Friday, January 20, 2017

Lineage Societies – Part II




    The last time I wrote about this topic, I had been accepted by NS DAR (National Society of Daughters of Revolutionary War), USD 1812 NS Daughters of War of 1812), and NS Colonial Dames XVII Century. I am now a member of DCH (Daughters of Code of Honor), NSDAC (NS Daughters of American Colonists), ADEAW (Association of Daughters of Early American Witches). The NSDAC website says – “NSDAC members are descendants of a man or woman who rendered patriotic or civil service to the American Colonies prior to 4 July 1776.”  One of my Revolutionary War Soldiers – Robert FitzRandolph is the great-grandson of Edward FitzRandolph, who was born in England and died in Piscataway, Middlesex County, NJ. He was married to Elizabeth Blossom. Edward “In 1636, built the thirty-eighth house in Scituate, Massachusetts” which qualified me for NSDAC.
   Then I became a member of the NS NEW (National Society of New England Women), through another Edward FitzRandolph (love these FitzRandolphs). This Edward is the father of my DAR soldier, Robert mentioned above. Edward was born in Barnstable, Barnstable County, (Cape Cod area), MA – one of many ancestors “born in New England before 1789 or in Nassau or Suffolk Counties, Long Island, New York before 1700.”
   The latest Society I applied for was really the easiest for me – Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (DUVCW). It helped that I only had to go back four generations to my great-great-grandfather, instead of my 8th great-grandfather, Edward FitzRandolph mentioned above. I submitted for William Wallace Court, my great-great grandfather. William (1842-1925) was born in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York, but the family spent most of their lives in nearby Oswego County. William served in the 147th Regiment, 1st Infantry, Co. K, as a Sgt. He served for almost three years and in many of the major battles. He missed Gettysburg and Robert E. Lee’s famous surrender at Appomattox in Virginia with the rest of his unit because of illness. William received a pension later in his life from what we would probably call rheumatoid arthritis aggregated by living in the cold/wet conditions on the battlefields. He eventually went blind and had dementia and spent his last years in Pontiac State Hospital. Ironically, his son, William Wallace, Jr. (1873-1929) spent most of his adult life at Pontiac State Hospital. We will probably never know what his diagnosis was as records from most of the State Mental Hospitals have been “destroyed.”  William, Sr. married Esther Mary Corcoran (1846-1919) in Canada. They spent their lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and had eight children, six survived to adulthood.
   At the same time, I submitted for my great-grandfather, John A. McDougall (1843-1920), Sgt., E Co., 17th Regiment Infantry for Michigan (Ypsilanti). John only served about five months when he was shot in the shoulder – apparently he could never raise that arm above his shoulder after that. He got a pension, and it was continued by his widow, Delphine Fowler (1851-1941) until her death. John and Delphine had 11 children, 10 living to adulthood.
   There are other Lineage Societies that I am interested in joining – mostly, just to say I can. But this does all take time – and money.  Maybe next month…..
   The only supplementals I am interested in are DAR. I am slowly trying to wade through the process of re-proving my great-grandmother’s (Mary Ella Hazelton Childs) DAR supplementals. Because it has been many years and the standards have really tightened up, it is a slow process. Roswell Lane (NY) was approved two years ago. I currently have two more awaiting approval and am in the process of submitting another – keep you posted.
   Now, if only I could join the Royal Bastards….

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