Sons of the American Revolution

It has been a while since I've contributed via text (I tend to do the behind the scenes photo and video portions), so here goes.

This past Tuesday I went to my first SAR meeting held at the University Club in downtown Shreveport (right across the street from my office). You have to prove that you had an ancestor contribute to the American Revolution in order to join the SAR. I can't take any credit for doing the research (thanks Mom), but it has been very interesting learning about where part of my mother's side comes from. The local chapter president was very impressed at the application's organization (says he is going to have any new members use my template). Kudos Mom!

I am still technically a guest as I am still waiting on one last document to send in my application to "national," but was invited to come to this meeting after my application was reviewed by the local chapter's president. The meeting had its corny moments (there is a pledge to the SAR at the start of each meeting, as well as a recessional). There was an interesting guest speaker though; the head of the Caddo Parish Public Library. I thought I was going to be the youngest by a few decades, but there were two younger gentlemen (I'm guessing mid 30s). The rest of the group ranged from the 60s to a guy who was 98! They were very interesting guys and the few I was able to talk to over lunch had some great stories. One of the guys graduated from University of Houston back in the 50s in physical therapy; he told me that his first annual salary was $3300!

Now on to the ancestor. As I stated above, our Revolutionary War ancestor was John Lyle. He was a Lt. in the First Battalion of Northampton County Militia as of Dec. 10, 1776. Later on he was promoted to Captain of the 6th company of the 6th Batalion of Northampton Militia. His name is on the Revolutionary Way Memorial plaque in Cross Creek Cemetary, PA. There is a book about the Lyles, which takes the ancestry back quite a bit farther back to the time of William the Conquerer (1040 ish).

Mira will be able to join the DAR (if she turns out to be a history buff like myself). Teresa and I were trying to come up with an acronym for her title, but only came up with WSAR ("Wife of a Son of the American Revolution").