Wednesday, January 23, 2008

DAR Patriot Request

In my ongoing and seemingly never ending search for information about Russell Smith (born RI, resided Oneida County NY in the 1800-1810 time period), I determined that his father may be David Smith, who I surmised probably lived in RI during the Revolutionary War.

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) web site has a Patriot Search box where you can put a surname, given name, birth year, birth place, and other information and you can see if they have a proven line to that person in their files. They respond to your information request via email. The web page says:

"The DAR Patriot Index contains names of Revolutionary patriots, both men and women, whose service (between 1775 and 1783) has been established by the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Additional information available may include: dates and places of birth and death, name(s) of wife (wives) or husband(s), rank, type of service, and the State where the patriot lived or served. If pension papers are known to exist, that fact will be included.

"If you are interested in knowing if your ancestor is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary Patriot, please complete the request form below. Our volunteers would be happy to check for you at no charge!"

I entered in the Search Box --

* Patriot: David Smith
* Birth Place: RI
* Death Place: NY
* War Time Residence:RI
* Spouse:
* Comments: I'm searching for a David Smith who had children born In RI and who died in Oneida County or Jefferson County NY.

In two days, I had a response back that said

"Your ancestor was not found in our Patriot Index. This does not mean he did not serve in some capacity during the Revolutionary War. It simply means no one has joined DAR using his service.

"No DAR member has established a record for a man matching the criteria that you gave. If you are interested in membership in SAR for yourself or DAR for a female relative please send a follow up message with your address and phone number."

Oh well, it was a long shot! I know that there was a Captain David Smith from Waterbury CT who also ended up in Oneida County NY but I don't think that he is the one that is the father of Russell Smith.

Have you checked the DAR Patriot Index for your RevWar soldier? You might be surprised to find that someone else has already proven a line to him, and that person or their information may help you with your research.

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