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Archiver > SORRELL > 1998-08 > 0902415218


From: <>
Subject: [SORRELL-L] DAR Records
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 10:53:38 EDT


Eillen Worthington wrote the group about Dar records. I add the following:

Eileen- Glad to see you still are alive and kicking. I have just finished a
couple of trips to the DAR Library and want to comment just a bit on their
records.
First of all their records should be used very carefully indeed. They should
not be used as source material but only for leads and corroborative
information.
I found huge, sometimes fatal errors in practically every lineage I checked.
I do not know how much research the DAR does to check applications but it is
not nearly enough. In some cases the soldier claimed as an ancestor didn't
even match to the Revolutionary soldier used as a basis for the claim. Again I
do not know how much research the DAR does to validate the claim for an
individual's War service but it clearly is not enough. A couple of examples
may help.
#277076 is a application by an Emily Culbertson based on one Charles Tyler,
an Ensign in the 11th Virginia Regiment from November of 1776 until 23
December 1777. Her lineage is correct back to a Charles Tyler of Prince
William County, VA. The Charles Tyler, her ancestor, was the son of Benjamin
Tyler of Prince William and Eleanor Middleton, although she says in her
application that Charles was the son of John Tyler and Eleanor Middleton.
Benjamin and Eleanor are on record as being married c1733 in Charles County,
MD just across the Potomac river. Obviously Miss Culbertson did not do
adequate research but worse, the DAR seems to have no mechanism in place to do
the required research to check the application.
Secondly and even more important I have serious doubts that her ancestor,
Charles Tyler, son of Benjamin and Eleanor was in fact the soldier from the
11th Regiment. In her application she says Charles died after 1800. In fact,
Charles, son of Benjamin and the proven ancestor of Emily died in c1777. In
July of 1777 Ann Moore, wife of Charles, and his boss, Peter Waggener, owner
of the Colchester Tavern, of which Charles was the operator, were ordered by
the court to inventory Charles' estate. Thus Charles Tyler, Emily's ancestor,
was dead at least 6 months or so and maybe more before Charles the soldier is
on record as having been discharged from the army. This raises rather serious
doubts as to whether her ancestor was really a soldier of the Revolution.
Particularly since there was another Charles Tyler in the neighborhood who was
also a soldier. This was Charles Tyler, married to Sarah Brown and a shirt
tail cousin of the Charles, son of Benjamin and Eleanor. Charles was the son
of John Tyler and Margaret Gray of Prince William. I do not know the unit that
Charles-Sarah served in so I do not know if the 11th Regiment Charles may have
been he or not. Charles-Sarah died in 1815 so fits the criteria of dying after
1800. I think the question arises as to what kind of research the DAR does to
establish the bona fides of soldiers of the Revolution. If it had been I
passing on the application, I certainly would have denied it based on the very
real doubts as to the identity of the Revolutionary veteran, Charles Tyler of
the 11th Regiment.
I also found a number of factual errors in other claims. I thought it might
be a good idea to correct the claims and approached the DAR about fixing them.
There seemed to be not the slightest interest on the part of the DAR in
correcting claims. They told me I would have to write a letter to the DAR and
submit proof that the claim was in error. I wasn't about to go to all that
trouble to correct their files. It seemed to me that if I were willing to
submit information about the error that it ought to be their responsibility to
locate the information I could tell them about and correct their own files.
For example I could have told them that they could find evidence in Charles
County, MD about the marriage of Benjamin and Eleanor. I could have told them
about the recorded death information on Charles Tyler, son of Benjamin and
Eleanor. Then it would be up to them to contact Charles County and do the
research necessary to convince themselves I was right. They were not willing
to do that so I left the files uncorrected to confuse the next reader.
I found the files generally useful in the later generations but with enough
errors for the earlier generations as to render them rather useless as I
didn't know which ones to believe. I finish with this statement. Anything
found in a DAR file must be corroborated by other records before being
used.-Dale Mueller

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