Affidavit of Family Bible records in DAR supporting documentation

By Anonymous on Tue, 02/02/2016 - 14:38

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I have received a DAR supporting documentation file that includes 3 different affidavits for long-lost family bibles. Here’s the citation I’ve come up with for them:

Bible and Cemetery Records of Catherine Edwards and Family, affidavit of Mrs. C. E. Austin [Erma Tradewell Austin] in documentation file supporting Membership Application of Susan Tradewell Lopau (National no. 518297) on David Secor Sr. (1721-1791, New York), submitted 29 Apr 1966; National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Office of the Registrar General, Washington, D.C.

I’ve decided to treat it in style like the Widow’s pension application in 4.21, because the affidavit styles for non-court filed affidavits (like 8.33), seem to be roughly similar. I also considered a layered citation, since all of the elements required for a citation of a Family Bible (3.27) are in the affidavit ([bible]; [affidavit]; [DAR]) but I wouldn’t be citing what I use, and because 4.21 really covers all I know about this document as well as how someone else can retrieve the same document.

I’d love some nits picked, but also I have a couple of questions:

  1. The phrase “Bilble and Cemetery Records of Catherine Edwards and Family” is listed essentially as a title of the affidavit, and is set off from the rest of the document by asterisks below it. Should I put quotes around it as though it were a title?
  2. I have David Secor Sr.’s DAR ancestry number, should I use that instead of the birth/death dates?
  3. I don’t have the approved date of the application, but I have the date submitted and used that instead. Is that advisable?

Submitted byEEon Wed, 02/03/2016 - 17:52

Rick, your've made good decisions here. The one nit that jumps out is the placement of the phrase "Office of the Registrar General."  You have chosen the classic archival format for citing a document, going from the smallest element up to the largest. But the Office of the Registrar General is a part of the larger NSDAR at Washington, DC. EE would switch those two elements.

Regarding your questions:

1. If the words "Bible and Cemetery Records of Catherine Edwards and Family" appear at the head of the affidavit and you've quoted it exactly, then yes, you should put quotation marks around it.

2. EE would use both David's DAR number and his dates/place. This, too, would be akin to citing a pension file in which we identify both the file number and the rank/unit/place data that identify the soldier.

3. The date of submission works fine. 

Is there a date on the affidavit itself? If so, that would  be a valuable piece of information to include. Again, to use the pension file analogy, if this were an affidavit in the pension case, we would cite who/what/when--the name of the  person who created the document, the nature of the document, and the date of the document.