It’s so much fun to meet with other people who enjoy your hobbies. This weekend I participated for the first time in the Illinois Heritage Alliance weekend. This is a weekend gathering where several different lineage societies get together and while some of them do short business meetings, some just provide information on what their society does, and who can join.
I can tell you, no matter when your ancestors may have arrived in the United States or what jobs they may have held there is probably an association for you. Most of us know about the big ones like the Mayflower, Daughters of the American Revolution and others like them, but this year I learned a lot about some societies that provide other opportunities. There are groups for most military actions that have occurred in the United States since it’s settlement, groups for people who arrived in specific areas at certain times, and groups for people who were undertakers, or farmers, or part of the Salem Witch Trials. A person could be in thousands of organizations if you wanted to take the time and spend the money.
There are a couple of societies that were already on my list of possibilities that I’ll probably start working on here soon. One of them is for the War of 1812 and right now I think I can prove three soldiers. The one I was most excited about this time – and I’ve already submitted my first application (!) – is the National Society Descendants of American Farmers https://www.nsdoaf.com/ This is a new group, and it honors our ancestors who can be identified as farmers. They also do a lot of advocacy for farms and provide some scholarships so how can you go wrong? However, I may go broke recognizing all of the farmers in my direct line ancestry – there are a lot of them and they’ve weathered more than their share of tough times over the centuries. I’ll keep everyone posted as I get applications processed and see how this goes – such fun!
Cory and Nicole Family History 