North Conway Cemetery, North Conway, New Hampshire

Many organizations were founded in the later part of the 19th Century that required the prospective members demonstrate that their ancestors had been in the United States before a certain date or that their ancestors had served in a war.  Examples of these organizations are The Daughters of the War of 1812 (1892), The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (1896), The National Society, Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century (1896), The Mayflower Society (1897), and The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America XVII (1915).

Two of the most well-known are Sons of the American Revolution and The Daughters of the American Revolution.  The Sons of the American Revolution was founded April 30, 1889, and requires members to prove that one of their ancestors served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783.

The Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.) refused to let women join the organization, so on July 13, 1890, four women—Mary Smith Lockwood, Eugenia Washington, Ellen Hardin Walworth, and Mary Desha—founded the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.).  They organized the first chapter on October 11, 1890.  The organization was supported and promoted by Caroline Lavina Scott Harrison, the wife of President Benjamin Harrison.  The D.A.R. is also a lineage-based membership service organization.

Both organizations promote patriotism and the preservation of American history.  Ironically, The S.A.R., though founded first, would not allow women but the D.A.R. membership eclipsed the S.A.R. decades ago.

Rose Hill Cemetery, Bloomington, Indiana