This page offers helpful tips for preparing DAR applications.   If you have any questions about these tips, contact Debbie Duay.

General

You must use legal size, acid free, 25% rag content paper. 

Applications must be on the most current application form.

The application must be printed legal size on legal-size paper.  However, the default printer setting for Adobe Reader is letter size.  To print legal size, the printer setting must be changed. 

Print the application on one side of 4 separate sheets of paper as it is quicker and easier to scan.  Documentation should also be on one side. 

On the back of each piece of documentation, write the name of the applicant, the chapter code, the patriot's name, and the generation number.  Do NOT use labels.

Use a red pencil to underline or indicate with an arrow pertinent information on supporting documentation.  Do NOT use a highlighter.

Submit only 1 copy of the application and documentation.

When submitting multiple applications at the same time (e.g., mother & daughter), submit only 1 copy of the documentation for the shared generations.

Do not submit unnecessary documents.  If you have a birth certificate, baptismal certificate, and a Social Security application that list the parents’ names, choose the best document to submit.

Do not submit copies of DAR applications.

For supplemental applications, do not resubmit the documents that were verified on the member's prior application.  For generations that were proven on a prior application, simply type National Number: 828766, Member: Janice Ann Randolph Myers, Patriot: Jacob Hines.  Submit documents only for those generations that were not proven on the prior application.

Place the documents in order with the applicant’s generation on top. 

Do not staple or paper clip documents.  Do not place documents in plastic sleeves.  All documents are now scanned.  They should be submitted loose.  You may submit them loose in a manila folder.

You may mail the application by first-class mail. 

For faster processing, mail the application to:  RG Data Entry, NSDAR, 1776 D Street NW, Washington, DC  20006-5303

For a new member application, the chapter must submit a chapter check for $120.00 ($75.00 application fee and $45.00 dues).

For a supplemental application, the DAR member may write a personal check made out to Treasurer General NSDAR in the amount of $75.00. 

The Build-An-Application program is available through the DAR Members' Web Site and E-membership.  However, if the program is used through the DAR Members' Web Site, generations 1, 2, & 3 will be blocked.  If information on the first 3 generations is needed, ask your chapter Registrar to download the application through E-membership.

For instructions on how to use the Build-An-Application program, click here for a 5-minute video.

Page One

All signatures must be in BLACK INK ONLY.

All signatures must be legible.  The applicant's signature must be legible even if it is not her legal signature.

For new member applications, the applicant, two officers (usually the Regent and Registrar), and two members in good standing who are familiar with the applicant must sign the application (no Associate members).  The two officers can sign again at the bottom as the two members in good standing if they are familiar with the applicant.  If either the Regent or Registrar is not available to sign as an officer, the First Vice Regent, the Treasurer, or the Recording Secretary may sign in her absence.  She should write her title below her signature. An officer (Regent, First Vice Regent, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, or Registrar) must witness the applicant signing the application.  Otherwise, the applicant must have her signature notarized.

For supplemental applications, only the applicant and the Registrar must sign.  (If the Registrar is absent, one of the other officers listed above may sign.)  It is not necessary for the applicant’s signature to be witnessed. 

Page Two

In most cases, the lineage information must match EXACTLY with the information on the documentation.  For example, if the grandfather is listed as Charles T. Butler on all of the documentation, do NOT list him as Charles Thomas Butler on the application.  Likewise, if you do not submit documentation for an event, do NOT list the event on the application.  For example, if you do not have documentation for a specific date of death for the great-great-grandmother, do not list a specific date of death for her on the application. 

For the first 3 generations in the lineage, DAR requires documentation for birth date, birth place, death date, and death place for both the husband and the wife.  FULL dates (day, month, and year) MUST be documented.  If parents or grandparents are still living, birth certificates are usually required.  If they are deceased, usually just the death certificates are required.  NOTE: Most of the time death certificates are sufficient if they list parents, birth date, and at least birth state.  The Social Security Death Index CANNOT be used because it does not document birth place or death place.  If you are unable to document a birth or death for someone in Generations 1-3 after CONSIDERABLE effort, include a statement with the application showing the steps taken to acquire the proof and the reason it was not provided.

For marriages in Generations 1, 2, and 3, DAR would like to have the marriage certificates if the applicant can easily obtain them. However, marriages do not have to be proven unless the marriage record is necessary to document a parent-child relationship. IMPORTANT: If you do not submit a marriage certificate/record, leave the marriage date and place BLANK on the application.

For Generation 4 and beyond, ALWAYS try to obtain death certificates if they are available.  Beginning with Generation 4, DAR usually requires documentation to confirm at least one date and place (birth or death) for EACH person in EACH generation.  

If you do not have documentation for a date and place, leave it BLANK on the application.  If you fill in a date and/or place but do not provide documentation, DAR will assume that the documentation exists and DAR will request it.

When using an OLD DAR application that does not list places, documentation for the places must be provided.

Record the male name on the first line in each generation.

Record the maiden name, not the married name, of the wife in each generation.

Record dates in this format:  12 Jan 1980

Record places as city, county, and state:  Orlando, Orange Co, FL   Use the state abbreviation (e.g., OH, FL, GA, NY, etc.), and use Co after the county name.

If a person is still living, leave the death date and place BLANK.

Do NOT use the terms Jr. or Sr. on Page 2.  Do NOT use titles such as Dr. or Rev.

Do NOT place any information in parentheses (  ), brackets [  ], or quotation marks " " anywhere on the application.  DAR uses parentheses to indicate that a date, place, or document was NOT verified.

If you cannot locate a specific date/place of death for an ancestor, identify the last census record in which the individual appears.  For example, if an ancestor last appears in the 1880 census, list p 1880 (which means post (after) 1880) for the date of death and the city, county, and state where he/she was living in the 1880 census for the place of death.  Include the census record with the supporting documentation.  NOTE:  Keep in mind that DAR wants at least one date and place documented for each person in a generation. 

When a maiden name is not known, put a capital X  (e.g., Jane X).

For the patriot’s birth and death, use the information that is listed in the patriot's profile in the online DAR Ancestor Database.  Use DAR's spelling of the patriot's name on pages 2 & 4 of the application.

Page Three

You are allowed 4 lines of text for citations in each generation on page 3.  However, try to use 3 lines or less as the NSDAR genealogists need space to write comments. Abbreviate your citations so that they fit within 3 lines if possible.  However, do NOT abbreviate any census citations.  (See below for the correct way to cite a census record.)  Do NOT use a later, unused generation on page 3 for citations that you cannot fit.  If you do, you will receive a letter from NSDAR.

Use abbreviations such as BC (birth certificate), DC (death certificate), MC (marriage certificate).  For example, if you are providing a birth certificate for the grandfather, a death certificate for the grandfather, a death certificate for the grandmother, and marriage certificate for the couple, simply cite the documents like this:  BC, DC, DC, MC.  IMPORTANT:  Do NOT state something like this "birth certificate of David lists his parents George and Jane Jones."  If you do, DAR will send a letter requesting that you resubmit page 3 in the proper format.

Do NOT list documentation on page 3 if you are not providing it.  For example, if a daughter is using her mother's recent application, only list the documents submitted for the daughter's generation (e.g., BC).  For all the other generations, simply list the mother's National number, the mother's name, and the patriot's name.

When submitting census records, include both the transcription page from Ancestry.com as well as the census image.  List full census citations for EVERY census cited on page 3 including census year, town/city, county, state, page number, enumeration district (1880 census or later), and household number.  For example:

1910 US census, Orlando, Orange Co, FL, p 4a, ED 1, HH# 45-47

Most of the information for the full census citation is listed under "Source Citation" on the Ancestry.com transcription page.  For the household numbers, go to the actual census image.  The household numbers are the two numbers in front of the head of household's name on the census image.

When submitting documents such as vital records, wills, probate records, and deeds that were obtained online from Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org, 1) cite the name of the database and 2) where it is located.  For example, Tennessee Death Records 1908-1958 on Ancestry, Michigan Marriage Records 1867-1952 on Ancestry, and Georgia Probate Records 1742-1990 on FamilySearch, Liberty Co, Will Book C, page 110.  For wills, probate records, deeds, and guardianships include the state, county, book number, and page number where the document is located.

When citing more than one citation on the same line and one or both citations contain commas, type a semicolon ( ; ) between the two citations to show that they are separate citations.

Biographies from county and town histories can be used to document lineages when the following two criteria are met: 1) the subject of the biography appears to have been the informant (i.e., the subject was living at the time the history was published), and 2) the county history is used to establish a parent-child relationship that is no more than two generations removed from the subject of the biography (i.e., subject's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, children).  Be sure to include the book's title page and publication information with the biography.

Generally, DAR will NOT accept family genealogies UNLESS they are well-documented and sourced regarding the particular people in the applicant's lineage. One exception might be "older" family genealogies written from the mid 1800s to the very early 1900s. In this case, DAR would apply criteria similar to that discussed above for county and town histories. Specifically, DAR would want evidence that either the author of the book or the likely informant for the genealogy had personal knowledge of the people in the lineage.

Headstone photos from the Find-A-Grave site may be submitted to document birth date, death date, and burial place.  However, the information on the headstone must be legible, and the headstone must not be new if the person died many years ago.  DAR will NOT accept Find-A-Grave listings without photos.  Cite the Find-A-Grave Memorial number on page 3 of the application.

Page Four

For the patriot's residence, service, and source of service, use the information that is in the online DAR Ancestor Database. 

If the source of service is not listed, ask your chapter Registrar to review the previously approved applications for the source of service.  You will need to include a copy of the source of service with the application.

Unless you have actual documentation that proves the other children of the patriot, do NOT list the other children of the patriot in the "Children of Revolutionary Ancestor" section.  Just list the child the applicant goes through, his/her date and place of birth, and his/her spouse.  However, when you have documentation concerning the patriot's other children, you may list them and include documentation about them with the application.