ENCToday.com: DAR celebrates 90 years and welcomes newcomers
Becoming a Daughter of the American Revolution is a birthright — attained through pride and research.
The local chapter of Richard Dobbs Spaight, signer of the Constitution and the first native-born governor of North Carolina, has been celebrating revolutionary heritage for 90 years.
The chapter now has more than 100 members and it welcomes new ones
“You have to prove bloodline descent from a patriot — man or woman — who assisted with the patriot side, the rebel side from the 13 colonies,” said Carolyn McCulley, outgoing regent for the group.
There are some misnomers — not all linage comes from the militia of the time or the Continental Army.
“A lot of people think you have to prove descent from someone who fought,” she said. “There is a lot of other patriotic service that DAR recognizes — people who fought with words or deeds — not just with arms.”
Donating horses, guns, money or crops count. Preachers who espoused the cause from the pulpit qualify.
The potential “Daughter” does have to document each generation leading back to the late 1770s, husband and wife.
The more recent generations are more easily attain through vital records such as birth and marriage certificates. These date to the early 1900s and usually cover about three generations. Obituaries and baptismal records are also recognized.
Earlier records include census reports, family Bibles and estate records.
“The real sticky part is when you go back before 1850, because that was the first census that included not only the head of household, but everybody in the household,” she said. “Before that it just had the head of household and (numbers) so many women, so many men and so many children.”
She said the most critical link is that between child and parent.
The local chapter, which began with 15 charter members in 1921, continues to grow. It is not by accident.
The group has a linage research team, including McCulley, and incoming regent Lou Walker of Oriental, who has undergone intensive genealogy training in the DAR national headquarters in Washington, D.C., and also in Durham.
She and Walker will be at Saturday’s Family History Fair at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, hosting a course on tracing ancestry to the American Revolution.
The national DAR has a public-access database to trace family histories.
On the web: ncdar.org/RichardDobbsSpaightChapter
