Pursuing DAR Membership

Last week was focused on our annual event at work so there was no time for writing or even transcriptions. I did however make time to attend my first DAR meeting a week ago today.

There is a local chapter in the city nearest me so it was convenient and they were a very welcoming group. They had a program on beginning genealogy which didn't really help me but was a good. Only a few members of the group spend much time researching online and none of the ones I talked to had ever heard of genealogy blogs, so I have something to offer them ;-)

The registrar looked over the worksheets I'd filled out and we talked about the ancestors I could use for membership. I had thought to use them all, or at least the three that other members of the family have used plus one more that I think I can get the paperwork together for fairly easily. It turns out that I have to make a separate application for each Patriot ancestor. I have no problem doing the paperwork that that would entail but the cost is prohibitive, so for now I have to pick just one.

I have found the DAR number of my great-grandaunt, Arabella Carlisle Osborn so I could probably file a short form based on her membership. Mom is certain that my great-aunt, Tamerson Carlisle Binns was a member and I could request a search for her application.

The registrar suggests that I use the ancestor that neither of my aunts could have used and at some later point add my other ancestors. I have filled out a request through the Patriot Index lookup service to see if anyone else has already registered this ancestor. I'm an inclined to go this way because in my mind I'd like to think that Sarah Ann would be tickled that I used her grandfather for my application rather than the more famous (or infamous) Carlisle ancestor. It's funny how close to Sarah Ann I sometimes feel because of her letters.

Here are the four ancestors I will be focusing on over the next couple of weeks to see what records I have and what I'd need. I hope to have all the records I need by the next monthly meeting.

Captain Daniel Carlisle (1738 - 1794)

Henry Glover (1732 - 1800)

William Hall (1740 - 1822)

Anthony Badgley (1750 - 1829)

Society Gal?

Several bloggers have written about how wonderful their Genealogy Society is and why it is beneficial to join. My first experience with a Genealogical Society was when I visited Michigan in April 2008. I knew that Cheryl would be giving a presentation on blogging to the Berrien County Genealogical Society during the time I'd be there and set my itinerary to make sure I could attend. They were very welcoming to me and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

The nearest society to me is the Central New York Genealogical Society. They meet at a church just over a half hour away which is an easy enough drive however they meet on a very odd schedule. I've watched the calendar for a couple of years and they have had some very interesting topics and speakers but I always seemed to have a conflict. When I saw that Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D would be speaking at the May 9 meeting I somehow managed to clear my calendar for the day.

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of members in attendance. The ladies at the sign in table were helpful and I paid for a membership. The rest of the members were less than welcoming and I really felt a bit out of place.

The first speaker talked about the partnership between the New York State Archives and Ancestry.com. I really enjoyed Blaine's presentation and meeting afterward. The CNYGS has a quarterly publication, Tree Talks, which I now receive but otherwise I know very little about the society. I have no idea if they have an archive someplace or groups I might be interested in. I have a conflict for this month's meeting and the topic for November really doesn't interest me. So far I haven't found my membership to be personally beneficial. I'll probably continue my membership next year and hope to make more of the meetings.

I've seen the Wordless Wednesday pictures and and updates posted by Kathryn Doyle on the California Genealogical Society and Library blog and thought how great it would be to have access to the resources they have and be a member of what appears to be a great group. Being a state society I imagine they have many resources that a smaller, local society could not support. I have just a couple of California connections so they are probably not the society for me. The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society is located in New York City so I am quite unlikely to visit, at least in the foreseeable future. Their membership includes two quarterly publications, access to "Early American Newspapers, NewspaperArchives.com, the NYG&B eLibrary and the Bulletin Board." Access to NewspaperArchives.com alone would make the price of membership a value, if only I had that much money to spare right now. I will consider joining next year.

For right now Bill West is doing a great job researching our New England ancestors for me at West in New England. At some point though I will actually have to do some research for myself and will consider joining NEHGS. I know very little about NGS and hope that someone else writes about them and enlightens me.

Inspired by Elizabeth at Little Bytes of Life I will be pursuing membership in the Daughters of the American Revoluation. While technically a lineage society rather than a genealogical society I am very interested in their education, preservation and community programs. You can expect to read more about this here in the not too distant future.



This was written for the 82nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: "What's your favorite genealogical society? Do you belong to a society? Tell us why! Or if not, why not." This edition will be hosted by Kathryn Doyle at California Genealogical Society and Library blog.

Thanks to footnote Maven for the CoG poster!