Neighbor and some of her friends. We don’t socialize other then make very polite and non-committal conversation once or twice a year.
How old are they?
Mid- to late 80s, I’d guess. Possibly even 90.
My great-grandfather also fought in that war, same first and last names as I have, so I guess I’m eligible too. He apparently used a different name for some reason, but I have the paperwork from the National Archives to prove it was him. My grandfather married later in life, or I would be even older than I am.
I also have relatives on my mother’s side who were here from around 1700, but I don’t know if they were involved on either side in the Revolution. I have a 2nd cousin (or her daughter) who has done a very involved genealogy that includes my mother’s mother’s family, so I suppose she could tell me.
That’s how I found out about my Civil War veteran, my Revolutionary War vet, and my Mayflower travelers. It can be a very educational hobby.
Despite the unique co membership of your neighbors to both the DAR and the JBS, I don’t think that the two groups are related. And I wouldn’t assume membership in one group means membership in the other group. Or that the two groups have similar views on various topics.
ETA: Wrong thread.
Damn. I was played like a violin.
The first post of that person’s made me suspicious.
I don’t know DAR, but I am familiar with the Mayflower Society, which I belive is fairly similar, and there’s a lot of overlapping membership. I get the Mayflower Quarterly, and while geneology and history are the main focus, there are other activities. Each chapter is different, and I expect DAR is the same.
My grandmother was an avid geneologist. The type that goes to cemetaries and records all the names. So not just for her, but to help others as well. She even received money for some of her geneology work.
During her investigation, she discovered that she was eligible for the Mayflower Society, Jamestowne Society and DAR. She chose to join the Mayflower Society, and that was enough for her.
My grandmother was definitely not elitist. She did enjoy dressing up for the conventions and getting together to talk history and geneology.
One branch of my ancestry wrote a family history published around 1900 and updated around 1960 (and on the Internet Archive now). That branch of the family immigrated from Ireland in the early 1760s but still the patriarch and his seven sons volunteered for the war. I’m descended from one of the sons (through I don’t remember which). At least a couple of their graves have very early DAR gravestones and my grandmother and her siblings are listed by name in the 1960 revision of the book, so if I wanted to be a member of the Sons of the American Revolution I should have a fairly easy time. (Also the Sons of Confederate Veterans.)