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HEN DORIS Barnes and her husband retired to Orange County in 2001, she had no idea she was coming home to her roots.
She knew about long-dead forebears in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Georgia.
And she knew of Quaker ancestors in New Jersey and French Huguenot kin in Maryland.
But Virginia? Orange County?
She'd never imagined she was related to anybody who had ever set foot on the rolling hills of red dirt in Orange County.
But Doris Barnes isn't a nationally recognized genealogist for no reason.
Obsessed with painstakingly documenting the generations that have gone before, Barnes ultimately stumbled upon a distant grandfather who was a captain in the Continental Army and served in the American Revolution.
Capt. Benjamin Head lived in Orange County.
Barnes is descended from him through his son, Ensign James Head, who also fought in the Revolution and lived in Orange County.
"You can't imagine how thrilling it was to learn about them," she said. "I am so proud to have ancestors who were right here in Orange County where I live. Who knows, I might be walking in their footsteps every day."
Barnes lives at Lake of the Woods. She doesn't know where Benjamin and James Head lived in Orange County, but one of these days she hopes to learn more about them and "put some meat on their bones."
For now, she's busy helping other people locate their ancestors.
She's a founding member and organizing registrar of the Susannah Chandler Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, formed in 2002.
A pants-wearing, knee-slapping 72-year-old grandmother, Barnes defies the DAR stereotype of a prissy, blue-haired lady in a silk dress.
The fact is, Barnes says, there is no typical DAR type, and her chapter includes members ranging from college age to their mid-90s.
Genealogical research is part of her job as registrar.
Prospective members must be able to prove lineage back to an ancestor who was a soldier or provided aid in the American fight for independence.
Of the 46 original members of the Susannah Chandler Chapter, 29 women had never been DAR members.
With Barnes' help, they all found documented records of their lines and completed their genealogical papers to become founding members of the chapter.
Barnes had previously been the organizing registrar for a chapter she helped start in Dale City.
Last fall the DAR's lineage-research committee presented Barnes with its National Individual Award of Merit.
The award recognizes her skill, research methods and enthusiasm for genealogy.
She says the recognition is wonderful, but she shies away from the notion that she's an expert.
To her, genealogy is simply the greatest hobby in the world.
"Oh, honey, I'm not a professional," she says. "I don't have any degrees and there are no initials behind my name. I just have a love of genealogy and some experience. It is so much fun."
Barnes hasn't always known or cared about her ancestry.
Born and raised in Camden, Ark., she was grew up with the boy who would ultimately become her husband.
Her mother was interested in genealogy but "never did anything with it," Barnes said. "I think she was waiting for me to do it."
After college and marriage, she and George settled in Woodbridge, where they lived for many years while he worked as a pharmacist for Drug Fair and its successive owners.
Doris was office manager and accountant for a French restaurant in Alexandria before she retired.
After her mother's death 13 years ago, Barnes came into possession of some notes her mother had saved that had been written by her own mother.
Intrigued with the family stories and bits of history her grandmother had recorded, Barnes decided to see what else she could find about previous generations.
She found lots of resources that were easily accessed at libraries and collections right in the Washington area.
Soon she had documented her own descent from a Revolutionary War soldier and joined the DAR.
In no time, she was hooked on genealogy.
Her research led to her qualifying for membership in a number of genealogical societies.
She belongs to the Society of Indiana Pioneers, First Families of Georgia, and First Families of the Twin Territories.
Her husband belongs to First Families of Tennessee.
"George teases me all the time that his family goes back to Jamestown and I don't," she says.
George has an ancestor who came to Jamestown in 1618.
Barnes says her earliest known ancestor is Garrett Van Swearingen, a Dutchman who came to Maryland in the 1600s and married Barbara de Barrett, a French Huguenot.
Barnes' goal as a genealogist is not only to find names and documented evidence of ancestry.
"Names and dates of birth, death and marriage are just the bones," she said. "When you can uncover details about their lives and learn something about how they lived and what personal struggles they faced, that's putting meat on the bones."
She learned, for example, that one branch of her family came to Indiana in 1811, and her research led to an interesting tidbit.
"Someone wrote that the family kept pigs, and they had to put logs over top of the pigpens to keep the bears out," she said. "Just think about that--having to protect your pigs from bears.
"That's what I love about genealogy. It makes you appreciate the struggles of the ones who came before you and it enriches your understanding of who you are."
To reach SUSAN SCOTT NEAL: 540/374-5701 sneal@freelancestar.com
