Do you have an ancestor that fought in the Revolutionary War? If your last name is Anthony, Arnold, Brang, Diehl, Getz, Henry, Horn, Kresge, Labar, Learn, Meixsell, Neuhart, Santee, Serfass, Sterner or Weiss, then chances are you are a descendant of a patriot.

For Dorothy Telesky, a member of the Barrett Township Historical Society in Monroe County, these last names are connected to her ancestors, men who fought during the Revolutionary War.

“I didn’t have any idea I had more than one,” Telesky said. “And so now, a couple months into it having found so many, then having read what they did, where they served, and what their widows got as pension, it’s just been fascinating to me.”

The Barrett and Paradise Township historical societies are looking for descendants of the Revolutionary War patriots in order to honor their ancestors Patriot Recognition Day.

“We have people who are descendants of people who fought in the Revolution and maybe they don’t know they are a descendant and maybe they’d like to find out and be recognized,” Telesky said.

In addition to the many books of materials at the historical society that can help people locate their ancestors, the members of the historical society said there are free online genealogy websites for research, such as familysearch.org, genealogybank.com, Pennsylvania GenWeb at pagenweb.org, the Pennsylvania Genealogical Society at genpa.org, and the Pennsylvania State Archives at https://www.pa.gov/agencies/phmc/pa-state-archives. The historical society has a complete list of free and subscription based website to use for research.

“In my own personal research, I’ve been amazed at how many patriots are in my family tree that I didn’t know about, so what we’d like to encourage people is if you don’t know, find out,” Telesky said.

The Patriot Recognition Day will be held at 1 p.m. July 12 at the Barrett Township Administrative and Recreation Complex in Cresco at with the Philadelphia Fife and Drum Company, American Legion Color Guard, representatives from the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution, and local dignitaries on hand for the event.

Cassandra Deitz, a member of the historical society, recommended looking for information on the Daughters of the American Revolution website.

“If you have the name, you can always go there to check to see if anyone else falls under that particular name,” Deitz said.

The historical society plans to present a certificate to the descendants and announce the names of each of the patriots being recognized that day.

Telesky said the descendants do not have to be living in Monroe County to participate. They are just looking to recognize patriots from the area and surrounding counties.

Jacqueline Magann, one of the founders of the Barrett Township Historical Society, said, “The wonderful thing is that people who discover their patriots can include their children and their children’s children, so there can be others than themselves receiving that day.”

Magann said she is looking forward to the event.

“I’m sure that there’s going to be people sitting in the chairs to receive their certificates, saying hello to their neighbor, and realizing they may be related. I think there’s going to be a camaraderie that you haven’t seen before,” she said.

Several members of the historical society plan to dress up in Revolutionary War period clothing for the event and encourage others to dress up.

“We’re recognizing what went on 250 years ago, but really we’re celebrating what’s going on today,” Telesky said.

To apply to be included in receiving a certificate on Patriot Recognition Day, complete a form at barretthistorical.org or email them at barretthistorical@gmail.com by May 31.

The Barrett Township Historical Society has events planned for each month this year:

• Today at 7 p.m., “Pennsylvania Women in the American Revolution” will be presented at the Barrett-Paradise Friendly Library;

• June 14 — Flag Day Celebration and Ice Cream Social at the Cresco Train Station from 1 to 4 p.m.;

• Aug. 16 — The Parkside Chapel will be open from 1 to 3 p.m.;

• Sept. 13 — Music of 1776 at 2 p.m. at Mountainhome United Methodist Church. The event also will feature a skit celebrating the “Making of the Flag” with Betsy Ross and George Washington;

• Oct. 16 — “Revolutionary War in Pennsylvania” series presented by author John Moore at 2 p.m. at the Barrett-Paradise Friendly Library;

• Nov. 20 — “Quilts of the Revolutionary Period” will be presented by Jacqueline Magann at 2 p.m. at the Barrett-Paradise Friendly Library, and;

• Dec. 18 — “A Colonial Christmas Gathering” from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Barrett-Paradise Friendly Library.