Inadequate research can result in faulty information that leads to genealogical obstacles for others. When repeated by a well-meaning descendant, it risks becoming a myth when passed from one generation to the next. The remedy is, of course, to surface documented information that presents the facts to others. Myths, however, don't die easily - regardless of overwhelming evidence.

Our family confronted what might be termed a "myth" which, because it relates to "Fife Genealogy", may be of interest to you.

There is a tradition in my family that our ancestor, William Fife, who was born in 1751 and died in Allegheny County in the year 1808, was a captain in the Washington County (Pennsylvania) Militia during the Revolution. This William Fife led his militia company as part of Colonel Crawford's 1782 expedition against the Indians at Upper Sandusky in the Ohio country.

Captain Fife was the great grandfather of my maternal grandmother.

Distant relatives in the past had become members of The Daughters of The American Revolution (DAR) and The Sons of The American Revolution (SAR) using our William Fife as Captain. This took place as early as 1900, and as late as the 1930s.

In 1977, my mother's sister tried to become a member of the DAR, but her application was turned down on the basis that her Fife ancestor was not the Captain in the militia company. Apparently the problem was that there were three William Fife persons in the area. Another Fife family line had claimed their William as Captain. The three Williams were:

1. William Fife, Senior. The brother of John Fife, the pioneer. This William was born about 1720; died 1794. He had married Jane, surname unknown.

2. William Fife, Son of William Senior. Born 1757; died 1838.

3. William Fife, Son of John Fife, The Pioneer. Born 1751; died 1808. This William married Margaret Boyd. He was our William.

Since the 1930s, some descendants of William Fife, Senior had claimed that he was Captain Fife. They had passed on tales about their "Captain Billy" who had protected the frontier. They wrote local histories containing that story. And, in fact, they erected a monument in Bethel Church Cemetery to his memory as Captain.

A myth had been created!

The descendants of William Fife, Senior became members of the DAR and SAR using their ancestor as Captain. The DAR was confused, and their records became a complete tangle. They finally approved William Fife, Senior as Captain of the militia company, thus eliminating our William Fife (1751-1808).

My Aunt asked me to write the National Society of DAR headquarters in Washington, D.C., in order to try to convince them about the true identity of our William Fife. I realized that this would not be easy because the printed records were not clear as to which William was the Captain.

All militia records are printed in books titled "The Pennsylvania Archives". From these records, I picked a return of William Fife's company that looked like it might have been signed by the Captain. I went to the Pennsylvania State Archives building in Harrisburg where they located the original Washington County Militia return. They made a certified copy for me. As I had hoped, William Fife had signed the return. I then wrote to the Register of Wills for Allegheny County and obtained a certified copy of the wills of the three William Fifes.

The wills revealed that William Fife, Senior, whose will was probated in 1794, could not write his name. He made his mark. William Fife, son of William Senior, who died in 1838, had signed his will but the signature was clearly not the captain's. William Fife, son of John, the pioneer, signed his will in 1808 in a shaky hand shortly before he died. His signature was most certainly the same signature as the Captain's.

That's when I began an exchange of correspondence in 1977 with the National Society of the DAR in Washington, D.C. I asked the DAR about their records on Captain Fife. I related my findings. I received in response a letter from Mrs. Herbert White, Registrar General, showing me their records for four (4) William Fifes, not three. Two of them were as Captain with different dates and wives. Our William (1751-1808) was listed as a private in the Virginia Continental Line. Their records were a mess!

Mrs. White asked me to send the original certified militia return and the three wills so that she could compare the Fife signatures because I had pointed out the similarities in my first letter.

After I sent the copies to Mrs. White, I received a letter from her that acknowledged our William Fife (1751-1808) as Captain in the Washington County Militia. She showed how the DAR had changed its records.

The DAR finally had the right Captain Fife! But there was more .

The area where the Fifes lived was west of the Monongahela River. It had been claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania prior to 1780. Virginia gave up its claim and the area was part of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania until 1781 when it became Washington County. The same area became Allegheny County in 1787. This explains how our William Fife (1751-1808) could be in a Virginia unit, a Westmoreland County unit, and a Washington County unit during the same war. Mrs. White's letter failed to mention any service in the Westmoreland County Militia for any of the Williams, but circumstantial evidence supports the fact that our William was the one who served in this unit.

At the same time, I sent a letter to the Virginia State Library in Richmond requesting any records they had relating to a Revolutionary soldier name William Fife. That library responded that he was a private in the 12th Virginia Regiment, on payrolls for the period from March 1777 through April 1778. The only period that he was not with his Company was in July 1777 when the notation "sick in hospital" appears next to his name. That library also advised that the entire Virginia Continental Line, including the 12th Regiment, was at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778. The Richmond library suggested that I write to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to determine what information they might have in their records.

The National Archives sent to me the pension request papers of William's wife, Margaret Fife, nee Boyd, prepared in 1839. These papers included an affidavit from Margaret's son, Nathaniel, her sister-in-law, Mary Patterson, and Margaret. The affidavit tells about William's enlistment at Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) in Captain Andrew Waggoner's Company, the 12th Virginia Regiment, for eighteen months. They said he went over the mountains and was in the battle of Brandywine and other battles.

The fact that our William Fife (1751-1808) was a trained and experienced soldier in the Continental Line in 1777-1778 is even more justification why, in 1782, at the age of 31 years, he was commissioned Captain in the Washington County Militia.

A myth has been laid to rest at least in the official records. This myth, however, continues to be perpetuated in the form of local histories and memorial plaques.

David M. Riker
March 25, 1998
E-mail: d_riker@juno.com