Tap A Huge, Century-Old Data Trove

NSDAR, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, has been around since 1890, when one October afternoon 18 women met in Washington, D.C., and signed their names as founders of what would become one of the most prominent women’s patriotic, educational and historical organizations in the world. Its history and growth have been a constant success story, one which need not be retold here.

What is pertinent is that, in harmony with the group’s goal as a lineage society, it has maintained at its Washington, D.C., headquarters one of the nation’s best genealogical libraries.

Thousands of membership records submitted by nearly 200,000 women are stored there. The records and data extracted from them can be of immense benefit to family historians.

Because the library is not within easy visiting reach from Spokane, check out the DAR records in the Genealogy Section of the downtown Spokane Public Library.

Armed with your pedigree chart and family group sheets listing your Revolutionary War ancestor’s information, look up DAR in the card catalog or Holdings Book, a card-catalog-in-a-book compiled by the Eastern Washington Genealogy Society found on the tables. (DAR records are filed according to the Dewey Decimal system.)

Look up your ancestor’s name in the DAR Patriot Index, a multi-volume reference listing the names of patriots’ women descendents. These are used to join the organization.

If your ancestor is included, send for a copy of the application to see what references or documentation were listed. (I will send you a copy of the form needed to send to the NSDAR for these copies. Send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope, c/o this newspaper.)

Next, look up your ancestor’s name in the Lineage Books of the National Society of the DAR, Index. There are 166-plus volumes in this series, so do use the index.

Included with the patriots’ names are two numbers: the first is the volume number. The second is the page number. In the specified volume is a listing submitted by a DAR member showing her descent from the patriot. The entry will also give mention of the patriot’s war service.

Remember the principle of cluster research and look up all entries for men bearing the same surname in the same geographic area as your ancestor.

Also, look up your surname in the NSDAR Library Catalog. The library has actively collected family histories since its beginning, so you might very well find a family history on your surname written by a distant cousin.

Also, consider checking the DAR Magazine index and then the magazine. This periodical is mostly devoted to current activities of the various national DAR chapters, but it does have a query and genealogy section. The index covers the first 104 issues.

Today’s tip: Have you thought about a week’s research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City? I will take a group there Jan. 5-12, 1997. The $375 fee (double) includes hotel costs, my expenses as your personal helper, and the hire of Heritage Consulting, a team of professionals, to ensure that your research week is a success. If you’re interested, drop me a line c/o this paper.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. For a response, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review