Grandfathering of DAR Applications

At the meeting of the SAR Genealogy Committee Meeting on September 25, 2009 at the Fall Trustees, the Committee approved in concept, the grandfathering of DAR applications.  Chairman Fetzer appointed a sub-committee with the authority to act and to draft language for the policy.  The sub-committee devised the following policy statement, and approved it on October 1, 2009.

1. The SAR shall extend to applicants who are related to members of the DAR the same courtesy that we extend to applicants who are related to members of the SAR, as found in SAR Bylaw No. 1, Section 5 and NSSAR Form No. 0912.
2. Pursuant to this policy, in order for an SAR application to be grandfathered by the SAR based on a DAR application, the lineage and service set forth on the DAR application must be currently acceptable to both the NSDAR and the NSSAR.  If either Society questions the lineage or the service, the application cannot be accepted until such time that the applicant provides such additional proofs as may be required to address any questions that have been raised by the SAR or the DAR.
3. Grandfathering based on a DAR application shall be limited to two degrees of kinship, as currently recognized by the SAR, to include the following relationships of SAR applicants to DAR members: sons, grandsons, fathers, grandfathers, brothers, nephews, grandnephews, uncles, granduncles.
4. Per SAR Bylaw No. 1, Section 5, “Until and unless any requested additional proofs are provided, an application annotated as ‘grandfathered’ may not be used by third parties for either original applications or supplemental applications.”
5. An SAR application based on a DAR application only needs to be grandfathered if the DAR application is not sufficiently documented in accordance with current SAR genealogy criteria and policies, as set forth by the NSSAR Genealogy Committee.  NSSAR Form No. 0912 currently states “Only those items verified by the DAR on record copy applications may be considered as proof.”
6. As with all SAR applications that cite DAR applications, the SAR applicant is asked to fill in any genealogical data that may be missing on the DAR application, and to provide such proofs as may be necessary.  NSSAR Form No. 0912 currently states “When applications are based on old SAR or DAR papers that did not provide spaces for dates and places, the applicant shall complete those spaces and provide acceptable documentation.  Each paper will be judged on its merit, and all such applications are subject to review and updating of proofs, if necessary.”
7. Short form DAR applications and DAR “Legacy” applications cannot be used as proof of lineage or service for an SAR application, even under this SAR/DAR grandfather policy.
8. If an SAR application, based in whole or in part on a DAR application, is “grandfathered,” a letter may be sent to the applicant requesting additional proofs so that the SAR application may be considered to be sufficiently documented in accordance with current SAR genealogy criteria and policies.  This is consistent with SAR Bylaw No. 1, Section 5, which states “When the applicant’s membership certificate is sent to him, he may be requested to submit additional information about deficient links.”