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At the regular meeting Saturday, March 12, members of the Judith Randolph-Longwood, Daughters of the American Revolution, enjoyed a program on genealogy delivered by the Regent of the Lynchburg Chapter, Cyndi Fein. Fein is an extremely active member of DAR, having held countless positions at the chapter, district, state and national levels. She currently serves as the treasurer of District III in addition to her duties as regent. Fein spoke about and illustrated, DAR Online Genealogy Resources, beginning with a tongue-in-cheek warning: This is addictive.

This way to explore genealogy is free and is accessible 24/7 from the NSDAR website, https://www.dar.org/national-society/genealogy. It is updated instantly, whenever a new member is approved. Those researching their ancestry can work from any place that has internet access. This bank of genealogy resources includes every individual ever proven to be an ancestor of all members of DAR; there are over a million members who have been, or currently are, members. Even considering duplicate ancestry (when sisters join, for example) this means a treasure trove of millions of individuals in the database. Since this organization was founded over 130 years ago, this genealogy resource is enormous.

The ancestor database provides the following information: the patriot’s name (an ancestor who fought or participated in the American Revolution in any other way); dates and places of birth and death when known; type of service(s) and state(s) of service; name(s) of spouse(s) when known; place of residence during the Revolution; source for service, if proven; national numbers of members who have had applications or supplementals approved using the ancestor; name of child and child’s spouse as verified on each paper; and finally, if the line is closed (invalid or unusable). Individuals are free to browse all aspects of the website, except for a member search.

Fein discussed various ways to search the database, as well as how to interpret results. Members in the audience of approximately 25 asked numerous questions at the end of her presentation — bombarding her for further information during the refreshment break that followed.

The Judith Randolph-Longwood is an active chapter dedicated to service to the community and our veterans. To join this organization contact the chairman of the membership committee, Donna Browning, dmbrowning@centurylink.net, or the First Vice-Regent Yvonne Costello at yvonnecostello@gmail.com.