On Saturday June 15, 2024, the Colonel Tench Tilghman Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) inducted its newest member, Gary David Anderson, of Queenstown, Maryland. Anderson is the first new member to join this local Chapter of the SAR during 2024. During 2023, the organization increased its membership by 60%. Numerous individuals have submitted their applications to join the SAR and are working with the Registrar of the Maryland Society of the SAR (MDSSAR) to achieve final approval. This chapter is well positioned to increase its membership again later this year and well into 2025.
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), founded in 1889, is a non-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American History, and promoting education to our future generations.
If you have deep roots in America with ancestors that go back five or six generations you likely have at least one ancestor who supported “The Common Cause” that eventually became the American Revolution and was considered a patriot. If fact, it is more likely you have several patriot ancestors.
When the colonists first began resisting the overreach of King George III, his ministers, and the British Parliament, they were simply demanding their rights as English citizens. After appealing to the king to lift the financial burden being placed upon them, and experiencing his total rejection, the colonists knew there would be no peaceful solution to their situation and their common cause became independence from England.
When tracing your ancestors, have you come across any male or female ancestors who lived in one of the 13 colonies during the years when the American Revolution took place (i.e., 1775-1783)?
Did any of your male ancestors do any of the following?
- Serve in the Continental Army or Navy
- Sign the Oath of Allegiance to the new provisional government to support the cause of liberty
Did any of your ancestors, male or female, do any of the following?
- Render material aid, such as furnishing supplies or paying a tax to support the cause
- Provide any type of civil service to support the new state or provisional government
- Provide medical assistance (e.g., as a physical, surgeon, or nurse) to aid the wounded
If so, and you can show direct, unbroken lineal descent to one of these individuals, you would qualify to join the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) if male or Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) if female.
The Colonel Tench Tilghman Chapter of the SAR serves the four upper shore counties of Maryland (i.e., Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties) and typically meets four a year in such locations as Chestertown, Easton, Oxford, or St. Michael’s, Maryland. The meetings typically last about three hours including a brief business meeting, lunch, and a speaker on a historical or genealogical topic of interest to SAR members. The meetings are also social in nature and sometimes include field trips to places of historical note like the Oxford, Maryland Cemetery or Mount Vernon, Virginia. To learn more about becoming a member of the SAR, please contact Carl at [email protected].
The General Perry Benson Chapter of the DAR is located in Easton, Maryland and holds monthly meetings at various locations throughout the five upper shore counties of Maryland. The meetings typically last about three hours including a brief business meeting, lunch, and a speaker on a historical or genealogical topic of interest to DAR members. To learn more about becoming a member of the DAR, visit https://www.dar.org/national-society/become-member.
Both organizations also hold state, regional, and national conventions for those who want to meet SAR or DAR members who come from across the United States.
To learn more about Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, please go to the society’s website at https://www.mdssar.org/
To learn more about the Col. Tench Tilghman Chapter of the SAR, please go to the chapter’s Facebook Group page: https://www.facebook.com/ColTenchTilghman
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