Lineage Society

Lineage Society Application FAQs: Why am I being asked for extra marriages?

It seems pointless. You’re being asked to document your great-grandmother’s second or third spouse, the one not actually in your line. Why? Name changes. Some societies will ask for all marriages just to ensure the completeness of the genealogical record. Most will ignore additional marriages for the male but ask for them for the female.ContinueContinue reading “Lineage Society Application FAQs: Why am I being asked for extra marriages?”

Lineage Society Application FAQs: Do I need to document both spouses?

This question is a point of confusion for many lineage society applicants. The qualifying “bloodline” runs through a single spouse. Do you really need to document both? The short answer: yes. This has actually changed within the last decade or so. Originally lineage societies were focused on just documenting the bloodline. Now, they’ve realized thatContinueContinue reading “Lineage Society Application FAQs: Do I need to document both spouses?”

Invitation or Papers?

If you’re going to bring in a professional genealogist to assist with your lineage society application, when should you do so? Applicants will often start the application themselves and wait until they’re involved with the process to ask for help. At this point, they do have the advantage of having access to the society’s referralContinueContinue reading “Invitation or Papers?”

Why not just use the death certificates for the “first three” in a lineage society application?

Before we go any further, what do we mean by “first three”? “First three” or “first three generations” is a term used by many lineage societies discuss the generations of the applicant, the applicant’s”s parents, and the applicant’s grandparents in the same line as the ancestor. Application guidelines are typically more specific for these generations,ContinueContinue reading “Why not just use the death certificates for the “first three” in a lineage society application?”

Ancestral service: right name, wrong place?

If your family has used the same ancestor to join a lineage society for several generations, it can be shock to find out the ancestor is no longer being accepted by that society. There’s one reason driving most of the rejections: the service is no longer being considered valid. In other words, the things theContinueContinue reading “Ancestral service: right name, wrong place?”