Category Archives: DAR

DAR

Visiting the DAR Library in Washington, DC

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Not long ago, I had an opportunity to visit the DAR Library in Washington, DC. I have been there before as I’ve been a Daughter for 35 years and I have been lucky enough to visit our nation’s capital multiple times. However, I am always amazed by both the beauty of the building and the quality of the library.

The DAR Library is located at 1776 D Street, N.W. and there is little chance that you would miss it.

The entrance to the library is actually just to the right of the steps where the DAR banners are hanging.

The NSDAR library website has the following description of its holdings:

The DAR Library collection contains over 225,000 books, 10,000 research files, thousands of manuscript items, and special collections of African American, Native American, and women’s history, genealogy and culture. Nearly 40,000 family histories and genealogies comprise a major portion of the book collection, many of which are unique or available in only a few libraries in the country.

There are a couple of misconceptions about this gem. You do not have to be a DAR member to use the library. Until a couple of years ago, there was a $10 fee for non-members to research there, but that fee has been dropped. Access is free to all; the only restriction on public visits is in late June-early July during Continental Congress, which is the DAR national convention. During that week, only Daughters may use the library, simply because of numbers.

Upon entering the building, you will check in at the security window and receive a visitor’s badge. As you enter the library, the reference desk is on the left.

You can already get a sense of how beautiful this library is. The library was the original meeting room for the ladies before they outgrew the space and moved into the larger Hall.

The library is just about jaw-droppingly beautiful.

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One view

See those white rectangular things on the second floor? Those are actually rolling book shelves, full of fabulous genealogy books!

After taking in the room, it is sometimes a bit difficult to settle down and work, even for genealogy, but the work space is also beautiful:

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Researcher Seating

The chairs are comfy modern, while the tables are vintage old wood with lots of new lighting.

While this is very much a “book” library (as in brick and mortar building), some of its holdings are becoming accessible online. Although its online databases are somewhat limited, they are growing.

How do you find anything here? At the library entrance, there are a series of handouts and brochures about the library. Among the most important are the floor maps:

Since the organization of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution 125 years ago, members have regularly canvassed friends, family and neighborhoods gathering genealogical data from Bible records, letters, and other types of unique resources.

While the library has an impressive book collection, many of the books are not unique or hard to find at other genealogical repositories. Those unique records gathered by the Daughters through the years – the membership file documentation,  research files, manuscripts and special collections are what makes this library stand out.

Research help is also available. In addition to the books, the library presents Genealogy 101 classes on an itinerant schedule:

And, since you are already in the building, take some time to visit the world-class DAR Museum:

Not only are there rotating exhibitions, there are period rooms representing many of the states. Docents give frequent tours.

 If you find yourself in Washington, DC, make a note to yourself to visit and tour the DAR buildings at 1776 D Street, N.W. Allow yourself plenty of time to learn about their history and to do some research at this wonderful library.

Photos were all taken by me in April 2016. Library and museum brochures and papers are available free at the DAR Library.

DAR

Patriot’s Day 2016

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Patriot’s Day is celebrated on the third Monday of April and is a state holiday in both Massachusetts and Maine. This holiday commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first in the War for American Independence and was originally celebrated on April 19, the day that the “shot heard round the world” was fired on Lexington Green in 1775.

If you are interested in your family history and you think you might have one or more ancestors who contributed to the cause for American independence, there are four hereditary organizations that would love to help you prove your connection.

National Society Children of the American Revolution offers membership to children from birth through the 22nd birthday to qualified applicants. Membership requirements are the same as those for DAR.

C.A.R. is the nation’s oldest patriotic hereditary organization for children in the world. Its activities help children develop leadership skills and learn a love of American history through fun-filled activities.

Its national headquarters office is in the DAR building in Washington, DC.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is, by far, the largest and best known of these four societies. DAR celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2015 is is going strong.

Service categories for patriot ancestors include:

Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Military service during the Revolutionary war
Civil service in state or local governments during the war
Patriotic service, such as signing Oaths of Allegiance, doctors who tended to the wounded and ministers who served in the war
Men and women who gave material support, such as food or horses

The DAR Library has some free databases available to the public online to help research efforts. There are local chapters in every state. If you contact one and let them know that you are working on your family history and would like some guidance in proving your ancestor’s service, the chapter registrar will likely be able to help you.

The National Society Sons of the American Revolution and the General Society Sons of the Revolution have similar, but not exactly the same, requirements for membership as DAR. SAR has a genealogy help link for prospective members.

The national websites provide contact information if you are interested in pursuing membership. DAR, SAR and S.R. are not your grandparents’ organizations. Today’s focus is not on social gatherings, but on being active, informed citizens (no political stances are taken by any of these societies) who make positive contributions to their communities.

If you have never looked into membership, take a closer look. You will be pleased with what you learn.

 

American Revolution, DAR, Haskell

American Patriots John Haskell and Samuel Tarbox

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Some years ago, I discovered a reference to John Haskell being a qualified ancestor for membership in the National Society Sons of the American Revolution, but he was not identified as such by DAR.

John Haskell was my 5x great grandfather. He was born 7 January 1744/45 in Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, the second child of Nathaniel Haskell and Hannah White. He married Hannah Parsons on 18 January 1769 in Gloucester. Hannah was born on 29 April 1749, also in Gloucester, the fifth child and first daughter of Isaac Parsons and Hannah Burnham.

However, very soon after John and Hannah Haskell married, they removed to the newly settle town of New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine, where their first child, daughter Hannah, was born on 21 October 1769. Their other twelve children were also all born in New Gloucester.

I had to do some digging to discover how John Haskell made it on to the patriot rolls of the SAR. I was given a vague reference to New Gloucester town records so I wrote to the town clerk. I was rewarded with one page of the typed transcript of the original town records from 19 March 1776.

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New Gloucester Town Meeting Records

There was what I needed on the very last line of the page:

Voted that Messrs. John Warran and John Haskell be the tytheing-men.

Janice A. Brown has such a great description of this job on her Cow Hampshire blog post from 7 April 2007 that I can’t do any better:

It was the tithing man’s duty to detain and arrest Sabbath travelers, unless they were going to or from church, or to visit the sick and do charitable deeds. His job was also to keep the boys from playing in the meeting-house, and to wake up any who might fall asleep during meeting.

In some towns, tithing men were provided with staves, which were sticks that had brass upon one end and feathers upon the other. Called “church sticks” and “tithing sticks,” the brass end was used to hit the sleeping men or restless children, and the feathers were used to brush the faces of sleeping women. Another version (kinder) shows a rabbit’s tail on one end and a fox tail on the other.

Tithing men also collected the taxes mandated for the support of the church and the minister of the gospel (thereby the name, from the worth tithe, ” to pay a portion of one’s income, especially to the church.”). They were expected to report on idle or disorderly persons, profane swearers or cursers and Sabbath breakers.

I guess it wasn’t a job for the fainthearted! However, John’s election to town service is what qualified him as an American patriot, but under civil service, not military, which took place during the American Revolution.

Actually, I was quite elated to get this page because this one and only very same page provided me with a second ancestor giving civil service, Samuel Tarbox.

The sentence second from the bottom stated:

Voted that Messrs. Adam Cotton, Barnabas Winslow and Samuel Tarbox be the wardens.

Near the beginning of the minutes for that town meeting, it also noted:

Voted Mr. Samuel Tarbox moderator for said meeting.

Samuel Tarbox was born 23 May 1731 in Gloucester, Essex, MA, the son of Joseph Tarbox and Susannah Stevens. He married Deborah Sayward on 19 June 1755, also in Gloucester. Deborah was born on 10 April 1737, again in Gloucester, the daughter of Joseph Sayward and Sarah Giddings.

Like John and Hannah Haskell, Samuel and Deborah Tarbox are my 5x great grandparents. Also like the Haskells, the Tarbox family moved not many years after their marriage to New Gloucester, Maine. Their first two children were born in Gloucester, but it appears that the remaining seven children in their family were born in New Gloucester from 1762 onwards.

Both John Haskell and Samuel Tarbox are now documented patriots in both the SAR and DAR databases. As you can see, it is a relatively easy task to obtain documentation for non-military service during the American Revolution.