Holding their first genealogy seminar in about three years, members of the local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter drew 20 people eager for help tracing ancestors.
A dozen volunteers from the Job Winslow chapter and state organization helped attendees sift through records, search the internet and delve into their past. The effort had an eye to the DAR's mission as an organization for descendents of Revolutionary War patriots — those who aided the American effort to win independence from Great Britain in the late 1700s, whether they were soldiers or provided other direct services.
"I had no idea there was such a need,” said Helen Ashby, the local chapter publicity chair and state corresponding secretary, of the robust attendance that kept the room humming throughout the afternoon.
Gail Taylor of Traverse City attended the workshop searching for relatives of her maternal grandmother.
"I was floundering,” said Taylor, who volunteers helped look through both books listing of Revolutionary War descendents as well as online information.
"My grandmother and my mother had a lot of stuff, wonderful lists of names, but not the stuff they are looking for,” she said of the DAR's document requirements for membership. "It's all written down but not put together.”
The Job Winslow chapter of the DAR, one of 54 chapters in the state, began in 1914 and was named after the patriot father of one of the very first members. The national organization began in 1890 as a women's service organization that also promotes patriotism, preserves American history and helps educate children about history. It has about 168,000 members in 3,000 chapters who are direct descendents of patriots, either male or female, from the Revolutionary War era.
The Job Winslow chapter hosted the workshop in part to raise awareness about the organization as well as to lend a hand with genealogical research — something members become good at.
Membership in the organization can span generations or, in Ashby's case jump over a generation.
"My grandmother and great grandmother were in it but it skipped a generation because of my dad,” she said. "You feel really involved in history, it hits home more and there's so many of us that qualify.”
Mary Ellen Byrne of Traverse City has been a member of the organization for 48 years and her mother was also a member. Serving as vice president general of the national organization, Bryne said the goal of the workshop was to show people how to trace their lineage using all the tools available. In addition to online information, books published every 12 years listing proven patriots by state come in handy. The last edition was issued in 2000 so the data is fairly up to date.
"You have to have proof of direct line, birth certificates, death certificates, deeds, marriage certificates, family Bible,” said Byrne.
Perseverance is key to sifting through information and finding the right pieces, noted Alice Casto of Traverse City.
"You'd be surprised where some of this stuff comes from,” she noted of crucial pieces of a genealogical puzzle. "Just don't give up, keep working — and you'll just really be elated when you find something.”
For more information about the Job Winslow chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, call Mary Rose at 946-6337 or Alice Casto at 922-9455. For more information about the organization at the state level, see the Web site www.michigandar.org.