Gene Smith is pictured with his wife, Loretta. Submitted photo

All it takes to apply to become a member of any local Sons or Daughters of the American Revolution chapter is one connection to a Revolutionary Way patriot.

But for some area residents, there are more than one connection to the American Revolution.

Gene Smith has multiple different connections to the Revolutionary War, and so does his wife, Loretta Smith. All together, he said, their daughter has about 14 connections from both of their sides of the family. Most recently, Smith’s connection to patriot Uriah Scofield was celebrated during the installation of a Patriot Marker by the Pomeroy Foundation in the Dewittville cemetery a few weeks ago. Smith also has a connection to John Pickard, who is buried in Redbird Cemetery where another Patriot Marker was recently placed. Smith said his connection to Pickard comes from his grandmother’s Vanderwark side, and he also has several other connections including one that is buried in Springfield, N.Y., and another, Edmund Maxham in Massachusetts. Maxham served in the war for about two weeks, but it was during an early alarm in Boston, and Smith said others of his ancestors were very involved in the war, including at sea.

“It always amazes me that they dropped their farm tools and went off to war at a moment’s notice,” Smith said. “Some had militia training, but they really just dropped everything and went.”

For Smith, his multiple connections to the American Revolution come because of having three grandparents whose lines trace back to New England. Loretta Smith also has two lines of her family that go back to New England. Smith said he really became interested in all of his connections when their daughter, Sarah Johnson, became interested and was working on an application to join the DAR after Loretta Smith did. Following that, Smith decided to look into his own side of the family and applied to join his local SAR chapter through a patriot he said was named Hughes. Since then they have added more, and some of their cousins have been able to join as well. Smith’s local SAR meets monthly in Stockton.

Smith said he felt it was pretty unusual to have so many connections to the Revolution, as he said less than half of Jamestown has a family that branches back to New England. About 50%, he said, were of Swedish descent at one time, with the biggest influx being in the 1870s and 1880s.

“I became interested because it’s very unusual,” Smith said. “Most are lucky to have one connection. I’ve been continuing my research and found seven or eight connections on my side from both of my grandparents, and Loretta has five or six.”

With their daughter working on an inheritance application for the Revolution, Smith said because of the family’s multiple connections she will be able to purchase an ancestor bar once approved, which is something he said they are proud of.

As America’s 250th birthday approaches and with the recent sign installations by the Pomeroy Foundation in the Dewittville and Red Bird cemeteries, Smith said he has been prompted to continue his research into his Revolution connections. He has found multiple books leading to New England, New York and Massachusetts during the Revolution, and has been doing extra research at the Fenton History Center, who also has multiple different books on the Revolution.

America reaching its 250th birthday is important, Smith said, as it reflects on the length of time America has been able to carry on as a nation following multiple battles to gain independence. He said this is important to remember, adding that multiple people are planning travels for related events, including local SAR and DAR chapters.

Altogether, Smith said there are books detailing 300 burials of Revolutionary War patriots in Chautauqua County. Smith noted that with the county being far away from where most of the battles took place, this is exceptional, and he would like to see more schools get students involved in remembering these patriots, and to see more people sign up for the local SAR and DAR chapters as well. He noted that at the Dewittville sign installation fourth grade students from Chautauqua Lake Central School were there participating.

“Schools should get more kids involved in remembering these patriots,” Smith said. “There are still dozens of people in the county that are eligible to join the SAR or Jamestown chapter of the DAR. There are two other DAR chapters in the North County. I’d like to see these organizations grow.”