Genealogy Jottings

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) keep track of the ancestry of their members. To join, one must provide proof of descent from someone who served the revolutionary cause. DAR has a long list of proven ancestors. Most women join based on descent from one of them, but proving the service of a previously unrecognized ancestor presents more of a challenge.

I joined DAR the usual way, after documenting my lineage to Gershom Hall (1760-1844) of Harwich, Massachusetts. Other women had already proven that he served in the militia. Later I added Robert Kirkham (1754-1819) to my list. Again, others had proven that he served as a soldier at Boonesborough, Kentucky.

After these genealogy submissions, I felt ready to take on a tougher proof for an ancestor who does not appear on the DAR list. That man is my ancestor Caleb Reed (1756-abt. 1835). His qualifying service, if accepted, will be that he paid the Pennsylvania supply tax in 1783 to support the war effort.

I spent time this year gathering all the information I could find about Caleb. He migrated during his lifetime from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to Kentucky to Indiana. All these moves make it difficult to prove that the Caleb Reed found in each location is the same man. Records from his time in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are scarce.

Last week, I assembled Caleb’s records and submitted them to my chapter DAR registrar. She encouraged me to do so after doing a cursory review of the file.

Now it has been over a week since I heard from her. I have not received the call to come over and sign the new application.

I hope she is busy with other applications and has not had time to give mine a thorough review. I hope the documents I have gathered will be sufficient to prove the case for Caleb.

Proving a new patriot to add to the DAR rolls gives the descendent some bragging rights. The required genealogical proof can be difficult and exacting. These applications receive extra scrutiny by the DAR genealogists.

I would like my work to be accepted for this case and to have my ancestor Caleb’s name remembered. An added bonus would be that the door to DAR membership would then be opened to all my distant cousins who descend from Caleb.

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