Contact

Reaching the right person with the right information is half the battle in genealogical research — and that's especially true when the question involves lineage society membership, application status, or documentation requirements. This page explains how to frame a message effectively, what to expect in return, and the practical details for getting in touch with this office.

What to include in your message

A well-structured message gets a faster, more useful response. Genealogical questions that arrive without context — no surnames, no time periods, no specific society mentioned — require a round of clarification before any real answer can be given. That round costs time on both sides.

The following breakdown covers what to include, organized by the type of inquiry:

For membership or application questions:
1. The full name of the lineage society in question (e.g., Daughters of the American Revolution, Society of Mayflower Descendants, Sons of the American Revolution)
2. The applicant's full name and approximate state of residence
3. The ancestor being used to establish lineage — full name, approximate birth and death years if known, and the state or colony where they lived
4. A brief description of where the application currently stands (not yet started, submitted, under review, returned for correction)
5. The specific question or problem — not "I need help" but "the registrar flagged my great-grandmother's 1887 marriage certificate as insufficient proof of parentage"

For genealogical research questions:
1. The surname or surnames under investigation
2. The geographic region and approximate time period
3. What records have already been consulted — church records, census records, vital records, military pension files
4. The specific gap or contradiction that needs addressing

For general editorial or reference questions:
1. The topic or page on this site that prompted the question
2. The specific claim or gap being flagged

One clear, specific question outperforms a long email covering 6 separate problems. If there are multiple distinct questions, numbering them makes the response significantly more organized.

Response expectations

Responses to standard inquiries are typically provided within 5 business days. Inquiries that involve reviewing uploaded documents, evaluating multi-generational lineage chains, or researching specific society bylaws may take up to 10 business days.

A few scenarios that affect timing:

• Complex lineage disputes — questions involving conflicting records, alternate spellings of surnames (a remarkably common issue in pre-1900 records), or brick walls that require cross-referencing multiple source types take longer by nature
• Society-specific policy questions — answers that depend on a particular chapter's bylaws rather than national-level rules require verification before any response is issued
• Document review requests — uploaded scans of vital records, census pages, or pension files are reviewed in the order received

For questions about active applications submitted directly to a lineage society — DAR chapter registrars, SAR state societies, the Mayflower Society's General Society central office in Plymouth, Massachusetts — this office is not the filing body and cannot access application systems or internal registrar correspondence. Those inquiries should go directly to the relevant society's national central office.

Additional contact options

For reference questions that may already be answered, the Lineage Society Frequently Asked Questions page covers the most common points of confusion around eligibility, documentation, and the application process. The Documentation Required for Lineage Society Applications page goes into specific record types in detail.

For questions about proving ancestry specifically — distinguishing between what a primary source establishes versus what a secondary source suggests — the Proving Ancestry for Lineage Society page addresses that distinction directly.

If the question concerns a specific society's structure, governance, or history, the individual society overview pages — covering organizations from the Daughters of the American Revolution to the Order of Founders and Patriots of America — contain the most reliable reference material available on this site.

How to reach this office

Email is the primary and preferred contact method. It creates a written record of the question and the response, which matters more than it might seem when genealogical questions evolve over time and earlier answers become relevant again months later.

Message length should match the complexity of the question — not shorter, not longer. A one-sentence question about membership fees for a specific society is appropriate at one sentence. A question about a broken lineage chain involving 3 generations of census record discrepancies deserves a paragraph.

Attachments — scans of documents, photographs of tombstones, screenshots of online records — are accepted and often useful. Standard image formats (JPG, PNG, PDF) are preferred. Files above 10 MB should be compressed or split before sending.

Response format: Responses are sent by email to the address provided. No telephone consultations or video appointments are offered through this office. For those who prefer working directly with a credentialed professional, the Lineage Society Genealogist Professionals page explains how to find and evaluate qualified genealogical researchers who specialize in lineage society documentation work.