Established in 1983, and now with over 650 active members nationwide, the Descendants of the Founders of Ancient Windsor is pleased to be part of the Thirteenth
New England Regional Genealogical Conference. Attendees will not want to miss becoming familiar with this unusual society with roots in traditional lineage relationships but open to members regardless of their ability or interest in proving direct descendancy to one of Windsor’s Founders.
The purpose of the Descendants of the Founders of Ancient Windsor is to record and preserve the history and genealogy of the founders of ancient Windsor, their families, and their descendants. Persons support that purpose by paying membership fees and dues as well as with their leadership and participation. Founders are individuals who appear on records pertaining to Windsor by the end of 1641. Over 130 such heads of households have been identified and are presented in our
Founders List. Many persons with roots in Colonial times are descended from multiple families on our Founders List. However, although DFAW is a lineage association, documented descent from a Founder is not a pre-requisite for membership.
Because DFAW wishes to gather and to verify as much genealogical data as possible, we request that members with bloodline descent from one or more Founders take a second step when their time and resources permit and fill out a Lineage Form complete with standard proofs of descent. After that line is verified by our genealogist, DFAW issues a Certificate of Lineage. Lineage Forms with instructions for documentation are available from the membership secretary (Pamela Roberts), returned for initial review to the Registrar (Olivia Patch) and sent on to the Genealogist (Edwin W. Strickland II) for full review.
In our thirty-one years of existence, we have gathered much primary and published material on the Founding Families of Windsor. Our information is contained in a computerized database. Much of that database, as well as our library collection, is available during regular hours at the
Windsor Historical Society in Windsor, Connecticut. For information about on line research requests go to
http://windsorhistoricalsociety.org/research_requests.html
We maintain contact with our members through two means: a quarterly newsletter and semi-annual meetings. Our 12-page newsletter is edited by the current DFAW President and NERGC 2015 Tri-Chair Richard Roberts and includes articles submitted by members on new genealogical findings, upcoming meetings, and other items of importance to Windsor descendants. Our Annual Meeting occurs on the Saturday closest to Windsor's birthday, September 26. Our Spring Luncheon usually occurs on the last Saturday of March but this year it will take place on March 14. Meetings feature a speaker, food, and the opportunity to share news with other Windsor
