Genealogy Jottings

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) take patriotism seriously. One way they do this is through a partnership with www.FindAGrave.com to mark the memorials of Patriot ancestors. A Betsy Ross symbol and a Patriot profile can be added to the memorial.

This week I am taking a look at the sites for my own proven ancestors to see if this has been done. Both graves have military headstones provided by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA):

1. Gershom Hall (1760-1844). He is buried in the First Congregational Church Cemetery in Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. His grave is marked with an American flag and a Revolutionary War medallion. FindAGrave has no mention of his Revolutionary War service, and there is no Betsy Ross symbol on the site. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95947092/gershom-hall
2. Robert Kirkham (1754-1819). He is buried in the Kirkham Cemetery near New Middletown, Harrison County, Indiana. The grave is marked with an American flag but no medallion. A Daughter (perhaps a distant cousin of mine!) has already placed a description of his War service and the Betsy Ross symbol on this site. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20513563/robert-kirkham

Since Robert Kirkham has been taken care of, I will turn my effort to updating the memorial for Gershom Hall.

I know of no other descendant of Gershom Hall who is a current member of DAR. A DAR application from nearly 100 years ago was approved based on descent from his daughter, Thankful (1785-1863). If a current Daughter descends from Thankful, she has not yet updated the FindAGrave memorial.

I descend from Gershom’s eldest daughter, Rhoda (1784-1850), and no one else has applied on her line. I had to prove my descent back 6 generations through her to join DAR.

I suspect I am the only person who would see that the upgrade to Gershom Hall’s memorial gets done. I need to do a little research to learn how to do this.

I want to see Gershom Hall’s service honored this way.