I am sitting here drinking my coffee on this sunny 4th of July morning and one of the items someone posted on Facebook talked about our founding fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence. When they signed their name to a document which ended with, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” The Facebook post is of a grave marker and it reads, in part,
“nine signers died of wounds during the Revolutionary War. Five were captured or imprisoned. Wives and children were killed, jailed, mistreated or left penniless. Twelve signer’s houses were burned to the ground. Seventeen lost everything they owned. No signer defected – Their Honor Like Their Nation, Remained intact.”
Many people who do genealogy research do so to join some kind of lineage society such as the Daughters (or Sons) of the American Revolution. A genealogy friend of mine recently told a group of us that one of the main reasons she joins these societies is because it forces her to research that person and line and thus get more of her research done.
I know there are also many researchers whose families immigrated to the United States in the past 100 -150 years so what kind of society could they join? Well, another friend of mine knew her grandmother worked at the Bell Bomber plant here in Marietta, Georgia, and was able to prove it and her relationship to her grandmother and joined the American Rosie the Riveter Association, this friend’s first lineage society. There are literally hundreds of lineage societies out there so look for them, do your research, and join one that fascinates you and encourages you to complete your research on that line.
For me, I will submit my SAR packet after I submit my portfolio to the Board for Certification of Genealogists since it overlaps a lot.