I often get asked “How did you get involved in lineage societies?” I suppose that it started with an invitation to join a lineage society from a friend that got me interested. After all, I’d been told that my family was related to Lord Baltimore and was part the Catholic migration out of England and into Maryland. But I’d never researched what that actually meant or if it was event true. Not wanting to embarrass myself by not having a qualified ancestor, I went to work on figuring out whether I did or not.

I Started with What I Knew

One of the lineage societies that I was interested in joining was the Daughters of the American Revolution or DAR. It was founded in 1890 to preserve the memory and spirit of those who contributed to securing American independence. Any woman 18 years or older, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background, who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution is eligible for membership. The DAR recommends that you “start with what you know” and so I did.

According to Margaret Mary’s book, our ancestors came to America beginning with the voyage of the Ark and the Dove in 1634. They started the first Catholic settlement that began the Maryland Colony which was the third colony started in America. After the American Revolution, many of our ancestors who fought in the American Revolution were entitled to land grants after the war. Our family and others based in southern Maryland then pooled their land grants and along with their families settled the area around what’s now known as Bardstown, Kentucky. Most of our relatives in the early days lived around Holy Cross, Kentucky where they built the first Catholic church in Kentucky.

While I sort of knew all of these facts, I knew that wanted to learn more. I was hooked. And, it didn’t hurt that I was home on lockdown as a result of Covid with no where to go and plenty of time on my hands. So I started building my family tree using what I knew about my family members along with the lineage that Mary Margaret had laid out in her book that started out with my great, great grandparents.

What I Have Learned

I’ve learned that Mary Margaret was right when she traced our lineage back to William the Conquerer and Lord Baltimore and Leonard Calvert (the first Governor of Maryland) and Proctor Ballard (a soldier from Virginia who fought in the American Revolution), and so many other interesting people. I also gained a deep respect for all of Margaret Mary’s research because proving our family connections using birth, death, and other records is much easier today than it was in her day.

With my family tree growing online, it was time to figure out what to do with all of the information that I was gathering and that led me to lineage societies where I could connect with others who were also preserving their family trees who wanted to share their knowledge with each other. The journey has been very rewarding and it has led to the creation of this site where I share what I learn of the history of lineage societies in America.