The DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) is a free resource provided by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution   (DAR) to aid general genealogical research and to assist with the DAR membership process. The GRS is a collection of databases that provide access to the many materials amassed by the DAR since its founding in 1890.

DAR members across the country are passionate ambassadors for genealogical preservation and research, and the National Society is committed to being a premier provider of genealogical resources. The online databases are the culmination of 10 years of work by members volunteering to scan and index the vast genealogical resources of the DAR Library. The creation of these research tools was funded in large part by the President General's Projects of Linda Tinker Watkins (2001-2004) and Presley Merritt Wagoner (2004-2007). This system of databases will continue to expand as new information is added.

The databases contain DAR proprietary information which should under no circumstances be redistributed to others; assembled or collected for purposes other than DAR membership or for citation in genealogical scholarship; or reproduced, published, or posted in any form whatsoever.

Access to the various databases is through the “tabs” along the top of the search screen. The following descriptions provide basic information about each database.

Ancestor

Working database of the DAR Genealogy Office

The Ancestor Database was created by and is maintained by the staff of the DAR's Office of the Registrar General. With few exceptions, the data is taken from verified membership applications and supplemental applications. New records and information are added on a daily basis. For additional information on searching this database, please refer to the Overview and Help section on the Ancestor Tab.

Adding Patriots

Please be aware that the Ancestor Database is NOT a comprehensive list of all individuals who served in the Revolutionary War. New patriots are added as they are proven through DAR membership applications and supplementals. Requests to add an individual outside of an application or supplemental cannot be honored. Also, lines that have been closed to membership are included in the database. Researchers should be aware that lines coded as being in error may not be suitable for DAR membership. Please consult the Guide to the GRS for more details.

Spelling of Surnames

The DAR established a system of assigning a standard surname to variant spellings of similar surnames. This was based in part on the Library of Congress’ classification system. That the DAR uses one particular spelling variant over another is in no way an indication that DAR considers that spelling to be the “correct” spelling of the surname. The Ancestor Database was created to assist staff with the verification of membership applications and supplementals and this is its primary purpose. Using this spelling system helps to ensure that patriots are not established under more than one spelling. It is only under extremely rare circumstances that we will consider making any changes to an ancestor’s surname spelling. For membership purposes, members may use whatever spelling variant they choose for their pins and chapter yearbooks.

The scanned images of approved applications and supplementals and of all surviving supporting documentation are not available outside of DAR headquarters and cannot be viewed through this database online.

One may order a “record copy” of a membership applications or supplemental applications from the Library Copy Services Office. Please see the section for this office on the DAR’s public website at http://www.dar.org/library/record-copy .

Member

The Member Tab search option is limited in order to protect the privacy of the Society’s members. One may search for basic information on a member’s ancestor record using national number, name and other fields using this tab.

Descendants

The Descendants database is an index of the names found on the lineage page of DAR applications and supplementals.

The purpose of this database is to help those looking for a DAR Patriot line to identify the best possible Record Copy to order. Once a connection has been found using the information in this database, please order a copy of the application you need using the new online ordering system for an "instant" copy or use the traditional Record Copy Order Form to receive a copy of the full application by slower mail delivery.

This database contains lineage from most original applications starting with National Number 1 through 889,069. Also included are the lineages from most supplemental applications in Add Volumes 1 through 1004. This database is possible thanks to the efforts of over 3,000 volunteers.

Please note, for national numbers below 100,000 the applications may have incomplete or multiple lineages. For more information you must order a record copy and review all pages of the application.

GRC

The DAR’s Genealogical Records Committee Reports began in 1913 and continue to arrive every year. The information in these 20,000 typescript volumes is predominately Bible record and cemetery record transcriptions along with many other types of transcribed or abstracted genealogical sources. The Genealogical Records Committee has sponsored a project since the late 1990s to index all names in every one of the GRC Reports in the DAR Library. The GRC tab provides a direct link to the “GRC National Index” and to the page explaining this project in more detail.

The GRC Reports themselves are digitized. Researchers may view the digital images at the DAR Library’s Seimes Technology Center. The images are not available at the present time online outside of DAR headquarters. The original typescript volumes have been retired and placed in off-site storage, so researchers must now use the digital images.

Information in the “GRC National Index” does not relate specifically to approved membership applications and supplementals and is not the contents of the files of documentation supporting them. This index is an ongoing project, and the staff of the DAR Library’s GRC Office adds new index content daily.

Researchers may order copies of pages in GRC Reports by contacting the DAR Library’s Search Service. Please consult the Search Service information page on the Library’s portion of the DAR website at http://www.dar.org/library/search-services .

Bibles

The collections of the DAR contain many family register entries from Bibles. Perhaps the largest collection containing such resources are the thousands of Genealogical Research Committee Reports created as typescripts during the last century. The GRC Reports were digitized over a few years enabling DAR volunteer members to study their content and to identify Bible register transcriptions that are present. This identification work continues, but at the present time approximately 40,000 family register entries from Bibles are now available as a subset of the national collection of the Reports. The DAR Library is the only location where the complete set of GRC volumes is available for the entire country. The database at this tab enables searches for these identified Bible pages and provides the citation as to their location in the Library's digitized collection. At the present time, the images are not available for viewing outside of the DAR Library.

The register is based on the original surname found in the family register. Each register may contain many other surnames as family members married and the Bible passed into other hands. If you do not find the surname you are looking for check the GRC tab which is an every name index to the entire collection.

Rev War

For resources focused on the Revolutionary War the DAR has compiled a collection of primary sources and research guides, which can be found in this section of the GRS.

1. Patriot Records Microfilm: Access all digitized records by document or roll number. This option is only available for staff and library visitors.
2. Patriot Records Project Index: This index contains every readable name of numerous Revolutionary War records. The documents span over 75 years, starting at the very beginning of the Revolutionary War through the last petitions for remuneration. The online collection currently consists of records from the 13 original colonies/states as well as some of the newer states including Maine, Vermont, and Ohio. The collection also includes some French and Spanish records. Over 60 records have been indexed, and millions of names of patriots are now searchable.
3. The Revolutionary War Pension Index: In the years prior to the availability of the federal Revolutionary War pensions on microfilm and now online, DAR staff genealogists and volunteers visited the Pension Office and later the National Archives to abstract, type up, and index thousands of pensions needed to prove the Revolutionary War service of pending ancestors of prospective members. They did not, however, abstract every Revolutionary War pension. The result of this work was 340 typescript volumes of pension abstracts [233 covering the entire country (compiled from 1927 to 1965), 101 specifically covering pensions for New Hampshire veterans (compiled from 1918 to 1933), and 6 covering pensions of Rhode Island veterans (compiled from 1918-1921)]. This digitized card index is still important despite the availability of published and online versions of the pensions. It not only includes the name of the pensioner or widow but also the names of other persons mentioned in the pension papers, such as someone who swore an affidavit stating that they had served with the pension applicant during the Revolution or were aware of the applicant's service during the war. The presence of such information may be the only place where another individual's Revolutionary War service appears - in someone else's pension application!
4. African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War: A Guide to Service, Sources, and Studies: Since its founding in 1890, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution has collected and published information about the American Revolution. Included in this tradition have been articles, grave markings, or placement of historical plaques that note the involvement of African Americans and American Indians in the struggle. It is in that vein that the Forgotten Patriot has been developed and published. The hope is that this current body of work will not only be of interest to students and scholars interested in the important contributions of African Americans and American Indians in the America's fight for independence, but that it will also encourage the female descendants of these patriots to join the important volunteer and educational work of the NSDAR.
5. State Source Guides for Genealogists and Historians: The DAR Library has a series of publications that focus on research in nine of the original states during the American Revolution. The series is designed to provide detailed information on the availability of manuscript and archival material that exists for each state for the period of the Revolutionary War along with listings of historical and genealogical studies that have been published and which supplement the original sources. This section is only available within the DAR Library. Available only from within the DAR complex.
6. America's Women in the Revolutionary Era 1760-1790: A History Through Bibliography: An authoritative guide to women's and girls' lives in the era of the American Revolution. DAR Library researchers made an effort to locate every relevant published resource about Revolutionary women possible, including books, articles, dissertations and online documents, in order to aid researchers, understand existing literature and illuminate gaps to encourage future research. Available only from within the DAR complex.

Resources

Researchers will find a variety of links to other resources of use in genealogical research in this section of the system.

1. The DAR Library Analytical Card Index: The Library began creating this index in the 1920s and additions continued until the early 1970s. The contents of the analytical index come from such sources as old county histories, many of the DAR's own Genealogical Records Committee Reports (prior to the early 1970s), and a variety of other genealogical publications and periodicals. The index is a major resource that reveals buried information in thousands of published studies.
2. Library Website Subscriptions: The DAR Library provides visitors with a wide range of Genealogy websites.
3. WPA Books: WPA Collection brings together digital access points to genealogically relevant reports created as part of the Works Progress Administration between 1938 and 1942.
4. File Case Collection: The DAR Library's file collection is a group of over 10,000 file folders that have come to the DAR Library in various ways. Each folder deals with a different family, or geographical area. The contents of the folders are wide ranging and can include pamphlets, research notes, transcribed records, or photocopies of original records. These folders are indexed according to the main family names or the main geographical areas that are the subject of the files.
5. DAR Magazine Archive: The complete run of the award-winning American Spirit magazine shares the National Society's love of American history, preservation and genealogy. Each issue celebrates our uniquely American story through a selection of historical subjects from the Colonial period through the early decades of the new republic.
6. Recommended Websites: Noted genealogy websites used by our staff.

Library Catalog

This section provides a direct link to the DAR Library’s online catalog. The catalog provides subject, title, author, and other access to the books, microforms, manuscripts, maps, genealogical charts, and other sources in the collections of the DAR Library. The Library’s cataloging staff is also cataloging the book collection of the DAR Museum’s Reference Library, and these cataloging records also appear in the Library’s online catalog. Please note that the DAR Library is only a reference collection and does not loan or sell any of the books listed in this online catalog. One may also reach this catalog on the DAR’s public website at www.dar.org .