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Inadmissible Sources

Summary: Documents and source types that SAR explicitly rejects as evidence for service, lineage, or vital statistics, with explanations of why.

Sources: National Society, Sons of the American Revolution.md (GCP Section 3.5006), # Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).md (APG, Using Inadmissible Documents as Evidence), raw/guidelines-1.md, raw/SAR-Application-Formatting-Guide.pdf

Last updated: 2026-04-20

General Rule

Documents that state beliefs or conclusions but for which acceptable sources of information cannot be determined are inadmissible. (source: National Society, Sons of the American Revolution.md, GCP 3.5006)

However, inadmissible documents may still be useful as research leads to find actual admissible evidence. An inadmissible source combined with new admissible documentation can be cited together in a [[proof-argument]].

Explicitly Inadmissible Sources

Newspaper accounts

Published well after the lifetimes of the persons or events, unless admissible sources can be determined. (Note: obituaries and wedding announcements that are contemporary are acceptable — see [[acceptable-sources]].)

Added information on vital records

Information added to transcripts or abstracts of vital records or tombstone inscriptions. This includes narrative added to or in lieu of posted tombstone photographs.

Published accounts without sourcing

Family histories, local histories, biographical dictionaries, and newspaper articles not contemporary with the persons or events reported — unless admissible sources can be determined. This specifically includes works that relate family tradition or draw conclusions without presenting or citing admissible evidence. - Named example: Works of Livia Nye Simpson-Poffenbarger purporting to identify soldiers who participated in the Battle of Pt. Pleasant. (source: National Society, Sons of the American Revolution.md, GCP 3.5006)

Undocumented family trees and GEDCOMs

Includes trees on Ancestry.com, World Family Tree, Rootsweb.com, and similar online sites or personal family pages.

Compilations from inadmissible sources

  • International Genealogical Index (IGI)
  • U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560–1900 (Ancestry.com)
  • LDS Ancestral File
  • American Genealogical and Biographical Index (AGBI) on Ancestry.com

SAR/DAR system printouts

  • Pages printed from the SAR Patriot Research System
  • Pages printed from the DAR Genealogical Research System
  • Family Group Sheets from the SAR Patriot Index or similar sources
  • Screen prints of SAR record copies from Ancestry.com
  • DAR "Descendants Database Search" copies from the DAR GRS website
  • DAR Lineage Books or DAR State Society rosters of patriots
  • SAR Patriot and Grave Index entries

Unpublished online transcriptions

Transcriptions or abstracts of wills or other legal documents posted online (must submit the actual record instead).

Index cards

Such as the Mennonite Index Cards — submit the actual source the card cites, not the index card.

Unsupported prior application information

Information from prior SAR, DAR, or CAR applications that lacks citations or where the sources have since been found unreliable.

Documents so illegible the applicant has written in the information

These cannot be taken at face value.

Photographs with applicant-added names or lineage information

Sources not accepted for proof of Revolutionary service

The following are inadmissible specifically for proving a patriot's service (source: raw/SAR-Application-Formatting-Guide.pdf): - Family histories - County histories, unless they quote original "records of the day" (e.g., town/county court minutes included in a county history are usually acceptable) - Tombstones or grave markers, including those ordered from the VA - Memorial plaques - DAR and SAR patriot indexes, or online DAR GRS pages (note: the DAR GRS printout does not prove service — only the actual DAR record copy does)

Oral, written, or published family traditions

May be wrong and are not accepted as proof. (source: raw/guidelines-1.md)

Applicant-authored or family-authored material

Material authored by the applicant or a member of their family cannot be accepted as proof. (source: raw/guidelines-1.md) (Note: this also applies to published books — see [[acceptable-sources]].)

Lineage papers from other patriotic or hereditary societies

Applications and lineage papers from other societies (accepted or not) are not proof by themselves. However, the underlying documents cited by those papers might qualify as acceptable evidence. (source: raw/guidelines-1.md)

Implied Proof — What Does Not Actually State the Fact

Documents used as proof must actually state the fact to be proved. The following are examples of implied or circumstantial connections that are not acceptable as proof on their own (source: raw/guidelines-1.md):

Unnamed heirs in court records: Individuals listed only as "heirs" or "heirs-at-law" are not proved as blood relatives unless the applicable law at the time limited heirs to bloodline descendants.

1850–1870 census age-group listings: These censuses show the head of household by name, with other household members listed only by age group. They cannot prove relationship by themselves. The 1880 census is the first to show relationship to the head of household. (Conflict: SAR's GCP 3.4001 does accept 1850–1870 household groupings as proof of lineage unless conflicting evidence exists — GCP governs for SAR applications.)

Child's birthplace: A child's birth in a county proves only that the mother was in that county at the time, not the father.

Same land, same name: Owning the same land as an earlier person of the same name — whether inherited or purchased — does not prove blood descent.

Next-door neighbors: Proximity on a census or tax record does not prove any relationship.

What Inadmissible Documents Can Still Do

While none of the above constitute acceptable proof on their own, they can: - Provide research leads to actual admissible records - Be cited alongside admissible documentation in a [[proof-argument]] to support a conclusion

When using an unsourced book as a clue, cite the book along with the new admissible documentation in the proof argument. (source: # Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).md, APG Published Sources)

  • [[acceptable-sources]]
  • [[record-copies]]
  • [[genealogical-proof-standard]]
  • [[proof-argument]]