52 Ancestors Challenge Week 8: "Courting" - great-great grandparents, Daniel Sharp and Lydia McLean-Sharp

Last week I wrote about my great-great grandfather, Daniel Sharp (1822-1896), and his maternal line, the Moore Family of Londonderry, New Hampshire. This week's theme of "Courting" brings me back to Daniel.

Daniel Sharp was born on March 18, 1822 to Annie Moore-Sharp (1782-1868) and Peter Sharp (1783-unknown). His second wife, my great-great grandmother, Lydia McLean-Sharp was born on September 15, 1868. Oh yeah, that's not a typo. When they married on July 25, 1891 Daniel was 69 years old; Lydia was 22. Three months later their first child, my great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp-Gardner, was born. You do the math.

The Moore line is where my American Revolutionary War soldiers are; Colonel Daniel Moore and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Moore. When I applied to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), I did so primarily to have a reputable lineage organization validate my research. No one on my line had gotten into the DAR before. Many members enter the organization based on the fact that their mother, or grandmother, were members. When you apply that way, you just have to document your connection to a previous member. I had to document my lineage all the way back to Colonel Daniel Moore. He was already an accepted Patriot but I had to document the birth, marriage, and death of 8 generations of my family.

1. Colonel Daniel Moore (1730-1811) married Ann Cox (1729-1804) begat

2. Eleanor Moore (1767-1836) m. William Moore (1763-1817) begat

3. Annie Moore (1786-1867) m. Peter Sharp (1783- unknown) begat

4. Daniel Sharp (1822-1898) m. Lydia McLean (1868- unknown) begat

5. Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp (1891-1961) m. Albert Gardner (1891-1946) begat

6. Clarence Albert Gardner (1927-2004) m. Marilyn Irene Fay (1931-1972) begat

7. my mom who married my dad 

8. and then me

Again, I had to include birth, marriage, and death record for every individual named above. Even with the marriage registration in hand the DAR questioned the validity of Daniel and Lydia's marriage. 

What young woman marries someone 47 years older her? 

Well, Lydia did. 

And they had 2 children together; my great grandmother Mayme and her younger brother, Daniel Sharp (1895-1974). 

My great-great grandfather, Daniel, had been married once before to a woman named Mary Ames. Little is known about her. She appears in the 1861 Census of Canada married to Daniel, as well as in the 1871 and 1881. She appears to have been approximately 9 years older than Daniel. She died on July 6, 1890 at the age of 78. 

In the 1891 Census of Canada, Daniel is living with Lydia but she is listed as his "niece". WHAT?!?! I'll explain. It should be noted first though, that on the date that census is taken, April 28, 1891, Daniel and Lydia are not yet wed and great grandma Mayme is not yet born.

So did Daniel marry his niece? Well, kind of.

Daniel's first wife, Mary Ames-Sharp (1812-1890), was the daughter of John Ames (1790-1819) and Hannah Lester-Ames (1796-unknown). After John died in 1819, Mary's mother Hannah remarried to Archibald McLean (1792-1884). 

See that McLean name? 

Yeah. 

Well, Archibald McLean and Hannah Lester-Ames-McLean are the grandparents of Lydia McLean-Sharp. Daniel Sharp, my great-great grandfather, married his first wife's half-brother's daughter. 

Such an arrangement, in my mind, was likely just that, an arrangement. Lydia, who was the daughter of Donald McLean (1821-unknown) and Elizabeth Walker-McLean (1842-1871), probably went to live with her uncle (well, half-uncle by marriage), after he was widowed. At that point Daniel was well into his 60s and Lydia was probably, initially, his caregiver. The one child he had with his first wife, also named Mary Sharp (1844-1869), died very young. Note that Lydia was significantly younger than Daniel's daughter would have been. Sheesh.

What was that courting like? 

Daniel would have been alone after his first wife died. Perhaps he married Lydia so that she could inherit his property. That being said though, she would have been about 6 months pregnant when they married. And they did have 2 children together. One would hope there was a loving relationship there. I hope there was but there are no accounts of the life they lived together. It is indeed a relationship I wonder about and I struggle to find out what happened to Lydia after Daniel passed in October 1896. 

Mother's Day: Blah

I am now older than my maternal grandmother was when she passed away. 

Yeah, it's Monday, people. It takes some effort for me to get into a good mood on Mondays. And Mother's Day is rough for me. Anyway...I'm semi-recycling a post that I think demonstrates an abundance of love that existed on my mother's side of the family.

I am 41 years, 10 months, and 19 days, but if you tell anyone this I will adamantly deny it. I AM 28! Grandma Marilyn was just 41 years, 9 months, and 7 days when she passed away leaving her husband of 21 years with six children ranging in age from 20 to 2. My mother is the eldest.

Several years ago, when applying for my membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). I needed to track down my maternal grandparents' marriage certificate. No one in the family really knew their anniversary which didn't surprise me. 

A few years earlier though, I received a photocopy of a newspaper clipping from my aunt that announced their engagement. So here grandma is at age 19.  

The DAR genealogist discovered that the clipping came from the January 22, 1951 issue of the Long Island Star. There was also an earlier announcement in the January 5, 1951 issue of the same newspaper. Based on this, I think my grandparents got engaged at Christmas or New Years. However, I still didn't know when they were married. I assumed it had to be in at some church in Queens. For my application to the DAR I need to know this information and so I ordered their marriage record from the Office of the City Clerk.

Well, they were married in Greenwood Lake, NY, a resort community about an hour and a half northwest of Elmhurst, Queens, NY on March 25, 1951.  

The end of March? 
Wait! 
My mother was born in late November.

Some quick math and I realized that my mom was born only 34 weeks after the marriage and to my knowledge she was not pre-mature.

Scandal, scandal. 

Grandma would have been 6 weeks pregnant when they married. She probably knew she was pregnant; although, maybe not. Have you ever seen these stories where the woman goes into labor and she didn't even know she was pregnant?? 

I mean, it's not scandalous now. In fact, it is very common but I can imagine that back in 1951 it would have horrified grandma's good Catholic family. It doesn't matter to me though. There is no doubt in my mind that they were very, very much in love then and until the end. So what does it matter?? It doesn't.

My maternal grandfather was widowed at 46 and he never remarried. I am not sure if that is a testament to his undying love for my grandmother or evidence that not many women are open to the opportunity to acquire a ready-made family of six children. 

My Certificate has Arrived!

Tuesday evening I returned home from my late shift to discover that my certificate of membership had arrived from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). It is official!

Free Webinar: NEHGS "How to Apply to Lineage Societies"

Apropos to my last posting about joining lineage societies, The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is offering a FREE Webinar on Tuesday, Sweptember 30, 2014 3 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. CDT; 1 p.m. MDT; 12 p.m. PDT) presented by, Genealogist Lindsay Fulton, called How to Apply to Lineage Societies: Tips from NEHGS.

"Want to join a hereditary society, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution or the General Society of Mayflower Descendants? Don't know where to begin? Join genealogist Lindsay Fulton as she provides a step-by-step look at the application process, tips for when you can't find vital records, and examples from our research services team."

You can register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7831887655955467777

Joining a Lineage Organization

There are literally hundreds of lineage organizations based in the United States and thousands of them worldwide. Those are groups that limit membership to individuals who meet specific criteria based on their ancestry. In other words, they require their members to be descendants of a specific type of person of historical importance. 

I have recently been approved for membership to The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) but there are groups such as the :

• Associated Daughters of Early American Witches
• Children of the Confederacy
• Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War
• Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence 
• First Families of St. Louis 
• Hereditary Order of the Families of Presidents and First Ladies of America 
• Holland Society of New York 
• International Society of the Descendants of Charlemagne
• Jamestowne Society
• Mayflower Society 
• National Society of Descendants of Early Quakers 
• Order of Descendants of Colonial Physicians and Chirurgiens 
• Pioneers of Alaska 
• Society of Descendants of the Alamo 
• Society of the War of 1812 
• Sons of Utah Pioneers 
• United Empire Loyalists' Association

...just to name a few. Basically, if you are descended from anyone of any historical importance  - - and who isn't? - - you can probably find a lineage based organization to join.

The next question that arises is why would one join such an organization. Well, maybe you're just into history or your cultural heritage. Organization of this vein help to promote the history of their cultural or historically significant events. They also often provide scholarships to their members and the descendants of members. They often do a lot of good supporting the needs of the community. You will probably also get a subscription to an interesting magazine from the organization, a shiny membership pin, and tons of friendships with others who have the same interest as you do. But the most significant reason I sought to join a lineage based organization was to validate the quality of my genealogy research. 

Nowadays with the advances in DNA one could probably take a simply saliva test to prove linage to a historical figure; and many of these types of organization are now accepting DNA as additional evidence for membership. If you read my posts on DNA research though, you know that you can share a common ancestor with someone very far back in history and not necessarily have any DNA in common that cousin. Cousin Mary at Threading Needles in a Haystack and I are 6th cousins (once removed) and AncestryDNA did not find us to be a genetic match. Yet she and I can document our individual lineages back to a couple who were married here on Long Island in the late 1700s.

So how does one go about joining a lineage organization?

Once you figure out who in your family history fits the particular criteria for membership to such a society, you must carefully document your ancestry back to that person. And I mean carefully. The amount of documentation required will vary by society. Some will have specific definitions as to what type of documents are considered "proof"  but generally you will have to provide documentation that links you to your parent, your parent to their parent, and so on using vital statistics records like birth, death, and marriage certificates. In instances where those type of documents do not exist, you will have to provide other sources of connection; church register entries, wills, property deeds, military service records, newspaper articles, etc.

For some lineage societies you may only have to link yourself to your parent and then, maybe, provide his or her military service record. In my case I had to document 8 generation of my lineage to join the DAR; from me to my patriot. Now if my mother had been a member of the DAR I would have only had to document my connection to her. And now that I am a member of the DAR, someday my niece could join with a lot less effort than I had to muster by simply linking herself to my mother through me. So the volume of documentation that is required for membership will vary from organization to organization and from circumstance to circumstance.

Just as always is the case with quality genealogy research, though, a considerable amount of time is often involved in completing a membership application. If like me, you have many generation to document you will probably have and a ton of records to submit - - - with citations!! Yes, citations as to where you obtained the documentation.

Some lineage societies will also require that you be "sponsored" meaning that a local chapter of the organization supports your application. So if you are thinking of joining a lineage society, reach out to them and they will help guide you through their application process.

And yes friends, there will be fees as there are with joining any organization. But I pay beaucoup bucks each year in fees and dues to belong to professional organizations for my job, why not join an organization that validates the quality of my genealogy research - - my research that I love so much?

Accepted!!

Today I received word from the genealogist for my local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution that my application for membership has been accepted. It took me years of research and documentation. I documented 8 generation. No other woman in this line had ever applied for membership.

Generation 1: Me

Generation 2: My mom.

Generation 3: Her dad.

Generation 4: His mother, my great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth “Mayme” Sharp-Gardner.

 

Generation 5: Her father, my great-great grandfather, Daniel Sharp.

 

Generation 6: His mother, my 3rd great grandmother, Ann Moore.

Generation 7: Her mother, my 4th great grandmother, Eleanor Moore.

b. 1767 in Bedford, New Hampshire

d. October 19, 1836 in Kingsey, Quebec, Canada

m. 1784 to William Moore (b. 1763 in Londonderry, NH  - d. July 8, 1817 in Kingsey, Quebec, Canada)

William and Eleanor were first cousins. Willam, was the son of Lt. Colonel Robert Moore. Eleanor was the daughter of Colonel Daniel Moore of Bedford, NH.

Generation 8: Father of Eleanor Moore, Patriot Colonel Daniel Moore.

The DAR has other members who are known descendents of Daniel Moore but I am the first to submit the lineage of ...

Generation 8. Father of William Moore, Patriot Lt. Colonel Robert Moore.

More, Moor, and Moore DNA-ness

I am totally diggin' on this DNA testing for genealogy research. I was really hesitant to do it for a few reasons:

1. It used to be so much more expensive than it is now but it's still not cheap. I am in a constant state of broke. I spent a good chuck of my life well underpaid and so I exist in a lot of debt. I don't have money to throw away. Family history research is expensive enough with database subscriptions and purchasing vital records.
2. I heard a lot of people who had done the testing were disappointed with the results. They thought it would open up their research so much more than it did so...

Why bother??

But I am not disappointed at all. I am totally fascinated with it. I had been at a point in my research where almost every line had hit a brick wall. Now I am connecting with other researching cousins and totally confirming my research.

In general, I am not a very confident person. Ask any man I've ever dated. I'm not the insecure jealous type really...that's not it. You go be with whoever you want, I don't give a damn...but I am always sort of convinced it's not me. And not in a "woe-is-me" kind of way more in a "now-what-are-you-doing-here" kind of way. But whateve. Why am I telling you this? Oh yeah, lack of confidence. I know I am a good researcher, I know I am a decent writer, but I just doubt and second guess myself constantly.

The great part about this DNA testing though is that it has totally confirmed my research. I had used the example in the past of my 6th cousin once removed, Cousin Mary, and I not connecting with each other through DNA. I was so disappointed but I did connect with someone else who shares the same common ancestors as Cousin Mary and I. That felt great because I had doubts about my Raynor research where as Mary's line was pretty doubtless. So to see my DNA sync me up to someone of the same Raynor line...I was elated; even proud that I had documented that ancestry correctly.

Now I have just had that experience again. And get this...with my patriot line. 

If you have read my blog in the past you may know I researched to get into the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). I thought I had a patriot based on some bad info and gave up on the thought of becoming a member. I thought I didn't have any direct ancestors who could have been patriots. My dad's line - in my mind - was the one with long standing roots in America and they lived in Loyalist territory during the Revolution. 

Then I stumbled across a patriot in the most unlikely place. I found my patriot, Daniel Moor, on my mother's side which I always think of as my immigrant side because none of the arrived in the 1600s...or so I thought. 

I believed the line I found my patriot on to be a Canadian line. Seems the Moors traipsed back and forth cross the U.S. Canadian boarder for several generations though. By the way, the spelling of that last name takes every imaginable form in my documentation; Moor, Moore, More.

I thought this connection to Daniel Moor was  kind of too good to be true but today I found someone with a DNA match who has researched back to the same couple, John and Janet Moor, Daniel Moor's parents!

What that does is confirm that my research is correct. Someone connecting to that same couple has DNA in common with me. I have patriot DNA! I'm so excited.

Now of course if my father's DNA test come back and matches this same researcher we have a problem because the Moors are on my mom's side. We'll see because right now I am patiently waiting on Dad's results and my sister's. Yes, they each got a kit for the December birthdays. Just what they always wanted!! :-D

We'll see!

I'm back, baby!

It has been some time since I have written for this blog. My only excuse is that in addition to working full-time I take a graduate class. But I am back, baby, I'm back. I have no class now! None! And I have plans - - lots and lots of plans for summer research.

1. I am going to get my application for membership into the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). I keep putting that off for no good reason.

2. I have a list of headstone hunting adventures in mind; some to cemeteries I have not yet been to.

3. Yet another trip to the NYC Municipal Archives to comb through vital records.

and 4. Of course, I am going to dive into researching some of my less documented branches. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Ah, it smells like a very Irish summer. Watch out Joyces!!

Scandal, Scandal: Finding Out a Wedding Date.

This past Monday I received a copy of my maternal grandparents' marriage license which I had ordered from the The Office of the City Clerk of the City of New York. This office maintains the records of all Marriage Licenses issued in New York City from 1930 to the present. Marriage Records older than 50 years from today's date are considered historic records and available to the general public by mail or by visiting the Record Room Division at 141 Worth Street, New York, NY 10013 for a fee of $15 for the first copy. 

No one in the family really knew my maternal grandparents' anniversary which wasn't startling really. My maternal grandmother died at the age of 41 in 1972 leaving 6 children between the ages of 20 and 2. Being so young it made sense to me that her kids did not remember their parents' anniversary.

Some time back though, I received a photocopy of a newspaper clipping from my aunt. The clipping was an engagement announcement that showed a photo of my grandmother; age 19 at the time. It was really the only photo I had ever seen of my grandma.

Recently, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) genealogist I have been working with gave me a copy of the same announcement. She was able to tell me when and which newspaper it appeared in; January 22, 1951 in the Long Island Star. The DAR genealogist also found an earlier announcement from January 5, 1951 in the Long Island Star.

Based on this I assume that my grandparents probably got engaged at Christmas or New Years. However, I still didn't know when they were married. I assumed it had to be in at some church in Queens. For my application to the DAR I need to know this information and so I ordered their marriage record from the Office of the City Clerk.

Well, they were married in Greenwood Lake, NY, a resort community about an hour and a half northwest of Elmhurst, Queens, NY on March 25, 1951.

The end of March? Wait! My mother was born in late November.

Some quick math and I realized that my grandmother was pregnant at the time that they were married.

Scandal, scandal.

Mom was born only 34 weeks after the marriage and to my knowledge she was not pre-mature. Grandma would have been 6 weeks pregnant when they married. She probably knew she was pregnant; although, maybe not. Have you ever seen these stories where the woman goes into labor and she didn't even know she was pregnant?? 

I mean, it's not scandalous now. In fact, it is very common but I can imagine that back in 1951 it would have horrified grandma's good Catholic family. It doesn't matter to me though. There is no doubt in my mind that they were very, very much in love then and until the end. So what does it matter??

Colonel Daniel Moore and the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS)

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library in Washington D.C. to research my patriot, Col. Daniel Moore of Londonderry, New Hampshire.

I found my patriots (yes, two of them) in an unexpected place on my family tree. My maternal grandfather, Clarence Albert Gardner was born and raised in New York. Both of his parents were of Canadian descent. His father, Albert Gardner was born Almond Desjardins in the Long Island City/Astoria area of Queens County, in the City of New York in 1891. Albert's parents, Damas Desjardins and Malvina Ethier-Desjardins were both born and raised in Montreal but met and married here in the City of New York. My grandpa Clarence's mother, Mayme Sharp-Gardner, was born in Sherebrooke, Quebec, Canada and immigrated to the U.S. around WWI. She arrived in New York by way of Lowell, Massachusetts. When I think about my Grandpa Gardner's lineage I think French Canadian, not American Revolutionary War patriot.

My paternal grandfather, Edwin Earle's lineage can be traced back to early American settlers. I thought for sure this is where my patriot would be, right? Wrong. Grandpa Earle's ancestors lived on Long Island, New York which during the American Revolution was a loyalist stronghold which means they were probably shooting at the patriots. Makes sense if you consider how my mother and father got along but I digress...

No, it was Grandpa Gardner's line where I found my patriot. The line goes like this:

Grandpa:                              Clarence Albert Gardner
Great-grandma:                    Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp-Gardner
Great-great grandpa :          Daniel Sharp
3rd great grandma:              Ann Moore-Sharp
4th great grandparents:       Eleanor Moore and William Moore
5th great grandpas:             Patriot Colonel Daniel Moore and Patriot Lt. Colonel Robert Moore

When you trace your family tree you have to move backwards in time from you to your parents, your parents to your grandparents, etc. But for clarity here I will first tell you about Daniel  and Robert Moore and move forward. 

Daniel and his brother Robert were from Londonderry, NH which is now Derry, NH. The sons of John and Janet Moor. Daniel was at the surrender of Saratoga, NY; a pretty monumental British defeat. His brother, Robert Moore, also served in the Revolution. His line is less well-documented though. To explain some of the search process on the DAR website I will focus on Daniel.

Daniel had a daughter, Eleanor who married Robert's son, William Moore in about 1784. Yes, they were first cousins which was a common, socially-acceptable practice back then; to marry a cousin. Nowadays we cringe at the thought but back then it was common.

Eleanor and William moved from New Hampshire to an area of Quebec known as Kingsey. In fact, they were the second settlers to move to the area now known as St. Felix-de-Kingsey not far from Drummondville, Quebec.

Most Americans tend to think that people who emigrate to Canada do so because they have anti-American feelings. This is not always true but yes, it is the case. For example, during the Vietnam era some Americans headed to our neighbors in the north to avoid being drafted. Canada, though, is a beautiful country and many people move there for many reasons. Eleanor and William went there for land. 

It wasn't until 3 generations later, when my great grandmother moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, and that this line returned to the United States.

Now let's get down to brass tacks here. How does one use the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) online. Well, first go to the website: http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/?tab_id=0  or DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS).
 
I'll tell you just the tiniest bit of how to get started on the DAR website. The second tab you will see is "Ancestor." Click on that and you will be presented with several search boxes. When constructing a search sometimes less is more; or in my case "Moor." 

The Moore family name sometimes appears as Moore, More, or Moor. Like marrying your first cousin, spelling didn't really count back then; nowadays we're all caught up on spelling. I get ticked when someone leaves the "e" off the end of my last name; Earle. In genealogy research though you have to let go of your modern day connection to spelling. In any case...

I did a search of the DAR Ancestor page for Last Name: Moor, First Name: Daniel, State: NH. This search returned the records of two Daniel Moores who are often mixed up in records. I am of the first Daniel Moore; the one born in Londonderry, NH on February 11, 1730 and who died April 13, 1811 in Bedford, New Hampshire.

In the search results there is a button called "See Ancestor Record." By clicking on that, one can view a list of accepted applicants listed by their national application number. Daniel has a list of 47 national numbers; that means 47 women have joined the DAR based on linking their ancestry to Col. Daniel Moore. Those are my cousins; none of which I know and none of which are descended from the same grandchild of Daniel as I am. I am descended from Ann Moore. Some of the member are descended from Eleanor and William like I am. Of those, some are descended from Ann's sister Elizabeth and some are descended from Ann's brother Daniel but none are from my Ann.

I will face the challenge of finding documentation that links Ann to her parents Eleanor and William Moore but I will not have to rigorously prove Eleanor to be the daughter of Daniel because the DAR has already accepted this fact.

Now if you want to see what documentation the DAR has accepted on a given patriot and his descendants you're going to have to either order the records or make a visit to the DAR Library in Washington D.C. I recommend the visit if you can because there, for a $6/day visiting researcher fee, you can view everything they have and print it all out for $0.25/ page. If you order it online it cost $15/ application and some packets contain more information than others. There is no guarantee that your $15 will provide you with any supportive documentation. $15 is one think if there was one accepted applicant for your patriot; it is another huge investment if you have 47 accepted applicants and you want to see everything. And what researcher doesn't want to see everything?

I say make the trip!

If you have any questions about using the site the "Home" tab provides much more detail than I have given you here about the variety of tabs and resources available to you. 

Happy hunting!

Dead People and Road Trips

When life gets me down and I need distraction I turn to my dead people. I mean, after all, their drama is over with, right?

Yeah, dead people and road trips.

My dead people sort of ground me. Road trips refresh me. Road trips give me the opportunity to get away and get some perspective.

In my first course of study I studied art, specifically painting. I had a painting teacher that told me that when you paint you must never stand with your feet together, you must always have one foot in front of the other. This helps you to moved towards and away from your canvas. If you stay static you will get caught up in the detail you are painting and never see the whole picture. You must move away to see the whole piece. Sound advice for life really. And so road trips give me  the opportunity to gain some perspective and see some peace.

This year has not started off well for me. A series of events related to significant relationships in my day to day life rose to a crescendo during the first week of this year. It sucks. I was trying to pour myself into my genealogy research to distract myself from it all but I needed out. Come the 6th I approached Cousin Mary of Threading Needles in a Haystack fame about a research road trip to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library in Washington, D.C. But that chickie is 6 months pregnant and can't sprint off on impromptu road trips. And so a call went out to Cousin Kelly; a daring young cousin who no longer suffers from a crappy job.

I thought we'd come up with a date to head down to D.C. You know, something soon. I was hoping in a week or two we could make a day trip when Kelly said to me, "I can be to your house in two hours." And we were off!

I spent the following day at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C. Kelly spent her day at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of Natural History.

The DAR Library is a wonderful resource and their online library is very, very useful to those researching their patriot.

The DAR's online library has a collection of databases that provide access to the materials amassed by the DAR since its founding in 1890. When one applies to become a member they must provide documentation of their lineage through birth, marriage, and death certificates as well as other resources. These records then become part of the DAR's collection. They do not permit access to records of those still living but they do share what documentation they can with prospective members. In order to see this documentation, you can order a “record copy” of a membership application from them online for $15 OR you can visit their library in D.C. There is a visiting researchers fee of $6/day to use the library; members can research for free.

I highly recommend checking out the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) if you know or suspect one of your ancestors may have been a patriot in the American Revolution. 

In my next post I will explain how to use some of their website.

Examine "Facts" Relative to the Sources: Finding my Patriot

For at least a decade now I have longed to join the Daughters of the American Revolution; the DAR. Don't ask me why really. I'm not a joiner for the most part. I guess I just think it would be cool for someone to acknowledge the quality of my genealogy research.

To become a member of the DAR one has to unquestionably document her direct connection to a soldier who fought for the cause of American independence from Great Britain. In many instances the women who belong to the organization enter on the coat-tails of their mothers or grandmothers; someone else had their genealogy accepted by the DAR. My mother, neither of my grandmothers, nor were any of my great-grandmothers members of the DAR. I'm on my own here and I just know, in my gut, that I am descended from a patriot.

One line on my father's side is well documented as early settlers in the New World. However, at the time of the American Revolution those ancestors of mine lived on Long Island, New York which was a loyalist stronghold. In other words, those ancestors of mine were probably shooting at the Daughters' ancestors; that's not going to get me into the DAR.

Earlier this year I started trying to push past my 3rd great-grandparents. Yes, I can name all 32 of my great-great-great grandparents. Some of their lines I can take back much further but still others of those 3rd greats represent the brick-walls in my research. In the push I began working on finding more information about Annie Moore-Sharp, my mother's, father's, mother's, father's mother (how is that for a wiggly branch?).

All I really knew was that Annie Moore was the mother of Daniel Sharp, the wife of Peter Sharp, that she lived in Kingsey, Quebec, Canada, and she was born around the 1780s. I knew that based on church records I found pertaining to her marriage and the baptism of her son, Daniel. That's quite a lot actually but I wanted to know more. I wanted to know who her parents were, where she was born, and when exactly she died.

I hit the ground running with the last ditch effort of broad Google searches; the "Hail, Mary" play of genealogy research. I uncovered a Google book, The History of Bedford, New Hampshire from 1737 being statistics compiled on the Occasion of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town, May 15, 1900. There on page 995 of the 1903 edition was a Moore family genealogy which included the following:

"IV. Ann, dau. of William (3), b. 1785; m. Peter Sharp; res. in Kingsey, P. Q.  Had two ch.: Daniel (5) and Christopher (5)."

I had no reason to doubt that this was my Annie Moore-Sharp. The most interesting part was that reading back through that genealogy I learned that Annie's father William was the son of Lieutenant Col. Robert Moore of Londonderry, NH. Annie Moore's mother, Eleanor Moore, was the daughter of Col. Daniel Moore; yes, Annie's parents were first cousins and yes, her BOTH of her grandfathers had served in the American Revolution on the side of the Americans. I had not one but two patriots and of all places on a line that I considered to be my Canadian line.

The question is though, can I back up this clue from this secondary source with factual evidence from primary sources? 

At this point I have found any primary sources to connect Annie to her parents. I have, however, several secondary sources. I have not yet applied for membership to the DAR and thus have not had my resources evaluated by them so I do not know the definitive answer to that question...yet.

Further investigation turned up another published Moore Family genealogy. This one included in a book titled, The Life and Times of a High School Principal in Rural Quebec by J. Clifford Moore. In this secondary source the following information was provided on page 89:

"William was born in 1763, while Eleanor was born in 1767, and they were married in the year 1784. We know little about their movements prior to their coming to Kingsey. However, four of six children were born in the United States, probably Londonderry.
"Ann, who was born in 1783, became the wife of Peter Sharp;..."

Later on in the same text, on page 107, the author records the headstones in a Moore Family cemetery situated mid-way between the towns of Richmond and Drummondville, Quebec.:

"Sharp. Daniel Sharp, died October 12, 1898, aged 76 years 7 months.
Anne Moore, wife of Peter Sharp, died January 14, 1868, age 85 years".

A few more internet searches led me to a man who lives not far from the cemetery who offered to photograph the headstones for researchers; I took advantage of his genealogical kindness. Headstones, for all intents and purposes, are also secondary sources though. They're usually created close to the time of the event of one's death but the information they provide about age and dates can be just as erroneous as a death certificate. The photos do serve as yet another secondary source, though.

Will these secondary sources be enough to replace the evidence of a primary sources?
As a group they provide much more proof than they do independently.

Will they be enough to secure my membership in the DAR?
In conjunction with other primary sources about Annie's son, husband, and brother, I may have enough of a case to satisfy the DAR.

We shall see.

But the lesson is that in the absence of primary sources gather as many secondary sources as you can. Conduct what is often termed a "reasonably exhaustive search." Search a variety of documents; obituaries, church records, census records, land deeds, etc. Examine the facts relative to the sources; understand where the information is coming from and why it was recorded. That birth date on that death certificate could very well be 100% correct; can you find the birth date on other resources from various points in time?? That is the best one can do to "know."