DAR Project Documents NJ’s Revolutionary War Veterans

Posted on October 3, 2023 by

Dan DiBella Posted in Green Brook Gazette, Our Publications

*(above)* Holly Dunbar, *New Jersey DAR State Chairman*

Documenting NJ’s Revolutionary War Veterans

Elizabeth Snyder-Continental Chapter DAR

Two local women are helping create a new database of New Jersey Revolutionary War Soldiers. A project of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the database will be the most comprehensive produced to date utilizing a wide variety of sources.

“The hope is that this database will not only allow us to recognize and honor these veterans, but also help their descendants and researchers to learn about them,” said DAR volunteer Holly Dunbar. Working on Somerset County, Dunbar has compiled information on more than 1,700 individuals to date.

Project volunteers aim to find and record as much information about each patriot as possible. This includes dates and locations of birth, enlistment, death and burial; service record with rank and unit, battles, if wounded, taken prisoner or killed; family with names of spouses, parents and children; and the sources of this information. A special effort is being made to include women, African Americans and Native Americans.

“We are starting with the current DAR database, but also using church records, county and local histories, surviving military and pension records, newspapers, and more,” said Dunbar, who is a member of Elizabeth Snyder-Continental Chapter in Green Brook.

Another chapter member, Ruth Ryno, is working on Essex County, which also includes present-day Union and and part of Passaic County. “”I look forward to helping prepare this database in honor of our New Jersey patriots as our country prepares to celebrate America’s 250^thanniversary in 2026.” When the project is completed, the database will cover all of New Jersey and will be made available to the public.

DAR is a nonprofit nonpolitical service organization open to women 18 and older who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. Elizabeth Snyder-Continental Chapter is based in Green Brook and serves areas in Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties. New members are welcome. Contact ESCchapterDAR@gmail.com or learn more at DAR.org.