My gggg-grandfather, Christian Smith, served in the War of 1812. He was drafted into Captain Jacob Catterlin’s 2nd Regiment Ohio militia in Fairfield County, Ohio, and served from 1 Sept 1813 until 1 Mar 1814.  Christian was discharged at Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

A couple of months ago, I applied for membership into the U.S. Daughters of 1812.  Yesterday, I received confirmation that I’ve been accepted!  I’m so excited and pleased that I was able to prove direct lineal descent. I’ve been researching my family history for a long time;  I thought I knew about documenting lineage.   When I started filling out the application, I really learned about documentation.

Since Christian wasn’t listed in the U.S. Daughters of 1812 ancestor database, I had to detail all lineage connections.  (Hopefully he’ll be listed in the database soon!) Fortunately, I have his War of 1812 service and pension files, so proving service was not difficult.   What was challenging was getting all the birth, marriage, and death certificates from the other generations!