Analysis of Dawsons SAR Application - Revision history

Mouser: /* Re-creation of Dawson's Lineage from Available Data */ added note about incompleteness.

2014-06-29T23:49:54Z

‎Re-creation of Dawson's Lineage from Available Data: added note about incompleteness.

Mouser: /* Analysis */ Fixed error

2014-06-14T15:13:12Z

‎Analysis: Fixed error

Mouser: Grammer fixes and re-write of recreation section.

2014-06-14T15:07:47Z

Grammer fixes and re-write of recreation section.

Mouser: /* Generation 3 */ added further analysis

2014-06-14T02:29:07Z

‎Generation 3: added further analysis

Mouser: /* Generation 3 */ rework

2014-06-13T23:35:32Z

‎Generation 3: rework

Mouser: /* Generation 3 */ rework

2014-06-13T23:29:02Z

‎Generation 3: rework

Mouser: /* Generation 3 */ rework

2014-06-13T23:23:02Z

‎Generation 3: rework

Mouser: /* Generation 3 */ marriage search

2014-06-13T23:16:43Z

‎Generation 3: marriage search

Mouser: /* Generation 3 */ rework intro

2014-06-13T22:37:47Z

‎Generation 3: rework intro

Mouser: /* Generation 2 */ rework

2014-06-13T22:32:59Z

‎Generation 2: rework

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:49, 29 June 2014
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	Now the real challenge begins. Getting from [[Rebecca Church]] to her father's name will again require a document with detailed family genealogical information.		Now the real challenge begins. Getting from [[Rebecca Church]] to her father's name will again require a document with detailed family genealogical information.
		+
		+	[NB: This research is on-going, but at the time of this writing, no valid source documents have been found that connect Rebecca Church to her father directly.]

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 There is an off-hand comment made by Dawson about the date of death on Church's tombstone being off by 10 years, as it is given in "other sources" as 1823.  The nature of these other sources is not given, nor is there anything to back up the statement that the grave marker in Brattleboro lists his rank as full Colonel.
-  Beyond that, many of the dates and some of the names get uncertain in his genealogical data.   With no sources to corroborate any of the relationships listed, these data should be considered suspect at best.
+The genealogical data given in Dawson's SAR application is not sourced in any way.  Beyond generation 2, many of the dates and some of the names are uncertain.  With no sources to corroborate any of the relationships listed, these data should be considered suspect at best.  It is important to realize that Fred Dawson had incentive to provide a link between himself and Timothy Church for the purposes of gaining entrance to SAR, and that demonstrating conclusively that each step in the lineage was correct beyond a shadow of a doubt was probably not a priority.
 ==Re-creation of Dawson's Lineage from Available Data==

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-On October 7, 1942, [[Fred Albert Dawson]] prepared an application to the Indiana chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, claiming to be a lineal descendant of [[Timothy Church]], who served as a Lieutenant Colonel of the Southern Regiment of Cumberland Co., VT, during the Revolutionary War.  The application was four pages long.  Click on the images below to see a high-resolution scan of each page and a full transcript for each.
+On October 7, 1942, [[Fred Albert Dawson]] prepared an application to the Indiana chapter of Sons of the American Revolution, claiming to be a lineal descendant of [[Timothy Church]], who served as Lieutenant Colonel of the Southern Regiment of Cumberland Co., VT, during the Revolutionary War.  The application was four pages long.  Click on the images below to see a high-resolution scan of each page and a full transcript for each.
 <gallery>
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 </gallery>
-Another application to the Sons of the American Revolution was made by Fred Alfred Dawson's nephew, [[Irvin Herrick Dawson]], a year later.  It contained identical genealogical and reference information.
+Another application to Sons of the American Revolution was made by Fred Alfred Dawson's nephew, [[Irvin Herrick Dawson]], a year later.  It contained identical genealogical and reference information.
 This webpage is my attempt to determine the suitability of Dawsons' SAR applications as source documents for genealogical research.
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ==Claims made==
-Nine generations of people are detailed in the Dawson SAR application.  The information in the table below is all genealogical data given in the application, presented one generation per line.
+Nine generations of people are detailed in the Dawson SAR application.  All genealogical data contained in the application are replicated in the table below, presented one generation per line.
 [[Richard Church]]     (1649-1684)           married to                 [[Mary Churchill]]      (????-????)
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ==References given==
-The SAR application provides a space for the applicant to provide references used to determine the ancestor's service during the war as well as for the genealogical data contained in the application.  Fred Dawson lists the following three sources only:
+The SAR application provides a space for the applicant to list references used to determine the ancestor's service during the war as well as for the genealogical data contained in the application.  Fred Dawson lists the following three sources only:
   Vermont Rev. Rolls. Pages 822, 823, 826.
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 ==Analysis==
-Immediately from the references given you can see that only the service record of [[Timothy Church]] is being referenced; all genealogical data is un-sourced.  The service record as-stated by Dawson appears to be correct per the references given, with the exception of the day and month being incorrect on Timothy Church's commissioning to 2nd Lieutenant (two references give the date as 26 Feb 1776 whereas Dawson gives it as 4 Jan 1776).
+Immediately from the references given it can be seen that only the service record of [[Timothy Church]] is being referenced; all genealogical data is un-sourced.  The service record as-stated by Dawson appears to be correct per the references given, with the exception of the day and month being incorrect on Timothy Church's commissioning to 2nd Lieutenant (two references give the date as 26 Feb 1776 whereas Dawson gives it as 4 Jan 1776).
 There is an off-hand comment made by Dawson about the date of death on Church's tombstone being off by 10 years, as it is given in "other sources" as 1823.  The nature of these other sources is not given, nor is there anything to back up the statement that the grave marker in Brattleboro lists his rank as full Colonel.
-It is reasonable to assume that Dawson knows the genealogical details of himself, his wife, his children, and his parents, so we can assume that the data for generations 0-2 in the table above is accurate.  Beyond that, many of the dates and some of the names get uncertain in his genealogical data.   With no sources to corroborate any of the relationships listed, these data should be considered suspect at best.
+  Beyond that, many of the dates and some of the names get uncertain in his genealogical data.   With no sources to corroborate any of the relationships listed, these data should be considered suspect at best.
 ==Re-creation of Dawson's Lineage from Available Data==
-In this section, I will attempt to recreate as much of the lineage described by Dawson as I can using data available to me, starting with [[Fred Albert Dawson]] and working backwards.  For convenience, I'll only be writing up results for one member of each generation (and I'm skipping generation 0, which has no bearing on the matter at hand).
+It is reasonable to assume that Dawson knows the genealogical details of himself, his wife, his children, and his parents, so it is probably safe to assume that the data for generations 0-2 in the table above are accurate.  Indeed, the people mentioned in these generations appear frequently in available genealogical data found on the internet, including census records, draft registration cards, marriage records, etc.  In reasonably short order, I was able to re-create the data for generations one and two on the following pages using nothing more than Fred Dawson's name as a starting point (click on a name to see the data).
-===Generation 1===
+The trouble begins in Generation 3, where I need to get from [[Henry Lee Dawson]] to his parents full names.  Notably, this generation is where the lineage outlined in the SAR application changes from Dawson to Church, so I particularly need to document Henry's mother's maiden name.  However, the only data I have after finishing the research for Henry is his father's last name (Dawson) and his mother's first name (Rebecca).  Census documents prior to 1850 only list the head-of-household, so Rebecca is unlikely to appear by name in any of them.  The fact that Henry's father is apparently dead by the time he is eight years old make it unlikely that documents of public record will list them both together.   What is needed is some sort of family correspondence, church records, or an obituary that lists detailed family information.  Barring any of that coming to light, I must make some assumptions to proceed.
-A quick look through available data on the internet revealed federal census data for [[Fred Albert Dawson]] in 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940, plus draft registration cards for WWI and WWII, a marriage record, and a social security death index record.  These data confirm all information given for generations 0 and 1 in the SAR application with only minor exceptions (Helen and Martha's middle names are not spelled out explicitly and the exact dates of Martha and Mary's birth are not given).  Click on [[Fred Albert Dawson]]'s name to see the sources retrieved for this generation.
-===Generation 2===
+Since Rebecca's maiden name is really what I'm after, what I would really like to find is a marriage record.  If I assume that Rebecca wouldn't have gotten married before age 18 or so, and that she was married before the birth of the oldest son listed in 1850, then the marriage must have occurred between 1819 and 1837.  If I further assume that the marriage occurred near Hancock Co., Indiana (where Rebecca is in 1850), then a search of available marriage records on the internet returns two possible matches:
-Another trip to the internet revealed federal census data for [[Henry Lee Dawson]] in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1900, 1910, and 1920, plus marriage records for both of his marriages, a record of his Civil War draft registration, an entry in a Portland, Indiana city directory from 1897, a gravestone, and his Civil War pension index card.  These data confirm the bulk of the information given for generation 2 in the SAR application with only minor exceptions (exact birth and death dates for both Henry and Rhoda are still missing, though we do have an exact marriage date which George Dawson missed in his application.  We do not immediately uncover the name of Henry's father in this investigation (he appears to be dead by 1850, when Henry is only 8), but we do get his mother's name (before and after her 1854 marriage).  Click on [[Henry Lee Dawson]]'s name to see the sources retrieved for this generation.
 * Thomas Dawson and Rebecca Michael, 17 Feb 1820, Fayette Co., IN
 * George Dawson and Rebecca Church, 10 Nov 1836, Henry Co., IN
-Now that we know the full names of both [[George Dawson]] and [[Rebecca Church]], we have to find a connection to Rebecca's father.
+I tried searching for Thomas and Rebecca Dawson in 1850 census information throughout Indiana and came up blank. I have no data that specifically rules out this match as invalid, but I have found no further information to back up this marriage record as being the correct Rebecca and Mr. Dawson, either.

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 * John Dawson and Rebecca Jane Sterns, 18 May 1835, Vermillion Co., IN
 * George Dawson and Rebecca Church, 10 Nov 1836, Henry Co., IN
-Monroe and Vermillion counties are quite far from Hancock County, whereas Henry County is immediately adjacent and Fayette County is next to it.  For now, we'll concentrate on Thomas Dawson and George Dawson.
+Of these four, census searches return a good match for only one. George Dawson shows up in Centre Twp., Hancock Co., IN in the 1840 census. The number and gender of people present as well as the age ranges match exactly with the people listed in the 1850 census (minus George, who is presumed to have left or died between 1840 and 1850).  This is not iron-clad proof that the Rebecca that married George Dawson in 1836 is the same Rebecca Dawson that shows up in the 1850 census, but the coincidences are piling up.  For now, we will assume that this connection is valid and continue.
-Searching for a Thomas Dawson in 1840 and 1850 comes up blank anywhere near Hancock Co., IN.
+Now that we know the full names of both [[George Dawson]] and [[Rebecca Church]], we have to find a connection to Rebecca's father.
-−
-George Dawson does show up in Centre Twp., Hancock Co., IN in the 1840 census.  He and the adult female he lives with are both between 30-39, along with one male child under five, and one female child under five.  The number and gender of people present as well as the age ranges are entirely consistent with the people listed in the 1850 census (minus George, of course, who is presumed to have left or died between 1840 and 1850).

@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 * John Dawson and Rebecca Jane Sterns, 18 May 1835, Vermillion Co., IN
 * George Dawson and Rebecca Church, 10 Nov 1836, Henry Co., IN
-Monroe and Vermillion counties are quite far from Hancock County, whereas Henry County is immediately adjacent and Fayette County is next to it.
+Monroe and Vermillion counties are quite far from Hancock County, whereas Henry County is immediately adjacent and Fayette County is next to it.  For now, we'll concentrate on Thomas Dawson and George Dawson.
-George Dawson does show up in Centre Twp., Hancock Co., IN in the 1840 census, where he and the adult female he lives with are both between 30-39, along with one male child under 5, and one female child under five.  These ages are consistent with the [[Rebecca Church|Rebecca]], [[Jesse Dawson]], and [[Orinda Dawson]] seen in the 1850 census.
+Searching for a Thomas Dawson in 1840 and 1850 comes up blank anywhere near Hancock Co., IN.

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 Generation 3 is where this task starts to become difficult.  We've already seen [[Rebecca Church|Rebecca]] in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census data found while researching Generation 2.  The census data don't explicitly state that Dawson isn't Rebecca's maiden name, but the presence of Dawson children too young to be her siblings in all three census data sets do suggest that this is a possibility.  Unfortunately, if this is the case, these data don't give us [[Rebecca Church|Rebecca]]'s first husband's name or her maiden name. The goal is to retrieve these data as well as Rebecca's parents' names without having to rely on the SAR application timeline for hints.
-What we're really like to find is a marriage record showing the full name of Rebecca's alleged first husband and her maiden name as well.   We can place some time constraints on the search to limit the possibilities:
+What we would really like to find is a marriage record showing the full name of Rebecca's alleged first husband and her maiden name as well.   We can place some time constraints on the search to limit the possibilities:
 * Marriage date must be after 1817 or so (assuming that she'd be at least 16 when she got married)
 * Marriage date must be prior to 1837 (assuming that the oldest child seen in the 1850 census, [[Jesse Dawson]], was born after the marriage)
@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
 * George Dawson and Rebecca Church, 10 Nov 1836, Henry Co., IN
 Monroe and Vermillion counties are quite far from Hancock County, whereas Henry County is immediately adjacent and Fayette County is next to it.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:16, 13 June 2014
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	===Generation 3===		===Generation 3===
	Generation 3 is where this task starts to become difficult. We've already seen [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]] in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census data found while researching Generation 2. The census data don't explicitly state that Dawson isn't Rebecca's maiden name, but the presence of Dawson children too young to be her siblings in all three census data sets do suggest that this is a possibility. Unfortunately, if this is the case, these data don't give us [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]]'s first husband's name or her maiden name. The goal is to retrieve these data as well as Rebecca's parents' names without having to rely on the SAR application timeline for hints.		Generation 3 is where this task starts to become difficult. We've already seen [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]] in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census data found while researching Generation 2. The census data don't explicitly state that Dawson isn't Rebecca's maiden name, but the presence of Dawson children too young to be her siblings in all three census data sets do suggest that this is a possibility. Unfortunately, if this is the case, these data don't give us [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]]'s first husband's name or her maiden name. The goal is to retrieve these data as well as Rebecca's parents' names without having to rely on the SAR application timeline for hints.
		+
		+	What we're really like to find is a marriage record showing the full name of Rebecca's alleged first husband and her maiden name as well. We can place some time constraints on the search to limit the possibilities:
		+	* Marriage date must be after 1817 or so (assuming that she'd be at least 16 when she got married)
		+	* Marriage date must be prior to 1847 (assuming that the oldest child seen in the 1850 census, [[Jesse Dawson]], was born after the marriage)
		+	Searching for the marriage of a Mr. Dawson to a Rebecca between 1817 and 1847 returns a massive number of possibilities scattered all over the world. If we further constrain our search to marriages that take place in Indiana, we get the following six results:
		+	* Thomas Dawson and Rebecca Michael, 17 Feb 1820, Fayette Co., IN
		+	* James Dawson and Rebecca Smith, 5 Aug 1830, Monroe Co., IN
		+	* John Dawson and Rebecca Jane Sterns, 18 May 1835, Vermillion Co., IN
		+	* George Dawson and Rebecca Church, 10 Nov 1836, Henry Co., IN
		+	* John Dawson and Rebecca Ann Beall, 21 Oct 1844, Clark Co., IN
		+	* George W. Dawson and Rebecca Moore, 20 Oct 1845, Jefferson Co., IN
		+	Of these, only Henry County and Fayette County are anywhere near Hancock County, so we'll concentrate on these two possibilities:
		+	* Thomas Dawson and Rebecca Michael, 17 Feb 1820, Fayette Co., IN
		+	* George Dawson and Rebecca Church, 10 Nov 1836, Henry Co., IN

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:37, 13 June 2014
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	===Generation 3===		===Generation 3===
−	Generation 3 is where this task starts to become difficult. We've already seen [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]] in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census data found while researching Generation 2. ~~However~~, these data don't give us [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]]'s first husband's ~~first~~ name or her maiden name. The goal is to retrieve these data as well as Rebecca's parents' names without having to rely on the SAR application timeline for hints.	+	Generation 3 is where this task starts to become difficult. We've already seen [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]] in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census data found while researching Generation 2. The census data don't explicitly state that Dawson isn't Rebecca's maiden name, but the presence of Dawson children too young to be her siblings in all three census data sets do suggest that this is a possibility. Unfortunately, if this is the case, these data don't give us [[Rebecca Church\|Rebecca]]'s first husband's name or her maiden name. The goal is to retrieve these data as well as Rebecca's parents' names without having to rely on the SAR application timeline for hints.

@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 ===Generation 2===
-Another trip to the internet revealed federal census data for [[Henry Lee Dawson]] in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1900, 1910, and 1920, plus marriage records for both of his marriages, a record of his Civil War draft registration, an entry in a Portland, Indiana city directory from 1897, a gravestone, and his Civil War pension index card.  These data confirm the bulk of the information given for generation 2 in the SAR application with only minor exceptions (exact birth and death dates for both Henry and Rhoda are still missing, though we do have an exact marriage date which George Dawson missed in his application.  We do not immediately uncover the name of Henry's father in this investigation (he appears to be dead by 1850, when Henry is only 8), but we do get his mother's married name (before and after her 1854 re-marriage).  Click on [[Henry Lee Dawson]]'s name to see the sources retrieved for this generation.
+Another trip to the internet revealed federal census data for [[Henry Lee Dawson]] in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1900, 1910, and 1920, plus marriage records for both of his marriages, a record of his Civil War draft registration, an entry in a Portland, Indiana city directory from 1897, a gravestone, and his Civil War pension index card.  These data confirm the bulk of the information given for generation 2 in the SAR application with only minor exceptions (exact birth and death dates for both Henry and Rhoda are still missing, though we do have an exact marriage date which George Dawson missed in his application.  We do not immediately uncover the name of Henry's father in this investigation (he appears to be dead by 1850, when Henry is only 8), but we do get his mother's name (before and after her 1854 marriage).  Click on [[Henry Lee Dawson]]'s name to see the sources retrieved for this generation.
 ===Generation 3===
 Generation 3 is where this task starts to become difficult.  We've already seen [[Rebecca Church|Rebecca]] in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census data found while researching Generation 2. However, these data don't give us [[Rebecca Church|Rebecca]]'s first husband's first name or her maiden name. The goal is to retrieve these data as well as Rebecca's parents' names without having to rely on the SAR application timeline for hints.