History

Lineage societies—organizations made up of descendants of certain designated ancestors—don’t get much attention these days. It would be logical to assume that even the largest and best known, like the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, are fading into irrelevance due to their exclusive membership requirements and a decline in eligible recruits. Logical, perhaps, but wrong.

There are at least 500 lineage societies in America, and while some of them are, in fact, fusty preserves for the few, most work hard to stay relevant to contemporary society. And, somewhat surprisingly, many of them are growing. The Internet has made searching for one’s ancestors easier and more popular than ever—it’s a real trend. And as far as exclusivity is concerned, well, it’s something of a myth. The fact is, almost every American alive today is eligible to join at least one lineage society. Today’s average adult is about 12 generations removed from the arrival of the first Jamestown settlers. If you could trace every ancestor in your direct line back to that time, you would have 4,096 names. The odds are overwhelming that many of those ancestors fit the criteria for several lineage societies, and when your ancestor fits, so do you. “With the advent of the Internet and home computers, genealogy has become one of the most popular hobbies in the country, and that has brought a growth spurt to many organizations,” says James Raywalt, a master genealogist and himself a member of 32 lineage organizations and the founder of two—the Hereditary Order of the Families of Presidents and First Ladies of America and the Registry of Famous and Infamous Relatives in American Families.