right in and began transcribing.  Did I mention that Archi tends to induce migraines? 

This deed was handwritten, it was 2-1/2 pages long, it was written without punctuation and in one single and very long run-on paragraph.  Yikes, my heard hurts!  Most of the words I could make out; some I couldn’t, but at the end of it. . .  while I could read what it said; I absolutely did not comprehend what it said.  Lord, help me.

Okay, it was time to see what resources I could find, that were on a 5th-grade level (easier for me to understand) that would help me learn and understand, I hoped, what I was looking at.  I started with Crista Cowan, the Barefoot Genealogist, surely she had something in her presentation library on land records.  I wasn’t disappointed, I found Introduction to Using Land Records for Family History out on the ancestry.com YouTube Channel and FamilySearch.org had Pennsylvania Research: Land Records: Field of Dreams in its educational series.  While my LINDSEY research is predominately in New York right now, I didn’t think it would hurt to watch familysearch.org’s presentation on Pennsylvania Land Records – I imagined that while locals may change, that where to look and ultimately find the records you are looking for, will not be that much different location to location.

Note: Both video presentations were introductory and at a basic 101 level; very easy to understand.  Thank you guys – I walked away headache free. 

Definitions:

• Appurtenance: An accessory or any other item associated with a particular activity or style of living; accessories, trappings, equipment
• Assigns: Individuals to whom property is, will, or maybe transferred by conveyance, will or statute
• Bargain: Negotiate the terms and conditions of a transaction
• Deed: A legal document that is signed and delivered, especially one regarding the ownership of property or legal rights
• Encumbrance: A mortgage or other charge on property or asset
• Execute: To sign and otherwise complete a document, such as acknowledging the signature if required to make the document valid; to finish, complete, or perform as required, as in fulfilling one’s obligations under a contract
• Grantee: An individual to whom a transfer of property is made
• Grantor: An individual who transfers ownership of property
• Hereditament: Any item of property, either a corporeal Hereditament (such as land or a building) or an incorporeal hereditament (such as rent or a right of way); an item of inheritance
• Indefeasible: Not able to be lost, annulled or overturned
• Indenture: A formal legal agreement, contract or document
• Metes and Bounds: The boundary lines of land, with their terminal points and angles.  A way of describing land by listing the compass directions and distances of the boundaries. 

Measurements – Metes and Bounds

1 Rod, Perch, or Pole = 25 Links = 16.5 Feet
4 Rods = 1 Chain
1 Chain = 4 Rods = 66 Feet = 100 Links
1 Link = 7.92 Inches
25 Links = 1 Rod = 16.5 Feet

Warren County, 1827 (page 112 – 113) – starts mid-page 112

Pages 112 - 113

(page 114) deed’s last paragraph at the top

Page 114

This indenture made the 11th day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven between Archibald LINDSEY and Hannah, his wife, of the town of Luzerne and county of Warren of the first part and Jeremy Rockwell of the town of Hadley and County of Saratoga of the second part witnesseth that the said party of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of three hundred forty-one dollars and twenty-six cents lawful money of the United States of America to him in hand paid [illegible] as before the exchange and delivery of these presents by the said party of the second part the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged and the said party of the second part his heir executor and administrator forever released and discharged from the same by these presents has granted [illegible] and [illegible] confirmed and by these presents doth grant [illegible] unto the said party of the second part and to his heirs and [illegible] forever the one equal and undivided half of all that certain farm or parcel of land [illegible] lying and being with town of Luzerne with the county of Warren with patent of [illegible] within log no. three with subdivision of lot no. thirteen beginning at the northeast corner of lot of land surveyed for Elijah Buttolph with east line of the twenty-fourth alottment of said patent at the distance of one chain and twenty-six links from the place where the said line strikes the bank of the Hudson River and running thence north eighty-nine degrees east sixty-eight chains and twenty-one links to the east line of the said lot no. three thence north two degrees west seventeen chains and ninety links along the said line of lot no. three [illegible] eighty [illegible] degrees west forty-seven chains and sixty links to the [illegible] side of Hudson River thence along down the east side of said river to the place where the east line [illegible] of the said twenty-fourth allotment of the said river thence along the said line last mentioned to the place of [illegible] one hundred and six and a half acres of land together with all and [illegible] the tenements [illegible] and appurtenances whatsoever unto the said above mentioned and described premises in anyway operating or belonging [illegible] and also all the estate rights title interests [illegible] and rights of [illegible] property [illegible] claim and delivered whatsoever as well with law [illegible] equity of the said party of the first part of [illegible] as to the same and every part and parcel thereof with the appurtenances to have and to hold the above granted [illegible] and described premises with the appurtenances unto the said party of the second part his heirs and [illegible] to his [illegible] proper use and [illegible] forever [illegible] deed the said party of the first part himself heirs executors and administrators doth covenant grant powers and agree to deed with the said party of the second part his heirs and [illegible] that he the said party of the first part at the time of the closing and delivery of these presents is lawfully [illegible] of a good absolute and [illegible] estate of [illegible] fee [illegible] and [illegible] all and [illegible] The above granted [illegible] described premises with the appurtenances and [illegible] rights free power and lawful authority to grant bargain sell and [illegible] the same with [illegible] manner and [illegible] of [illegible] and that the said party of the second part his heirs and [illegible] shall and may at all times hereafter peaceably and quietly have hold use [illegible] enjoy the above granted premises and every part thereof with the [illegible]  Without any [illegible] molestation eviction or disturbances of the said party of the first part his heirs or [illegible] or any other person or persons lawfully claiming as to claim the same and that the same now are free clear discharged and unencumbered of and from all former and other grants titles charges estates judgments taxes [illegible] and [illegible] of what nature as [illegible] and also the said party of the first part and his heirs and all and every other [illegible] as [illegible] whatsoever lawfully as equitably [illegible] any estate rights title or interest of [illegible] as to the [illegible] Therein before granted premises by law [illegible] as  [illegible] trust for [illegible] shall and will at any time or times hereafter upon the reasonable request and at the proper cost and charges in the law of the said party of the second part his heirs and [illegible] make do and execute as [illegible] as [illegible] to be made [illegible] and executed and all and every such further and other said fee and reasonable acts [illegible] the law for the better and more [illegible] and [illegible] the premises hereby [illegible] to be granted [illegible] the said party of second part his heirs as [illegible] his [illegible] the law shall reasonably be devised advised as required and the said Archibald Lindsey his heirs the above described and hereby granted and released premises and every part thereof with the [illegible] unto the said party of the second part his heirs and [illegible] against the said party of the first part and his heirs and against all persons whomsoever lawfully claiming as to claim the same shall and will warrant and by these presents forever defend [illegible] the parties to these presents have [illegible] and seals the day and year first above written Archibald Lindsey Hannah Lindsey sealed and delivered in presence of us the [illegible] the [illegible] equal undivided half of [illegible] between the seventh and eighth lines before signing [illegible] State of New York [illegible] I do certify that on the eleventh day of June in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven personally appeared before me George P Cronkite [illegible] for the [illegible] the acknowledgements of deeds of the County of Warren Archibald Lindsey and Hannah his wife known to me to be the same person described in and who executed the written deed and the said Archibald Lindsey before me acknowledged that he had executed the same as his act and deed and the said Hannah having been by me privately examined apart from her said husband acknowledged that she had freely executed the same and finding no material [illegible] as [illegible] therein - except the one noted prior to the execution of the said deed do allow the same to be recorded taken and acknowledged this 11th day [illegible] 1827 before me. George P Cronkite [illegible] I certify the proceeding to be a true record of the original deed with the acknowledgement thereof once examined and compared with the record [illegible] this 20th day of June AD 1829 at 1 o'clock pm.
Thomas Archibald Clerk.⁴

Okay, other than their names and a few other bits, I didn’t understand a word of that!  What I did get is that Archi and his wfie, Hannah on 11 June 1827 entered into a contract to transfer ownership of the property over to Jeremy Rockwell.  The property was surveyed and using the Metes and Bounds measurements was described in the deed.  Mr. Rockwell was purchasing the land from Archi and Hanna LINDSEY for the sum of $341.26 lawful United States currency.*

* Interesting bit of trivia:  According to this Inflation Calculator $341.26 United States (1827) currency would be worth $7,936.28 today; however, if we took $341.00 United States (2014) currency back in time to 1827, our money would have only been worth . . . $14.67.  Ouch!!

Also noteworthy was that a patent was mentioned, but the specifics were illegible; it would seem that neither Archi nor Hannah could write – they signed the deed with their mark; the deed was reviewed and certified to be a true record of the original on 20 June 1829.  And, lastly, the property, as noted in the deed, was surveyed by Mr. Elijah Buttolph.*

The deed was reviewed and certified to be a true record of the original on 20 June 1829 . . . that’s two years, plus a few days, later.  Why?  Initially mortgaged in 1827 and paid in full in 1829?  Did they even do that then?  Hmmm, I need to consult Google.

*F A N (Friends, Acquaintances, and Neighbors Note: Elijah Buttolph, according to a number of census records was Archi’s and Hannah’s neighbor.

Reference the patent, after watching the tutorials mentioned above, I believe that the patent should be on file . . . somewhere and that it should contain information on who originally owned the land and who Archi purchased it from.  I just need to figure out what the deed tells me about the patent – currently I am not having any luck making it out.  But, this is a deed signed by the grantor (Archibald and Hannah LINDSEY), I think I need to look up the record (the deed) that was signed by the grantee, Mr. Jeremy Rockwell – maybe that record will be a little easier to decipher . . . okay, one can hope can’t they?

Did I miss anything?

While I dove head first into transcribing the deed, I feel as though I only dipped my big toe into this new record set, do any of you have recommendations on where I can learn more?  Keep in mind, 5th grade level is optimum (or lower ); what about a Land Records for Dummies book? – that certainly would be my speed.  Have any of you blogged about land records?  How to use them?  How to understand them?  I would love to read them.  Hopefully you’ve followed the KISS (keep it simple stupid) method, I will be able to understand it better.  LOL!  Honestly, I am not joking!!

And, while I work on getting myself better acquainted with land records, do any of you know why this deed was written and signed by Archi and Hannah in 1827, but not reviewed and certified until 1829?  Is there something – genealogically – that two year+ span is telling me?  Where can I find the patents?  Note, I will be going back over those two videos mentioned above, I believe the Family Search video gave some great information on where patents can be found, and Lord knows, I am a slow study, so the more I review them, the more the information will sink in.  Or, at least that’s my hope.

______________________
Sources:

1. Margaret Isabel Lindsay, The Lindsays of America (1889; Reprint,Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc, 2008), 141
2. Membership Application, Frances E Whitney, 336908, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Administration Building, Washington, DC
3. “Michigan, Deaths, 1867-1897,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11628-35989-58?cc=1452402 : accessed 1 July 2014), Nancy S Orton, 16 January 1878; citing page 50-51, West Bay City, Bay County, Michigan, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL Microfilm 2363666
4. “New York, Land Records, 1630-1975,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32578-539-44?cc=2078654 : accessed 4 July 2014), Warren > Deeds 1826-1831 vol D-E > image 358 of 572; citing County Clerk, County Courthouse

Archibald LINDSEY, DAR, and the American Revolution

Third, in a series of posts on a recent ‘cousin’ connection and my research journey to  discover, follow, and document my LINDSEY ancestors. 

In the Absence of Documents I noted my concern, reference lack of tangible documentation.  And, in my post, Puzzle Pieces, I outline my research plan and strategy.  Today’s post is about how my journey is progressing.

Archibald, my 4th Great Grandfather, is buried in the Maxon-LINDSEY cemetery, Attica, New York. (1) and he was purported to have participated in the American Revolution. (2)  Using that clue, I searched Google . . .

One specific online source stood out, The New Horizons Genealogy submitted by Lynn Tooley.  The reason?  At the top of the webpage is the following sentence. . .

“Graves of the soldiers of the American Revolution buried in Wyoming County, New York whose graves have been officially reported, located or marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution.”

That highlighted word – officially – is what specifically stood out to me.  I have heard many a comment or story throughout my life of the prestigious organization known as the Daughters of the American Revolution or DAR for short.  I had heard too, that it had very strict membership guidelines.  So, surely, if the DAR officially reported, located or marked the grave of my ancestor, Archibald LINDSEY, than his Patriot status – “services in the assisting of the establishment of American Independence” - during the War of Revolution was documented.  Right? 

Not so fast.  On 3 April 2014, I posted a query on the Daughters of the American Revolution FaceBook page; I specifically asked, whether I was correct in assuming that, based on that quoted paragraph at the top of the New Horizons webpage, that my ancestor, Archibald LINDSEY’s service during the Revolutionary War had been carefully examined and confirmed?  The reply I received is quoted below . . .

“Many states have similar books.  These books were not vetted by headquarters and many of the graves listed probably have not been officially marked.  The office of the Historian General maintains a database of officially marked graves and would have some documentation for them.”

Note to Self:  Need to see if the DAR Historian General has any documentation on Archibald and whether his grave was officially Reported, located or marked.

A short time later, this comment was posted by the same person . . .

“By the way, your ancestor is in the DAR Genealogical Research System database available on the public website.  You can always order an unrestricted copy of the documentation on file or a copy of one of the previously verified applications.”

I took a look at the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) database online and, as the poster indicated, there were three previously approved applications available.  I could request copies, for a fee, and receive them immediately in PDF format via email.  Awesome! 

On my first review of the applications I was pleased.  They each provided lineage from the applicant back to the Patriot ancestor; names, dates of birth, marriage dates, dates of death, and maiden names.  Both the 1953 and 2006 applications included a form titled “References for Lineage.”  The paragraph at the top of the forms read . . .

“(proofs for line of descent are wills, administrations, deeds, church, Bible, census and pension records, tombstones, histories, genealogies, old newspapers, etc.)”

“Give below a reference to the authority for EACH statement of Birth, Marriage or Death.  If from published records, give names of books and page numbers.  If from unpublished records, applicant must file duplicate certified or attested copies of the same.”

Okay, that is encouraging, as that is my goal; to verify in as much as humanly possible, with definitive source documents, that this is my ancestor.  It is also my goal to avoid as much as humanly possible the pitfalls of accepting ‘as fact’ oral histories and un-sourced or undocumented genealogies.

The lineage information on the three approved applications provided names, births, marriages, and deaths to familiar LINDSEY descendants.  The descendants were familiar because my ‘cousin’ and I had discussed them.  Using the information provided on Archibald LINDSEY’s sons, I was hopeful that I’d find supporting documents.  But, what I was finding on ancestry.com and familysearch.org was the same over and over again.  The family researchers seemed to have relied on the same information again and again - “The Lindsays of America,” a compiled genealogy of all LINDSAY / LINDSEY families; “The Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, Volume 9,” County History and Biographical data and oral history.  And, stopped there.  There were no supporting documents.  No birth / baptism records; no marriage records; no death records; nor military pension file / widows pension file; no Bibles; wills; deeds;   Nothing.

So, it was back to the approved DAR applications.  The Reference for Lineage Form attached to both the 1953 and 2006 approved applications clearly stated that documentation in some form was required.  Below is a listing of the documentation supplied by the applicants. . .

1953 Approved Application:

• Marriage Record – 2nd Generation (Eckert / Salby)
• Census Record(s) – 2nd Generation (Eckert / Salby)
• Family Records – 2nd  & 3rd Generations (Eckert / Salby & Eckert / LINDSEY)
• Personal letter, dated 1821  - 3rd Generation (Eckert / LINDSEY)
• War of 1812 Records – 3rd Generation (Eckert / LINDSEY)
• The book, “The Lindsays of America” by Margaret Isabella Lindsay, Page 141 – 4th Generation (LINDSEY / Moor)
• Tombstone, Maxon-LINDSEY Cemetery, Attica New York – 4th Generation (LINDSEY / Moor)
• The Lindsay Association of America, pages 44 & 45; 70 – 5th and 6th Generations (LINDSEY)
• Bounty Land File 55 – 120 W10726 on Benjamin LINDSEY in 1850 – 6th Generation (LINDSEY)

2006 Approved Application:

• Birth Certificate (Applicant) – 1st Generation (Applicant)
• Spouse’s Birth Certificate – 1st Generation (Applicant)
• Marriage Certificate (Applicant) – 1st Generation (Applicant)
• Applicant’s statement (made in reference to sources for generation 7) – 1st Generation
• Birth Certificate – 2nd Generation (Applicant’s Parents)
• Marriage Certificate – 2nd Generation (Applicant’s Parents)
• Death Certificate – 3rd Generation (Wicks / Hammond)
• Spouse’s Death Certificate – 3rd Generation (Wicks / Hammond)
• Obituary – 4th Generation (Hammond / Walbridge)
• Civil War Pension – 4th Generation (Hammond)
• Death Certificate – 4th Generation (Walbridge)
• “Probate Record, Wyoming County Probate Records 1841 – 1900,” by W. David Samuelson, page 364 – 5th Generation (Walbridge / LINDSEY)
• 1850 Census – 5th Generation (Walbridge / LINDSEY)
• Biographical Review of Livingston and Wyoming Counties, pages 649 – 650, by Boston Publishing – 5th Generation (Waldbridge / LINDSEY)
• “The Lindsays in America,” by Margaret Isabella Lindsay, Pages 401 – 402 – 6th Generation (LINDSEY / Loop)
• Biographical Review of Livingston and Wyoming Counties, 1895 – 6th Generation (LINDSEY / Loop)
• Estate Record, 23 July 1875 – 6th Generation (LINDSEY / Loop)
• History of Wyoming County, NY, pages 144, 149 – 6th Generation (LINDSEY / Loop)
• Historical Wyoming, Volume 4, No. 4, March 1951 – 6th Generation (LINDSEY / Loop)
• Maxon-LINDSEY Cemetery – 6th Generation (LINDSEY / Loop)
• 1820 Warren County, New York Census
• 1953 Approved DAR Application – 6th Generation (LINDSEY / Loop)

2012 Approved Short-Form Application

• Birth Certificate – 1st Generation (Applicant)
• Marriage Certificates (first & 2nd Marriages) – 1st Generation (Applicant)
• Divorce Decree – 1st Generation (Applicant)
• Birth Certificate – 2nd Generation (Applicant’s Parents – living)
• Marriage Certificate – 2nd Generation (Applicant’s Parents – living)
• Birth Certificates – 3rd Generation (Applican’ts Grandparents – living)
• Marriage Certificate – 3rd Generation (Applicant’s Grandparents – living)
• DAR Approved 1953 Application 3rd Generation (Applicant’s Aunt)
• Death Certificates – 4th Generation (Wicks / Hammond)
• Marriage Certificate – 4th Generation (Wicks / Hammond)
• “New York Postal History,” Kay and Smith, Page 131

Revolutionary Ancestor

• “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution,”  Volume 9, page 827 (1953, 2006 and 2012 Approved Applications)
• New England History and Genealogy Register
• “Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities and Towns in Massachusetts, 1997,” pages 9, 55, and 107 (2012 DAR Approved Application)
• “New York Postal History 1775 - 1980,” Kay and Smith, pages 13 and 130 (2012 DAR Approved Application

A lot of source information right?  Yes and no.  Yes, there was a lot of source information on the more recent generations; generations one through three.  But, beyond that, the information provided seems to be information that is found in oral, County, Postal histories and compiled genealogies.  A wealth of information but a dearth of source documents.  At least that has been my LINDSEY research experience to date.

On the Daughters of the American Revolution website, under the “How do I Join?” Section we are told . . .

“Any woman 18 years or older who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence is eligible to join the DAR.  She must provide documentation for each statement of birth, marriage, and death, as well as of the Revolutionary War service of her Patriot ancestor.”

Yet, I wasn’t finding that documentation.  I have been looking via Google Books at the County Histories, at “The Lindsays in America” book – you may recall from the previous two posts that I immediately purchased it online at Amazon.com because I was sure, sure that the author must have had source citations for where the information on my LINDSEYs came from – and I also took a look online at the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, Volume 9.  Each of these sources did indeed provide the exact information, verbatim, that was noted online at ancestry.com on the member trees and in the pages of the DAR Approved Applications.  But, yet again, no source citations that I could find.  Grrr!  This is frustrating.

So, I went back to my favorite resource, the social network, specifically, the DAR FaceBook page and started a discussion.  Below is my initial post . . .

Me:  I am learning about my Revolutionary War ancestor and those descendants that applied and were accepted into DAR membership.  I have found those descendant’s accepted applications at your online GRS site and have received PDF copies. 

I am curious to understand and learn what the review and verification process was over the years and what it now is, in light of the advent of  21st century technology and the plethora of documentation that is now online.

I’ve seen that the membership application process included the applicant providing birth, marriage, divorce (if applicable) and death documents.  What was required in the way of proof documents of the Revolutionary’s service?

What follows are some revealing posts from that discussion. . .

Poster 1: I think way, way back the verification process consisted of you saying, “this is my Grandfather.” 

Poster 2: As for how the applications are approved, the Registrar (then the “genie” at NSDAR) will look at the lineage form, and check the form against the proofs, usually from the bottom up.  They’ll go up as far as they can verifying each proof provided.  When they can’t find something to match the form, they’ll stop and go from the top down, as far as they can.  Hopefully the proofs will match up with the lineage form, and then it is approved.  Helpful Hint:  The application where the genie doesn’t have to get up from his / her desk and go looking for the source will be approved SO much faster then the ones where a lot of leg work is needed.  Happy Hunting!

Poster 3: Back in the day your word was all that was needed.

Poster 4: If you have an application that was approved in 2012, you need not worry about proving Revolutionary War service, nor any of the accepted lineage for any generations you have in common with the applicant.  That is certainly recent enough.

Do you remember when you learned Santa Claus wasn’t real?  Yeah, that is pretty much how I felt after reading these comments.

Hmmm . . . WARNING, what follows are my immediate thoughts as I was reading those comments . . .

“Way back when, you just had to say this is your grandfather” 

Really?  I understand that in bygone days ‘your word was your bond,’ however, human nature being what it is and has been since time immemorial, what prevented someone from picking a revolutionary out of a hat, so to speak, and claiming them as their own?  We see that kind of thing today – someone finds a similar name on ancestral trees that are online; they click, attach and viola, it’s their ancestor now.

While I understand that the onus of responsibility is on an applicant to provide documentation ‘proving’ lineal bloodline descent and the revolutionary’s service, I am now left wondering why DAR employs professional genealogists IF the DAR is really only looking for the ‘path of least effort’ as implied in the poster’s comment . . .

“The application where the genie doesn’t have to get up from his / her desk and go looking for the source will be approved SO much faster then the ones where a lot of leg work is needed.”

Again, does that mean I could now go online, pick a revolutionary, do a little research at ancestry.com, familysearch.org, fold3.com or any number of other online websites, cull documentation from these resources, attach them to an application and wait for the approval and induction into the DAR?  I’d like to think due diligence is given to the process and that provided documentation is scrutinized, however, I am not sure that, that effort and, attention to detail wouldn’t require leg work.

I believe that one of the reasons that the DAR organization has been viewed by many as prestigious is because of its lofty standard of “linear proof of bloodline descent from an ancestor who participated in the American Revolution.”  For many women in the U.S., membership in the DAR, is a rite of passage and a badge of distinction; they ARE a direct descendant of a Revolutionary War hero who banned together with others, fought for and achieved independence.

Yet, what I have and I imagine many, many others have as well, is nothing more than oral history heard down through the ages and documented in county histories and biographical data as fact, even though no source citations (generally) are provided.  That is not to say that it is inaccurate or false, but it does, at least, fall short of the lofty standard of ‘proof.’

Don’t misunderstand, I think that the DAR is a wonderful organization, they’ve set the bar high, and it and its members have achieved great things over the years; and what I most appreciate about them is their support of, and kindness and compassion toward our military men and women.  However, I am mourning the ‘death,’ if you will, of my notion that if a family member was a member of DAR then the ‘proof’ documents were there and beyond reproach. 

There is nothing wrong with . . .

- oral histories
- compiled genealogies
- biographical data
- family Bibles
- Tombstones

But they most oft are secondary sources; while these sources often have snippets / nuggets of truth, they can be rife with error.  Oral histories either are often embellished over the years or they suffer from omissions of key facts and events.  Compiled genealogies and biographical data have the same inherent problems.  Family Bibles?  It depends when the family data was added; at the time of the event or a very short period after?  Or, weeks, months, years later?  Was the information added by a family member who took part in or witnessed the event?  Or, was it added by a descendant, based on the oral history they’d been given?  Tombstone?  Was it engraved and erected shortly after the family member’s death?  Or, was it engraved and erected in honor of the deceased by a descendant?  When?

So, I am left with secondary information.  However one recommendation from the folks on the DAR FaceBook page was that I contact DAR to see if I can obtain a copy of the complete applicant file(s), perhaps it will contain more definitive source information.  I most definitely will be being doing that.  Additionally, as I was again reviewing the approved DAR applications during the writing of this post, I noticed some key clues that I had overlooked – even though I had read through them twice before and had even transcribed each of them - goes to show how important it is to take a break from the records for a short time and then come back and take a look again.  What did I miss?

• War of 1812 Records
• Tombstone, Maxon-LINDSEY Cemetery, Attica New York
• Bounty Land File 55 – 120 W10726 on Benjamin LINDSEY in 1850
• “Probate Record, Wyoming County Probate Records 1841 – 1900,” by W David Samuelson, page 364
• Estate Record, 23 July 1875
• New England History and Genealogy Register
• “Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities and Towns in Massachusetts, 1997,” pages 9, 55, and 107

So, while I wait for copies of the complete applicant files from DAR, I will be working on seeing what information can be found from the source clues above; look there, some sources may turn out to be the elusive primary sources I’ve been looking for – War of 1812 Records, Bounty Land Files, Probate and Estate Records.  Wish me happy hunting!

Suggestions, advice, recommendations are all welcome and much appreciated.  If you have or have had similar experiences I would love to hear your story.  

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Sources:

(1) Information shared by Lindsey ‘cousin;’ “The Lindsays of America” by Margaret Isabella Lindsay, page 141; New Horizons Genealogy submitted by Lynn Tooley

(2) Information shared by Lindsey cousin; Find-a-Grave Memorial #41560310; Biographical Sketches of the Leading Citizens of Livingston and Wyoming Counties, New York; Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, Volume 9