Patriot In Lay Terms

Lineage Evidence Matrix

This is a worksheet for proving your line back to a Revolutionary War patriot. It does not search any records. You type in the records you already have, and it shows what is still missing for each person and where to look for it.

Generation 1 is you, the applicant.[1] Your parents are generation 2, your grandparents generation 3, and so on back to the patriot.[1]

The worksheet never grades a line. The best label any entry can earn is "Evidence Entered — Review Required", because only a society's genealogists decide what is proven.[1]

Everything you enter is saved only in this browser's local storage under keys beginning "pi.toolB". Nothing is sent anywhere. Use "Delete all my worksheet data" to remove it.

Use the worksheet

How this works. This worksheet does not search any records or databases. You type in the records you already have for each person in your line. It shows what is still missing for each generation and where to look for it. Nothing you type leaves your device; it is saved only in this browser.

Fills in a made-up family so you can see how it works.

1 Start with yourself, then go back one generation at a time

Generation 1 is you. Generation 2 is your parent, 3 your grandparent, and so on back to the patriot. For each person, press "Add a record" and answer A to D.

2 Add or remove generations

3 See what's missing, and where to look

4 What to do next

5 Print or save

Open my printable report

How the matrix evaluates an entry

Each record you add is judged on four things together: what kind of record it is, what it shows (birth, death, marriage, the parent–child link, or where the person lived), whether it says that in words or only hints at it, and whether you have flagged that it disagrees with another record. The kind of record alone never changes the label.

"Says it in words" means the record states the fact outright, like a birth certificate that names the parents. "Only hints at it" means you are working it out from clues, like a child listed in a household on a census that does not state relationships.[2]

Where to look

Every missing item in the list comes with a "Where to look" note. It names the usual kinds of records for that fact and links only to sources this site already cites, such as the National Archives page that lists the Revolutionary War pension files (free on FamilySearch with login).[3] When no listed source fits, it says to ask your society's registrar.

Published cautions the matrix shows

The gap rules

Generations 1 to 3 need birth and death evidence, since DAR asks for complete dates and places for those generations.[1] Older generations need at least one birth or death record.[1] Every generation after you needs evidence for the link to the next generation, because DAR asks for each relationship to be documented.[1]

Related guides: The Patriot Lineage Proof Roadmap, No Birth Certificate?, Application Returned?.

Sources

  1. DAR Electronic Application — Step by Step instructions. Retrieved 2026-10-31. https://membership.dar.org/NSDAR/AppFormz/App_Help_Step_By_Step_1.aspx
  2. NSCDA (South Carolina) — Standards of Proof (rev. 7/14/2025). Retrieved 2026-10-31. https://nscdasnc.memberclicks.net/assets/membership/Standards%20of%20Proof%202025.pdf
  3. NARA — The American Revolution (research page). Retrieved 2026-10-31. https://www.archives.gov/research/military/american-revolution
  4. DAR Electronic Application — FAQs. Retrieved 2026-10-31. https://membership.dar.org/NSDAR/AppFormz/FAQs.aspx