Analysis of Dawsons SAR Application
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 to the left to see a high-resolution scan of each page and a full transcript for each.
I have seen this document frequently used as source material for genealogy research associated with the CHURCH surname, despite some researchers having questioned the veracity of Mr. Dawson's claims. This analysis is my attempt to determine the validity of the genealogical information within the Dawson SAR application.
Genealogical Claims
Starting at the most distant ancestor, the people detailed in the Dawson SAR application are as follows (one generation per line):
8 Richard Church (1649-1684) married to Mary Churchill (????-????) 7 Samuel Church (1667-1737) married to (unknown) (????-????) 6 Nathaniel Church (1704-1780) married to Rachel McCranny (????-1788) 5 Timothy Church (12May1736-13Nov1823) married on 9Jun1757 to Abigail Cousin (1738-????) 4 Samuel Church (~1765->1845) married prior to 1821 to Elizabeth ? (????-????) 3 George Dawson (~1790-7Jul1845) married in 1831 to Rebecca Church (~1801-~1866) 2 Henry Lee Dawson (28Feb1841-28Jan1923) married in 1883 or 1885 to Rhoda McFadden (26Nov1862-27Sep1933) 1 Fred Albert Dawson (1Jul1891-present) married to Helen Amanda Dawson (no relation) (????-present) 0 Martha Joan Dawson (1Apr1924-present) and Mary Patricia Dawson (3Mar1926-present), daughters of Fred & Helen
