Independence Day picnics and fireworks may seem very far off this early in the spring. Here's another concept related to the American Revolution that may be difficult to imagine: Many people who lived during that war survived into the age of photography.

Maureen Taylor is exploring this revolutionary idea by searching nationwide for portraits of men and women of the American Revolution. She has launched a blog to document her groundbreaking project, www.lastmuster.blogspot.com. David Lambert, the online genealogist at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, is working with Taylor on the project.

Taylor was the keynote speaker at the Lancaster Family History Conference a few weeks ago. She gave me some clues to help determine whether your old family photo depicts a Revolutionary War ancestor. Keep in mind that Revolutionary War ancestors include not only soldiers and sailors but also their wives and children.

The photographs would be mostly daguerreotypes. As of the 1850s, however, they could take other forms, such as paper prints, tintypes and ambrotypes. Daguerreotypes are cased and need to be held at an angle to see the image. Tintypes are also cased and were produced on a sheet of iron. Ambrotypes are cased images on glass.

The subjects of the photographs would be very old, between 80 and 100 years of age. You may wonder how many people would live to that age in the mid-19th century. According to Taylor, many more than you might expect! The oldest subject of a photograph in the book she is compiling is 114.

Count yourself fortunate if the people in your family photographs are identified. More likely they are not. In either case, you will need to do some detective work.

Try to discover the provenance — a timeline of the ownership of the photo. From which side of your family did the photo come?

Who of that family line had the right life span to be photographed? Check your pedigree charts, family group sheets and ahnentafels (German for "ancestor table"). Do you have original records that lend credence to the data on your genealogical forms?

When you narrow the possibilities, check for their names in published and Internet sources that document Revolutionary War service. If your ancestor lived in Pennsylvania, research the published Pennsylvania Archives series. You can find information online at www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us.

You should also check the DAR Patriot Index created by the Daughters of the American Revolution. You will find this book in many libraries, including the Lancaster County Historical Society's. Another source to consult is the Web site of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, at www.sar.org. The group has an online library catalog.

If you already have an image of a suspected Revolutionary War ancestor, contact Taylor via her Web site and let her know. If you don't know, begin your search today! You may be able to show off a photo of your Revolutionary War ancestor at your Independence Day picnic.

Kevin Shue, Certified GenealogistSM, is the genealogist at the Lancaster County Historical Society. Send your questions about how to trace your family's history to "It's All Relative," Lancaster County Historical Society, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster, PA 17603. The columnists will not be able to answer each letter personally. Process-related questions will be answered in a future column. For additional information on genealogy or the society's research services, consult www.lancasterhistory.org.