Checking References

 

Anyone who has dabbled in genealogy at length will stumble upon the imperative to support family assertions with references to actual documentation. In the case of chasing after my third great-grandmother, Delaney Townsend Charles, and her possible parentage, I am still sorely lacking said references—and yet it seems everyone asserts that Delaney's parents were indeed John and Keziah Hayes Townsend.

One particular document has been given as "proof" of that connection. We've already seen that statement posted on another online resource, citing the claims of another family member whom I know of all too well. That document was the D.A.R. application of one particular Townsend descendant named Annie Florence Kinney. The claims included in that application were said to originate from my maternal grandmother's own Aunt Fannie.

Although some people may not be aware of this, it is possible to purchase a copy of such D.A.R. applications—as long as the application's details will not violate the privacy of any living person (generally considered to be any material that is not less than one hundred years old). In fact, such purchase orders can be placed online at the national D.A.R. website and received almost instantaneously as a digital document.

There are, of course, restrictions to such a process. For one, the national Daughters of the American Revolution, as an organization, claims copyright protection on any such materials downloaded through this purchasing process. Furthermore, on its instructions prior to purchasing any download of materials, the organization states that it

prohibits the posting of images of DAR application papers and supplemental application papers online in any form by anyone.

Specifically, the D.A.R. prohibits the posting, online, of any images obtained through this purchase process—which is why you won't see me sharing any images of the original documents. In addition, the organization noted that, prior to widely available access to photocopying services, applicants would often request that the documentation they submitted in the process of verifying their eligibility to join the D.A.R. be returned to them following the application process—thus leaving many applications stripped of the very documents someone like myself might be seeking. Surprisingly, the revoking of that previous courtesy did not occur, in some cases, until as late as 1984.

The application I was pursuing was one submitted in 1948, so chances were high that I might not find anything more than the actual form Annie Florence Kinney completed at that date. However, since the D.A.R. offers the option to purchase both the copy of the completed application form and the "supplemental" form, they do provide notice of how many records might be included in the supplemental form. In Annie case, it was noted that there were thirteen additional items included.

Thus, in as much time as it might take for a computer to blink its eye, I had a downloadable copy of each of two documents:  Annie Florence Kinney's D.A.R. application for membership, and the packet of her supplemental information. Tomorrow—and certainly without sharing any images of documents—we'll discuss what I could find within that treasure trove.