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Membership Information The Peyton Society of Virginia welcomes your interest in our organization and your application for membership. Our members share an interest in the genealogy and history of the Peyton family and enjoy collaborating with one another to further this interest. The Society’s genealogical records have been amassed over a number of decades from the information provided in applications, and we are always pleased to add new records to that body of knowledge. We seek accuracy and completeness in documentation and ask applicants to provide the strongest possible proof in support of their applications. We understand it may be difficult or impossible to do so at times. The Society’s Genealogist will review your application in the light of experience to determine its sufficiency and use discretion in determining the appropriateness of various forms of documentation. When primary documentation is unavailable, the applicant should obtain an official statement from the records custodian that the record in question is unavailable and submit the statement with the application. We highly recommend that you make a copy of the application form to use as a work sheet. The final application form preferably will be typewritten, although forms submitted in legible, block letters will be accepted. A photocopy of the completed application must be returned to the Society with the completed original application. The name of the person through whom the line ascends is listed on the top line of ascent. Each paper must be complete in itself. Applicants may cite the application paper of a relative who is already a member, but all proofs cited in another application paper must be listed. Supporting documents filed with a relative's paper need not be duplicated. A sample copy of a completed application is enclosed. Proof of parentage must be furnished for every generation. Beginning with the applicant, a birth certificate is required and, if applicable, a marriage certificate. For Generation 2, birth certificates are required if living--if deceased, death certificates--and a marriage certificate. Complete dates and places of birth, death, and marriage are requested when available. Full names, not initials, are also requested when available. Dates are written as day month year, e.g.: 4 July 1776. Sources must be provided for every name, date, or place cited in the application. Sign both copies on the last page of the application form and return completed forms. Only one full set of proofs is required. Proof of descent found in published sources--e.g., Hayden's Virginia Genealogies or The Peytons of Virginia--is acceptable only as supplemental or back up to primary sources. Such accounts will be considered authentic only when substantiated by references to wills, deeds, other court records, and source materials. CERTIFIED or PHOTOCOPIES of all source material must be submitted. Many custodians no longer permit photocopying of fragile materials. Handwritten copies attested by the custodian are acceptable instead. All proofs must be clearly marked with the number of the generation to which they refer. All exhibits sent as proofs are filed with the member's papers and become the property of The Peyton Society of Virginia. Bible records must be in the form of photostat or machine copies and include the title page and all pages of the family record. However, where the custodian will not permit this, handwritten copies attested by the custodian will be accepted. Mark generation number by names appearing in the lineage. Cemetery inscriptions must be verbatim copies from the record of the superintendent or legible photographs of the grave markers. Many cemeteries do not record tombstone inscriptions and many tombstones are no longer legible. Cemetery records should at least record the names and dates of interments in the plot and should be attested by the custodian. The name and location of the cemetery must be given. Newspaper clippings or obituary notices must be originals or photocopies of the entire clipping, showing name of newspaper and date of publication. Unpublished family information and family group sheets are not acceptable proofs. Membership in or lineage papers of other societies are not acceptable as proof. Life Members must establish to the satisfaction of the Society that they are of lineal descent from an Eighteenth or earlier Century Virginia Peyton. An applicant who either is an adopted child, step-child, or foster child of a Life Member or is of lineal descent from Virginia Peytons but has not established a Seventeenth or Eighteenth Century Virginia Peyton ancestor may become an Associate Member. Completed lineage forms must be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee of $25 and should be mailed to Membership Secretary John F. Peyton, 8800 Antonia Avenue, Manassas, VA 20110. The check should be made payable to The Peyton Society of Virginia. All applications will be reviewed for completeness, and only completed lineage forms will be forwarded to the Society’s Genealogist. Those who submit incomplete applications shall be notified what additional information or documentation is required. The Genealogist’s review of your application should be finished within six months. Please understand that we are not able to complete your application for you as all of our time is volunteered to the Society. If the application is approved, the new member will be notified and will be billed for the appropriate membership fee: $200 for applicants under age 50, and $150 for applicants age 50 or older. Membership fees can also be paid by interest-free installments of a minimum of $25 per year until the entire fee is paid. Once a member has fully paid the assessed fee, then the Membership Secretary will send the member a certificate of membership.
The Peyton Society of Virginia
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