I mentioned last month that Caroline and I had applied to become part of the Daughters of the American Revolution. We heard back today that our applications were approved at the national level!

What is especially fun is we will be considered charter members of our chapter because we are joining in the first year. Our chapter formed last November so it worked out so beautifully.

My understanding is that DAR chapters can vary a bit in terms of focus. Some are more social and others are more service oriented. Ours is very focused on veterans, the military, and our immediate community. Doing service projects is a good fit for both of us, especially Caroline as she is a helper at heart.

So we’re excited. I’m looking forward to proving out the other Patriots I believe we are also descended from. I am guessing there are at least two or three more based on the surface level research I did last winter.

If you’ve ever been interested in the DAR, you can start like I did. I went to Family Search one evening and entered a name of an ancestor. Then I just started clicking back on each mother and father until I found something interesting. Family Search is free so it’s a good way to get started. (You do need to make a free account.)

The DAR also has a Genealogy page full of resources. If you are very interested, you can contact your local chapter and ask if the Registrar would be available/willing to help you. Chapters expect to help prospective members so definitely make the call.

Caroline and I were fortunate that I already had a lot of documents scanned and saved from before she was even born. David and I spent a bunch of time with my maternal grandmother’s youngest sister and some of my mom’s cousins a couple of times. We brought a scanner and scanned in all kinds of photos and documents. Because Caroline and I are connected to an already proven line, our process was fairly quick and easy. I was told another new member of our chapter needed three and a half years to trace and gather all her family’s information. So everyone’s experience is different.

Read sad follow-up post here: Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Allowing Men (Transgenders) to Become Members