Class ^a^a.
Book
CopyiightN"^!^ LS
COPYRIGHT DEPOSrR
j£jt-^!k-X^''
Story of the Records D. A. R.
by
Mary S. Lockwood
and Emily Lee Sherwood
(MRS. W. H. RAGAN)
There is always room and occasion enough for a true book on any subject. " — Thoreau.
WASHINGTON, D. C
1906
t-^"*^
w^^
LIBHARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Received
NOV 24 1905
1 Copyright Lntry loUSS A XKc/, No, GOPY%.
'M\
MARY S. LOCK WOOD.
Dedication
TO THE FIFTY THOUSAND DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION THIS VOLUME IS MOST CORDIALLY
AND SINCERELY DEDICATED BY THE
AUTHORS, AS A LABOR OF
LOVE,
Copyrighted 1906
by
Mary S. Lockwood
and
Emily Lee Sherwood Ragan
Published by
GEORGE E. HOWARD
Washington, D. C
Contents Part 1
CHAPTER I. Organization.
CHAPTER H. Incidents following organization.
CHAPTER HI. Reminiscences of the first D. A. R. Continental Congress.
CHAPTER IV. Insignia.
CHAPTER V. Personnel and Work of Board of Managers.
CHAPTER VI. Department Work.
CHAPTER VII. Patriotic Work of the Society.
CHAPTER VIII. Memorial Continental Hall.
CHAPTER IX. The Presidents General.
CHAPTER X. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Contents
Part 2
Chapter History
CHAPTER I.
Massachusetts.
CHAPTER n. Connecticut.
CHAPTER HI. Rhode Island: New Hampshire: Vermont: Maine.
CHAPTER IV. New York.
CHAPTER V. New Jersey: Pennsylvania: Delaware: Maryland.
CHAPTER VI. District of Columbia.
CHAPTER VII. Georgia: North and South Carolina.
CHAPTER VIII. Virginia.
CHAPTER IX. Kentucky: Tennessee.
CHAPTER X. Ohio: Indiana: Illinois.
CHAPTER XI.
Missouri : Montana : Kansas : Nebraska : Colorado : Arizona ;
Arkansas.
CHAPTER XII.
California: Washington: Alaska: Minnesota: Iowa: Michigan: Wisconsin.
CHAPTER XIII.
Texas: Louisiana: New Mexico: Alabama: Mississippi North Dakota: South Dakota: Florida.
CHAPTER XIV. The Islands of the Sea— Membership at Large.
CHAPTER XV. National Society Children American Revolution.
Illustrations
Part 1
Mary S. Lockwood Frontispiece Facing
Plate Page
Application Papers 2 23 "^
Facsimile of the Eighteen First Signers 3 24
Copies of Society's Seal 4 26
Photograph of Mrs. Darling's Letter of Resigna- tion 5 29
Cuts of Insignia 6 40
Copies of Medals 7 42
Memorial Continental Hall 8 74
Mrs, Harrison's Portrait j First President General, 9 90
The Huntington Portrait 10 92
Mrs. Stevenson, Second President General 11 94
Mrs. Foster, Third President General 12 96
Mrs. Manning, Fourth President General 13 98
Mrs. Fairbanks, Fifth President General 14 102
Mrs. McLean, Sixth President General 15 104
Part 2
Emily Lee Sherwood Ragan Frontispiece 16 115
Sarah Bradley Memorial 17 128
Ellsworth House 18 146
Colonial Ball, Buffalo 19 166
Carrying Place 20 174
Tablet Soldiers and Sailors, Onondago 21 180
Monmouth Monument 22 184
Paulus Hook Monument 23 186
Fort Pitt Block House 24 198
Narcisus Whitman Fountain 25 288
An Army of Two 26 308
Foreword
IFTEEN years have elapsed since the organiza- tion of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Four of the eighteen women organizers — descendants of patriotic sires — have already passed away. The authors of this book are of the remaining survivors. One, at whose house the organization was perfected, has continually been in close touch with the Society, having held responsible official positions therein, from the beginning; while the other, scarcely less conspicuous and well-known, gave to the world, through the medium of the Press, the first public announcement of its existence as an organization, in the Sunday Herald of Washington, D. C, October i6, 1890. And as this society has since achieved such phenomenal prominence among patriotic associations, the writers have assumed that these golden opportunities have fitted them for the task, although to tell the straight and simple story of the birth, development and steady growth of this splendid organization, is not an easy one. In making this transcript, it has seemed necessary to divide the Records into two parts. The First relating to Organization, and the events that have signalized the life of the National Society ; while the Second is devoted to Chapter History, exclusively, or the historic work that has been undertaken and accomplished. There has been such an embarrassment of riches to draw from, it will not be surprising if some of the good things worthy of mention have been inadvertently over- looked. Therefore, for whatever may be lacking, the authors crave the readers' indulgence, since they have only under- taken to write from their point of view, based upon Society Records, without prejudice; withholding nothing which they considered necessary to a complete review of all the data. They now oflFer this volume to the reader, fully be- lieving that a careful perusal of its pages will not be dis- appointing to the searcher for facts.
Mary S. Lock wood. Emily Lee Sherwood Ragan. Washington, D. C, January 7, 1906.
The Publisher's Word
One word about the authors and their claims to credi- bility. The "Story of the Records" is the collaboration of two vigorous and well-known writers of Washington, D. C, both of whom are Charter members of the National Society: both signers on the day of organization, October II, 1890. One of them, Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood, Hon- orary Vice President General for life, was the first His- torian General of the Society, and has had official relation with the Board of Management in some capacity ever since, and was the one to whom was awarded a special "Service Medal," than which, in the estimation of mankind, there can be no greater public recognition. At the time of the organization of this society Mrs. Lockwood was a member of the Board of Lady Managers of the Worlds Columbian Exposition, through the recommendation of President Benjamin Harrison. She is author of "Historic Homes of Washington" and "Hand Book of Ceramic Art." The other, Mrs. Emily Lee Sherwood Ragan, is the author of a Washington story, Willis Peyton's Inheritance, favor- ably known in the literary circles of the Capital City, where she also for several years was engaged in journalism. She it was, who gave the first intimation of the Society's exist- ence to the Press, and was appointed as the ''Official Cor- respondent" of the organization for over a year of that initial period. This "Story of the Records" is the first complete history of the D. A. R. Society ever offered to the public, and it must become the Reference book for all future Society Historians. Therefore ; for these, and many other reasons, the Publishers feel justified in making un- usual claims for the merit of the forthcoming book.
Geo. E. Howard, Publisher.
Washington, D. C., September i, 1906.
CHAPTER I.
THE ORGANIZATION.
HE National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in what was then the home of Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood, 'The Strathmore Arms," 8io Twelfth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C, October ii, 1890, at two o'clock in the afternoon.
The inception of the great patriotic movement which called forth the letter entitled "Women worthy of honor" which appeared in the Washington Post, July 13, 1890, from the pen of Mrs. Lockwood, was inspired by reading the account of a meeting of the Sons of the American Revolution held in Washington, July nth.
From the addresses of that evening she quoted in this letter from Senator Sherman's speech, in which he ap- proved of any movement that would perpetuate the memories of the heroes of the Revolution, and hailed with pleasure the presence of women in the meeting (although these were not "Daughters" with the "Sons") "but", he said, "They might not have done any fighting", forgetting Deb- orah Sampson, Moll Pitcher, and the women of Pepperill Bridge, etc. — "but they kept the farm going — raised the crops that fed the army — spun the yarn and wove the cloth that clothed the soldiers — looked after the homes and the children — kept the country alive, and it is most fitting that women should be present here to-night to help in com- memorating the names of the Sires of the Revolution."
Mrs. Lockwood read the account of this meeting with in- terest and criticism. She took up her pen, — the duties of the morning were put aside, the leaven of patriotism had begun its work. "H this be the case," she asked (and she knew it was the truth) "why do men and women band
14 Story of the Records
themselves to create a one-sided patriotism? If these were true patriotic women, why is not the patriotism of the country broad and just enough to commemorate the names of women also ? — were there no mothers in the Revolution ; no dames as well as sires whose memories should be com- memorated?" She then appealed to her country-women to come forward bringing the names of heroines known to them, that their names should be placed on a roll of honor.
After her strong appeal she began by giving the story of Hannah Arnett, which she said was a true story of the Revolution, having been authenticated by one of her own kin, Henrietta H. Holdrich, and which, Mrs. Lockwood said, could be multiplied with scores of instances of similar patriotism displayed by women.
The following is the story of Hannah Arnett that ap- peared in the Washington Post, July 13, 1890:
"The days were dark and hopeless, the hearts of our fore-fathers were heavy and cast down. Deep, dark despondency had settled upon them. Defeat after defeat had overtaken our army until it was demoralized, and des- pair had taken possession of them. Lord Cornwallis, after his victory at Fort Lee, had marched his army to Elizabeth- town, New Jersey, and there encamped. This was in that memorable December, 1776. The Howe brothers had al- ready issued their celebrated proclamation, that oflfered pro- tection to all that would seek refuge under the British flag within sixty days, declare themselves British subjects, and take an oath binding themselves not to take up arms against the mother country or induce others to do so.
"In one of the many spacious homes of the town, there had assembled a goodly number of the foremost men of the time to discuss the feasibility of accepting the proffered proclamation.
"For hours the council went on, the arguments were sincere, grave but faltering. Some thought that the time had fully come to accept the clemency offered — others shook their heads, but the talk went on until every soul in the room had become of one mind, and courage, bravery, patri-
Story of the Records 15
otism, hope, honor, all were swept away by the flood-tide of disaster.
"There was one listener from whom the council had not heard. In an adjoining room sat Hannah Arnett, the wife of the host. She had listened to the debate, and when the final vote was reached she could no longer restrain her- self. She sprang to her feet and, throwing open the parlor door, in her womanly majesty confronted that group of councilors.
"Picture a large room with a low ceiling, furnished with the heavily-carved furniture of those days, dimly lighted by wax candles, and a fire in a huge fire-place. Around a table sat a group of anxious, disheartened, discouraged- looking men. Before them stood the fair dame in the an- tique costume of the day. Imagination will picture her stately bearing as she entered into their august presence. The indignant scorn upon her lips, the flash of her blue eyes, her commanding figure and dignified presence brought every man to his feet.
"Consternation and amazement for the moment ruled supreme. The husband advanced toward her, shocked and chagrined that his wife had so forgotten herself that she should come into the midst of a meeting where politics and the question of the hour were being discussed. He would shield her now. The reproof he would give later on ; and so he was quickly at her side, and, whispering, said to her : '' 'Hannah ! Hannah ! this is no place for you. We do not want you here just now."
"He would have led her from the room. "She was a mild, amiable woman, and was never known to do aught against her husband's wishes, and if she saw him now she made no sign, but turned upon the astonished group.
" 'Have you made your decision, gentlemen ?' she asked. 'I stand before you to know; have you chosen the part of men or traitors?'
"It was a direct question, but the answer was full of sophistry, explanation, and excuse:
i6 Story of the Records
** 'The case is hopeless ; the army is starving, half clothed and undisciplined, repulsed everywhere. We are ruined and can stand out no longer against England and her unlimited resources.'
"Mrs. Arnett, in dignified silence, listened until they had finished, and then she asked: 'But what if we should live after all?'
"Hannah ! Hannah !' said her husband in distress. 'Do you not see that these are no questions for you? We are doing what is best for you — for all. Women have no share in these topics. Go to your spinning-wheel and leave us to settle affairs. My good little wife you are making your- self ridiculous. Do not expose yourself in this way before our friends.'
"Every word he uttered was to her as naught. Not a word had she heard ; not a quiver of the lip or tremor of an eye-lash. But in the same strangely sweet voice she asked : 'Can you tell me if, after all, God does not let the right perish, if America should win in the conflict, after you have thrown yourself on British clemency, where will you be then?'
" 'Then,' said one, 'we should have to leave the country. But that is too absurd to think of in the condition our country and our army is.'
" 'Brothers,' said Mrs. Arnett, 'you have forgotten one thing which England has not, and which we have — one thing which outweighs all England's treasures, and that is the right. God is on our side, and every volley of our muskets is an echo of His voice. We are poor, and weak, and few, but God is fighting for us ; we entered into this struggle with pure hearts and prayerful lips ; we had counted the cost and were willing to pay the price, were it in our heart's blood. And now — now because for a time the day is going against us, you would give up all, and sneak back like cravens to kiss the feet that have trampled upon us. And you call yourselves men — the sons of those who gave up home and fortune and fatherland to make for themselves and for dear liberty a resting place in the wilderness ! Oh, shame upon you cowards !'
Story of the Records 17
'Gentlemen/ said Mr. Arnett, with an anxious look on his face. 'I beg you to excuse this most unseemly inter- ruption to our council. My wife is beside herself, I think. You all know her, and know it is not her wont to meddle in politics, or to bawl and bluster. To-morrow she will see her folly, but now I pray your patience.'
"Her words had already begun to arouse the little man- hood remaining in their bosoms, but not a word was spoken She had turned the light of her soul upon them, and in the reflection they saw photographed their own littleness of purpose or want of manly resolve.
"She still talked on: 'Take your protection if you will; proclaim yourselves traitors and cowards, false to your God! but horrible will be the judgment you will bring upon your heads and the heads of those that love you. I tell you that England will never conquer. I know it, and feel it in every fibre of my heart. Has God led us so far to desert us now? Will he who led our fathers across the stormy, wintry sea forsake His children, who have put their trust in Him? For me, I stay with my country, and my hand shall never touch the hand nor my heart cleave to the heart of him who shames her.'
''While these words were falling from her lips she stood before them like a tower of strength, and, turning toward her husband, she gave him a withering look that sent a shock through every fibre of his body. Continuing, she said: Tsaac, we have lived together for twenty years, and through all of them I have been to you a true and loving wife; but I am the child of God and my country, and if you do this shameful thing I will never own you again as my husband.'
" 'My dear wife !' answered Isaac, excitedly, 'you do not know what you are saying. Leave me for such a thin?- as this?' ^
" 'What greater cause could there be ?' answered the in- jured wife. 1 married a good man and true, a faithful friend, and it needs no divorce to sever me from a traitor 2
i8 Story of the Records
and a coward. If you take your protection you lose your wife, and I — I lose my husband and my home.'
'The scornful words uttered in such earnestness; the pathetic tones in which these last words were spoken; the tears that dimmed her sad blue eyes, appealed to the heart of every man before her. They were not cowards all through, but the panic sweeping over the land had caught them also.
''A latent courage, put on a new activity: Manliness re- newed its strength in strong resolutions.
"Before these men left the house of Hannah Arnett that night every man had resolved to spurn the offered amnesty, and had taken a solemn oath to stand by their country through good days and bad, until freedom was written over the face of their fair land.
'There are names of men who fought for their country and won distinction afterward, who were in this secret council, but the name of Hannah Arnett figures on no roll of honor. ^^-'' ' ''Where will the 'Sons and Daughters of the Revolution' place Hannah Arnett?"
In consideration of the awakened interest throughout the land by this letter, Mrs. Walworth in her article on the "Origin of the Society" in the July number of the American Monthly, page 115, Vol. III. 1893, said: "This letter may be said to have awakened the inspiration that resulted in the founding of the Society." Again, on page 125, she said, "It is true Mrs. Lockwood blew the first blast to arouse the Daughters to the memory of their mothers."
In the May number of the American Monthly Magazine 1897, page 859, Miss Mary Desha in Congress said, "Madam Chairman, the first word that was ever said for this Society by any woman was said by Mrs. Lockwood — Mrs. Lockwood wrote a letter giving an account of Hannah Arnett, and called on the women of the country to organize" ***** "Mrs. Lockwood was the one who sounded the bugle call for us to organize."
Miss Eugenia Washington in the paper "Our History,"
Story of the Records 19
prepared and read at the meeting of the Daughters at the Atlanta Exposition, said:
"In the meantime unknown to me as I was then unknown to her, a patriotic woman at Washington was aroused, it seems by the action of the "Sons" at a subsequent meeting held in Washington in July, confirming the Louisville de- cision excluding ladies from their Society, and July 13 she published in the Washington Post a strong article on the bravery and patriotism of a woman of the Revolution, entitled ''Women Worthy of Honor" — giving the story of Hannah Arnett. The writer of that article was the Chair- man of your Committee on Programme today, and the Editor of our Magazine — Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood." * * * "Among those who read this forceful article was Mr. Wm. O. McDowell of Newark, N. J., who fourteen months pre- viously had assisted in organizing the Sons of the American Revolution in New York. This gentleman it appears had from the first favored the admission of women into the Society of Sons, and failing in that had for some time con- templated issuing a call to the patriotic women of the land having the blood of Revolutionary heroes in their veins, offering to assist them in forming a "Woman's Society."
"Upon reading Mrs. Lockwood's article, Mr. McDowell was stimulated anew to the carrying out of his original design and immediately wrote to the Washington Post a letter embodying his idea, and concluding with a formal call for the organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution. This was published in the Post, July 21, eight days after Mrs. Lockwood's letter."
The above paoer of Miss Washington's was published in the American Monthly Magazine, December, 1895. Page
493-
The letter of Mrs. Lockwood, as we have said, appeared in the Washington Post, Sunday, July 13. Tuesday morning's mail brought to her a letter from Miss Mary Desha, offering to co-operate with her in the organizing of a society of Daughters of the American Revolution. With- in a week they met and talked over the possibilities of such
20 Story of the Records
a society. The second time they met Mrs. Lockwood named several of her friends, who were eligible and who would join such a society — and their names, seven of them, are enrolled with the charter members.
At that time Miss Desha spoke of two women who ought, from their nam.es, to be eligible — they were strangers to both Mrs. Lockwood and Miss Desha. Miss Desha said she would call on them and place the matter before them — those names were Miss Eugenia Washington and Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth. Therefore, it is apparent that Miss Desha, in accord with Mrs. Lockwood, presented the subject to these women and Miss Desha brought them into the society.
The summer months were not auspicious for work and organization. There was, therefore, a tacit understanding that each should work in her own way and procure as many names as possible of those who were eligible, and in the autumn the organization of the National Society should take place. This assertion is verified by Miss Eugenia Washington in her paper "Our History" — Page 495, De- cember, 1895, American Monthly.
A letter was received from Wm. O. McDowell by Mrs. Lockwood in which he thanked her for having resurrected the name of his ancestor, Hannah Arnett, expressing his interest in the projected organization and offering his services if needed. Mrs. Lockwood with others were grateful to Mr. McDowell and many other Sons for the interest manifested, but did not approve his taking the matter into his own hands and precipitating a call to organ- ize; they saw no necessity for soliciting aid in organizing. Women have been proven to be most capable organizers in many instances, and as women were placed outside the pale by the Sons, this seemed to be the supreme moment for an organization purely of women by women. Later, when he applied for membership in the Society, his application was declined.
Interest in the project grew. There were several in- formal meetings during the summer, and much corres-
Story of the Records 21
pondence. At one of these meetings at Mrs. Lockwood's both of the writers of this book were present, and both are enrolled among the eighteen original signers on the day of the organization. There was another meeting held at Mrs. Knowlton Brown's on K Street, where fifteen patri- otic women were present. These were all understood to be merely preliminary meetings to enthuse the public mind. In Miss Washington's paper entitled "Our History," above referred to is the following paragraph:
"Quite a general discussion of the subject in hand en- sued at this meeting at Mrs. Brown's, but owing to the small attendance, only fifteen, we decided to defer any formal action until fall, when 'everyone' would be back in town again."
This is in accord with Mrs. Lockwood's statement of the general understanding. Following the meeting at Mrs. Brown's it seems another meeting was called by Mrs. E. Hardin Walworth in her apartments, August 9. On ac- count of a storm only three were present, — Mrs. Walworth, Miss Washington, and Miss Desha. It later de- veloped that at this meeting they appointed several to office, including themselves. It is not our pro- vince to write in detail of those informal meetings, as they were not recognized on the day of organization ; but rather to give the history of the organization of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, which was October 11, 1890.
Early in September a letter was received by Mrs. Lock- wood from Mrs. Flora Adams Darling, then at Culpeper, Va., asking if she would like to have her come to her home and help in the organization of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Darling, upon invitation of Mrs. Lockwood, came to her home and the labor of organization was soon begun.
For six weeks the work went efficiently forward. By correspondence and personal visits, Mrs. Darling enthused many in the new enterprise. By frequent meeting and con- sultation with those most interested from the beginning.
2.2 Story of the Records
October ii, 1890, the anniversary of the day Columbus sighted land, was the day fixed upon for the formal organi- zation of the Society, and Mrs. Darling sent out the in- vitations. The auspicious morning came. Everything was working harmoniously and well. All things went merry as a marriage bell — except that there was no candidate for the Presidency.
On the morning of the eleventh, not three hours before the meeting came to order, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison called at the door of Mrs. Lockwood's home, sent her genealogy in by her niece, Mrs. Dimmick, the present Mrs. Harrison, written on plain paper in the hand writing of her father, Dr. Scott, and asked how much of it would be needed for her papers. Mrs. Lockwood indicated that the record should go down to John Scott of the Revolution, and urged that her application papers be filled out and sent in to the organizing meeting that afternoon. Mrs. Harrison gave very decided personal reasons why she preferred to delay joining the Society, but promised later that her papers would be presented. Mrs. Lockwood then urged her to accept the Presidency. At first her words were unavailing. When, at last, the assurance was given Mrs. Harrison that some one would be elected to relieve her of arduous duties, she consented to let her name be put in nomination, exacting the promise of Mrs. Lockwood, that if there was one dissenting vote she would withdraw her name.
There was joy in that ''upper room" where women and men were arranging the preliminaries for the afternoon meeting, when the fact was announced that Mrs. Harrison had consented to let her name be used as President, if the meeting so desired. A fac-simile of Mrs. Harrison's papers will show the date when they were sent in, the date on which they were accepted; and the names of the National ofificers who signed them. (See Mrs. Harrison's applica- tion papers.)
Mr. McDowell had also been in correspondence with Mrs. Darling, offering assistance when needed. He, also, provided a copy of the Sons' Constitution.
Plate 2
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP.
4
To be «a* in SupM"^^
^■cA «e»t to tM S««t«y of '
5E BOARD OF MANAGERS OF
SOCIETY OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVULITION.
X(uduU../t-^MzM..&^^A4^^^-- being of .h. .«e of .,«M«n v.,
, hereby appiy for mombcr^hip in this
S...V .y H,. or ... d.c.nn. ^e ^.o^. -ine fro™ ,,X^^<4'^^- ' i^^'-*
and upwards,.
_ „ lived in ..C^f^-r^VrV-'**'^^.^
Who was bom
of-
and who seived in the War of the RevoMion. I was
War of the Revotuflon^ /") . A \
'^ °' ":^.. d.,H. Ipt^ L^^^W^^^*^ ■ *^^"
ciJaA^ O^i t^Jt/Wr-
granddaughter
■J
I
great-great-granddaughter of
yX:'hAAA^ fy%<A<>^'tA^ 7(ti/ltt i.i> '.>■■!>. .r.d
great-great-great-granddaugh.er oV IaJZcU^ IooJM<^ ^^^^^"^^ ^^
grinl griiit»gr«tt~gpMt gfuddaURhtar.*!^
'^and he, the said .Qr.'^Mid^-.-.-. Z.t^^ -
wife, is the ancestor who assisted
.,,„ -is the ancestor who assisicu »
establishing American Independence, while acting in jjie capacity at-X^ )A:^r'ii^^kr*:^<%^i^'^:^^
jd dud reconiurtaded by tbe ondcrsi^ucd, a metaber Signatim; of appUcant
u. L*^ Souety. _. _ /.-■ ^.-^ /
*l
FACSIMILE OF MR.S. HARRISON-S AFPLICATION PAPERS.
Plate 2 — Contimiod.
|
Nationjl No- /' ■ |
State No |
|
Society of the Dalt.iiters of the Ameri(l\m Revolution. |
|
|
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP |
|
|
y/(yi^ |
/7 ■■-/.■■ |
|
^(Uf-<yC^^,<a--<>^^,..--<^:^^^ fULO^ |
|
|
■J ? Application examined and .improved ! ^.,,a...U^/C |
Accepted bv the Board of M.in.i^i-mwt - '^'^ ■ A-^ y- / ' y |
|
1 i |
X)\XVS. |
|
I Ffcd w:th Secv |
.>.-, |
|
" Notification of ck.rUf.-n. l |
I"''' • |
|
Fees paid, '^ ■- |
. ^"J <* |
|
»upli.:.i!r vs\ to R.;k;i>tr..r r;, -.r.,' |
1^ |
|
Cen.tic.le of Meniher.h;p ,:.•,^.-.: |
|
|
B^dgc deiivcrtd (ist Cl.>'.-^ <'-ohli |
I |
|
Badge ddivt^red .'jd f-!..:v,i |
,H,:, . |
|
Officers P1;.que. |
z. |
|
R«i({ntd- |
FACSIMILE OF MRS. HARRISON'S APPLICATION PAPERS
Story of the Records 23
Another visitor of much significance to the Society that morning, was a representative from the New York Sons, Mr. Wilson L. Gill, bringing greetings and advice. The Sons admonished the Daughters, through Mr. Gill, not to organize like the Sons, into State organizations, but upon a broad National plan. The Sons' form of Con- stitution was put aside and the constitution the Society did organize under was drawn up by Mr. Gill. It is to the advice of this representative of the New York Sons that there are no State organizations to-day; and it is to the fact that there was from the start a National organization that the Daughters owe their phenomenal success. The original copy of the Constitution, in Mr. Gill's handwriting is still extant.
At two o'clock of October 11 the parlors of the Strath- more Arms were filled with women interested in the move- ment. Several Sons of the District were present, and two from New York. Mr. Wm. O. McDowell was invited to preside.
When the time came for the nomination of officers, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison was nominated for President General and unanimously elected. The other officers were elected in the following order:
Vice-President General in charge of organization of Chapters: Mrs. Flora Adams Darling. ■
Vice-presidents general : Mrs. David D. Porter, Mrs. Mary
•Virginia Ellet Cabell, (Vice-Presidents General Presiding),
Miss Mary Desha, Mrs. Henry V. Boynton, Mrs. A. W.
Greely, Mrs. Lelia Dent St. Clair, Mrs. G. Browne Goode,
Mrs. William C. Winlock, Mrs. Wm. Earle.
Secretaries general: Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, Mrs. William E. Earl, (succeeded by Miss S. P. Breckenridge.)
Treasurer general : Mrs. Marshall McDonald.
Registrars general: Miss Eugenia Washington, Mrs. A. Howard Clarke.
Historian general : Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood.
Surgeon general : Miss Clara Barton.
Chaplain general: Mrs. Teunis S. Hamlin.
24 Story of the Records
The meeting was a most enthusiastic one. Before the meeting closed eighteen names were enrolled for member- ship. These names appear on the accompanying facsimile of the record. Eleven of these persons paid their dues and became members at that meeting. At the close of that golden afternoon the Society had been launched with thirty- three dollars in the Treasury. The most sanguine of those early workers could hardly have hoped for a growth so phenomenal as that which characterizes this society at the end of fifteen years, which has an enrolled membership of over 55,000.
It was determned that day that the Society should not only be National, but its headquarters should be in Washington ; and that the head of the organization should be a woman of National repute.
An advisory board of gentlemen was elected, all being Sons of the American Revolution: their names were as follows : Dr. G. Browne Goode, Chairman ; William C. Winlock, Wm. O. McDowell, Henry V. Boynton, Gen. Marcus J. Wright, and Wilson L. Gill. This Board was enlarged in 1891 by the election of three others, Sons of the Revolution.
Before the meeting was closed those present resolved to use their minds, their hearts, and their means to per- petuate the memory of the spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence ; to encourage patriotism, and engender the spirit of Americanism ; to teach patriotism by erecting monuments and protecting historical spots, by observing historical anniversaries, by promoting the cause of education, especially the study of history, the enlightenment of our foreign population, and all that makes for good citizenship, — especially emphasizing education as the great National obligation, the Country's duty to the children who will some day be the rulers of the Nation ; by the preservation of documents and relics, and of the records of the individual services of soldiers and patriots. The first work suggested at this time was the raising of funds for the Mary Washington Monument As-
Plate 3
4
i^uA^
FAC-SIMILE OF THE EIGHTEEN FIRST SIGNERS.
Story of the Records 25
sociatlon — of which about three- fourths of the $11,000 was given by the Daughters. How faithfully they have carried out and fulfilled these resolutions, the following record of events will tell.
There was an adjourned meeting held at Mrs. Cabell's October 18, 1890. At this meeting the dark blue and white of Washington's Staff was chosen for the Society's colors. The first motto, suggested by Mrs. Walworth, was Amor Patrice. This was changed December i, 1890, to **Home and Country," at the wish of Mrs. Darling.
A seal came up next for consideration. Miss Mary Desha proposed a woman seated at the spinning wheel to correspond to the man at the plow, which figures on the seal of the Sons' Society. The first drawing of the seal was by Wilson L. Gill — it has since been twice modified. Its several stages may be seen on plate No. 4.
CHAPTER II.
INCIDENTS FOLLOWING ORGANIZATION.
ONSIDERABLE interest, if not curiosity, had been aroused in the community on account ot the organization of the Society of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, and questions such as these were frequently asked of the most active in the movement, — "What is it for?" "Who is eligible?" "Is it intended to build up an aristocracy?" Other observers were critical, and prophesied a speedy dissolution. Thus it soon became evident to the "Vice Pre- sident Presiding," Mrs. Wm. D. Cabell, in the absence of the President General, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, and to the Board of Managers, that something must speedily be done, to bring this organization before the public in such a way as to make it clear there was a vitality and enthusiasm in it based upon American ideas of patriotism. To this end the "Board" thought and planned for a grand reception as the best way to give the new Society that social prestige, so necessary to anything emanating from the City of Wash- ington.
February 22, 1891, a reception was given to the Society by Mrs. Cabell, at her residence. Washington is noted for the magnificence with which such occasions are surrounded, but none had surpassed this one — in its per- sonnel or in the beauty of its appointments.
Mrs. Harrison received the Society and its guests. This occasion was the first in the history of the Society when "Minute Men," in Continental dress of buff and blue, acting as an escort, formed a double line through which the guests passed to the receiving party, adding greatly to the scenic effect produced by flags and bunting, flowers and palms. There were stirring speeches and patriotic music. In the
NO. 1.
NO. 2.
NO. 3. COPIES OF THE SOCIETY'S SEAL.
Story of the Records 27
supper room the colors of the Society were reproduced in flowers and decorations, and everything was done to arouse pride in heroic, national ancestry, that alone gave the right of entrance to the new organization.
The story of this reception in Washington, marked by the spirit of patriotism in speech and song, reached to the farther ends of the country, and success was assured. Soon the beacon lights of patriotism were saluting each other from hill-top to hill-top — the fire caught in the valleys and crossed the rivers until the Nation was awakened with a new light. Newspapers took up the cry and sent the intel- ligence over the land. "Application papers" began to pour in. The American women were awakened by this revela- tion, and now "What is it for?" was answered — "It is not for an Aristocracy! but to honor the men who carried the muskets, and the boys who beat the drums and fifed "Yankee Doodle" for liberty; for the honor of the women who served the country, in their homes, while the men were away fighting the battles for freedom, and that their names should be rescued from the musty annals of the Revolution, and for the first time inscribed on the pages of history, as factors in making the Nation. Both these men and women were at last having their names placed on the "Roll of honor," beside those of the officers and leaders in the American Revolution. Surely, that was a good foundation to lay beneath a patriotic society, one worthy to build up and be symbolized in a noble structure such as "Memorial Continental Hall."
Early in March 1891, the first chapter was formed in Chicago, known as "Chicago Chapter" — Mrs. Frank Osborn, Regent. The first amended Constitution provided for State Regents, for which the necessity arose immedi- ately. Letters were sent out as early as November, 1890, by the Vice President in charge of organization, inviting prominent women in the States to serve in that capacity. There was some delay in sending papers, therefore no one was confirmed until the Spring of 1891.
The first five State Regents were: Mrs. N. B. Hogg,
28 Story of the Records
Pennsylvania; Mrs. de B. R. Keim, Connecticut; Mrs. Joshua Wilbour, Rhode Island ; Miss Louise Ward McAllis-, ter, New York ; Mrs. Wm. Wirt Henry, Virginia. - — -
The Constitution not covering all the points found necessary, the Board recognized the need of legal aid. Gen. Geo. H. Shields was elected in March, 1891, as legal adviser. Thirty days notice was given of a meeting, called at Mrs. Cabell's, to consider proposed amendments to the Constitution. Mrs. Harrison presided at this meeting, and the amendments were adopted. The right of the Board to amend previous to the assembling of the first Congress of the Society had been challenged by the Vice President in charge of organization, Mrs. Darling. Gen. Shields' clear statement settled the question that it could so amend, to the satisfaction of all present. His services were invalu- able at this embryo period of the organization, and through- out his term of office.
During May and June of that year — 1891 — there was some friction between the Board and Mrs. Darling, the Vice President in charge of the Organization. The Board realized that it would be impossible to establish the Society on any solid business founda- tion, financial or otherwise, under methods so independent as practiced by Mrs. Darling. The organizing officer, on the other hand, appeared to doubt the good faith of the board and questioned its authority, declaring she had the right to decline to make reports to the Board, or submit to any control. At this sarne time two chapters had been formed in New York, the "New York City Chapter," and the "Harlem Chapter." This, with some irregularities, re- sulting from the adjustment in the business of the New York Chapters, and the naming of the Harlem Chapter, **The Flora Adams Darling Chapter," without submitting it to the Board, led to a spirited correspondence, at which time the Board severed the Society's connection with the "Adams Magazine," then the official organ, and notified the Vice President in charge of Organization, that a resolution had been passed prohibiting the naming of a chapter after
Plate 5
fcl' (^lENERAL SOCJETV,
•^L New Vork City.
207(5 Fifth Avknce.
0't.^z.^^.jC^z~-c i~-e*~<A^
rCLA..^-t^.-<jtZ:^-},^
Wk'C^'f-''<A.~-cM^<....<.,^_^ Q>i
-;
^
O—-
if /■
tt;-
PHOTOGRAPH OF MRS. FLORA ADAMS DARLING'S LETTER OF RESIGNATION.
Plate 5 — Contlnupd
^ /
" ■'-' /^
PHOTOGRAl'II OF MRS. FLORA AUAM.S UARLKNGS LETTFR OF RESIGNATION.
Story of the Records 29
a living person. The matter finally culminated in June 1891, when the Vice President in charge of Organization, wrote officially, "That she would no longer recognize the authority of the Board, and forbid the use of her name on any papers belonging to the Society." Under such conditions the only possible thing to be done was, to declare her office vacant, which was effected July i, 1891. Since that time, Mrs. Darling has had no connection with, or official recognition of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The department of organiza- tion was then put in charge of a committee — Mrs. Henry Boynton, Chairman ; Mrs. John W. Foster and Mrs. Leo Knott, as members. On August 12th, the following letter was received from Mrs. Darling:
30 Story of the Records
It will thus readily be seen that the trouble over the "Eligibility clause," as has been claimed by Mrs. Darling, was not the cause of this action. This ''eligibility trouble" did not arise until months later. This question arose from "The mother of a patriot" in the Constitution, which read as follows: ''Any woman may be eligible for mem- ship who is of the age of eighteen years, and who is de- scended from an ancestor who, with unfailing loyalty, rendered material aid to the Cause of Independence as a recognized patriot, as soldier or sailor, was a civil officer in one of the several Colonies or States or of the United Colonies or States; or from the mother of such a patriot; provided that the applicant shall be acceptable to the society." An unforeseen condition arose from this clause, it developed in Virginia, viz.: that application for membership had come from descendants of "A mother of a Patriot," who was also a mother of Tories. One son was a patriot, others tories — and it was the descendant of a tory that applied for membership. But another case; in Pennsylvania, where five brothers were in the service, the one daughter, whose duty was to care for the home, yet doing many patriotic services, was not considered lineal and her descendants were not eligible — thus the question had many bearings.
According to the official records the most important meeting of the Organization ever held was that of the Con- ference of October 6 and 7, 1891, in response to a cordial invitation from Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, President General, a Conference of State and Chapter Regents and National Officers of the Society. The meeting took place at 1407 Massachusetts Avenue, the residence of the "Vice President General Presiding." The following national officers were pre- sent: Mrs. Benj. Harrison, Mrs. Wm. D. Cabell, Mrs. H. V. Boynton, Mrs. G. Browne Goode, Miss Mary Desha, Mrs. Leo Knott, Mrs. Geo. H. Shields^ Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, Mrs. Marshall MacDonald, Miss Eugenia Wash- ington, Mrs. A. Howard Clarke, Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood
\
Story of the Records 31
and Mrs. Tunis Hamlin; also the following State Regents of the Society : Mrs. N. B. Hogg, of Pennsylvania ; Mrs. O. B. Wilbour, of Rhode Island ; Miss Louise Ward McAllister, New York; Mrs. de B. Randolph Keim, Connecticut.
There were present also: Mrs. Henry F. Blount, repre- senting Indiana; Mrs. Schuyler, New York; Mrs. Mary Washington, Georgia; and Mrs. Emily Lee Sherwood, official correspondent.
Many Chapter Regents were present. Mrs. R. Ogden Doremus, Mrs. John S. Wise and Mrs. Donald McLean represented the New York Chapter. Mrs. Roger A. Pryor, Regent, was detained by illness, and Mrs. Wm. H. McCartney, as Regent, represented the Wyoming Valley Chapter, Pa. Mrs. James A. Rownsaville, Rome, Ga. This Conference, with the help of its legal adviser. Gen. George H. Shields, settled for all time the questions and objections, which were propounded by the State Regent of Georgia, Mrs. Salas, then in New York, as to the power and action of the National Board.
After all points were fully discussed and understood, a roll call was taken, and every member present expressed herself in full sympathy with the National Board, and pledged herself to earnest work for the organization.
From that date there has been no doubt of the place this Society should take and hold in this Republic.
The standing of the women in the Republic was left intact and fully recognized in the amended Constitution — and we might ask how it could be otherwise. It has been evolved in the process of genealogical research, that for once in the category of woman's status, it is es- tablished that her name, in many instances, is alone the one by which correct papers can be verified. Even the name of John Adams stands for naught in Massachusetts, without his wife's name, where there were forty-nine men of that name in the Revolutionary War.
There were at one time sixty-six members who had come into the society on collateral papers, of whom thirty-six
32 Story of the Records
declined to hunt up their records, but their descendants have done so, and proved from other Hues direct descent, and consequent eligibility; since which time the fact of lineal descent being required, has become so firmly established in the public mind, that no others now apply.
The matter was finally brought before the Congress by a resolution from the able State Regent of Pennsylvania — Mrs. N. B. Hogg — to eliminate the phrase "Mother of a Patriot," from the Constitution. The discussion went on to and fro for two years, — all after Mrs. Darling had severed her relations with the D. A. R. Society, — with strong argu- ments on both sides, until the final vote of the Congress, 1893, when that part of the Constitution was eliminated and now reads, — "Any woman may be eligible for membership who is of the age of eighteen years, and who is descended from a man or woman who, with unfailing loyalty rendered material aid to the cause of Independence," etc.
Origin of the Society of the Daughters of THE Revolution : Mrs. Darling, after resigning from the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, took the Harlem Chapter, which had been organized under the auspices of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, and turned it over to the Society of the "Daughters of the Revolution" — and this was the first chapter that entered that organization. As all patriotic societies are doing good work in the country, the Daughters of the American Revolution might congratulate themselves that they were, incidentally, the founders of the Daughters of the Revolution, having provided its first chapter!
CHAPTER III.
REMINISCENCES OF THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.
HE Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution meets in annual session once a year, in Washington, D. C, and until a recent period, the week of the 22 of February, in honor of Washington's birthday. It is a delegate body, each chapter having representation, and every State a regent entitled to a seat and vote in the D. A. R. Congress, with the active officers, and at first ten Vice Presidents General, afterwards increased to twenty. From the start these ''Congresses" have proved to be a popular feature in the Society's history, business being buttressed by the many social functions that were used to give it prominence and character; and, as Washington is such an attractive place for "sight-seers," every kind of organization always has a good attendance when convening in the Capital City. The first Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution was held in the ''Church of Our Father," on Wednesday, February 22, 1892. The weather was cold and clear with snow upon the ground. Good weather, and the novelty attaching to a new movement were all factors in assuring a large attendance. The audience filled the galleries, the floor being reserved for the exclusive use of members of the Congress. The President General, Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison, presided. At the drop of the gavel Mrs. Harrison announced that the first Continental Congress was now in session, and would be opened with prayer by the Chaplain General, Mrs. Teunis Hamlin. The vast audience rose to its feet, and the Chaplain, with great earnestness, invoked the Divine favor to descend upon the officers and members of the Congress, and to extend the principles of the Society throughout the land. At the 3
34 Story of the Records
close of this impressive exercise, the President General read her inaugural address, which was an expression of appreciation of the motives which called the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution into being, and a cordial word of greeting to members and delegates present. This felicitous address made a good impression on those present, winning all hearts. At this time Mrs. Harrison was already suffering from the malady which terminated her life during the close of the following year, and to those who knew her intimately, a note of sadness struck them to the heart with a foreboding, and this feeling culminated when Mrs. Harrison passed on to the higher life, October 25, 1892.
The first Continental D. A. R. Congress was convened in the week in which the 22 of February fell, and estab- lished the custom that held good up to 1904, when the date was changed to the week of the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, April 19, when the corner stone of Memorial Continental Hall was laid.
This first Continental Congress was in every way unique and bearing but slight resemblance to the present orderly and dignified body. It is now far enough away from the beginning to get a true perspective, and it would be a ''trick" of the most enthusiastic imagination to represent its proceedings as "Quiet, orderly and dignified," at that stage of affairs, still there were many indications from the high order of personal character of its members, that it might soon become such.
To one accustomed, as was the narrator, to frequently attend and witness the proceedings of Women's Societies, from local organizations to "The National Council of Women," it was easy to see how these inexperienced "dele- gates," drawn from the most conservative classes, and who were, perhaps, for the first time taking part in any meeting larger than a "Ladies' Aid," in a church parlor, would inadvertently make themselves objects of criticism for members of the Press, who are ever on the alert to seize upon any picturesque features accompanying a woman's
Story of the Records 35
gathering, considering them as legitimate subjects of satire. They were not even **Club Women" as a class, although there were some such on the D. A. R. rolls, who vainly tried to bring order out of existing conditions.
Many of the delegates wanted the floor at the same time. And to wait for recognition from the Chair was almost an affront. They simply ignored Parliamentary usage because they knew nothing about such rules. They would step out into the aisle, like an excited member of the United States Congress, and advance to the front to attract attention; while the presiding officer, equally inexperienced, had to be prompted, constantly, by the man at her elbow, with Robert's Rules. And Miss Janette L. White, the stenog- rapher, had to make the greatest effort of her life to keep her, by hook and crook ''notes," to enable her to render a verbatim report. It was amusement for reporters, and they passed it along to the public for their entertainment with the usual veracity, for the time ignoring the fact, that other women's societies had had their days of trial also. They forgot that those others had been accused of "wilful mad- ness," while comparing the unruly "daughters" to their belligerent sires, who hesitated not to defy old King George, etc., etc.
An illustration of the conservative tendency of this early time was as follows. The World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago, 1893, as everybody now knows, gave the women as well as the men of the country, if not of the world, the greatest opportunity ever enjoyed, to represent the object for which their various societies, movements or "Cults" stood. Some men and women rose to the occa- sion, and recognized that a great step forward had been taken toward breaking down prejudice, and division walls. Many women's organizations, also, were impressed.
Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood, of the District of Columbia, had already been appointed by President Harrison, a Dele- gate at Large, on the Woman's Board of the World's Columbian Exposition, and, at the meeting of the first Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution,
S6 Story of the Records
she brought a greeting, from the Women's Board of the Exposition, and an invitation for the D. A. R. Society, to represent itself at the series of Exhibition Congresses, to be held in 1892, in Chicago. Mrs. Lockwood had obtained permission from the Chair to present the matter, which she did with all the enthusiasm of which she is capable. Then, following it up with her resolution, "That the Con- gress accept the invitation," which, on receiving the neces- sary "second," was open for debate. From all parts of the house arose objections, if not downright opposition. One feared it would commit the society to the Suffrage move- ment. Another urged the society might be placed in an embarrassing position as to declarations regarding other societies or organizations. Others still, objected to the publicity such a gathering would draw D. A. R. members into. The very atmosphere was charged with a feeling of conservatism which amounted to timidity. Therefore, as soon as the vote was taken for the affirmative, Mrs. Lockwood, seeing that the motion was lost, asked the privilege of withdrawing it, as she chose not to have its defeat go before the country. Sequel: She offered the very same resolution to the Con- tinental D. A. R. Congress of 1893, and it was unanimously passed, thus indicating how rapid had been the growth from conservatism to the attitude and stature of the New Woman, who stands for advanced ideas, if she "stands" for anything.
But, notwithstanding the chaotic aspect of this first D. A. R. Congress, there was no reason for alarm. Splendid work had been done by the initial board. The popularity of the movement had almost overwhelmed those executive officers with work. It will take a separate chapter to give details. Too much praise, however, cannot be bestowed upon those first acting on the Board. They gave not only days but weeks and months to bringing "Family Records" up to date. All will concede that Mrs. H. V. Boynton de- serves special credit for the able manner in which she organ- ized Chapters after the withdrawal of Mrs. Flora Adams
Story of the Records 37
Darling. She spared no pains to insure every detail, and to establish the triple bond between Chapter and State, and State and National Society. Mrs. Mary V. E. Cabell, acting Vice-President General, in the absence of Mrs. Harrison, at the first Congress, had very arduous duties to perform, which she did with great credit to herself considering the con- ditions, affording all an opportunity to be heard. In those early days she was a tower of strength, opening her home for the executive meetings for more than a year, and exercising a lavish and free hospitality toward all its mem- bers, in the good old typical Southern style which was charming and highly appreciated.
The first executive board of the D. A. R. had planned and, acting with members of the National Society, had adopted a good working Constitution, and the many Chapters already formed under it, were represented by some of the brainiest women the country afforded. Though yet unknown to fame, they gave promise that a society with such a following must soon commit itself to good general- ship, and come to be regarded as the peer of any other. A promise long since fulfilled, since the President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution now presides over a legislative body more numerous than gathers in Congressional Halls, under the dome of the Capitol, and she does not often have to consult the parliamentarian (now always a woman) except, when an appeal is made from the decision of the Chair, — then, "What does Robert's Rules say?" — settles it.
Many women becoming prominent in the D. A. R. Society made their debut in the first Congress. And, as one of their number has felicitously said, ''Friendships were formed, en- thusiasm was aroused, and all felt it was good to have made a beginning." Among those, unknown to fame, save as the President's wife, was Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison, a woman who took no pleasure in being in the public eye, and for that very reason perhaps she appealed to the sympathies of many present. The four women to whom were afterward given medals of honor, were among those
38 Story of the Records
to be early recognized as prominent assistants m those formative days. Indeed, all of the local board early dis- played a fine degree of business aptitude and ability. Here and there appeared a brilliant example of what women from the states could do. For instance, Mrs. Frank Osborn of Chicago, organized the first Chapter in the D. A. R. Society, March 189 1 ; while Mrs. de B. R. Keim, of Connecticut, organized more Chapters in the "Nutmeg State" than any other organizer elsewhere, and brought the largest delega- tion to the first Congress. For several years this State carried the banner for the most Chapters, as it was one of the sections plowed over in the Revolutionary period, and left many descendants to rise up and honor the men who fought under Gen. Putnam.
Mrs. William Wirt Henry, of Virginia, who did so much work on the executive board in various capacities, first be- came known to the Daughters at this time. Mrs. A. Leo Knott, of Maryland, was another helpful member, and Mrs. Nathaniel B. Hogg, of Pennsylvania, displayed fine executive ability.
Having given so much time to the striking features of the first D. A. R. Congress, we have but little space to de- vote to the personnel of its executive officers who were present. Mrs. Harrison has already been recorded as the first President and Mrs. Cabell as Vice President General Presiding. The other Vice-Presidents were, Mrs. H. V. Boynton, wife of the well known Newspaper Correspondent ; -Mrs. A. W. Greely. wife of the celebrated Arctic Explorer ; Mrs. F. O. St. Clair; and Mrs. G. Browne Goode, wife of the Scientist ; Miss Mary Desha, who brought with her the enthusiasm of the blue grass state ; Mrs. William C. Win- lock : Mrs. David D. Porter, wife of Admiral Porter, of the U. S. N., was an honorary member of the Society and Executive Board. The Secretaries General were Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, and Miss Eugenia Washington, grand niece of General Washington, and a lineal descendant of Colonel Samuel Washington. Mrs. Marshall McDonald, wife of the late United States Fish Com.missioner, was
Story of the Records 39
Treasurer General. Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood was the first Historian General and edited the first Lineage Book ; and Mrs. Teunis Hamlin, wife of the pastor of the Church of the Covenant, which President Harrison attended, was the Chaplain General. The Surgeon General was that world wide Soldiers' Friend, Clara Barton, then the head of the American Red Cross Society. '
One of the things connected with this first congress^ which afterwards came to have a peculiar significance, was the "Tea" given by Mrs. Harrison, in the White House, to the Officers, delegates and members of the D. A. R. Society, on the afternoon on February 24, a privilege never again to be enjoyed, for before another D. A. R. Congress convened, Mrs. Harrison had passed away. It may not be out of place to say here, that the next year President Harrison and his sweet and gracious daughter, Mrs. McKee, received in an informal way, the Daughters of the American Revolution, which gathering had all the touching and tender quality of a reminiscence, and was regarded as an honor to the memory of the wife and mother as much as to the late president of the society, Mrs. Harrison, who had become so deeply interested in its welfare before she entered into rest.
CHAPTER IV.
THE INSIGNIA AND MEDALS OF THE SOCIETY. INSIGNIA.
ARLY in the spring of 189 1 the question of selecting the Society's Insignia arose. Miss Sophonisba P. Breckenridge was made Chair- man of an Insignia Committee.
Among the many suggestions for design one came from Mrs. Edward Robey of Chicago. By a vote of the Board she was permitted to appear before it and gave a short talk on Heraldry, suggesting what would be ap- propriate and what could not be used, and also giving the name of Joseph K. Davidson of Philadelphia, as the repre- sentative of a firm that provided largely Insignia and Badges for the different patriotic societies of the country; at the same time she suggested the spinning wheel as a fine symbol of the Revolution ; while the seal which had been suggested could not be, the wheel could properly be used.
After this meeting, Mrs. Robey's son, Edward Magoon Robey, of Chicago, while in Washington, drew a wheel with thirteen spokes, representing the thirteen states, the felloe representing the ribbon, the legend being the Daughters of the American Revolution — the spokes projecting to form the thirteen original stars. That drawing was viewed the same day by Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood and Mrs. Henry F. Blount, a Vice-President General.
Mrs. Robey, after reaching her home in Chicago, re- ceived a letter from Miss Breckenridge asking for Mr. Davidson's address, adding, in some way it had been lost. Mrs. Robey sent the address; and at the same time sent the drawing Mr. Robey had made, to Mr. Davidson, saying that probably he would be called upon to submit designs,
I' LATE 6
INSIGNIA.
Copy of Design subiuittt'd liy Mr. .los. K. Davidson to Miss Soiilianisho I'.iTckiiirid.uc in
May, 1S91.
Story of the Records 41
and sent this as a suggestion ; and bespoke liberal terms for the Daughters.
Mrs. Robey received a letter from Mr. Davidson and copies of the three designs he had sent to Miss Brecken- ridge.
It will be seen in the drawing, which was forwarded in May 1891, to the Chairman of Insignia, that Mr. Davidson had added the distaff to Mr. Robey's design to be made of platinum. (See Plate No. 6). To this Mrs. Robey somewhat objected, taking the stand that in Heraldry it was against all law to combine different metals. However, the Daughters, out of the three designs submitted by Mr. Davidson, chose the wheel and distaff, and especially liked the white metal for the distaff, as it conveyed the idea of flax.
But a few days elapsed when Mr. Davidson received a letter from Miss Breckenridge, saying that she had resigned from the Insignia Committee, and had handed over to her successor, Mrs. G. Browne Goode, his designs and corres- pondence. This letter is now in the possession of one of the Daughters.
The Board was in correspondence with other jewellers, among them Caldwell & Co., of Philadelphia. They offered to assume the expense of making the dies for any design chosen by the Society, which was said to be worth several hundred dollars. For that liberal offer in the days of a somewhat depleted treasury, Caldwell & Co. became the official jewelers of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion.
Then came the question of choice of a design. Every- one liked the spinning wheel. Caldwell & Co. had sent nothing the Daughters liked as well. While it did not seem proper to send Mr. Davidson's drawing to Caldwell & Co., it was recognized that it was the suggestion of a charter member, Mrs. Robey. Therefore, the same design, distaff and all, was re-drawn at Dr. Goode's suggestion by Mr. Paul Brockett from the old one and the little spinning wheel
42 Storyof the Re c or ds
in Mrs. Goode's home. This was then accepted as the official Insignia.
founders' medals.
The preceding pages have given in detail the origin of the Society. In the Congress of 1897 a membership of 18,000 was reported, with 348 chapters. This was an in- crease in one year of 5,782, a greater gain than in any previous year. This Congress was held in Columbia Theatre on F Street, Washington, D. C, as the old meeting place, "The Church of Our Father," had proved too small for the increased delegation. One chronicler of the events of that year has said, "That fitting recognition of living benefactors is far better than the erection of monuments to their memory after they had passed away unnoticed." It was, therefore, decided by this Congress, of 1897, that Miss Eugenia Washington, Miss Mary Desha, Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, and Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood should each re- ceive a medal as Founders, in token of the grateful ap- preciation of their early and unceasing efforts in establish- ing the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, Mrs. Joshua Wilbour of Rhode Island was to introduce the resolution that was to forward this project, a resolu- tion which was prepared by Mrs. Walworth and submitted for approval to Miss Eugenia Washington some weeks be- fore the Congress convened. This former resolution, how- ever, named but three persons to be known as Founders, omitting the name of Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood.
Mrs. Wilbour being called home suddenly, the resolution was given into the custody of Mrs. Mary Sawyer Foote Thomas, who brought it before the Congress. The rec- ords will show that Mrs. Kate Kearney Henry, Miss Vir- ginia Miller, and several others immediately demanded that Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood's name be added to the list, which was done. A resolution as passed in the morning nam- ing four founders was at Mrs. Walworth's request re-con- sidered in the afternoon, and amended to read as fol-
FOUNDERS' MEDALS.
Story of the Records 43
lows : "Whereas Mary S. Lockwood inspired a general interest in this subject by her pen in an article published July 13, 1890, that she, therefore, be recognized as a Founder, and four medals be awarded to these 'Founders of the Society.' (Vol. 10, page 878, of the American Monthly Magazine.)
Later an unfortunate controversy sprang up, as to the proper distribution of the medals, by two of the founders, — Mrs. Walworth and Miss Washington. The case was settled by the Congress referring the subject to a new committee, of which Mrs. Eleanor Holmes Lindsay was Chairman. The Committee's report to the Congress began with these words, "The undersigned members of the Committee disclaim any power or authority to decide or even enquire who compose the "Founders' of this Society." (Records of Congress, page 684, Vol. XIL) They considered their only duty was to carry out the will of the Congress as expressed in the resolution, under which they were appointed.
The Committee recommended for Mary S. Lockwood, a medal distinct and unlike all the rest, which antedated those of Miss Desha, Mrs. Walworth, and Miss Washing- ton, as her work with her pen antedated theirs, — according to the resolution passed by Congress, naming four founders, which resolution has never been rescinded.
Miss Elizabeth Bryant Johnston has left a record of the ceremonies of the evening set apart for the presentation of the medals, American Monthly Magazine, June, 1898, which is as follows :
*'The evening of February 24, 1898, will long be remem- bered as a notable occasion in the history of the Society of the daughters of the American Revolution. It was the hour chosen in which to suitably recognize the great ob- ligation the splendid association must forever feel to the earnest women who first aroused an interest which speedily culminated in the organization of this Patriotic Order. Though not yet numbering a half score years it paused
44 Story of the Records
amid the pressing demands of the Seventh Continental Con- gress to honor four women, bestowing upon each a Me- m^orial Medal, a medal of gold, crested with diamonds and sapphires — beautiful in form and symbol. Upon one is in- scribed 'Service,' upon three 'Founder.'
"By this act the Congress said, 'We do not choose, as is the custom, to wait until you passed away to give utterance to our appreciation, but we will adorn you now with a significant gift that you may see our gratitude and that the people also may know whom we delight to honor.'
"It was a worthy, just, beautiful thought, and those who witnessed the ceremony have taken to their widely separate homes a memory to cherish.
"At the National Capitol there has probably never been given a more interesting object lesson. Delegates and Al- ternates were in prompt attendance ; Daughters, Sons, and guests crowded the galleries; the boxes were filled with distinguished officials and foreign Ministers. The stage presented an effective ensemble, — the National officers in rich toilets; the thirteen beautifully robed and graceful pages; the abundance of flowers; and a back-ground of national colors, was a brilliant scene.
"The session was opened with prayer and music. The President General announced that the 'Founders Medals,' ordered by the sixth Continental Congress, would be pre- sented by 'Mrs. Senator Lindsay, of Kentucky, the Chair- man of the Committee on Medals.' It is a matter of record that the founders distinguished by this public recognition are, — Miss Mary Desha, Miss Eugenia Washington, Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, and Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood. They sat at the right of the President General, with the Committee. The Chairman, Mrs. Lindsay, is well known for her grace of mind and person ; and her devotion to the Daughters of the American Revolution, notwithstanding delicate health and inexorable claims of official life, she finds time to discharge the duties of chairman of several committees. The Chairman rose, and indeed the whole
Story of the Records 45
audience, when the Founders came forward, and Mrs. Lind- say, pausing to acknowledge, by a smile and inclination of the head, the hearty applause, said: 'The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in the full tide of womanhood, turn to-night on this magnificent re- presentation of a Society, numbering over 23,000 members, and cannot but think they builded better than they knew. This Society now numbers more than any force the Con- tinental Army could put in the field. We present to-night the recognition of service of these women, who labored, as you all know, unceasingly to foster the cherished idea of a society of Revolutionary Daughters. In the name of our Society, I confer these medals with the full assurance that the recipients will honor the medals as the medals honor them.'
"Then, followed the response of the 'Founders.' When these were concluded there was a change of scene ; in an instant the lights were out, dense darkness obtained, and the vast audience sat in voiceless expectancy. Suddenly the large Insignia hanging above the stage glowed with brilliant light, and the national colors sprang forth from the darkness. The effect was magnificent, and the applause and greeting given our beloved emblem rose again and again. The majestic measures of 'Hail Columbia' at length gained ascendency, and the four smiling Founders ac- companied Mrs. Lindsay down the broad steps, and stand- ing in line upon the last one the great reception began.'*
"The thirteen young Daughters, our pages, who are an- nually appointed by the Board, and represent the thirteen original states, were ranged on either side of the center aisle; while delegation after delegation. State after State, filed through to grasp the hands, and speak fraternal words to the women whom we delight to honor. National airs kept the time of this happy little army, which ably rep- resented the many thousand women who so earnestly realized it is their duty to carry the gospel of Americanism to every American home."
CHAPTER V.
THE PERSONNEL AND WORK OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT.
HE Board of Management is made up of the active Officers elected by the delegates to each Congress, the President General, who presides over all board meetings, and forty-five State Regents who are nominated by their State delegations and confirmed by the Continental Congress ; twenty Vice Presidents elected by the Congress; ten Vice Presidents, who are elected at the expiration of the term of two years: by this means there are always ten Vice Presidents who have had experience of the work, who re- main on the Board, making a continuous Board.
It is seen that the election and personnel of the Board is entirely in the hands of the Continental Congress.
The Board is an administrative body to carry out the orders of Congress; act upon application papers for mem- bership; fill vacancies in office until the next meeting of Congress ; listen and act upon the reports given monthly by the different officers in every department, and the re- ports of standing and select committees ; prescribe rules and regulations for their own government while in office ; — and in general do all things necessary for the prosperity and success of the Society, subject to the approval of the Continental Congress.
In the early years of the Society, when it was in the formative stage, the Board had legislative and judicial power in the interim between the Congresses. As the organization grew, — with its expansion new experiences brought out the necessity of a change in methods. The tim.e had come when it was considered too great a respon- sibility to place upon the Board the decision of weighty questions, which legitimately belonged to the Congress to
Story of the Records 47
consider and to dispose of. Therefore, in the Congress of 1898, Miss Isabella Forsyth of New York offered an amend- ment to the Constitution, taking from the Board all legis- lative and judicial power and making it a purely adminis- trative body, subject to the approval of the Continental Con- gress for its every act. This amendment was carried, and since then the Board has been solely an administrative body, to carry out the orders of the Congress.
We will endeavor in giving a summary of the routine work in the different departments, which come directly under the supervision of the Board of Management, to show the vast amount of labor that is imposed. How faith- fully each and every Board under the various administrations has performed these duties can plainly be traced in the pub- lished records of the Society.
The pioneer work of the Society covered the first three years after the organization. To those early workers be- long the credit of building a foundation that could not be excelled to-day with all the experience of the past. When it is taken into consideration that they launched into that unknown sea without compass or rudder, where the only beacon light was the love of country, which burned in their own hearts, we may well marvel at the results of those days and nights of indefatigable labor.
Those members who have come into the Society and found all the machinery of the great organization running smoothly and accomplishing such wonderful results, will have to go back to those early days and recognize the fact that the society owes its great success to the well laid plans inaugurated by the women comprising the first Board of Management. These women faltered not at worry, work, or fatigue in preparing the ground and scat- tering the seed. And they were the moving, effective spirits of that early morning in the Society's life, which has culminated in one of the best and most comprehensive organizations of a public character.
We have been amazed at the lack of comprehension of
48 Story of the Records
many of the members, even, — to say nothing of the pub- He, — upon the real work of the Daughters of the American Revolution, with its auxiliaries, the chap- ters in the states. We shall endeavor to tell the story and give the results of these fifteen years of earnest labor. It would take volumes to give the details of the ac- complishment, as the annual reports to the Smithsonian Institution will fairly verify; but a summary from these will be helpful, at least to the members, in giving a ready answer to the question so often asked, ''What do they do?"
THE AMERICAN MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
In the early days of the Society it was determined that the Board of Management should send out from time to time the report of the proceedings of the Continental Con- gress, and monthly, the reports of the minutes of the Board of Management. To have a perfect understanding between the Board of Management and the chapters and individual members of the society was imperative. Those in authority found upon investigation and consultation with the officials of the Post Office that it would incur an ex- pense, far beyond the young Society's means, to send out these reports as third class mail matter. The fact ap- peared, also, upon investigation that a monthly periodical could be issued as second class matter, mailable at one cent a pound, in which all the reports could appear, as well as much historical matter of value to the members, including the work of the chapters ; genealogical records, and all matters of interest to the organization. The subscriptions and advertising would help in defraying the expense.
The Board of Managers did not undertake the pub- lication of a magazine to make money, but to save money for the society, which is plainly evident they are doing. The magazine is one of the strong links of the chain that binds the Society together. It is the monthly visitor that goes into the chapter and the homes, keeping the mem-
Story of the Records 49
bers in touch with all the details of the organization. No other magazine carries out the same line of thought. It deals with the service of the country's builders ; their history ; their firesides ; and the conditions of colonial life.
The first editor of the magazine was Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, who held the position two years. Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood was then elected editor, which position she held six years, and she was succeeded by Mrs. Elroy M. Avery. Miss Lilian Lockwood, in 1894, was appointed by The Board, Business Manager, and has been reelected to that position by the Continental Congress each succeeding year. As we look over the records, we find the business manager has conducted the affairs of her ofiice without a day's clerical assistance, — which, also, is the case with the editors. We venture to say no magazine in the country is conducted more methodically in its business relations, and none with such a minimum of clerical expense.
THE LINEAGE BOOK.
Another publication, which is directly under the auspices of the Board, is the Lineage Book, in which volumes ap- pear the names of members consecutively as they joined the Society, with the names and service of the patriots of the Revolution, with whom each must be lineally allied.
It will be seen that the generations that come after us will not have to delve through the dusty archives of the past to prove their lineage, and never will the records of their ancestors be in danger of being lost, after they have once been recorded in the Year Book or Lineage Book of the Daughters. Their children will take pride in pointing to the names of their ancestors there inscribed. The members of the society early recognized the necessity of making a record, as far as possible, of every heroic and patriotic deed accomplished by the men and women of that period. Much of the best history of the country is that which has hitherto been unwritten.
50 Story of the Records
Twenty-two volumes, containing over one thousand re- cords each of women of Revolutionary descent, with twelve hundred names of men bearing arms in the Revolution, and their service, have already been published. These books, with their records, are being recognized by historians and genealogists as of the greatest importance. The Historian of the Society has a general oversight of this work, bringing a monthly report to the Board. The compiler of this data is responsible for the correctness of all this matter. Mrs. Sarah Hall Johnston has been in charge of this work for ten years. She is so completely identified with it that the society would find it difficult, in case of necessity, to find anyone to satisfactorily fill the position.
Every woman in the land, who is eligible to this Society, owes it to her country to become a member ; not alone that she may simply be recorded as a Daughter of the American Revolution, but that she may be a helper in ferreting out the names of the makers of the history of her country, and to see that the names of her ancestors become a part of the historical records of the American Republic, and as such, be entered into the Lineage Book of this society. It is a reasonable supposition that, if this organization had been born a quarter of a century later, the historic records that have been rescued would probably never have been col- lected. The Society publishes two volumes of these records each year ; thus giving the world much valuable informa- tion.
Several of the Colonial States are printing their own Revolutionary Rosters ; but the society's lineage book re- cords are fuller, for they give the genealogy of the family, and the service data of the ancestor, which is carefully tabulated with a clearness that adds interest to the whole subject.
Story of the Records 51
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SOCIETY TO THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
This is the report to the Smithsonian Institution of all the work undertaken by the Daughters of the American Revolution ; through an Act of the United States Congress, embodied in the National Charter of this Society, an an- nual report is required of the work accomplished by them throughout the States, to be made to the Smith- sonian Institution, and for transmittal to the United States Congress by that Institution ; which body orders it printed, and it becomes a part of the Congressional publications. The Charter of the Smithsonian Institution stands for the "Dif- fusion of knowledge am.ong men," and there is no possible way in which the records of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution could gain a wider circulation than they now enjoy through this method of publication, which fosters science, art, and investigation in all possible directions. These reports, including the work of each state, through the State Regents, have the greatest significance. The publications are well illus- trated, giving the historical spots cared for, the monu- ments, tablets, and inscriptions placed thereon. The res- toration of ancient burying grounds ; tablets to mark battle fields: pictures illustrating progress of Memorial Contin- ental Hall ; altogether making a very unique set of volumes.
Through this publication, by one department of the United States Government, the Society is brought into a semi-official relation to the government, in as much as the Smithsonian Institution is, by the Society's Charter, made the custodian of its historic relics, books, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other material of historic value.
The editing of this report was formerly done by a com- mittee, of which Mrs. Gertrude B. Darwin, Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, and Miss Kate Batchellor, were consecutively Chairmen. In 1903 the editing was put in the hands of the Assistant Historian, which place was occupied by Mrs. Mary
52 Story of the Records
S. Lockwood, and since that time she has compiled and edited the Report. It shows the love and interest that is taken in all that pertains to the good of the D. A. R., when so many women can be found who will consent to take upon them- selves the arduous duties of such a voluminous work. It has been by such sacrifices, — for no national officers re- ceive any salary — that the executive business has been car- ried on for fifteen years ; and to this fact belongs the success that has attended its undertakings.
THE DIRECTORY.
A directory for 1904 has just been completed, under the direction of a committee. To Miss Nellie B. Stone was given the contract for compilation, and under her expert supervision, the work was satisfactorily accomplished. There are certain details that have to be reckoned with in such a publication that do not enter into the common city directory, making it a very onerous piece of work, as it has to be closed at a definite date, after which no more entries are made until after another Congress ; thus in one sense a directory of the Society will always be somewhat unsatisfactory, as several thousand names will be added annually to the membership which cannot appear in the last directory. The cost of this publication is about $4,000, and it is met by the one dollar per year that comes to the treasury from each member, so that every individual mem- ber may congratulate herself that she is a factor in this feature of the Society's work, which also adds greatly to its interest.
CHAPTER VI.
DEPARTMENT WORK.
REASURER GENERAL: The supervision of all the departments of the Society comes directly under the Board of Management. The work in detail of each department is delegated to the National Officers, respectively, elected by the Continental Congress, who are members of the Board.
The Office of the Treasurer General consists of two closely related divisions. One of these divisions embraces all work pertaining to the accounts proper, and the other all work pertaining to records of admittance, initiation, transfers, reinstatements, deaths, marriages, and changes of addresses of nearly fifty-five thousand members of the Society.
At the end of every month the office makes a trial balance of the ledger, for it is the ledger, of course, that shows the exact financial standing of the Society. The cash book, the ledger, the duplicate receipts, and all financial papers are inspected every month by the Auditor, who is an ex- pert accountant employed in the United States Government. At the end of every month a statement of the receipts and expenditures for the month is made for the ensuing meeting of the National Board of Management.
On the first of every February, the ledger is balanced for the year, ending January 31st, and a full statement of the receipts and expenditures is made at the annual Congress of the Society.
Here is kept, also, the records of the seven hundred and fifty chapters, a very difficult task, — the reports show the increase or decrease in membership, — a complete record of resignations, transfers, deaths, dropped for non payment
54 Story of the Records
of dues, and marriages, shown in the tri-yearly reports, is transferred to the chapter record books, and a note of such record is made for the office of the Vice President General in charge of organization of chapters, in which office the same information is recorded in the membership catalogue. The record of membership of the society would be in a hopeless state of confusion, were it not for these tri-yearly adjustments. They offer the only means the society has for ascertaining its paid membership. In this office are kept card catalogues of the members at large, of real daughters, of life members, and of contributions to the Continental Hall fund. During one year 4,434 receipts were written; 5,892 entries were made in the cash book; 8,839 entries made in the ledger and small book accounts ; 35,000 entries made in the large record books; 1,100 resig- nations from chapters recorded; 60,000 reinstatements, m.arriages, deaths, and transfers entered in the books ; 3,759 initiation cards written; and 21,000 tri-yearly reports; letters and transmittal blanks received, examined, briefed, corrected, and filed.
If a comparison might be made between the volume of work handled by the small clerical force in this office, and the volume of work handled by an equal clerical force in an office not related to the Society, — in a bank, for instance, such comparison, it could be safely asserted, would be very advantageous to the treasury department of the Daughters, of the American Revolution.
VICE PRESIDENT IN CHARGE OF ORGANIZATION OF CHAPTERS.
Another very important office under the supervision of the Board of Management, is the Vice President in Charge of Organization. Chapter Regents are presented to the national board through this vice President General, chapter regents having been in most cases appointed by the State Regents.
When a regent is elected, a request is sent to the
Story of the Records 55
National Board of Management for formal authorization to organize a chapter, and, upon confirmation of such re- quest, notice is sent to the regent ; their chapter is recorded in the chapter ledger, chapter card catalogue, and chapter files; and the chapter regent's commission sent. Before being presented, all names in the chapter must be compared with the records, to be assured that they are composed of members in good standing with the Society.
All resignations of chapter regents are presented to the Board — these are recorded in the chapter ledger. The date of the organization of chapters, names of chapters, and marriages and deaths of chapter regents must be recorded in the Chapter ledger. The Chapter card catalogue, which contains a record of all chapter officers, with the date of their election, is arranged by states and then by chapters alphabetically — organized chapters being in one drawer and unorganized in another. The original lists of officers being typewritten, are filed in chapter files — each list being kept in the archives of the Society. Charter blanks are issued to all organized chapters, and are returned filled out with the chapter mem- bers, officers, date of organization, etc. At the monthly meetings of the Board of Management, a resume of the month's work is submitted. All letters are recorded, date of answer noted and filed, and all important answers copy- pressed — certificates of membership are dated also. To keep these records up to date, and answer the letters in this department, necessitates a great amount of correspondence.
The vice president general in charge of organization being chairman of the Credential Committee, adds greatly to the correspondence and work of this office.
The work of the card catalogue is also under the super- vision of the vice president general in charge of the or- ganization of chapters. These cards, on which is the full name and address and chapter to which the member be- longs are made for every applicant admitted to the National Society at the monthly board meetings, and placed alpha-
56 Story of the Records
betically in members catalogue. Every ancestor that is claimed by said applicant is recorded, if not already in an- cestors' catalogue, a card is made with full record of ser- vice; and the name and national number of descendant placed thereon. If ancestor's card is already in the card catalogue, the papers of said applicant are compared with those of the other descendants, and service verified, — the name of the said descendant being placed on this card.
All lines of genealogy are carefully watched and dis- crepancies noted. Every resignation is noted on the mem- bership card of each individual, and the same is noted on her application papers.
THE REGISTRAR GENERAL^S OFFICE.
The Registrar's office may well be considered the nursery or propagating field of the Society, for no applicant can enter it unless their papers have undergone the scrutiny of the watchful eyes of this painstaking clerical force.
It has become a matter of great pride with the Society that every name presented to the Board by the Registrar bears the unquestionable right to be enrolled as a Daughter of the American Revolution. Let us glance for a moment over the routine work of this office. In the morning the mail is received and assorted as follows: ist comes the letters concerning the application papers and marked — a; 2nd. Letters concerning supplemental papers, filed — b ; 3rd. Letters for copies of application papers, filed — c ; 4th. Letters for badge permits, filed — d; 5th. Letters for bar permits, filed — e ; 6th. Letters for recognition pin permits, filed — f; 7th. Letters enclosing checks and money orders, sent by mistake to the Registrar General, which must all be endorsed by her and turned over to the Treasurer General, — filed — g; 8th. Letters from people concerning matters of prospective members and members already ad- mitted,— filed — h ; 9th. Letters with corrections from appli- cants whose papers are incomplete, — filed — i.
Story of the Records S7
loth. The application papers, when received, are dated and recorded.
nth. If the applicant enters through a chapter, notifica- tion of receipt is sent to the Registrar; if a member at large, to the State Regent. The application is then placed on file. If the application papers have all the requirements, they are examined in lineage and service, which, if found correct, is verified, signed and dated by the Registrar General, and filed as verified.
1 2th. If the applicant is found wanting in the require- ments, the Registrar or the proposed member at large send- ing it, is notified and requested to furnish sufficient in- formation or data to assist in verification, and the paper is filed as referred, not verified, and marked "incomplete."
13th. The applicant entering under service already filed is compared thoroughly in lineage, dates, and service, for said ancestor on file claiming service for said ancestor. Some idea of the labor involved may be realized when it is understood that each ancestor is represented by an aver- age of 15 members — some of the more prominent reaching the number of 42.
14th. When applications are verified they are taken to the Treasurer General's department to be marked "paid."
15th. The applications that are verified, are arranged by states and chapters and a typewritten list is presented by the Vice President General at the monthly meetings of the National Board of Management, which, if there is no objection, the Board accepts, after which they are dated, and the Recording Secretary General adds her signature to every paper.
1 6th. A notification is sent to every chapter registrar of members accepted in her chapter, or to the State Regent in case of a member at large.
17th. The applications are then numbered and recorded.
1 8th. A notification of election is sent to each individual.
19th. An average of 420 applications are presented to each Board meeting.
S8 Story of the Records
20th. The papers are separated ; one being sent to chapter registrar or to members at large as the case may be — the other filed with duplicate papers.
2 1 St. The data for the certificate is then made, verified and sent to the engrosser.
22nd. The original paper is then filed ready to be entered in the card catalogue, in individual and ancestor cards, after which the papers are ready for binding — 200 in each volume.
23rd. The supplemental or additional papers are sub- jected to the same routine as the original, and often require much more time to verify.
24th. Application papers that cannot be verified by re- ferring to the data in the library belonging to the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution are taken by the Registrar General to the Library of Congress and every possible effort made to verify them. Papers enclosing certified record of service or lineage or references are promptly verified, and the certified record returned to the applicant herself.
25th. If after sufficient correspondence, papers cannot be verified they are returned to the chapter Registrar or member, and request made for a correct or complete paper. We now give the process through which each certificate has to pass.
26th. The date is prepared from the application of each member, verified and sent to the engrosser. When re- turned, they are again verified. The signature of the Pre- sident General, Recording Secretary General, and Registrar General must be secured. They are then numerically ar- ranged, dated, and the seal of the Society affixed ; slips are prepared for the mailing tubes and addressed. The question is often asked, why it requires so much time to issue these certificates. There are from 400 to 500 members admitted each month, which, together with the immense corres- pondence of this department, takes the entire time of the three clerks employed; therefore, this part of the work often has to be done during the summer months.
Story of the Records 59
When application papers are recorded which are com- plete and correct, they must pass through, at least, nineteen different processes before leaving the office.
Add to all this work in the Registrar's office, and issu- ing of permits for Insignia, recognition pins, and bars. Each one must pass through a similar ordeal of research, often ten volumes must be carefully gone through to get at all the supplementary papers — then some idea of the work of this department will begin to dawn upon the en- quirer.
This is where the ground work of the Society begins — every member must first belong to the National Society before she can become a member of a chapter.
The great care taken that every paper be truly verified is what is making the records of the National Society an authority in genealogy.
THE LIBRARY.
The Library is composed of biographical, genealogical, and historical books, intended primarily for the verification of papers of applicants to the National Society and for the compilation of the Lineage Book.
The Library is open to the public, however, from 9 to 4 o'clock; and all books may be consulted, but not removed from the library. The annual appropriation of $50 is de- voted exclusively to the purchase of Revolutionary records. The library depends entirely upon gifts and exchanges for accessions to its collections of histories, biographies, and genealogies. Gifts have been received from chapters and individuals, authors and friends of the society. The library possesses a dictionary catalogue composed of 20,000 cards indicating the author's title, subject matter, date and place of publication, number of pages, photos, illustrations, and maps of all the books in the library. Then there is the exchange and letter card catalogue. The former contain the names of authors, titles of books — the volumes given in
6o Story of the Records
exchange and the names of persons to whom the books are sent.
The Lineage books are used for exchange. There are now 22 volumes in the library.
The frequent visits of genealogists, the large number of visitors, who come in search of information, and the many letters asking for genealogical and historical data indi- cate the value of this library and the place it occupies in this Society.
All this work that has been shown in detail proves how minute and painstaking has been the oversight of the Board of Management; for it is surely marvelous in its prepara- tion, for there was no precedent upon which to predicate the working of any one department. It all seems to be the result of close conscientious study of the requirements of each department, and of strictly conforming to the lines laid down. The publications, the work in the departments, the clerical service, the rent of the offices, and the expenses of the Continental Congress, are defrayed from the ag- gregate of the one dollar annual dues to the National Society.
Under the superb management of Miss Julia Ten Eyck McBlair, Mrs. Edward Bennett Rosa and Miss Aline E. Solomons, Consecutive Librarians, the growth has been al- most phenomenal, and the library is fast becoming a store house of knowledge for the historian and the genealogist.
REAL DAUGHTERS.
Early in the organization of the Society, it was found that several persons had entered who were real daughters of men who had served in the Revolution. It seemed to many that some mark of distinction should be bestowed on this class. Therefore, a resolution was offered and passed in one of the early Congresses, that a gold souvenir spoon should be given to every person proved to be a real daughter of a soldier of the Revolution. At the time it
Story of the Records 6i
was not supposed that over a hundred such persons would be found among the Hving, but up to date there have been several hundred names enrolled on the Society's roster.
Many touching and beautiful incidents have followed the presentation of this spoon. One Real Daughter, of whom a picture appeared in the American Monthly Magazine, who is in her nineties, is represented with her father's sword in one hand, which was his insignia ; and the Daugh- ter's souvenir spoon in the other, which was her sign manual, while the sweet and placid smile of satisfaction on her old face tells the story better than words.
There is a true and pathetic story of a Real Daughter, who recently lived in the mountains of Georgia, and who was tenderly cared for for several years, by a donation from the Board of Management of the National Society. This story was communicated on one occasion by a cor- respondent, when returning a receipt to the board for this gratuity. No expenditure of the Society ever performed a holier mission. The writer dwells, at length, upon the surroundings and difficulties that encircle the narrow life of this Real Daughter in that wild and obscure part of the country ; but not too obscure a spot to have been found out by the members of the Habersham Chapter of Atlanta. The story is as follows :
"The home of this mountain Daughter of the American Revolution is isolated from the settlement and to be ap- proached only by tedious labor over the abandoned creek channel. Last year the creek ran here, the freshet in the spring causes it to run there ; in the winter it will run everywhere. One mile the road runs in the creek, the next mile the creek runs in the road. Now it is to be forded from the right, now from the left, and again it must be forded lengthwise. One must learn by experience on which side of the creek he is at any particular place. In- deed, this knowledge can never be accurate, for the creek divides frequently and comes down on both sides of the bewildered stranger.
62 Story of the Records
"The road is good enough where it leaves the city, — broad, graded and macadamized. It stretches toward the mountains in seeming endlessness and suggests the riddle of infinity. As it threads its way through the field and forest it ties hill to hill in a great bundle around the feet of the high peaks. It loses first the macadam, then the broadness, and finally the grade. It tapers first to a moderate and then to an insignificant width ; first a muddy turnpike, then a rocky way, grassgrown, or lost in the creek bed. After a distance, it will emerge dripping, wet and indistinct; finally it narrows into a packhorse trail, a cow-path, a mule track, and ends in a squirrel track, up a chestnut tree.
**It makes little difference which road a stranger takes through the cove. He will wish he had taken the other before he has gone half way.
*'The road furnished Eugene Douglass and me with a topic of conversation one day as we walked from his house to see a 'Real Daughter' of the American Revolution.
"I shall not undertake to say on which side of the road we found the old lady's house. Indeed, I am not sure I could say whether the road there was a pack-horse trail or a cowpath. I am quite sure that only a squirrel could go beyond where the old lady lived. I remember how I con- gratulated myself that I had not ridden a horse hither, fear- ing that I should not get him back alive, so precipitous was the ascent.
"In such a place as this I found a woman ninety-one years of age, a daughter of a soldier who fought at Cow- pens, Guilford Court House, and King's Mountain.
"This is what I saw: scarred and riven mountain side, from which both water and blood seemed to pour; water only, but mingled therewith the dark, rich soil. There were trees, too; but they were mere skeletons, 'deadened by circling,' to make room for a tobacco patch. They stretched forth their lifeless, leafless, weatherbeaten limbs as if to ask for pity. And fences, split rails, worm fences,
Story of the Records 63
warped and rotten, every corner filled with briars, head high and higher. There was no barn to speak of, but an old stable built of logs, the logs falling to decay, ar.d held in place by stones and pieces of plank thrust between. Death, everywhere death, except in the wretched frame of an old house, and it suggested death.
"The old log house and its appointments would not have served Washington's troops at Valley Forge. Neither he nor his men would have been left to tell the tale. Yet here dwells the Daughter of the American Revolution. She met us at the door, — this old woman, bowed over with rheuma- tism and leaning upon a staff, her daughter, a woman of seventy years, a widow of a Mexican soldier; her grand- daughter, and a three-year old great-granddaughter make up the household. Four generations under one roof, or rather under one set of eaves, — for the roof is leaky. The great-grandmother, the daughter of a Scotch-Irish Presby- terian elder, a soldier at Cowpens and King's Mountain the great-grandchild, the daughter of who knows whom.
"The old woman had a modest way of explaining to me that the three-year old curly-head was Becky's child. 'We didn't have it in our hearts to turn her off when the child was born, seein' how the father in the parable took back home his son after the son had wasted his substance in riotous livin'. The father didn't reproach the son none. He kissed him. We did feel sorter hurt with Becky, but we let her come back.'
"Those three women living alone, in the depths of a great forest, digging roots and drying blackberries and peaches for a livelihood, afforded me an interesting study.
"They displayed, with much delight, a gold spoon, pre- sented as a souvenir of their ancestor's service in the Revolutionary War. It was presented by the National So- ciety,— a beautiful thing, prettily engraved and inscribed. They showed it to me. I mentally commented that five or ten dollars would be of more service to this poor family than a gold spoon hidden away in a woollen rag; and that
64 Story of the Records
such a gift would have been more appropriate. I offered to buy the spoon at twice its value. But not so. The old lady rewrapped her treasure and hid it in her bosom.
"This was what she said : 'Yes, we need money for meal, flour and bacon; but I'll hold on to this spoon a while yet. It was give to me because my father fought for his country. I'll keep it for his sake. Some of the folks wants to have it put in my coffin when I die ; but I'll give it to Becky's daughter, if she promises to be a lady and keep it. No, stranger, I am much obleeged to you for your money, but I can't sell my spoon.'
"Eugene Douglass explained to me as we came away, that through him the Treasurer General of the Daughters of the American Revolution had been sending the old lady a money contribution every month for several months. I am determined to add my mite, especially since I have wit- nessed that she was a worthy daughter of her father." This simple story, so pathetic, is enough to carry conviction to every Daughter's heart, that so long as a Real Daughter is to be found in this Republic, she shall have the honor of this gift from the Society,
CHAPTER VII.
PATRIOTIC WORK OF THE SOCIETY.
I ROM the beginning of the Spanish- American War, in April 1898, every Daughter of the American Revolution, from the highest to the humblest, manifested an earnest desire to assist the government in any and every possible way in its great undertaking of prosecuting the war to a speedy completion. In this she proved herself worthy of her noble ancestry, from whom she had inherited her patri- otic sentiments. A meeting of the National Board of Management of the Society was called in April, when it was decided to offer to the President of the United States, and the Surgeon General of the Army and Navy, the services of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, and to hold themselves in readiness to respond to any demand for service that might be called for, assuring them that the society was thoroughly organized throughout the country, or in all the states, for such emergencies, and that it needed but the word calling to service, when they would be found ready to respond. At that meeting of the Board it was determined to form a Hospital Corps for direct work. The announcement soon came from Surgeon General George M. Sternberg, that the War Department would turn over to an accredited committee of the Society of "Daugh- ters," appointed by the National Board, all applications of women nurses to be assigned for duty by this committee.
The applications amounted to 4,600. From this list, every nurse put upon the rolls had to send her certificate from the training school from which she graduated, and from this list one thousand nurses were sent out in com- pliance with the call from the Surgeon General. Fifty times he made the demand for nurses, and not once was
66 Story of the Records
this demand made that the quota was not filled within twenty-four hours. The amount of hard work accomplished by these women is beyond calculation and cannot be over estimated. The "Daughters of the American Revolution Hospital Corps" was the general name applied to all volun- teers for active service, and, also, to the members of the Society who endorsed them ; the officials were to be a director, two assistants, and a treasurer. The following were the officers elected by the National Board : — Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, Director; Miss Mary Desha and Mrs. Francis S. Nash, Assistant Directors ; Mrs. Amos Draper, Treasurer.
In addition to the D. A. R. Hospital Corps, another com- mittee was formed, in view of the fact that many of the families of the men who had gone to the front were in needy condition, and the soldiers and sailors, were lacking many comforts. A War Committee, composed of the National Board of Management, of which Mrs. Manning, President General, was Chairman, with the additional names of Mrs. George M. Sternberg, Mrs. Charles H. Alden, Mrs. J. C. Breckenridge, Mrs. A. W. Greeley, Mrs. Philip Hitch- born, and Mrs. Elizabeth Blair Lee.
This Committee was to raise a fund, to be known as the D. A. R. War Fund. The Treasurer General of the national society was also elected treasurer of the War Fund. A Sub-Committee of the War Committee was also formed to have charge of all disbursements of the War Fund. This Committee was as follows : Mrs. Russell B. Alger, Chairman; Mrs. Stakely, Mrs. Hatch, Mrs. Taplin, Mrs. Sperry, Mrs. Fairbanks, Mrs. Frye, and Mrs. O'Neill. A grand work was accomplished through the War Com- mittee and the Hospital Corps, and through its accomplish- ment, the question so often asked, "What was the Society of the D. A. R. organized for?" was answered to some ex- tent for "Service in the time of the country's n.eed."
Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee in one of her reports has left this record, — '"Some fifty times has the Surgeon General
Story of the Records 67
of the Army called on the Daughters of the American Revolution Hospital Corps to designate suitable nurses for a specified duty, and these calls range from a half a dozen to one hundred and fifty nurses in a single order. The total number thus appointed was in the neighborhood of one thousand nurses — a regiment of women. Realizing, as we fully did, that there was a great principle at stake, we exercised the greatest care in the preparation of our list of eligible women. First of all, the candidate must be of virtuous character and suitable age ; second, she must pos- sess good health ; — third, she must have the training, which is essential to the successful prosecution of her work. This last requisite was one that recent progress has made not only possible, but absolutely necessary to secure the best results, and the only sure policy to follow, with safety to the sick soldiers, was to demand actual graduation from a training school.
'The correspondence entailed was enormous. The visitors, also, who inquired in person were numerous. The officers were at their post daily from 8 a. m. till 11 p. m., but after all it must be evident that we alone could not have accomplished all that has been done. To begin with, there were the Washington Daughters who worked daily with us. It is by reason of their devotion, that it is not until within the month of September that any paid clerical assistance has been necessary.
"We must not fail, however, to add that help was received from many whom were not Daughters, yet whose patriotic impulses led them in the direction of our Daughters. Then our Daughters' committees ; to begin geographically ; in Boston, we had a never failing source of strength in Mrs. Daggett, of the Old Colony Chapter. She had her Boston nurses so well in hand, that if we were in need, we had only to telegraph her, and the half dozen extra ones would be available in a few hours.
"In New York, Miss Vanderpool, Regent of the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, and Mrs. Alexander, Regent
68 Story of the Records
of the William Ellery Chapter, of Rhode Island, were of great assistance, and the same is true of Mrs. Roberts, State Regent of Pennsylvania ; and Mrs. Harrison, Regent of the Philadelphia Chapter. In Cincinnati, Miss Laws, chapter regent, and in Cleveland, Mrs. Stephen — may their names ever be blessed — were Chairmen of Committees ; the one in Buffalo Chapter, under Mrs. Minton, and Mrs. Williams, did work that can only be described as ideal. Mrs. Dickson, Regent of the Chicago Chapter, after working for some time alone, also, formed a fine committee, with Mrs. Frederick Smith as Chairman. In St. Louis, we could always depend upon Mrs. Shields, State Regent; and Mrs. Bascomb, chapter Regent; while in Detroit, Mrs. Chittenden, Regent, Louisa St. Clair Chapter, never failed us. After gratefully nam- ing Mrs. Hadden, of New Orleans, we must return to Mrs. Palmer, of the Irondequoit Chapter, Rochester, New York, the Superintendent of the Rochester City Hospital. For- tunate, indeed, were the Daughters to have had so uniquely competent a representative, and admirable in all respects has been her work. Other Daughters to whom we are especi- ally indebted, are Mrs. McCartney, Regent of Wyoming Valley Chapter ; Dr. Rose, Regent Col. Crawford Chapter, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Carrier, Elmira, New York; Mrs. Munyon, Regent Marion Chapter, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Pem- broke Thom, State Regent of Maryland. It is unfortun- ately impossible to name all the Daughters who co-operated with us.
**In accordance with the authority under which we acted, as an Examining Board of women nurses for the Govern- ment, all other organizations which desired to recommend such nurses co-operated with us. Chief among these, is the Red Cross Society of New York, Mrs. Winthrop Cowdin is its acting President, and Mrs. Whitelaw Reid, its Sec- retary. This Society has not only furnished a large num- ber of nurses, but has been of incalculable benefit in pro- viding nurses with board at certain posts, v/here it was not convenient for the Government to do so; in supplying
Story of the Records 69
luxuries at many places, and In paying for the transporta- tion of nurses In order that they might reach the sick at the earliest possible moment.
'The Woman's National War Relief Association, of which Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, Is Director; and Miss Helen Gould, Acting Director, has paid for the maintalnance of nine nurses at Fort Monroe, Va., and it, also, sent a check for a thousand dollars for transportation of nurses. The Red Cross Auxiliary above mentioned, however, providing everything necessary for this purpose, the check was re- turned. Other Red Cross Societies have assisted In the same way.
"Of religious organizations the greatest assistance has been given by the Sisters of Charity, their superior Mother Mary Anna of Emmitsburg, Maryland, selected for Army service no less than two hundred of her best hospital Sisters, their work was In the highest degree satisfactory like that of their co-workers, the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
The Protestant Order of St. Margaret sent nurses in the same way; and the St. Barnabas Guild was ably and largely represented. Too much cannot be said in praise of Miss Ella Loralne Dorsey, Ex-Vice President General, D. A. R., In her valuable assistance In all matters relating to the Roman Catholic Sisters, as well as her unvarying and constant interest In the work of the 'Corps,' and her earnest co-operation in every project which had for Its object help for the soldiers, and honor for the Daughters/' Too much praise cannot be given to the fine work ac- complished by the officers of this Corps, — Dr. McGee, Miss Desha, Mrs. Draper, and Mrs. Nash.
The President, Mrs. Manning, In her address at the next Congress, made use of these telling and stirring remarks. — ^*We meet with a vivid consciousness that we have never written so much that was so vital in the volume of a single year. There is the record of our progress and prosperity, but there is far more than that, we have wrought into the
70 Story of the Records
history of our souls this chapter shadowed by war and stained with blood. The existence of the Daughters of the American Revolution has been interwoven with the fibers of our natures, unfolding beneath the banner of our Nation's glory. The conflict with Spain was not of our own choos- ing. The mighty plans of an over-ruling Providence shape the epochs and its end, leading our Army and Navy as with pillars of fire to an issue that was down on His plan to the up-building of a world."
"The year has been the most notable in the career of our organization. To the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, the trained nurses of this country owe their standing in relation to the United States Government. The Daugh- ters were awakened throughout this continent and an army of twenty-seven thousand women met the demands of the hour. Chapters, great and small, entered into the field. Note the excitement that shook the land, hear our call of the master roll of States, — Alabama, Arkansas, Cali- fornia, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Dela- ware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisi- ana, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Illinois, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Caro- lina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wis- consin, Wyoming, North Carolina, Vermont, Hawaii, — not one but in its borders has proved itself worthy of being a star among the constellation of States."
We have seen that when the United States Government called for the services of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the Spanish-American War, it was because they were known as a thoroughly organized Patriotic So- ciety, ready for any emergency when the country needed them. From this call one thousand nurses were sent by them into the Hospitals, fifty thousand garments were made by their hands and forwarded to the sick and suffering and three hundred thousand dollars in money was raised to
Story of the Records 71
help the families of soldiers and send delicacies to the sick.
Not satisfied with the provisions already laid out for as- sistance to the government in caring for the suffering soldiers and sailors, twenty-five hundred dollars was raised to purchase the steam launch D. A. R. for the hospital ship Missouri.
Added to the work of the Daughters who served under the direction and instruction at headquarters of the National Society, was that of the New York Society Chapter, Mrs. Donald McLean, Regent. j
On April 30, the Chapter unanimously resolved to raise a War Fund, for which purpose they decided to hold an orchestral and promenade concert at popular prices. The concert took place at the Ninth Regiment Armory on West 14th Street. Fifteen hundred dollars was realized from this entertainment. This sum, the chapter divided into practically equal quantities, one half to be expended as directed by the Government, and one half in Red Cross work.
Another line of activity was pursued by this Chapter with gratifying success, that was the formation of the Soldier's Library. They appealed to the general public for books, magazines, illustrated papers, etc., and nearly ten thousand volumes were collected, and forwarded to the soldiers in camp, and to sailors on the sea. The Chapter, also, contributed one hundred dollars to the ''Battle Ship Maine Martyrs' Monument Fund."
All this work of these patriotic women was accomplished with such dispatch, every order so promptly complied with, and the administration of the nurses proved so valuable, that the Government has opened its official doors, and the White-Cap and Apron Brigade have become a permanent adjunct to the Army organization. All honor to the brave women who took the heat and burden of this work. This year's work was a glory to any administration and an honor gallantly won by the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion.
72 Story of the Records
It matters very little what men in the beginning of the War thought of their ability to cope with all the new con- ditions without the ministering aid of women. With the days came the lessons and duty to the hearts of the women, and they took it up over this broad land, and when they walked blind-folded, not knowing the path, or whither the door where God's ministering angels were sending them, they walked steadily on, and behold the doors were opened, and they entered the camps of the dying; the hospitals of the wounded, — it was the cup of cold water, in His name, given by gentle hands, the nourishing food, the clean white garments, the tender care, that put a new hope into the hearts of our boys and helped them back to life. We do not think it will take long to get an answer from these boys, what the status of women will be in the future, if war, pestilence or calamity should again befall us.
Of the nurses regularly serving in the United States Army, under contract for the first time, in the history of the country, thirteen died in the line of duty in Cuba and Porto Rico.
The United States Government has given the Association of the Spanish War nurses a plot of ground in the National Cemetery at Arlington, and they have erected on it a digni- fied and appropriate monument. A call has been issued by the Ex-members of the Hospital Corps, Miss Mary Desha, Mrs. Bell Merritt Draper, and Miss Ella Loraine Dorsey, who are also Honorary Officers of the Spanish-American War Nurses Association, to the regents of chapters throughout the country in which they made this statement and appeal: "The nurses have undertaken this work themselves, but we feel that these dead are our dead, for we sent them forth to the lasting credit of our Society, and they served and died at their posts to the eternal credit of womankind.
"We have thought each Chapter might desire the privilege of contributing one dollar to this monument by way of recording on its minutes its recognition of the courage and devotion of these nurses who went to the front
Story of the Records 73
through the Hospital Corps of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revohition, who died in Hne of duty."
It is pleasant to record that the monument was finished some time ago, and stands as a beautiful memorial of Woman's devotion to her country, and was dedicated with appropriate services.
CHAPTER VIII.
MEMORIAL CONTINENTAL HALL.
T is recorded that it was a favorite project of General Washington that memorial buildings i^ should be erected for the Thirteen Colonial States in the City of Washington. As the years passed, the subject would occasionally come up in Congress : — ten, twenty, and fifty years went by, — each time the matter was brought up in the United States Congress, it would be postponed, until at last the session would come and go and the subject would not re- ceive even honorable mention. When the century mark was reached, there arose in the land the patriotic Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and one of the first acts of this organization, October i8, 1890, was to pass a resolution for a fireproof building, to be used as a Museum for Revolutionary relics, with the possessions and records of the Society ; a meeting place for the Society — in short, a building which would carry out the idea of Washington, — a Memorial building.
This resolution was offered at the continued meeting of October nth, which occurred on October 18th, 1890, by Mary S. Lockwood (see manuscript minutes in archives at D. A. R. headquarters). This resolution was followed by one offered by Mrs. Mary McDonald one year later, Oc- tober II, 1891, (see manuscript records) as follows: 'That all charter fees and all Life Memberships shall be set apart for the nucleus of a building fund." Mrs. F. W. Boynton, in her appendix to the first Smithsonian report of the So- ciety (page 7), said, — ''Both resolutions carried, and to those two women belongs the honor of the first suggestion of the Continental Hall and practical means of securing It."
|
-^ |
- \ |
|
|
■^j^rlM '^MlT^ -iata8iUliil|^ |
||
|
i |
a/&^l^ |
|
|
}^mmsaB^sm |
||
|
^ ^^ |
||
|
1 |
M |
|
|
m^fi-^^s^m |
||
|
I. |
Story of the Records 75
Thus building a Continental Hall was one of the earliest interests of the society, as is shown by the fact, that at the first official conference of State and Chapter Regents, held October 6th and 7th, 1891, Mrs. Mary V. Ellet Cabell gave a spirited address urging that Continental Hall should en- list general attention and obtain substantial aid from the Daughters of the American Revolution. (First report to the Smithsonian Institution.)
On October 24, 1891, one year after the first resolution for a building was passed in Board meeting, Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth offered a resolution suggesting that the building be known as the "Memorial Manor" of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, asking for a committee to be appointed to consider ways and means for the erec- tion of such a building (see early records). The name "Memorial Manor" was afterwards discussed, and "Me- morial Continental Hall" was adopted.
November nth, 1891, at a meeting held at Mrs. Cabell's the President, Mrs. Harrison, presiding, the consideration of the subject of a Continental Hall was strongly recom- mended by her, and each of her successors has made it an object of earnest solicitation.
At the time of the first Continental Congress, held in the church of Our Father, February 22, 23, 24, 1891, six hundred and fifty dollars had been accumulated for the permanent building fund. Each succeeding Congress re- garded this as a very important object of endeavor. Each year the generous contributions of enthusiastic members come pouring in, which has added to the permanent fund.
Members from the first fostered the feeling that in carry- ing out this wish of Washington's, they would have the co- operation of the United States Congress, and they pe- titioned for a site. This was granted, and a piece of ground was given them. It was afterward proven that there was a clause in the title preventing the erection of a building thereon. A communication from the Chairman of the Committee of the U. S. Congress made this fact known, and
76 Story of the Records
announced that another site would be given in its place; but before action could be taken another congress was convened, a new king reigned — not of the house of Jacob, — and one man defeated the will of Congress by refusing to recognize the maker of the bill, on the floor. This was Speaker Henderson. Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison had this project much at heart. At her last visit to the Board meeting, March, 1892, she said, ''Daughters, do not falter in your work until Continental Hall is completed."
The Presidents, one after another, — Mrs. Adlai Stevenson, Mrs. John W. Foster, and especially Mrs. Daniel Manning, labored incessantly to secure what had once be- longed to the Daughters. At last, wearied by the long de- lay and by the advice of friends in the U. S. Congress, the Daughters decided to purchase their own ground whereon to build Memorial Continental Hall, which purchase was made June 3, 1902, under the leadership of Mrs. Fairbanks, President General.
A superb location was secured by action of Mrs. Augusta Danforth Geer and Mrs. Miranda B. Tulloch, with the as- sistance of Judge A. C. Geer, who had been made a com- mittee to find a site and bring it before the Continental Hall Committee for approval. This society should hold this committee in grateful remembrance for their kind offices in securing this desirable location for Memorial Con- tinental Hall.
Thus, after fifteen years of generous, united effort, "to have and to hold, forever," a site upon which to build Continental Hall, the object so long sought was obtained, and the members of the Society rejoiced greatly together at the happy consummation. It is a beautiful and suitable spot for the purpose, situated on Seventeenth Street, extending from D to C Street, facing the public park known as the ^'White Lot," and is between the Corcoran Art Gallery on the North, and the Washington University Site on the South. Henceforth, American History will be magnificently centred between Art and Literature. The net expense of the ground was $50,266.17.
Story of the Records yy
On the Twelfth anniversary of the founding of the Society, October eleventh, 1902, the ceremony of breaking the ground was appropriately celebrated. The President, Mrs. Cor- nelia Cole Fairbanks, surrounded by many distinguished Daughters, invoked the God of Nations, and consecrated the place upon which they stood, to high and holy purposes. Forty thousand Daughters of the American Revolution re- joiced with their President, that the first practical step had been taken which should lead to the consummation of this patriotic enterprise. When the process of breaking the ground was going on, Mrs. Fairbanks and Mrs. Lockwood marched out in the rain and shoveled some of the earth into flower-pots. In one, Mrs. Lockwood planted thirteen Osage Orange seeds, to represent the thirteen original States, and enough in the other to supply the remaining forty-five States with a "Liberty Tree." These were cared for in the propagating garden of the Agricultural Depart- ment. At the following Congress, the roll of the famous "thirteen" commonwealths, which drove the dragon flag of St. George and all the King's men off the soil of the former British Colonies, was again called, and the regent of each state, including the forty-five State Regents, as called, received the plant assigned to it to be taken within its borders and planted in some public park or place, where it will be seen as a perennial reminder of the ceremonial ground breaking; and, also, to typify the expansion of the principles of the struggle for American Independence, the growth of the Society, and the perpetuation of the Spirit of y6. In the history of this tree, the osage orange of the the Osage Indians, has a Colonial, Continental, and Con- stitutional, as well as a rejuvenated Daughters of the American Revolutionary history. Many of the state societies have held impressive ceremonies over this patriotic tree planting. As the years go on the trees will be emblematic of the height, breadth, and fruitage of this organization.
The following February, a handsome silk flag, the gift of the "Sons" of the American Revolution of the District,
yS Story of the Records
was raised over the site of Continental Hall in the presence of the delegates to the Congress, visiting and resident Daughters. The daily floating of this flag over this ground attests the legal right of the society in this property as authorized by the District Commissioners.
An important step was the announcement of a compe- tition open to all American Architects of plans for the build- ing. For two years the Committee on Architecture worked faithfully, with Mrs. Lindsay as Chairman. Out of seventy plans in competition that of Mr. Edward P. Casey was chosen. The type of architecture may be characterized as "Colonial-Classic." All materials were to be American; the structure to be of marble. On the south side of the building there is to be a memorial colonnade in honor of the thirteen original States. The general plan is simple and chaste ; each detail having been carefully considered.
The following April found the work so far advanced on this beautiful structure that is to commemorate the men and the women of the Revolution, that the corner stone was laid with imposing ceremonies, April 19, 1904, the an- niversary of the Battle of Lexington.
In the early afternoon, the members of the Thirteenth Continental Congress, D. A. R. assembled at Chase's Theatre, and preceded by the Minute Men, the President General, and the National Board, the Vice Presidents, the State Regents, Delegates, and Daughters, — walked from Chase's Theatre to the south of the Treasury Building, passed the White House Gardens, the State, War and Navy De- partment, to the Square, which every Daughter has already learned to love. This Memorial Building will always be a satisfactory object of contemplation.
It was an inspiring sight v/hich met the eyes, on that happy day. Old Glory floated over every vantage point; the fife and drum were there, with military music, and a joyous festive air pervaded the scene.
The ceremonies attending the laying- of the corner stone were in charge of the Masons, and were celebrated
Story of the Records 79
with Masonic Rites. The gavel was the one used by George Washington, in Laying the Corner Stone of the National Capitol, September 18, 1793, which was afterward pre- sented to the Potomac Lodge. The exercises were opened by singing ''My Country 'Tis of Thee," led by the Marine Band. The Rev. Edward Everett Hale, Chaplain of the United States Senate, made the Invocation. The Children of the American Revolution then saluted the flag.
The President General, Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, was introduced by Col. Simmonds, and delivered the opening address, which was pointed and forceful, stirring the vast audience with enthusiasm. It was in part as follows :
''Daughters of the American Revolution and Friends: On this historic date we gather to pay reverent homage to the memory of the men and women who gained and be- queathed to us the priceless heritage of home and country. In laying the corner stone of this memorial, dedicated to those who loved freedom better than wealth or power, we perform a grateful and pleasing duty. The spacious marble hall which will soon rear its beautiful proportions will ex- press the broad comprehensive view entertained by this so- ciety of those immortal characters to whom gratitude is due.
"It is not alone erected to the great statesmen who laid the ground-work of our liberties ; not only to the generals who planned our armies, who, foreseeing troubles, planned to meet them, and, sufifering defeat, conquered at last ; not alone to the great sea captains who organized our infant Navy; not alone to Rebecca Mott, who burned her own home to clear the way for liberty's army ; not alone to Molly Pitcher, who, when death claimed her husband, took up the work he was carrying on ; but to all brave men of the line, to all the women of the spinning wheel ; Memorial Con- tinental Hall is dedicated to all of these, and many more. The great events, fond wishes, and unstinted labor of thirteen years have brought us to this long-looked-for, long-prayed-for epoch in our Society's history.
8o Story of the Records
"The great purpose of Memorial Continental Hall, formulated at the society's initial meetings, and since con- stantly enlarged and developed, was twofold: First, to pre- serve the memory to those who consecrated this land to freedom ; second, to furnish an administrative building for the great society founded by their descendants.
*'When completed it will symbolize the work, contribu- tions, and beliefs of thousands of the Republic's patriotic women, and we have saving faith to believe that for ages it will stand as a temple illuminated by the sacred lamp kept trimmed and burning by the daughters of patriotic ancestors, and will furnish a shrine to which future genera- tions will repair to renew inspiration in liberty's great work.
"Yon majestic shaft in honor of the Father of American Independence looks down upon it, and near by is the home of our National Executive. Truly a glorious historic en- vironment.
'Tt is a pleasure to meet you under these auspicious circumstances, when the near approach of an event, eman- ating from your aspirations and beliefs, thrills your hearts with patriotic emotion. To-day, under sunny skies, fanned by gentle breezes, surrounded by appreciative countrymen and countrywomen, with sacred and military observances, with grand national music, with the impressive rites of a great mystic brotherhood, in the presence of its early workers and promoters, and aided by its noble founders, the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution lays the corner stone of its greatest work, its tribute to the patriots who achieved American Independ- ence. The corner stone will now be laid with Masonic ceremonies."
Mr. Frederick Denison Owen was the designer and architect of the beautiful Court where were seated the five thousand guests, and was also the decorator of the Program, which came from the hands of the Program Committee, of which Mrs. Miranda Tulloch was Chairman. Mr. Owen gave further evidence of his interest by do-
Story of the Records 8i
nating the silver trowel used during the dedicatory cere- monies.
Mrs. Wm. P. Jewett, of Minn., the Chairman of the Corner Stone Committee, handed the articles to be placed in the Corner Stone to the Masonic Grand Master, and these were placed in a large copper box which will lie in the Corner Stone so long as Memorial Hall shall stand. Among the 50 articles placed in the box, was the Holy Bible, property of a Revolutionary soldier ; portraits of the President Generals ; portraits of the four founders ; list of active officers and Continental Hall Committee ; Constitution and By-Laws ; National Society's Articles of Incorporation.
First volume of the Lineage Book. First and last volume of the official organ, the American Monthly Magazine. First printed matter as issued by Mrs. de B. Randolph Keim, regarding Continental Hall.
Report of Committee on Architectural Program.
Documents of D. A. R. hospital work in Spanish War, 1898.
History of the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution.
"Insignia."
Copy of the Star Spangled Banner.
Autograph list of clerks at headquarters, D. A. R.
Daily papers ; current issues, etc.
Following the placing of the articles in the box, Mrs. Fairbanks, Miss Desha, Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood, Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, descended to the Corner Stone, and with trowel spread mortar upon the corner stone.
Mrs. Tennis Hamlin, Chaplain General, offered the dedicatory prayer. Then followed a brief address by Mrs. Walworth ; and the ceremonies were closed by a benediction offered by Dr. Bristol of the Metropolitan M. E. Church ; and a recess taken until the night meeting at the theater, when greetings were given by those who had worked and labored for the cause they so much loved.
The first to be presented to the audience was Mrs. Mary 6
S2 Story of the Records
S. Lockwood, who briefly told whose names Memorial Continental Hall would commemorate, — the heroic women and the men of the Revolution.
Mrs. Daniel Lothrop, the organizer and first President of the Children of the American Revolution, gave a notable greeting.
Mrs. Masury, State Regent of Mass., gave her reasons why Massachusetts should lead in this work of such an or- ganization.
Mrs. George M. Sternberg, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, spoke of the success of collecting funds for this beautiful building.
Mrs. William Lindsay, of Kentucky, emphasized the over-sight of our people in not having already erected a monument to Revolutionary heroes.
Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, State Regent of Connecticut, brought greetings from the four thousand members of the Society of her State.
Mrs. Getchell, of Pennsylvania, brought greetings from the Keystone State, as well as an abundant assurance of a helpful kind.
Mrs. de B. Randolph Keim spoke of the realization and of the substantial commemoration of the deeds of the founders, fathers, and mothers of the Republic, by their Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. Matthew T. Scott, Vice President General from Illinois, brought greetings, and spoke of the influence of the American women on the body politic.
Following her, Mrs. John A. Murphy, Vice President of Ohio, gave her convictions of the wonderful results that would follow the erection of Continental Hall, one of which would be the impression it would make upon foreign nations.
Mrs. William Gerry Slade, President of the Daughters of 1812, heartily greeted her elder sisters in patriotic work.
Mrs. O. J. Hodge, State Regent of Ohio, spoke of the struggles endured, and victories won in making the work a possibility.
Story of the Records 83
Mrs. S. A. Richardson, State Regent of South CaroHna, paid a glowing tribute to her State, and enjoined upon men and women to point to Continental Hall as an epitome of American History.
Miss Stringfield, State Regent of North Carolina, said this palace beautiful will attest the love and reverence in which the memory of the women of the Revolutionary days are held by their descendants, and that it would stand for deeds that should not pass away, and names that must not wither.
Mrs. Charlotte Emerson Main, State Regent of the Dis- trict of Columbia, brought greetings of one thousand Daughters, and hoped the days would prove a stepping- stone to a still higher ideal in fraternity and loyalty.
Mrs. Leo Knott brought greetings from Maryland, and reminiscences from the small meetings in that upper room in the early days of the organization, contrasting this occasion in happy words with the meeting of that day.
Telegrams were read by Mrs. Walter Weed, from the absent members, Mrs. Daniel Manning, Mrs. Letitia Steven- son, Mrs. Virginia Ellet Cabell, Mrs. Nellie S. Weed, and Mrs. Sallie Newcomb Page.
So ended the interesting exercises of the Laying of the Corner Stone of Memorial Continental Hall.
DEDICATION OF MEMORIAL CONTINENTAL HALL.
The grand finale to Mrs. Fairbanks' administration was the dedication of Continental Hall. By her activity in making manifest the need of diligent work in the States, to many of which she presented the case in person, — in arousing by personal appeal the ambition of the Daughters to build this great memorial of the organization; by never allow- ing the subject to lie dormant ; but, by constantly dropping a word in season, it came about that the work of the years preceding her Presidency needed but the impulse she could give to bring it to a happy fruition. Therefore, it was dur-
84 Story of the Records
ing her administration the site was purchased, the corner stone laid, and lastly, the dedication of the building.
The fourteenth Continental Congress opened with the imposing ceremonies of Dedication of Memorial Continent- al Hall. While the building was not yet complete, the white marble and steel construction had progressed so far that the annual Congress could be held therein. Any ap- pearance of incompleteness had disappeared under the magic hand of Mr. Frederick D. Owen, to whom the Daughters owe so much for the artistic conception of the decorations. The tasteful arrangement of the great Ameri- can flags festooned with smilax, beautiful palms, and ever- greens, produced a most pleasing impression, and it is not likely that the hall will ever again present a more attractive appearance than on this notable occasion, when the Presi- dent and her staff; the members of the Board; the high dignitaries; and invited guests; the delegates to the Con- tinental Congress ; visiting Daughters and their friends, first looked upon this vision of delight.
Patriotism and love of country formed the key-note of the ceremonies in dedication of Memorial Continental Hall. These were simple, interesting, and in perfect taste.
France, in the person of her Ambassador, Mon. J. J. Jusserand, joined hands with America, as it had joined hands with the colonies in the days of the Revolution. The Invocation was by the Right Reverend Henry V. Satterlee, Bishop of Washington ; the prayer by the Reverend Doctor H. Pereira Mendes, Minister of the Spanish and Portu- guese of New York. After patriotic music by the Marine Band, a courtesy extended by the United States Govern- ment, Mrs. Fairbanks said in part:
"This dedication marks the realization of a resolution passed at the first meeting of our Society, October, 1890, *to erect a fireproof museum for revolutionary relics, pos- sessions, and records of the Society.' Through varying fortunes and passing years, that plan has grown stronger, and with its growth becomes broader and more glorious in
Story of the Records 85
its ideals, so that to the ''fireproof" museum has been added the archives, the offices, the auditorium, and finally, last and most beautiful, this memorial feature. The fact that a Society of women erects the structure makes it unique. Its memorial feature renders it sacred and great.
''It is a tribute of gratitude to the wise promoters of the War for Independence, to the heroic men who on land and sea achieved its triumphs, to those generous-hearted allies from foreign lands, whose services may not be forgotten ; to those loyal earnest women, the mothers of the Revolution, that grand reserve corps of its army, which materially aided its cause, for they sowed the fields, wove the cloth and fashioned the garments which their soldiers wore, and held the fortress of the home as a haven to which might return those who fought the battles which made of the struggling Colonies a vast Republic.
"This Memorial Continental Hall, which we dedicate to- day, is an acknowledgment which America owes to those who planned the mighty Revolution, those who managed its campaigns, conquered its foes, founded the greatest nation on earth, and formulated the beneficent laws for its government. Their sufferings, their devotion, not for their time alone, but for the long future, deserves, and now has received, the hearty, unreserved recognition of those who are glad to name themselves Daughters of the American Revolution.
"This memorial building, only partially completed, is also designed for the headquarters for the society, its walls to be adorned by its members with artistic delineations of the thrilling deeds of an eventful period, a repository for the interesting and sacred relics of a sacred time ; an ample auditorium, where will be held the Congresses of our So- ciety, a hearthstone around which shall gather the Daugh- ters from the North, the South, the East, and the West, even from the Islands of the sea, where each shall find a greeting, a welcome home.
"The Greeks thought it a duty to build monuments of
86 Story of the Records
remembrance to the visitors of Salamis and Thermopylae. The Daughters of the American Revolution consider it not only their duty, but have joy in the thought that in the erec- tion of this modern Parthenon, they render tribute to warri- ors, who fought, not for dominion, but for the holy cause of home and country.
'Tt is truly a memorial to patriots, it is also an incentive to all who behold it to keep ever living and active the prin- ciples of justice and liberty upon which it was founded. It is the mute, yet eloquent, protest against forgetfulness of American ideals, of American justice, and American humanity. It is also the physical expression of the belief of the society, whose possessions and pride it is, for it brings to mind the lessons of patriotism, the perpetuation of liberty which that society was founded to promulgate, whose existence arose from devotion to country and from the fear that the addition to our country's population of subjects of despotic monarchies were so imbued with hatred for government that they might endeavor to sub- stitute anarchy for law and order, and thus compass the fall of the most humane and liberal institution of govern- ment ever known — those of republican America.
"From these fears sprang the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which with kindred patriotic organizations, is reawakening the love for liberty and is teaching its principles. It believes that its aims are to be attained best by diffusion of knowledge concerning the men and women of the Revolutionary period, their beliefs, and their patriotic work. These are taught by Daughters of the American Revolution in the great cities of our country to the children of foreign parentage, as well as to those who are *to the manner born.' Study of Revolutionary history is everywhere encouraged. It is believed that tablets and monuments erected to immortalize the lovers of freedom, serve as reminders, as admonition to all who behold them.
"This society having erected all over the land tablets
Story of the Records 87
and monuments, has at last reared this token of its venera- tion and gratitude to those who made this country free and great. Reared it not only for the statesmen and leaders, but to the men who carried the muskets in the ranks, to the women at the spinning wheel.
"The Daughters of the American Revolution have reached a time of which they long have dreamed. A place for which they long have sought, earnestly worked for and grandly achieved. The time is this day, April 17, 1905, a date significant ever more in its annals for now the re- presentatives of fifty thousand members, of this society as- sembled in Continental Congress, for the first time in their own auditorium with their own roof above them, their own walls surrounding them, their own ground beneath their feet. The dream has 'come true.' Its reality is sur- passingly fair, in good sooth, the place is almost holy ground to the Daughters."
Following the address of Mrs. Fairbanks, Senator Dolliver, in ringing voice, gave the following glowing utterances, in a short address that was full of good cheer, good advice, and kindly praise for the great work ac- complished, and was as follows:
"We do hereby give tribute to the real artists, the women who are the daughters of the mothers of the country. After that we ought to think of the architect who drew the plans of this building. There can be no question that when the work is completed you may all say, 'All is well done,* not only upon the 'dream of the committee,' as referred to by Mrs. Fairbanks, but in reality I hope to see all this structure literally dedicated to the memory of the builders of our country.
"We heartily congratulate you on your splendid achieve- ments. There is a general misunderstanding of the pur- pose of this great society — the D. A. R. I did not under- stand it myself until my wife informed me of its real mis- sion. I thought it was a great scheme to keep up old family traditions of the American Revolution. I further
88 Story of the Records
understood that it had originated in Virginia. It did not seem to fit in our scheme of government.
''When I found how the patriotic women of the country were gathering up the fragments of the past, I saw that you had caught the most beautiful idea that has ever been thought of by any one in this world. There is one thing I want you to do, and that is for this Society of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution to write the history of the United States. The tendency of history is to smooth things over and to confuse. Now is the time for a woman to write this history.
*'If you get out of the obligation of writing this history, you cannot get out of teaching history to the children of the nation.
"The women are guides of the nation's mind. They ought to see that their children have a thoroughly reliable history of the United States, beginning at the very cradle. They ought to be taught what American statesmen have done and thought, and what the American women have suffered, that this divine thing men call their country may take its position among the nations of the earth.
"We to-day appreciate the virtue of our fore-fathers and mothers when so much wealth and vice is displayed in our modern society."
The conclusion of the ceremonies was the address of the French Ambassador, M. J. J. Jusserand, and prayer by Bishop Earl Cranston, D. D., of the M. E. Church, and the benediction by Dr. Wallace Radcliffe.
The charming and timely address of the Ambassador was as follows :
"The keeping of a family tradition pre-eminently belongs to the mother, the wife, the daughter. The first teachings received in life are those given by the mother: the earliest seed is the one which endures longest.
"It is fit and natural that the daughters of America should have thought of fulfilling, and should have fulfilled so well, their part in preserving the traditions of the great
Story of the Records 89
American family. This splendid ''Memorial Hall," en- dowed with such beauty and raised with such rapidity, is a token of what they can do. I confess when I heard of the great project two years ago I had some misgivings, and thought it was, perhaps, one of those buildings of dream- land which look so handsome on paper and which are meant to remain paper things for a longer period than the length of our lives.
"The dream has, all at once, become a reality ; under the guidance of our eminent President General, paper has been turned into marble.
"There is a French proverb saying: Telles meres, telles filles ;' such the mothers were, such the daughters are. It holds true in this, as can be verified. We know very well what were the grandmothers of the 'Daughters' of to-day. We have many contemporary testimonies ; one being Lafayette's. In the first letter he wrote, after landing in 1777, to his wife, his very dear wife, whom he always calls 'dear heart,' he mentions what strikes him most in the new country he has just reached; and he does not forget to describe the women of America. You will, I hope, pardon him when you hear that he alludes first to the mere external and superficial qualities; it is a fact that he declares that they were very pretty. But adds that their simple and dignified manners are quite winning ; he has only praise for them, and he asks his wife to try, for his sake, to make for herself an American heart.
"There is in this great town another memorial hall, not without some fame of its own, called the Capitol. I had the honor some time ago, on an august anniversary, the day being the 22nd of February, to present to Congress a bust of Washington, the work of David d'Angers.
"David was a typical French artist ; typical by his love for his art and his country, his love for freedom, and his love for America. He was never so happy as when he had to model the statue of some of those heroes whom you intend specially to honor, in this hall ; he made busts and
90 Story of the Records
statues of Washington, Lafayette, and Jefferson. Having been ordered by the French government to model a statue of Guttenburg, he set apart one side of the pedestal for America, and under pretense of exemplifying the 'Benefits of Printing' to Americans, he grouped together in a bas- relief above fifty among the more famous of your national heroes. Franklin is in the middle, holding to view the new- printed sheet, on which is to be read the Act of Independ- ence; Washington, Jefferson, Hancock, Adams, Lafayette, and a great many others surround him. It is certainly the most interesting of his works from the American point of view, and one very little known.
''David d'Angers, devoted as he was to the cause of freedom, had to suffer for it. He knew, for a while, the bitterness of exile, and he rambled some time in Europe, having for his consolation the company of a young daugh- ter of his, whom he called his Antigone.
''Well, this daughter still lives, and she has inherited her father's feelings for the United States. Being a worthy daughter of France, she wants to show her sisterly friend- ship for the daughters of America, and she has informed *me that, if agreeable to you, she would be pleased to have a bronze replica of this bas-relief cast from the original model to be placed, as a gift and souvenir, among your 'memorials.' The work, being in its way a page of history, would answer the views just expressed, with so much eloquence, by Senator Dolliver.
"From what I see and hear, I gather that this gift from Mme. Leferme (such is her name) would be acceptable to you ; she will be informed without delay, and the bronze work of art will come in due time.
"It will be considered, I hope, among you, Daughters of the American Revolution, as token and emblem of the un- broken, and, I dare say, unbreakable, friendship of France and America."
Thus, after the benediction by Dr. Radcliffe, ended the dedication of the building the Daughters long
Pl-ATK 0
IMRS. CAROLINE FTOTT HARRISON. First President General.
Story of the Records 91
have sought ; a service no Daughter will ever forget, for each one has a personal interest in Memorial Continental Hall ; and neither will they ever forget their President General, Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, for her untiring efforts to bring about this glorious consummation as a memorial to every daughter of the American Revolution.
One of the pleasant and most impressive incidents of the first evening of the fourteenth Continental Congress was, the presentation of a full length portrait of Mrs. Cornelia Cole Fairbanks. The ceremony took place at night at the be- ginning of the Jubilee services, just after the opening prayer had been offered. Mrs. John Miller Horton of Buffalo, New York, stepped to the front of the platform and addressing those present made a most felicitous pre- sentation address, followed by a touching reply from Mrs. Fairbanks. The portrait was intended as a loving and ap- preciative token of the regard the Daughters had for their retiring President General's services for Continental Hall, and all present who had not already contributed to the Portrait were later given an opportunity to do so. Thus Mrs. Fairbank's portrait was the first to be donated to Continental Hall.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PRESIDENTS GENERAL.
RS. CAROLINE SCOTT HARRISON: The most important thing in launching a new so- ciety upon the world is to select a good leader, and those who organized the Daughters of the American Revolution were deeply impressed with this truth. Therefore, in casting about for a president, they sought for one whose personality would attract and be acceptible to eligible women from all sections of the country. For this reason a woman with a sectional repu- tation was not to be thought of, though, but for this handi- cap, there were several brilliant women competent for this office. Naval officers are presumably American without political or sectional bias, and their families share in this reputation, — for the whole country, first, last and all the time. There were wives of two men, — one the wife of an Admiral, and one of an Assistant Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, — who were for a while being considered as "availables." But the choice finally fell to Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison, wife of the President of the United States, who from the first was considered the most desirable can- didate, but she declined to accept the nomination until the day the Society organized, October ii, 1890, when her scruples were overcome, as has been recorded in the first chapter. It proved to be a happy choice in every way. She had always been regarded as essentially a domestic woman, whose homemaking and social accomplishments fitted her to stand beside her husband as his sympathetic ''help-meet," rather than his ally in the field of politics. She was well born and well educated, and all these womanly graces appealed to this class of women, many of whom were among the first gathered into the new Society. Mrs. Har-
MRS. CAROLINE SCOTT HARRISON.
From painting by Daniel Huntington, presented to the United States bv the Dauejhters of tha Annericar
Revolution.
Story of the Records 93
rison was twice elected to serve as President of the Society, 1890 and 1892, — but she died before the close of her second term, in October, 1892.
The first President General was greatly beloved by those who knew her intimately, and was highly esteemed by those who came to know her through the organization. In an unassuming way she entered upon the duties of the position, as one who appreciated its importance, as some- thing more than a mere gathering of a few fortunate descendants of Revolutionary heroes, but rather as the head of an organization destined to complete some of the unwritten pages of history. While not physically strong enough to take a very active part in the proceedings of the Society at all times, she did all she could, and was present at many of the earlier meetings. To the last she cherished a deep and abiding interest in its progress, always from the moment she permitted herself to be identified with it, offi- cially. Her health was undermined at the time she con- sented to serve, and it was indeed a sad blow to the Society when she passed away. Mrs. Harrison's memory was held in such universal esteem, that, when Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth offered a resolution at the first D. A. R. Con- gress after her death for the purpose of having a portrait of the late President General painted, as a loving tribute to her worth, and destined to be a gift from the Daughters of the American Revolution to the Country, to be hung on the walls of the White House, — the project was received with great favor. This portrait was completed by the as- sembling of the Third Continental Congress, February 1893, and, when the presentation took place, the picture was followed from the Church of Our Father to its final resting place by all the members of the Congress until a recent period, when the improvements were being so ex- tensively made in that historic mansion, the fine, full-length, life-size portrait, painted by Huntington, one of America's best figure painters, hung in an appropriate place on the wall of the Blue Parlor, for which Mrs. Harrison had but
94 Story of the Records
recently chosen the furnishings with such perfect and delicate taste. But since the recent "improvements" were made, all five of the portraits of Presidents' wives, in the White House, were hung in a bad light in the lower cor- ridor. Even Andrew's portraits of Martha Washington and Dolly Madison, placed on the walls of the East Room, ac- cording to an Act of Congress, shared this ignoble fate for a time, until rescued by President and Mrs. Roosevelt, as is the case with some of the other most interesting historical furnishings of the earlier regimes, to make room for the comparatively cheap imitations of the furnishings of a royal salon, and it is supposable that the architect, who alone is responsible, thought ^sop's Fables, in the frieze, quite sufficient to supply their place ! Recently President and Mrs. Roosevelt have also had the portraits of Martha and George Washington hung in one of the State drawing rooms.
Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison was descended from John Scott, Acting Commissary of Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War. Her father was a clergyman and in- structor at Oxford, Ohio. Her people were plain people, high thinkers and simple livers, and she inherited an in- stinct for homemaking from her mother, which was mani- fested soon after she came to the White House, she being the first resident Madam President to see that the kitchens of the Executive Mansion had a thorough over-hauling and refitting with every m.odern convenience. She was a strong advocate for improving and enlarging the Executive Mansion, her "plan" still being looked upon favorably by some not overly pleased with recent changes. She might be said to be a conservative woman, standing on the threshold of a new era, still holding fast to the old ideals, even while stretching forth a timid hand towards some things new. Mrs. Harrison was ever equal to all that social position imposed upon her, although failing in health made it necessary to delegate many of her duties to her amiable daughter, Mrs. J. R. McKee.
>;^^-
MRS. LETITIA OIlEKiX STEVENSON. Sefoiid rresident fipncr.'il.
Story of the Records 95
Mrs. Letitia Green Stevenson : The precedent es- tablished by the organization in the election of Mrs. Harrison, wife of the twenty-second President of the United States, to the office of President General was of undoubted wisdom. This act not only elevated the office above the rivalries of personal or sectional interest, but gave the Society at once a national basis, and was found to be of great importance in keeping out what might eventually end in state or chapter strife ; and in electing Mrs. Letitia Green Stevenson, as Mrs. Harrison's successor, it was con- ceded that she being the wife of Vice-President Adlai Ewing Stevenson (during Cleveland's first administration) that fact gave her the necessary Constitutional prominence ; and Mrs. Stevenson had the rare distinction of running the gauntlet, successfully, of four D. A. R. annual Con- gresses, the term in the early days being limited to one year instead of two as now, and, therefore, it is not possible for any other presidential candidate to accomplish the same feat. Mrs. Stevenson at the end of her administration was the first to receive a loving cup, as a testimonial of appreciation from her friends.
Mrs. Stevenson's time terminated in 1894, and the inter- vening year, 1895, was lapsed on account of the extreme illness and death of a member of her family. During the in- tervening year, the office was acceptably filled by Mrs. John W. Foster, the wife of the distinguished statesman, who at that time was occupying the position vacated by James G. Blaine, Secretary of the State in President Harrison's Cabinet, social prestige gave Mrs. Foster her opportunity to dis- play that hospitality for which she was always distinguished, and which added so much to the pleasurers of the annual trip of delegates to the Continental Congress. Mrs. Foster declined renomination, not wishing to stand against Mrs. Stevenson, who was again willing to assume the duties of office as a resource after her recent family bereave- ment.
Mrs. Stevenson had numerous claims to Revolutionary
96 Story of the Records
blood. Some of it of the best. Among her ancestors were Joshua Fay, Captain James Speed, of Virginia, and Dr. Thomas Walker, of Kentucky, although she was born in Pennsylvania. She was a daughter of Rev. Lewis Warren Green, and Mary Peachy Fay. Her father, in the year of her birth, was Professor in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Allegheny City, Pa. She was the great-great- granddaughter of Joshua Fay, who was in the Continental service at eighteen years of age. He was a son of the dis- tinguished Colonel Joshua Fay, at whose death General Washington succeeded to the command of the Virginia forces. Another of her ancestors, Captain James Speed, of the Militia, was wounded at the Battle of Guilford Court House. He removed to Kentucky at the close of the war, (1782), and was prominent in the formation of the State government. Dr. Thomas Walker, another patriotic an- cestor, was a member of the House of Burgesses, and served on the Committee of Safety. Mrs. Stevenson has been well educated, and is also one of the conservative type of women. Her Professor at Walnut Hills Institute, Ohio, said of her she was a good Latin scholar, read Cicero's Orations, with ease, and took a high rank in all her studies. She is the mother of one son and three daughters, the latter of whom are all members of the Society, through descent of both father and mother.
* * * *
Mrs. Mary Park Foster: The third President General of the Society, was born in Indiana, where she was also educated and married to the Hon. John W. Foster, while he was a young lawyer struggling for name and place in life. She is descended from two of the old pioneers of the State, Captain Silas Clark and Daniel Read, formerly of Massachusetts. Her mother was the daughter of Captain Read, who was the founder of a highly respected family in the then "Western wilds," where he settled at the close of the Revolutionary War. Her great-grandfather, Daniel Read,
I'l.ATE i:
AFRF?. ^fAKY rARK FOSTER. Tliinl rresidont rjonornl.
Story of the Records 97
was a Continental Officer, and her grandfather, Captain Clark, was wounded at the battle of Monmouth, which afterwards caused his death. Mrs. Foster and her dis- tinguished husband were educated in the same College, and the boy and girl friendship later ripened into something deeper as the years passed on. Mrs. Foster has a happy disposition, and as she speaks both Spanish and French fluently, she has been able to greatly assist her husband socially in his distinguished diplomatic career. The Foster home in Washington, D. C, for many years adjoined the residence of the Mexican Minister, and Madame Ro- mero, wife of Senor Romero, and Mrs. Foster were warm friends until that charming lady died. This home has for many years been one of the most popular houses in the diplomatic circle in the Capital City.
Mrs. Mary Margaret Fryer Manning: Fourth President General, was distinguished for a happy grace of manner, united to good executive ability, which was of immense advantage to the Board of Management during her whole term of office. She possessed good stay- ing quality,- and when she had taken a stand, was to be depended upon to maintain her position. It was during her term that just such qualities as she possessed were most needed, and to her is largely due the success of several important features at that time occupying the attention of the Board. It was in her regime that the Daughters of the American Revolution took an active part in sending nurses and supplies to our soldiers engaged in the Spanish- American War, in Cuba and elsewhere, the story of which has been told in another chapter.
One of the incidents of the Tenth Continental D. A. R. Congress, was passing a resolution of sympathy with King Edward VII., on the death of his mother. Queen Victoria, the great and good, if not the best of all the Queens of Eng- land, the great-granddaughter of the Sovereign, who caused the rebellion of his subjects, in 1776, to throw off
7
98 Story of the Records
the yoke and found this Republic. That the descendants of these patriots should express in this public manner their appreciation of England's noblest Queen, a notable wife and mother, who in all the relations of life fulfilled every duty pertaining to an exalted womanhood, was indeed one of the remarkable events brought about by the whirligig of time.
Two important historic events took place in Paris, 1900, at the great Exposition, at which Mrs. Manning was a guest of honor, viz., the unveiling of the statue of Washington, given by the women of America, July 3 ; and the dedication of the Lafayette monument, the gift of the children of the United States, July 4.
On February 22, 1900, a joint resolution of the Congress of the United States, was unanimously passed, enabling the the President to make the desired appointment of a special committee to represent the United States Government, and the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution at the Paris Exposition, and Mrs. Manning received an official Commission from Mr. McKinley, President of the United States to that effect, which was presented to the President General of the D. A. R. Congress by the hand of the late Mrs. William P. Fry, Vice President General from Maine. Mrs. Manning was received by the President of the French Republic with distinguished consideration and accorded a medal of Chevalier of the "Legion of Honor," such as was given to representatives of other nations.
The statue of Washington so long planned by the women of America was at last installed in the Place de lena, on July 3, 1900, the anniversary of the date when Washington took charge of the American Anny. General Horace Porter, Ambassador of the United States to France, pre- sided on this interesting occasion. The statue was pre- sented in the name of the women of America, by the Hon- orable John Gowdy, Consul General of the United States, at Paris, and was unveiled by Mrs. John P. Jones and Mrs. Daniel Manning, as President General of the National
I'LATK Vu
MliS. MAIKJARET FOYKR MANMXG. FourtU I'lesideiit Geueial.
Story of the Records 99
D. A. R. Society. The gift was accepted on behalf of the French RepubHc by Monsieur Belcasse, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, with impressive solemnity in the presence of a great assembly.
The day of days for the Daughters of the American Revolution, at the Paris Exposition, was July 4th, 1900, when the American flag for the first time floated from the pinnacle of the Eiffel Tower and everywhere in con- nection with the tri-color. On that day was dedicated the great statue of Lafayette presented by the women and children of America to the French Republic, on which the Daughters have placed a tablet to give proof of the grati- tude to Lafayette for the timely service he gave to this struggling Republic in its hour of supreme need. Mrs. Manning gave a felicitious address on the unveiling of the monument, conveying the best wishes and hopes of the Daughters of the American Revolution to the children and people of France.
The tablet placed by the D. A. R. on Lafayette Monu- ment bears this inscription:
'This tablet is a tribute of the National Society of
The Daughters of
The American Revolution
To THE Illustrious Memory of
LAFAYETTE,
The Friend of America ; the Fellow Soldier
OF WASHINGTON,
The Patriot of Two Countries."
According to the request of the Eighth Continental Con- gress, D. A. R., the President General, Mrs. Manning, ap- pointed a Committee to represent the Society at the un- veiling of the monument. The appointments were Mrs. Adlai Stevenson, Mrs. John W. Foster; Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood ; Mary Desha ; Miss Washington, and Mrs. Wal- worth,— the four Founders.
lOO Story of the Records
While in Paris, Mrs. Manning received the highest encomiums on the graceful, dignified, and happy manner in which she performed her duties on that and other occasions. In this connection it will be of interest to note that the special badge authorized by the National Society, only thirteen of which were made, as a memorial of the occasion, and as of value to their descendants, as well as historically, one was presented to the Marquise de Chambrun, grand- daughter of Lafayette, who, through her distinguished kins- man, the friend of Washington and the American cause, is a member of the Society of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution.
The "Grand Prix" was awarded to the D. A. R. exhibit at the Paris Exposition, where it excited much interest among those who still sympathize with Republican prin- ciples. As a matter of justice it should be stated here, that the two thousand dollars appropriated by the D. A. R. Congress, to meet the incidental expenses of the President, Mrs. Manning, while on this Society's business in Paris, every dollar of it was brought back and returned to the D. A. R. Treasury, except the amount necessary to defray the expenses attending the installation of the D. A. R. Exhibit ; so that all expenses incurred on that occasion must have been met from her own private purse. As a lasting memento of a year of brilliant successes, the medal of the "Legion of Honor" was bestowed, by the President of the French Republic, upon Mrs. Mary Margaret Manning, the President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
On all these occasions, Mrs. Manning was a pleasingly conspicuous figure, as a representative American woman. And it was, probably, largely due to this circumstance that she was selected, by the Managers of the Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition, Chairman of the Board of Lady Man- agers. In this position she had many delicate and arduous duties to perform, calling for tact and executive ability, as she was virtually delegated by the Board of Managers
Story of the Records loi
to extend hospitalities to every Society, holding convoca- tions in Congress Hall, during the whole six months of the Fair. There were almost no intervals of rest between sessions, sometimes several occurring on the same day, but on all occasions, both at the fair and in her elegant home, she acquitted herself with great credit.
At the close of her administration as President General, Mrs. Manning was presented by her friends and admirers from nearly every State in the Union with a solid gold loving cup of finest workmanship. On one side of the cup was the Insignia of the Society, and on the other the following inscription: — '"Presented to Mrs. Margaret Manning, President General of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in loving appreciation of her dis- tinguished services in the cause of patriotism, and noble example in holding up the highest standard of womanhood, February 22, 1901." Mrs. Clark Waring, of South Caro- lina, introduced a resolution of appreciation of her services, which was adopted by the Congress, and Mrs. Manning was then, according to the custom of the Society, elected Honorary President General for life. These resolutions were probably more sincere than conventional or perfunc- tory. Therefore, the Tenth Continental Congress will take its place in D. A. R. history as an exceptionally brilliant one, and Mrs. Manning will deservedly receive for it a large share of the credit.
Mrs. Margaret Fryer Manning was born in New York, and is a lineal descendant of one of the most distinguished and patriotic families the Revolutionary period produced. They were a high-minded family of stout-hearted patriots — those Livingstons — and it is easy to see where she gets some of her qualifications for leadership. She is the great- granddaughter of Robert Livingston and his wife, Mary Thong. He was one of the first to respond to the call "To arms !" and immediately espoused all the responsibility it imposed ; being well fitted for a soldier's life, from having served in the "Seven Year War" with the Indians. At the
I02 Story of the Records
opening of hostilities, he gave the use of his foundry to the cause, and no doubt therefrom in due time came forth bullets and fire-arms. Not content with this, he pledged his entire estate for the credit of the Colonies. He belonged to a remarkable family of patriotic men that history can scarcely duplicate. His brother, Peter Van Brudge Living- ston, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and William Livingston was the first Governor of Pennsylvania. Peter Robert Livingston was Chairman of the Committee of Safety, and President of the first Provincial Convention. He was commissioned Colonel of the Tenth Regiment of the Manor of Livingston, and all the field officers were kinsmen, and bore the family name. He was in command at White Plains and Stillwater. Such was the stock from which Mrs. Manning sprung.
Mrs. Cornelia Cole Fairbanks: There have been two Presidents General whose service to the Society have been pre-eminently distinguished and successful ; these were Mrs. Daniel Manning, and Mrs. Charles Warren Fairbanks, wife of the brilliant Statesman from Indiana, now Vice President of the United States. Mrs. Fairbanks is not a native of Indiana, but, like her husband, of Ohio, where she was educated and married, — that State which has produced so many distinguished men and women. Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks are both deeply and gratefully attached to the State and home of their adoption, where some of the pleasantest and most eventful years of their lives have been passed.
When Mrs. Fairbanks was elected President General, those who like to see good Chairmanship were delighted at the prospect of having so accomplished a presiding officer, nor were they disappointed. While strictly parliamentary in her rulings, she, through intuition and a fine womanly tact, knew when to ''yield a point" as well as her distinguished husband. She may be said to be one of the
I'l.ATK 14
Mi:S. COKXKLIA COLK FAI lil'.A NKS. Fil'lh ri-f.siilfut (Jcndiil.
Story of the Records 103
"New Women," having had much valuable all-round ex- perience in Women's Clubs.
Mrs. Fairbanks came to the front as President General at the time the present Vice President of the United States came into the United States Senate from Indiana; and as she was already a member of the Caroline Scott Harrison chapter, of Indianapolis, and a member of the Board of Managers of the National Society, as Indiana's State Regent, was doubly eligible to the office to which she was elected. Her administration was begun in the midst of the agitation of a great business enterprise to which the National Society had long been committed. This was the project of build- ing a Memorial Continental Hall, which was causing lively discussion and rapidly assuming tangible form. Mrs. Fair- banks took hold of the subject at the big end, and grappled with the finances in a masterly way and, while the duties of the Building Committee have from the start been onerous, she always backed it up with a warmth that has kept their courage up, thus enabling them to overcome all obstacles, of which there were not a few of the most formidable lions in the way.
It was at Mrs. Fairbanks' home that the initial move- ments to purchase ground were consummated, after the idea of getting Congressional aid was abandoned, and the documents and deeds of transfer on the real-estate pur- chased were signed. In everything that pertained to this movement she has been an element of strength, and it was eminently fitting that the dedicatory ceremonies should come as a climax at the close of her administration, since she had presided at the laying of the cornerstone of the building, April 19, 1904.
Mrs. Fairbanks was better equipped for public speaking than any of her predecessors, and her addresses at the Pan- American Exposition and at the Anniversary of the D. A. R. Society, October 11, 1904, at the Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition, and other occasions, specially the laying of the cornerstone of Memorial Continental Hall, were all
I04 Story of the Records
of the highest order, and might ahnost be classified as Orations. In her views she is always optimistic. Mrs. Fairbanks was the first President General to set up an office at Headquarters, and when in the City, she usually occupied it for several hours a day, at which time she devoted her- self to the routine of business as steadily as any clerk. Another point which added largely to her popularity was her democratic and sympathetic way of greeting every Daughter, be she Vice President or one of the working corps at headquarters, every one of whom is a member of the society, and whom she always recognized as being worthy of consideration as herself. Mrs. Fairbanks has thoroughly identified herself with the social, as well as business side, of this organization. Her home has always been the open door to all Daughters, especially during the continental congresses, when she has brought them together under her hospitable roof on every opportunity, thus giving the dele- gates and officers from the states a rare opportunity to come into closer relations with each other, and this has proved a great benefit in welding hearts and increas- ing activities in every great endeavor.
Cornelia Cole Fairbanks was born in Ohio, and Judge Philander B. Cole, her father, was an ardent believer in the higher education of women, and consequently sent his talented daughter to Washington College, Ohio, which was a co-educational institution, and here she met the equally talented and now famous Vice President of the United States. They were thrown together in class work, and in due time became associate editors of the College Monthly, when they soon became acquainted with each other's abilities and dispositions, and, as so often happens on ac- count of propinquity Cupid spread his net, and two years later Cornelia Cole and Charles W. Fairbanks, the young lawyer, joined hearts and hands to found a home, and have mainly through their own efiforts become the most illustrious of their respective families.
The Fairbanks family came to America from England
MRS. KMILY RITCHIE McLEAN. Sixth rresidfiit General.
Story of the Records 105
and settled in Massachusetts in 1636, founding a numeroui? race of that name who have contributed, in various ways, to prove their intellectuahty and moral supremacy. About one hundred years later the ancestors of Cornelia Cole Fair- banks came over from Holland and settled in Pennsylvania, and from there emigrated to Ohio, and became famous pioneer stock. The sturdy virtues, business tact, and good common sense from this foreign American stock has no doubt contributed to Mrs. Fairbanks' splendid record as President General of the Daughters of the American Re- volution. And the history of the rise of Charles W. Fair- banks and Cornelia Cole, is a good example of the rewards our institutions offer to capability and ambitions rightly
directed.
* * * *
Mrs. Emily Nelson Ritchie McLean : The elec- tion of Mrs. McLean to the office of sixth President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, marks a line of departure from the official position of former candidates to one of pure personality. Mrs. Donald McLean has persistently cherished an ambition to fill this high office, and has been encouraged by a large following of those delegates who were inclined to revolt from the constitutional method of selecting candidates from official circles. The success of Mrs. McLean after such a long siege proves her staying qualities once she has put her hand to the plow.
Mrs. McLean's elevation to this office occurred when the annual Congress was held for the first time in the Auditori- um of the Society's own building — "Memorial Continental Hall," April 20, 1905. And the occasion was of great in- terest for the double reason, that it was the dedication of that long sought project of the Society — a home of its very own — and, with three candidates in the field for President General, how could it be otherwise? This election had been the theme of discussion and agitation in Chapters throughout the land for months, and when the momentous
io6 Story of the Records
hour arrived two ballots were taken. On the second ballot six hundred and eighty-four (684) votes were cast, of which Mrs. McLean received three hundred and sixty-two (362), that secured to her the election and the much de- sired prize.
Mrs. Emily Nelson Ritchie McLean comes of good Colonial and Revolutionary stock. Her forebears were of the State of Maryland, where also she was born. Al- though New York has for many years been her home, only recently a memorial, erected by the Frederick Chapter, of Frederick, Maryland, in the court house of that place in- cluded Mrs. McLean's paternal and maternal grand parents, — Thomas Beatty and David Lynn. The tablet erected by the Frederick Chapter Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, November 23, 1904, is a memorial to the twelve Judges of the local Court who, on November 23, 1765, repudiated the Stamp Act. Thomas Beatty 's name heads the list, and David Lynn's is the fifth. On the oc- casion mentioned, Mrs. McLean was present, and made a felicitous speech, for she has a "nimble wit," and is equal to all such emergencies. She said, 'T have a great personal interest in this event, as in this Court House where I speak two of my ancestors, my great-great-grandfathers, Thomas Beatty and David Lynn, sat as Judges." She then reviewed in an interesting manner the history of Maryland, and said, 'That it was natural that the colony that had the first newspaper should also have to its credit as further indica- tion of the people's intelligence, and to the love of liberty which comes of enlightenment, the record of the first official repudiation of such an oppressive measure as the Stamp Act — an action which was a forerunner of the Colony's Declaration of Independence. She is the wife of Donald McLean, a well-known lawyer of the Cosmopolitan City, and is the mother of three daughters. In her speech of acceptance of the President-Generalship, she emphasized her convictions by saying, "No woman need be ashamed to aspire to be the President General of this splendid or-
Story of the Records 107
ganization." Mrs. McLean's record in this high position is yet to be inscribed. History will write it in later years.
Not one of the pedigrees of the Presidents General has had the slightest influence in elevating her to that high office, yet, it may not be uninteresting to have learned something of the ancestry of those six women, to see if any of the characteristics of their sires and dames have been trans- mitted to them. We think it safe to say the patriotic fathers and mothers, of 1776, have not lived and died in vain, judging from the lives and able administration of the Presidents General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, chosen from among their descendants.
The first official recognition of the Charter Members (818, are all of those who came into the society during the first year) occurred at the congress convening in 1906, one evening on the program being set apart to give them a Reception of Honor. This was at the instigation of Mrs. McLean, President General, who was one of the number, and also presided. Of the first eighteen who signed as members of the society, October 11, 1890, there were pre- sent, Miss Desha, Mrs. Mary Lockwood, Mrs. Emily Lee Sherwood (Ragan), Miss Suzie Hetzell.
The exercises were of a reminiscent character, and im- promptu, giving many interesting details of the early days, and doings in the society. Among those who spoke were Mrs. McLean, Mrs. de B. R. Keim, Miss Loraine Dorsey, Miss Janette Richards, Mrs. Elroy M. Avery, Miss Mallet, Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood, Mrs. Frank Osborn, Mrs. McCartney.
This celebration no doubt inaugurates a series of similar events that will continue so long as there are charter mem- bers to keep it up, for it is already apparent how quickly this number is diminishing, only one-half of the original number are now living.
CHAPTER X.
D. A. R. DAY AT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION.
|HE Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held in St. Louis, 1904, and the D. A. R. Society was invited to occupy a day, and to send an exhibit, not only of his- torical relics, but of the society work, which would include all the books and other material pub- lished by the organization. Never in the history of the society has a greater compliment been paid to that body, than was received when the authorities of the Louisi- ana Purchase Exposition conferred the privilege of select- ing a date to be known as, — '"Daughters of the American Revolution Day."
In compliance with an invitation extended to the Society by the President of the Board of Lady Managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and accepted by the Twelfth Continental Congress D. A. R., the Daughters assembled in St. Louis, October 11, 1904, on the fourteenth anniversary of the Society's organization. The day was clear, calm, and beautiful. The Exposition was at its best. Missouri and Missouri's Daughters gave joyous and happy welcome to the gathering throng.
The invitation given by the National Board to the Daugh- ters to be present was universal. A special invitation, however, was sent to all the surviving eighteen members who joined the Society on the memorable nth of October, 1890. Two were present, — Mrs. Emily Lee Sherwood Ragan and Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood. Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, Mrs. Daniel Manning and Mrs. Adlai Stevenson, three women to whom the Society owes so much were pre- sent, and it must have been a proud day for them, and it was an occasion long to be remembered, when reminiscence
Story of the Records
109
after reminiscence brought out the work of the organiza- tion by the corps of ready speakers who responded \o call. The notice of this courtesy was brought to the Continent- al Congress, through the Board of Lady Managers, repre- sented by Mrs. John Miller Horton, of Buffalo, which was emphasized by the President of the Board, Mrs. Appoloni M. Blair. The invitation was accepted with unanimity and in co-operation with the officials of St. Louis, October 11, was chosen,— a day notable in the annals of the society, being the date when the organization of the National Society took place, and when the first Presidenr and the first Board of Managers were elected.
This date of the anniversary of the organization has been celebrated at various times, but never in so conspicuous :i manners since the nth of October, 1902, when the ground was broken upon the site of the Society's greatest ^monu- ment,—Memorial Continental Hall,— as on the assembling of the representative members at the Louisiana Purchase exposition of October 11, 1904. No other day in this organization is more highly regarded than the Society's birthday.
The cordial welcome in Congress Hall, so graciously ex- tended by Mrs. Manning, President of the Board of Lady Managers, on behalf of the Board, glowed with expressions testifying to her interest for the Society to which she had given so much, in time, thought, and loving service. In closing her eloquent address, she felicitously introduced the Hon. David R. Francis, President of the Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition, who responded in part in the following eloquent terms, and paid a high tribute to the Daughters and to the Board of Lady Managers and its President in particular: 'T am glad to have this opportunity to say, and I believe I have never given public utterance to this senti- ment before, that the Board of Lady Managers, from the beginning of this work, has shown an appreciation of the undertakings of the sentiment that inspired it, and given that encouragement and assistance which only women can
no Story of the Records
lend. The unparalleled tact of the woman who has had charge of this Board of Managers has steered us clear of every Charybdis and Scylla; so that to-day, speaking for the relation between the Board of Lady Managers, and the Board of Exposition Management, it could not be more harmonious or more satisfactory to the management."
We take pleasure in quoting this, for it is a compliment to all women ; especially were we gratified, because so many Daughters were represented in this body.
Mrs. Wallace Delafield, in her admirably chosen words, most happily introduced Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks.
Mrs. Fairbanks, in her best manner, touched eloquently upon the vital questions of the society, urging everyone to new endeavor in the great work, which the Daughters have undertaken.
Mrs. Alice Ewing Walker, Vice President of Mis- souri, next gave her word of greeting.
The session was then fairly in the hands of Mrs. Fair- banks, who introduced Mrs. Lockwood as Chairman of Arrangement of the ''Daughters' Day" at the Exposition After her response, the President introduced Mrs. Adlai Stevenson, Ex-President; who, in her address, throughout, made it manifest that she had lost none of her old time fervor, when talking to "My Daughters."
Then followed five minute speeches, by the State Regent of Connecticut, Mrs. Kinney; the State Regent of New York, Mrs. Terry; the Chairman of the Committee on Architecture, Mrs. William Lindsay; and the President of the Children's Society, Mrs. Julius C. Burrows. Every speech in eloquent tones, struck the key-note of some vital work.
There was patriotic music, followed by the singing of an original American Hymn, words and music by Miss Mary Isabella Forsyth.
When the hour of adjournment arrived, every member present was enthused with new hope and new resolution and was ready to accept the cordial invitation of Mrs.
Story of the Records iii
Daniel Manning, on behalf of the Board of Lady Managers, to the Woman's Building for luncheon and a continuation of the program with five minute speeches.
When the Daughters entered the drawing room of the Woman's Building,— beauty in decorations, refinement in arrangement, the beauteous touch of the Daughters' colors, and last, but not least, the hand of the refined Lady Bounti- ful, in every detail of the luncheon, bespoke the thought, the care, the courteous hospitality extended through this representative body of women. The arrangement had been under the immediate supervision of another Daughter, a member of the official Committee on Program, the Hostess of the Woman's Building,— Miss Julia Ten Eyck McBlair, of Washington. As a climax, there followed in quick suc- cession in terse and telling form, short speeches from the Vice President in Charge of Organization, Mrs. Miranda B. Tulloch; Mrs. O. J. Hodge, State Regent of Ohio; Mrs. Edward S. Bennett Rosa, Librarian ; Mrs. G. W. Simpson, Vice President of Massachusetts ; Mrs. Emily Tate Walker^ of Chicago; Mrs. Edward Robey, of Chicago; and Mrs! Avery, Editor of the Magazine.
Receptions at several State Buildings ensued. The following day the St. Louis Daughters gave a reception to the President, Mrs. Fairbanks, Officers, and members, where six hundred Daughters were in attendance. A repetition of this reception was given at night through Mrs.^ T. B. Tomb, Regent of the Elizabeth Benton Chapter, of Kansas City.
Since no other feature of this organization has done so much to bring the members into close fellowship, and to promote good feeling as these social functions, celebrated on all suitable occasions, an arrangement that makes its appeal to all women, and serves to relieve the dry routine of mere business sessions.
Invitations were extended by Mrs. Manning to a luncheon in her own home in honor of the President, and Ex-Presidents, and Officers of the Society, which was an-
112 Story of the Records
other marked success, although quite apart from the offi- cial occasion, but all tending to emphasize the com- memoration of the fourteenth anniversary of the founding of the organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The meeting at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the reception by that representative body of women, the Board of Lady Managers, and the cordial extension of the right hand of fellowship by the Daughters of St. Louis, have made its indelible impression upon the body politic of this National Organization of women.
(End of Part L)
What Chapters Have Accomplished
Part 2
History: A prose narrative of heroic deeds." -Thoreau
n.ATK Ifi
MRS. EMILY LEE SHERWOOD RAGAN.
Introduction to Chapter Work
F the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution may be said to be the body of the organization, much more might its Chapters be recognized as its soul, for it is through this splendid work of the patriotic rank and file, that the D. A. R. has so much to show for what it stands. It has no reason to be ashamed of its ac- complishments, but, on the contrary, the whole country is that much richer in its historic shrines, and details that do not get into the great Folios, but which were vital in the beginning of things and should not be forgotten, and are here recorded ; and with the amount of material to draw from, in many instances it is most difficult to make a selec- tion,— material to be found in the Society's Official Reports published under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. At least one half of the annual records pertain to work done by chapters, and is of great value historically. And to half tell it would take many volumes, and be beyond the scope of this undertaking. Therefore, it should be borne in mind of the reader, that, if what their chapter has been doing is not sufficiently told to do it justice, it is for lack of space and not through lack of appreciation.
To state a few things the chapters have done ; it is to the enthusiasm of Chapter members that we owe a notable rescue work by their restoration of historic spots of interest, hitherto unmarked with tablet or monument.
All of the thirteen Colonial States have numerous shrines, memorials, monuments, noted Headquarters of Washington or other leaders of the Revolutionary time, as the result of their labors. Thousands of Revolutionary soldiers' graves have been marked, and burial places sunk into decrepitude restored and made places of interest, and not without beauty
ii6 Story of the Records
to attract the children and others who may pass that way. In looking back over the more than century since that period of stress and strain, we begin to realize what wonderful power and beauty and fullness of life was folded up, as in the germinating bud, in the "ideals" of that far away time. We begin to realize that we are a freer people than any other on this earth, all thanks to the steps then taken to make this present we enjoy, possible. These land-marks now stand as reminders to the student of history; as themes of education for the young. Every one of these historic points is as a stepping-stone to a higher type of manhood and womanhood. To the foreigner, unacquainted with our early struggle for freedom, these memorial markers will help to enlighten him on our history as a nation.
It is largely to the chapter work and workers, that a revival in historic studies is due : that the historic novel has in a measure superseded the romance purely sentimental. School children have been stimulated in historic studies through prizes offered by chapters for best essays on historic subjects: and anniversaries of battles and notable historic events, translated into Polish, Italian, German, and Hungarian, is with a view to qualifying them as Ameri- can citizens; it is thus sefeguarding the land against the ravages of ignorance and sedition.
In some of the States the "Daughters" have greatly aided historical research, and stimulated enthusiasm by naming their chapters after heroic women of the Revolutionary days, who have become the Patron Saints of the chapters.
A great work still remains for the Daughters to do so long as there are names not recorded of those who did service for their country; or, one grave unmarked where the sacred earth covers a soldier of the Revolution; one site on which patriots contended for human right and liberty; as long as there remains one spot to mark be- cause it was made sacred by labor done, by deed or brain for the right of independence of thought; and as long as there remains one woman in this free Republic eligible to
Story of the Records 117
this organization, not enrolled, the work is not done; for there is a gap in the history of patriots and of the nation, that she should supply, but has failed to do her duty.
We now take note of some of these whose names are a shining mark on the roll of heroines and heroes in this Republic, made manifest by the work of the Daughters.
CHAPTER I.
ASSACHUSETTS : As Massachusetts, the old Bay State, was the first to bear the brunt of the burden of the Revolution, and where Wash- ington first drew his sword as Commander-in- Chief of the American Army, there we will go. to first make record of the patriotic work, accomplished by the ''Daughters" of New England.
Abigail Adams Chapter : Abigail Adams, a name which is a household word, not only in Massachusetts, but through- out the Republic, has been honored and commemorated in sundry manner by the Daughters. This woman experi- enced all the danger and vicissitudes of war; while her husband, John Adams, was absent in Congress and in foreign courts, she cared for the family, managed the farm, waiting upon the seed time and harvest. Her incomparable letters to her husband in his long absences, give insight into the home life of a true woman patriot and mother of the Revolution. Abigail Adams was a product of the Colonial struggle for liberty ; while Mr. Adams, as a public man, first as delegate to the Continental Congress, in 1774; then Commissioner to France ; and again as Minister, — Mrs. Adams was engaging in the practice of the virtues of industry and frugality, by which she was trying to remedy the financial disasters which had overtaken Mr. Adams, and of which he had complained.
John Adams was celebrated for his intellectual powers ; his versatility ; and for his courtliness ; but he was quick and irascible in temper; Mrs. Adams was calm, cheerful, dignified, and well equipped to be his balance wheel. From the letters that passed between these two, during these years of separation and anxiety, will be found all that is requisite for an impartial judgment of an heroic character.
It must be remembered that when Mr. Adams first went
120 Story of the Records
to Philadelphia it took five weeks for a return letter from that ''far country," as Mrs. Adams called it, and she has left the record, that on the receipt of that first letter, she was so excited that she lay awake until "one o'clock at night." When the clouds darkened over the country, Mr. Adams had to leave his family again, April 14, 1775, five days before the battle of Lexington. Before he reached his journey's end, he had heard of the conflict. He had admonished his wife before leaving in case of real danger to "take the children and fly to the woods." Nothing oc- curring of serious character, Mrs. Adams pursued her vocation as agriculturalist with great zeal and judgment. She thought as fate had made her husband a "Statesman" she must act her part, according to her environment ; she would become a good "farmeress." That her resolve had met its reward, is proven, for we learn two years later, that General Warren wrote Mr. Adams, That his farm never looked better. Later, when Boston was in possession of the British Army, and Braintree was but eleven miles dis- tance from Boston the Adams house stood at the foot of Penn's Hill, one of the highest elevations in the neighbor- hood. When Mrs. Adams caught the resounding echoes of the guns at the battle of Bunker Hill, she took her oldest son, John Quincy, who was then ten years old, and climbed to the top of the hill, and watched the raging battle, the bursting of the shells, and the burning of Charlestown. Never was a patriotic object lesson so seriously learned. Mrs. Adams left no word unsaid that would penetrate this untried child's soul. That scene and that lesson was never forgotten by the boy or the man, — John Quincy Adams.
Her intelligent view of the constantly changing state of public affairs ; her questions propounded with a statesman- like ring, that sometimes make one feel that her vocation was not alone to be a farmeress, together with her un- daunted courage, to work and stand for liberty, are con- vincing reasons that she did hold an influence over Mr. Adams.
Story of the Records 121
Noted men of the time, to many of whom the hospitality of her home was extended, have been the subjects of graphic description of her pen, without egotism or self-conceit, she made note of timely things.
The quiet conceit of men, regarding "woman's sphere" in those days, was characteristically depicted by Mr. Adams in a letter to his wife. He had been writing of the grace, modesty and propriety of Mrs. Hancock's behaviour, sur- rounded as she was by nearly a hundred men, "That in a large and mixed company she was totally silent, as a woman should be," and then a sort of second thought came that he had better right there throw a bouquet to Abigail, and he adds, "but whether her eyes are so penetrating, and her at- tention so quick to the words, looks, gestures, and senti- ments, etc., as yours would be, saucy as you are in this way, I will not say."
March 31, 1776, we find her writing to Mr. Adams, "I long to hear you have declared independence, and, by the way, in the new code of laws, which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire that you would remem- ber the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than were your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands ; rem.ember all men would be tyrants, if they could. If particular care and at- tention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves to laws in which we have no voice or representation." The rumbling of the echoes of this little shot, fired over a century ago, is still heard in the land. Mrs. Hancock, with her lady-like qualities represented a type — Mrs. Adams with courage, conviction, dignity, and power, represented the women of the Republic at foreign courts — whenever and where- ever her country called. Mr. and Mrs. Adams were the first representatives of the new Republic at the Court of St. James. It does not matter where we find her, whether at her own fire-side with her family around her at Quincy; or, when called upon to separate from husband and sons
122 Story of the Records
to let them cross the seas ; or standing upon Penn's Hill, listening to the roll of cannon ; or in her letters to Jefferson and other Statesmen ; or standing before George the III ; and the haughty Queen Charlotte, as representative of the first Republican Court; or presiding in the President's House as first lady of the land, — Abigail Adams was always a tender mother, the inspiration of her husband, the grand example, the regnant woman. How fitting that such a woman should be a "Patron Saint" of the Daughters of the American Revolution, — two chapters bear her honored name. The Abigail Adams Chapter of Boston, Massachu- setts ; and the Abigail Adams Chapter of Des Moines, Iowa ; both doing commemorable patriotic work.
Is it a wonder that the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, in emulating the deeds of such ancestry, should be found zealously working for the upbuilding of the Nation, and the study of American History, as we find them doing on the same grounds which were fought out and established the principles which govern this republic. Mr. Sydney George Fisher, author of the True Benjamin Franklin ; Rev. James D. Normandie ; Thomas Wentworth Higginson ; Julia Ward Howe ; and others, have been on their list as historical lecturers before this Massachusetts Chapter.
This Chapter has lovingly placed a stone tablet on the tomb of Abigail Adams, in Ouincy, Massachusetts.
Mercy Warren : Another noted woman of Revolutionary times has been honored by a Chapter bearing her name, — Mercy Warren. She was the sister of James Otis, and was the third child of Colonel James Otis, of Barnstable, Mass., in the Colony of Plymouth. She was born Septem- ber 25, 1728. There existed between the brother and sister a strong attachment, which trials and difficulties seemed to strengthen as the years went on. It was this brother James who first proposed in Massachusetts, that an American Con- gress should be called, which should come together without asking the consent of the British Government. He also
Story of the Records 12^
made an extended speech for the "Right of Resistance" which would give the Custom House officers in Boston, right to search any house at any time for the purpose of finding smuggled goods ; and by many this speech has been considered the starting point of the Revolution. It was in this speech, that James Otis first raised the popular cry against "Taxation without representation," which was the shibboleth of the Revolution.
In the great struggle over the Stamp Act, and in the debates which followed in 1769, he was the brilliant leader. In the latter days of his life, the mind of this great patriot was over-shadowed, but in his wildest moods of insanity, the voice of this loved sister would calm him when all else failed.
In 1754, Mercy Otis became the wife of James Warren. This brought her in touch with all political situations. She corresponded with George Washington, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Thomas Jefierson, Gen. Knox, and many other leaders of the Revolution. It is said that by this Plymouth fireside, many political plans were originated, dis- cussed, and digested. Her close friends with whom she was in correspondence, were Madame Washington, Abigail Adams, Hannah Winthrop, of Cambridge, and most of the foremost women of the day.
With such a Patron Saint, no wonder the Mercy Warren Chapter inaugurated the gracious service of decorating the neglected and forgotten graves of Revolutionary heroes, whose very headstones were weary of telling the simple story of those who lay beneath the sod ; headstones broken, cracked, disintegrated by the heat and frost of a hundred summers and winters gone. The Daughters were not daunted in their work, because old Nature in her efifort to add her tribute to them by many decorations all her own, made the task of restoration doubly difficult.
It was the descendants of these men, who marked these graves, and whose very names have almost been forgotten, and who sacrificed all that they might leave to their daugh-
124 S 1 0 7' y of the Records
ters and their sons the inheritance of a free country. Four Daughters and Four Sons took laurel wreaths, tied with buff and blue ribbons, on Memorial Day and decorated the graves of twenty-one Revolutionary soldiers. Since that time this touching ceremony prevails wherever a Revolution- ary soldier lies buried.
Mercy Warren has left her history of the trying years of the Revolution, written with a pen of fire, dictated by a heart of love ; and the Mercy Warren Chapter has placed its seal of remembraiice upon it in the aftermath.
Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter: Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter caught the fire of patriotic in- spiration, and presented a petition to the State Legis- lature which secured a law that cities and towns can appropriate money for erecting monuments in honor of Revolutionary soldiers. This Chapter is trying to discover, as nearly as possible, where the four hundred soldiers are resting who represented the town of Worcester in the Revolutionary War. They have erected a bronze tablet to mark the site of the first school house in Worcester where John Adams, second President of the United States, taught from 1755 to 1758.
Hannah Winthrop Chapter: What name so fitting for the "Patron Saint" of the Cambridge Chapter, as that of Hannah Winthrop. The atmosphere of the Revolution still hovers over this beautiful old city of elms. Here was the tree under which Washington wheeled his horse and drew his sword as Commander-in-Chief of the American Army, July 3d, 1775. Two weeks before the untried soldiers had routed the British from Bunker Hill, and not three months before had ''Fired the shot heard round the world."
A letter from Hannah Winthrop, to Mercy Warren, writ- ten September 2y, 1773, contained this significant sentence — ''American daughters are politicians and patriots, and will aid the good work with their female efforts."
Story of the Records 125
Hannah Winthrop, the eldest daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Waldo) Fairweather, was born in Boston, Febru- ary 25, 1726. She married September 10, 1745, at the age of nineteen, Farr Tolman, and early becoming a widow, married for her second husband (Banns published, March 25, 1756) John Winthrop, LL. D. PTollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Harvard College, one of the most distinguished scientific men of his age. He was a great-great-grandson of Governor John Winthrop. Madam Winthrop shared her husband's inter- ests and pursuits to a remarkable degree for a woman in those days. We find her assisting him in his astronomical observations and writing to Mercy Warren at Plymouth with enthusiastic appreciation of the study of the heavens.
She, as well as her husband, was an ardent patriot, and the name of Hannah Winthrop is inscribed on the ''Roll of Honor" as one who gave of her substance to the govern- ment in the time of need. The war, indeed, became to her early a stern reality; of the famous 19th of April she wrote a graphic description to Mercy Warren, telling her of her hasty flight from home when it seem.ed advisable that the women of Cambridge should seek shelter elsewhere. At one time, she was so near the conflict as to be covered with dirt and dust from the firing, and she passed the bodies of the slain at Menotomy in her journey to Andover the following morning, to which place the library of Harvard College was sent for safe keeping.
One of Professor Winthrop's sons received his baptism of fire at the battle of Bunker Hill, being severely wounded, but he went forth a.gain from his step-mother's side several times, as a volunteer to the patriotic cause, with her bless- ing on his head.
Dr. Winthrop died in May, 1779; his wife lived until May 1790, occupying until her death the home on Winthrop Square, in which they had lived together many years.
For data for this sketch we are indebted to the historian of the chapter, Elizabeth Harris.
126 Story of the Records
Her own letters and family papers as well as family traditions, combine to make a vivid picture of this estim- able woman's life ; another record added to the list of New England heroines, whose precept and example have made their impress on the women of to-day. Well done Daugh- ters of Cambridge ! you are not only keeping Hannah Win- throp's memory green, but emulating her example, in faith- fully doing what your hands find to do, for the good of home and country.
Besides generous contributions to Memorial Continental Hall, through the efforts of this chapter, historic Fort Washington has been fully restored.
Depjorah Sampson Chapter: The bravery and the patriotism of that time was not confined to the matrons of the colonies for old Massachusetts furnished the "J^^i" of Arc" of the Revolution in the person of Deborah Samp- son, of Plymouth. She was better known throughout the Revolution as Robert Shirtliff.
She was a girl of twenty, who was left without relatives, and supported herself by teaching a small country school. When the war broke out, she was fired with a burning desire to do something for her country. The patriotism of the pilgrims animated her soul, and no other means of service for her country presenting itself, she changed her name to Robert Shirtliff, donned men's attire, and joined the company of Captain Nathan Thayer, of Medway, Massa- chusetts. She gave honorable service for three years with- out her sex being known. She was in several active en- gagements. When wounded for the second time she was sent to the hospital. Poor "Robert" was under the im- mediate care of a humane and kindly physician, who soon learned that he had a woman on his list, but the secret was all his own. When she was able to leave the hospital, the physician sent her with a letter to General Washington. During all her service in battle and out of it, she knew no fear until she presented herself before the tent of the
Story of the Records 127
Commander-in-Chief and sent in her doctor's letter to that august personage. She was soon summoned into tlie presence of General Washington, who, without exchanging a word, put some papers into her hand, and indicated her withdrawal. One of her papers was her discharge from the service; another a letter containing words of advice, and a sum of money sufficient to defray her expenses to some place where she could find a home.
"One word from General Washington of condemnation would have crushed my heart," she said, "he spoke no word, but his action was kindly, and I bless him for it."
After the war, she married Benjamin Garnett, and when Washington was President, she received a letter from him inviting Robert Shirtliff, now Mrs. Garnett, to visit the Capitol, then in Philadelphia. During the visit a bill was passed by Congress, granting her a pension and certain lands in recognition of her services to her country in a military capacity, as a Revolutionary soldier.
It is seldom that we find so tangible a record of woman's service as a soldier; but since the time that Eve beguiled Adam, and from that open gate of Eden, has come the first faint suggestion of potent influence over man, woman has been recognized as a factor in all great movements, and the days of the Revolution furnished opportunities, and the women were never found wanting in patriotism during the long night of political uncertainty.
The Deborah Sampson Chapter is about to mark in a suitable manner the birthplace of their patron saint, and thus the good work goes on of perpetuating the memory of the women as well as the men who achieved American In- dependence.
Sarah Bradlee Fulton Chapter: Among the women of Medford, Massachusetts, whom the Daughters, as well as history, has remembered is the name of Sarah Bradlee Fulton. Her honored name belongs to the chapter of Medford, because she worked and prayed in that dear old
128 Story of the Records
town for the cause of liberty. She was a member of the Bradlee family of Dorchester and Boston. In 1763 she married John Fulton. Her brother, Nathaniel Bradlee, lived in Boston, at the corner of Tremont and Hollis Streets. His carpenter shop was a meeting place for Boston's most devoted patriots. From this shop went a detachment of "Mohawks" who joined the Tea Party in Boston harbor. In the kitchen of this home, Mrs. Bradlee and Mrs. Fulton disguised the master of the house and several of his com- rades, and later heated water in the great copper kettle and provided all that was needful to transform these ''Indians" again into respectable Bostonians. A spy was on the alert, hoping to get a proof against Mr. Bradlee, but seeing two women moving around quietly and naturally, passed on, little dreaming of the transformation scenes going on with- in.
A year and a half later, Sarah Fulton heard the alarm of Paul Revere, as he crossed the bridge into Medford town ; but a few days after, Medford became the head- quarters of General Stark's regiment, then came the battle of Bunker Hill. At sunset, the wounded were brought in, and the large open space in front of Mrs. Fulton's residence, was turned into a field hospital. Surgeons v/ere scarce, but women volunteered as nurses. The steady nerve of Sarah Fulton made her the leader. Soon after Major Brooks, — later Governor of Massachusetts, — was given dispatches by General Washington, with orders to send them within the enemies' lines. Late one night he came to John Fulton, and asked him to undertake the trust. John was too ill to go, but his wife volunteered. Her offer was accepted. A long, lonely and dangerous walk it was to the water side of Charlestown. She reached there in safety, finding a boat, rowed across the river, and made her way with cautious steps, delivered her dispatches, and re- turned as she came, and as the light streaked the dawn, she reached her home. In recognition of this service, General Washington called in person to express his thanks.
SARAH BUAULFA' .MEMORIAL.
Story of the Records 129
After the Revolution she made her home on the old road to Stoneham, which, at the first town meeting after her death, was named "Fulton Street," in her honor. Her house was nearly two miles from church, but at the age of eighty years, she was in the habit of taking this long walk to church every Sunday. She saw grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up around her, and in the atmos- phere of their love and respect, she spent her days, living to be nearly ninety-five years old. She lies in the old Salem Street Cemetery. The Medford Daughters are perpetuating her work and her memory.
The site of Sarah Bradlee Fulton's home has been marked by a tablet, erected by the Chapter bearing her name. The summer home on the Royal estate, General Starks' head- quarters, in June, 1775, was purchased by the Chapter, and is to be restored and maintained as a home for the aged. During the Spanish War help was given to the volunteer Aid Society by chapter members; all showing how the patriotism of that early day is bearing fruit in this day and generation.
Prudence Wright Chapter: The Prudence Wright Chapter was named in honor of Prudence C. Wright, the heroine who prevented a threatened attack of the British upon the town by organizing the women for its defence, and thus capturing a Tory messenger who was carrying important dispatches.
The story runs : — Word was brought from the town of Hollis that Captain Whiting, a British officer, was going to make an attempt to carry secret messages to the Army of the King, and to accomplish it he must pass over Pepper- ill Bridge. Consternation followed, for all the able- bodied men had gone to war ; but the women of Hollis willed that such messages must not go through their village to the foe. They swore, ''What e'er befell, these should not pass the Bridge of Pepperill." For their leader they chose Prudence Commings Wright, and all donned men's apparel,
9
130 Story of the Records
and armed themselves as best they could with old flint locks and pitchforks, and marched under orders of their Captain to the bridge. She called on them as they were dressed like men to act their part and do their best. They had not long to wait, when two men appeared on horseback. "Halt!" cried the Captain, "who goes there? come no nearer, or I fire." "I'll not ride another step," said Whit- ing's companion, "that's my sister Prue ; she will never let us pass save over her dead body. I will turn back from Pepperill." It was Prudence's Tory brother who turned his horse and fled, and it is said Dick Commings never dared show his face again, or cross the Bridge of Pepperill feel- ing ran so high. The Company led by Captain Prue seized the British Captain and searched him well ; they found the dispatches in his boots ; they then bound their prisoner and turned him loose. "Now," said Captain Prue, "Go and tell that women held the Bridge at Pepperill." As gallant deeds of gallant men merit praise from tongue and pen; so it is well that the names of brave women are being en- rolled, and that of Prudence Wright honors the Chapter of Pepperill.
April 18, 1900, a liberty pole was erected by this chapter, on the Common, on the spot where the citizens of the town erected a pole, August 29, 1774, and floated a flag of blue and red cloth, five breadths wide, because "Their liberties were in danger." This Chapter has renovated the old brick school house, which has been granted them by the town for a chapter house. And we will wager that if the country is again in dire distress, some Prudence Wright will step out of this chapter house with her well organized com- pany, and no "spy" will ever cross Pepperill Bridge.
The Paul Jones Chapter: This Chapter will always have a laurel wreath for the American Navy, which has never lost a battle ; and now that the ashes of its founder, the patron saint of this chapter, has reached the land he served, one will undoubtedly find its place at his tomb.
Story of the Records 131
Fitting, indeed, was it for this chapter to place a tablet on a school house just erected in Boston and named "Paul Jones," at the request of the Chapter.
None rejoiced more than the Daughters of the American Revolution that tardy justice is being rendered to that immortal spirit. The Continental Congress, in a brief resolution, ordained the flag of the colonies and made Paul Jones a Commander. It remained for the Federal Govern- ment to do him honor by enfolding his remains in the symbol of freedom, and to bring him back to the land he so righteously maintained, where he will be entombed fittingly at last even as Washington by the free waters of the Re- public. And thus another shrine of American valor will be established at Annapolis.
It was the genius of Paul Jones that laid the foundation of our naval system; it was the hand of Paul Jones that first swung to the breeze the flag we adore, and carried it triumphant across the seas ; it was he who took the word of the uprising of the colonies to Europe; he supported Franklin and Adams in their efforts to impress the truth on France.
The English waters, the Irish and the North Sea, were ruffled by the keel of his ships ; and the powers stood aghast at his foemanship and suffered from his prowess. They called him a pirate, because he was defiant and triumphant in English waters. Had he lived he would have been made an Admiral of France.
It is to Horace Porter, a Son of the American Revolution, to whom, alone, we owe the rescue, from a lost sepulchre, of the remains of one of the World's greatest heroes — of America's friend in time of need ; and through this act Paul Jones' body has found a last resting place in the land he served and loved, where endless pilgrimages v/ill be made by all the friends of this Republic to our first and greatest fighter. Hail the chapter that honored his name and set the people to thinking!
132 Story of the Records
John Adams Chapter: John Adams Chapter has con- tributed to the bronze Tablet on the Tomb of John Adams, at Quincy; to the Statue of Washington, which was presented to France ; and to a bust of John Adams for Paul Revere school. This Chapter has made a contribution for a memorial to John Adams for Memorial Continental Hall. No name among the pub- lic men of the country stands above that of John Adams. And, these object lessons kept before them, must surely teach coming generations what it means for a man to be of service to his Country.
Look at the heroines Massachusetts has honored, whose names will go down in history for all time. How much we would like the fireside history, and the folk lore of the communities, of each one of them. There would be the story of Abigail Batchelder, — and we do know this, that her husband, Captain David Batchelder, mortgaged has farm to pay his soldiers, and that that mortgage was not lifted until some twenty years ago; — and Ann Adams Tufts ; and Betty Allen ; and even Betsey Ross in the broader outlook was not forgotten ; and there was Deborah Wheelock; and Dorothy Brewer; and Dorothy Quincy Hancock ; and Hannah Goddard ; Johanna Aspinwall ; Lucy Jackson ; and Lucy Knox and Lydia Cobb ; and Lydia Darrah; Margaret Corbin ; Mary Draper; Mary Mattoon; Molly Barnum; Polly Daggett; Submit Clark; and Susanna Tufts. Could we listen to their stories with those we have, we should know far better, than we do now, what led up to the Revolution. Grand work this for the Daugh- ters of Massachusetts !
Then come the names of the historic towns, filled to the brim with the story of our Country's conflict; and the men whose daring deeds made Massachusetts the mother of Patriots. The Daughters have honored them, and have captured the glory reflected by this brave, noble American Citizenship.
Story of the Records 133
The Warren and Prescott Chapter: This is one of the few chapters that was foremost in the early organization that has never left the National Society wanting knowledge of its early work, and no National object has been left without a contribution from this active chapter. The lineage book of its members is a charming piece of work — an object lesson for other chapters.
Fort Massachusetts Chapter : This Chapter, of North Adams, will perpetuate the memory of the historic fort, a line of defenses along the northern border of the State, erected to protect the inhabitants from the raids of the French and Indians across the border. The fort was built in 1745, a stockade of pine logs, doweled together, sur- rounded by a large ditch, and heavy block house and hatch tower at one corner. This fort was under command of Captain Ephraim Williams, who was afterwards killed at Lake George.
In 1750 the Government granted him 200 acres of land in the towns of Adams and Williamstown. When he made his will, he gave these lands and other property for found- ing a free school among the settlers. In later years this developed into Williams College, situated four miles from the site of the old Fort Massachusetts.
Not only will this chapter perpetuate the memory of this historic spot, but it will annually decorate with flowers on Memorial Day the graves of its Revolutionary soldiers.
Old Colony Chapter: This Chapter, always foremost in good work, raised $105.00 in 1899 to purchase Art photographs and plaster casts , for the public schools of Hingham. A large and valuable collection of books have been sent to the Naval Station of Guam. The Regent, Miss Sara W. Daggett, at her own expense established a kitchen garden school in San Juan, Porto Rico. The magnificent war work of Massachusetts is elsewhere re-
134 Story of the Records
corded. The Chapter has pledged itself to aid the Civil Service Association — a patriotic work, if there is one.
QuEQUECHAN CHAPTER : This Chapter, of Fall River, al- ways has its representation at the Continental Congress. On May 25, 1899, this chapter placed a bronze tablet on the wall of the City Hall to approximate the site of the battle of Fall River. The graves of the Revolutionary soldiers are decorated on Memorial Day. Magazines and papers are sent to soldiers on duty in distant parts.
The Abiah Folger Franklin Chapter: This Chapter, of Nantucket, has given to the town a granite monument to keep green the memory of the mother of Benjamin Franklin, and to mark the site of her home.
The same patriotic enthusiasm will mark other graves; build more monuments ; gather unwritten history ; teach citizenship to the young and the foreign element, — from Plymouth Rock and the sea girt shore of Nantucket to bold Mount Tom and Holyoke, that shadow the graves of so many of our ancestry !
CHAPTER II.
ONNECTICUT : For several years the State of Connecticut was the Banner State, having more chapters than any other. And this was not to be wondered at, since the ''Nutmeg State"' was especially rich in chapter material ; the early settlers of that State having been among the first to see that separation from the mother country must sooner or later come. The second cause for this chapter record was that the first State Regent, Mrs. de B. R. Keim, was a fine organizer, who went about the initial work with so much enthusiasm herself, she inspired it in others, and for many Congresses Mrs. Keim carried her large delegations to Washington.
Her successor, Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, has with great judgment enthused the Daughters of Connecticut to high endeavors, and no State shows a better record of work accomplished.
Every applicant before she can belong to a chapter must be a member of the Society at large. All chap- ters are branches of the National Society D. A. R., and first of all owe allegiance to its Constitution and By-Laws. One-half of the annual dues go to the National Society, and the other is retained for local or state work. Thus it becomes clear that what is of interest to one branch of the Society is of interest to all, and the chapters are at liberty to regulate their own affairs accord- ing to their pleasure, so long as they in no way conflict with regulations in the Constitution of the National Society. This privilege leaves chapters free in selecting their names and object of work. And in alm.ost every instance where any heroic event could be traced to the shaping hand of a woman, that woman of the Revolutionary period has been.
136 Story of the Records
honored in all the states, and her name becomes the patronymic of a local chapter. This is as it should be, since it becomes more and more apparent that the women of y6 were quite as patriotic as their husbands, sons and brothers, or fathers, and now many a wayside stone or other "marker" gives the women honor for what they did in -Freedom's Cause.
On 30th of September, 1904, the Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution, held their 'Togethering meet- ing" in Windsor, one of the historic towns of the State. About seven hundred members of the Society being present, including the President General, Mrs. Fairbanks, and other distinguished guests. The literary exercises were held in the church which represents the oldest Congregational or- ganization in this country, and the second in the world. The Church was founded March 30, 1630. In the churchyard lie Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth and Abigail Wolcott, his wife; also Governor Roger Wolcott (1750) and Sarah Drake, his wife. These graves were decorated with laurel wreaths on this occasion.
Connecticut has been very active in honoring her foremothers, and a majority of her 'Tatron Saints" of local chapters are heroic women of the Revolutionary period. The staunch, patriotic Abigail Phelps Chapter, of Louis- burg, will do to begin with. This early chapter assumed the loving care of a "Real Daughter." This venerable v/oman lived to be over ninety years of age. And it is pleasant to know that she and hundreds of other women who have outlived all their contemporaries have had friend- ship and loving care from those of a younger generation unto the end.
It would be a pleasing task to give the histories of all of the "Patron Saints" of Connecticut, but only a few can be for want of space. The "Daughters" of the "Nutmeg State" has issued a fine volume giving good reasons why they named their chapters for such patriotic women. It is a beautiful record of service.
Story of the Records 137
The Anna Warner Bailey Chapter : The Groton Chap- ter of Groton has done a good work for itself, if not on his- toric Hnes, making a line of history that will identify it for- ever with State records. Members of this chapter discover- ing that the State of Connecticut had no legalized banner, made petition to the State Legislature to authorize the Anna Warner Bailey Chapter to secure a State flag; the request being granted, this Chapter was assigned the honor of pre- senting the State its first legal flag. This Chapter, also, re- stored and equipped as a museum of Relics, the house ad- jacent to the monument in memory of those who fell at Fort Griswold, September, 1781.
Anna Warner Bailey Chapter is one of the large ones, and its patron saint was the subject of a most interesting story, both in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, which gives her a conspicuous place in Connecticut history. She was twenty-three years of age at the time of the massacre at Fort Griswold, (Groton), and her inter- est in the welfare of Elijah Bailey, to whom she was betrothed, and of several relatives, all of whom were among the defenders of Groton Heights, brought her among the first to the scene of slaughter, and she was the first woman to enter the fort after the massacre. To use her own words, — *Tf the earth had opened and poured forth blood instead of drinking it in, it could not have been more plentiful." She spent the entire night ministering to the needs of t?he wounded and dying, and, so deep was the impression made upon her mind, that at the funeral of one of the victims that night she made a vow — *To hate England and the English forever !" A vow which she faithfully kept as long as she lived. In 18 12. when the war again broke out between England and the United States, she was intensely American, and was among the most eager for the fray. It was during this war that the famous ''petticoat episode" brought "Mother Bailey" into such notoriety that one his- torian says, — "The martial petticoat and its partisan donor has ever been reverenced in our local annals." It was for
138 Story of the Records
the defense of Fort Griswold that its commandant called for the deposit within the enclosure of all available arms, material, and wadding, that could be obtained. The flannel and wadding not being sufficient, ''Mother Bailey" stripped off her flannel petticoat and gave it as a contribution to the cause.
In November, 1901, the chapter, named in honor of Anna Warner Bailey, petitioned President Roosevelt "To save the old and new Forts Griswold, and to secure them to the State for a memorial park; also to place in the care of the chapter eleven old guns, and upward of 2000 shot, as well as the old shot house on the reservation grounds known as Fort Griswold." This petition was granted, and the chap- ter has also come into possession of a cannon from the Spanish American ship, Maria Theresa. The occasion was signalized by a most interesting celebration in which Cap- tain Richmond Pearson Hobson, who achieved fame in Santiago Harbor, made a speech, as also did Ex-Governor Waller, and other distinguished persons from the Sons of the American Revolution who were present. The Anna Warner Bailey Chapter has charge of the Monument House at Groton Heights, and has secured permission from the State authorities to add an annex to it, which will be in the form of a memorial to soldiers and sailors in the Spanish- American War.
The Anna Wood Elderkin Chapter: The Chapter of Willimantic ; the Elizabeh Clark Hull, of Ansonia, The Eunice Dennie Burr, of Fairfield, which last erected the Lich Gate at the old graveyard of Fairfield, and restored the Revolutionary War Powder House, with the others mentioned, erected the hand- some gateway at Shotfield Cemetery. The Mary Clapp Wooster, of New Haven, collected the songs and ballads of that period and published them in the New England Magazine. It also published a history of "Our Flag," and it has restored the monument of President Clapp, and of
Story of the Records 139
Mary Clapp Wooster, his daughter. It has placed a cabinet of Revokitionary relics in the New Haven Historical So- ciety. Among Connecticut Chapters named for women are the Mary Wooster, of Danbury ; the Millicent Porter, of Waterbury ; the Ruth Wyllis, of Hartford ; and the Sarah Riggs, of Derby, and others.
Ruth Wyllis Chapter: This famous Chapter, of Hart- ford, has probably accomplished the largest work in the way of "restoration" of any chapter in this or any other State. This consisted not only in restoring the tombstones of the Revolutionary heroes lying in the old First Church burying ground, but in arousing such a spirit of patriotism in the community that it has transformed a whole section of the city from a state of decrepitude and decay into a place of beauty and attractiveness.
A disreputable tenement house property, on Gold Street, adjoining one side of the Cemetery, was purchased, the buildings torn down, and the street converted into a Boule- vard, by authority of the Common Council of the city. The citizens of Hartford and the descendants of patriots lying in the old Churchyard, all contributed to these restorations and improvements, which cost over one hundred thousand dollars. But it was chiefly due to the splendid patriotism and courage of the Ruth Wyllis Chapter, that this trans- formation was inaugurated and pushed to completion.
The Ruth Wyllis Chapter completed its interesting labors on this old burying ground, with a list of the names of the men and women resting on this sacred spot, a genealogical record destined to be of great value.
Faith Robinson Trumbull Chapter: This Chapter v/as named for the daughter of John Robinson, of Massachusetts, and a great-great-granddaughter of John Robinson of the Pilgrims. She was married December 29, 1735, to Jon- athan Trumbull, who in 1769, became Governor of Con- necticut. Their son, John Trumbull, became the eminent
140 Story of the Records
artist, whose brush has made famous the events of our Revolutionar}^ history which decorate several panels in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol — The Declaration of Independence ; the surrender of the British forces to the Americans at Saratoga; and the surrender of Corn- wallis at Yorktown ; and General Washington resigning his commission at Annapolis.
Faith Trumbull was eminent for her sturdy patriotism and her decision of character, united to her sympathy with her husband throughout the struggle for independence. At that time collections were taken up after Sunday ser- vices for the benefit of the Army. On one such occasion, she wore a splendid scarlet cloak, a present from the Com- mander-in-Chief of the French Allies, Count Rochambeau. She rose from her seat near her husband in meeting, and drawing from her shoulders this magnificent wrap, laid it upon the altar as her offering for those who were fight- ing for liberty. It is interesting to trace what use was made of this unique offering. It was cut into strips and used as chevrons and decorations of soldiers' uniforms.
Faith Trumbull was the fourth in descent from John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, and after becoming the wife of Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut's War Governor, of whom it was so often said by Washington, ''We must con- sult 'Brother Jonathan,' " that to the present day the phrase is used to describe the typical American. Faith Trumbull Chapter added to its other good works, recently, by mark- ing the graves in the old Norwich town cemetery, where twenty French soldiers of Lafayette's Army lie.
A delegation, led by the State Regent, Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, together with Mr. Israel Foote Loomis, appeared before the Legislature and presented their petition for a memorial ; the State appropriating $2,000, $500 of which is to be put in a portrait of General Spencer, to be placed in the Capitol at Hartford. The inscription on the monu- ment is a reproduction of that on the old marble headstone :
Story of the Records 141
"In memory of the Honorable Joseph Spencer, Esquire, a Major-General of the Army of the United States, elected a Councillor of the State of Connecticut in 1776, and died in office, January 13th, 1789, in the 75th year of his age."
General Spencer was one of the only two Connecticut born men who won the position and commission of Major- General in the Continental Army. He participated in the invasion of Canada, the expedition against Louisburg, Ti- conderoga, and Crown Point. In 1775, he entered the Continental Army as Brigadier-General, recommended by Washington.
The names of hundreds of Revolutionary soldiers have been rescued from oblivion and enrolled on the National Society's Lineage Books through Connecticut chapter work. And many memorials have been placed by these patriotic descendants of the men and women of this Col- onial State, who contributed so much blood and treasure to prosecuting the War of the Revolution to its happy end- ing. It is to be regretted that only a few of the most prominent can be mentioned in this work, where all have contributed so much to the grand result, for the smallest service meant as much to its giver, as that of the greatest, even those who wait (the women at home in this case) also served.
The beautiful gateway of Stratfield Cemetery was erected by the Mary Silliman Chapter of Bridgeport, and the charm- ing entrance to Putnam Park, was contributed by the Eliza- beth Porter Chapter, of Putnam, another of those numerous notable ''Restorations" which Connecticut chapters have prosecuted in the honor of the patriotic dead, who yet are made to live and speak through these signs and symbols of the past. Forty-two Revolutionary soldiers lie in the burying-ground at Stratfield, and their names are inscribed on the gateway at the entrance. This gate is fourteen feet high and twelve feet wide, with a two foot entrance
142 Story of the Records
on either side. The insignia of the D. A. R., heroic size, surmounts the central arch, and the names of the forty-two soldiers engraved on bronze tablets are a part of the mas- sive structure.
Greenwood Chapter, of Winsted : This Chapter has dur- ing the last year placed several markers on Revolutionary graves, and in October marked a historic spot on Wallen's Hill, which was the site of the first meeting house of the town but is now a deserted hill pasture. A substantial hooded gate is being built at the entrance of this field on the *'stepping-stone" which remains in its original position, it reads, "The stepping-stone of the first meeting house of Winsted, built here in 1793. D. A. R., 1904."
One of the most pleasing and useful memorials erected by a Connecticut chapter is that of the Memorial Fountain in honor of Nathan Hale, by the Norwalk Chapter, of the town of Norwalk.
This Chapter has placed a wayside stone on Norwalk Hill, to commemorate the burning of the town, July 11, 1779, by General Tryon, of the British force. The Nor- walk Chapter asked Daughters throughout the State to contribute to the purchase of books for the foreign citizens' traveling library to be in charge of the Connecticut Public Library Committee. The bookplate bears this inscription:
"Foreign Citizens' Library
presented by the
Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution.
We pledge alliance to our Country's Flag
And the Republic for which it stands: One
Nation, and indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all."
The Mary Floyd Talmadge Chapter: This Chapter, of Litchfield, has considerable romance woven around the history of its Patron Saint. Mary Floyd was
Story of the Records 143
the daughter of General WilHam Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and became the wife of Major Benjamin Talmadge. It is a tradition among her descendants that her hand was sought in marriage by James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson paid his court to her sister Catherine. But for some reason neither distinguished gentlemen's suits prospered, and she became the wife of Major Talmadge, who was an honored personal friend of Washington and Lafayette. The former placed great confidence in Major Talmadge's judgment, as well as giving many proofs of personal regard for the young officer. It was to Major Talmadge, that Major Andre, after his capture on the eve of September 23, 1780, made the confession that he was an English officer who was serving his country in the role of a spy. Major Talmadge's connection with the prisoner during the few days of life that remained to him, revealed the noble nature of the unfortunate man. Aside from the lovely face that looks out from a miniature, little is known of the personality of Mary Floyd, but occupying such a high social position, and the part she must have taken in social life might well entitle her to the appellation her hus- band addressed her with, 'The beloved partner."
Mary Floyd Talmadge Chapter has a "Forestry Com- mittee," and last year enlisted the school children in a crusade against the tent caterpillar, paying ten cents per hundred for eggs delivered to the Committee, and offering prizes to the boy or girl bringing in the largest number.
A Loan Exhibit was recently made in the old home of Mary Floyd Talmadge, and among the notable things of interest was some of the silver service used by her, such as a teapot and coffee urn. teaspoons, etc. Here was to be seen the swords of several Revolutionary officers, — Major Moses Seymour and Colonel Ephrahim Kirby.
The Mary Silliman Chapter: This Chapter has taken charge of Stratfield Cemetery, where a number of Revoln-
144 Story of the Records
tionary soldiers lie, and has contributed to the restoration of the Ellsworth Homestead. Mary Silliman, the chapter's namesake, the wife of Brigadier-General Gold Sellick Silli- man, was truly a patriotic woman, brave, devoted to her God, her country, and her family.
Deborah Avery Putnam of Plainfield: This is a small chapter, but quite active along historic lines of work. Deborah Avery Putnam was the daughter of Samuel Crow Lathrop. She was three times married, which fact is sufficient proof of her personality and her courage. Her last husband was the famous Israel Putnam, who was already famous for manly courage through the ''Wolf Den" experience, and by this last marriage Deborah Avery assumed the care of seven motherless children. It is said of her that she was proud of her husband and happy in her home. It is also on record that — ''She was of an easy and agreeable dis- position, and beloved as a step-mother." The Elizabeth Porter Chapter, of Putnam, is named for the mother of General Israel Putnam, and it, with the assistance of some other chapters, has purchased the "Wolf Den" property in Pomfret.
The Putnam Hill Chapter; of Greenwich, was named in commemoration of the hill down which General Putnam took his famous ride. Over two thousand dollars was spent on the purchase of the spot where Putnam killed the wolves. A tablet has been put up on Putnam Hill by Put- nam Hill Chapter.
Mrs. Helen Redington Adams, in her Chapter Sketches, says of this interesting event, — "The most destructive of the British General Tyron's invasions in Connecticut oc- curred February 26, 1779. With three regiments Tryon marched from King's Bridge, a few miles north of New York, for Horseneck, Greenwich, to destroy the salt works situated near the present railroad station of Cos Cob. When the British appeared on the above site, Putnam, with
Story of the Records 145
a single piece of artillery, was preparing to defend the high ground in that part of Greenwich. A detachment of British coming suddenly in sight, he quickly ordered his company to retire, and started himself for a neighboring town to obtain reinforcements; being hotly pursued by the enemy, Putnam plunged down the precipice at a full gallop, dashed across the road and escaped. On the hill where the event occurred, an Episcopal church stood, and to accom- modate its members a series of about 100 steps had been placed, leading directly up the height to the church. It was down these steps that Putnam took his mad plunge, and the British dragoons, a sword length behind him, when the declivity was reached, dared not follow. Thus occurred General Putnam's "Leap into History."
The Roger Sherman Chapter: Thomas Jeffer- son said of Roger Sherman. — "That he never spoke a foolish word." Truly a remarkable thing to say of any man. New Mil ford named its chapter for this correct old hero, who was a member of the Continental Congress, a member of the Council of Safety for three successive years; a member of the Committee to draft the Declaration of Independence; also one of its signers; and a delegate to the Convention of 1787, which framed the Constitution of the United States ; and later a United States Senator. And, as he was a citizen of Milford for eighteen years, the Chapter is proud to wear his honored name. Roger Sherman died in New Haven, and was Mayor of that City — its first Mayor — an office which he retained until his death, July 23, 1793, and he is buried in Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven.
Ruth Hart Chapter; of Meriden, has for its patron saint a descendant of James Cole of Essex County, Eng- land, one of the founders of the City of Hartford, Con- necticut. She was the wife of General Selah Hart of the Revolutionary Army. She was more than a Centenarian, 10
146 Story of the Records
being born in 1742, and died in January, 1844, having at- tained the remarkable age of loi years. The entire century through which Ruth Cole lived was one of conflict and change. And it is especially remarkable for the political changes which occurred in America. During the first thirty-three years of her life, Ruth Cole was a subject of Kings George Second and Third. Then followed fifteen years of strife, turmoil, and bloodshed, beginning with the war of the American Revolution and ending with the adop- tion of the Constitution, and George Washington as the President of the new Republic. The remaining fifty four years of this long lived pioneer woman were spent under more peaceful conditions of the successive administrations of ten Presidents, — Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Wm. Henry Harrison, and Tyler. This Ruth Hart Chapter is reclaiming and beautifying an old burying- ground in its vicinity, containing the graves of the early settlers and some Revolutionary soldiers.
The Sabra Trumbull Chapter; of Rockville, recently marked the spot where stood the house that General Lafay- ette was entertained on his way from Boston to Hartford, in 1824. The completed work consists of a small park con- taining a boulder, with an appropriate inscription on it, and a drinking fountain. Sabra Trumbull was the daughter of Sabra and Ammi Trumbull, Jr., and a great-granddaughter of Joseph Trumbull, who came to Suffield 1670, and who was the founder of the highly distinguished Trumbull family in Connecticut, containing among its members, — Governors, Judges, Legislators, Ministers, Historians, a Poet, and an Artist.
The Emma Hart Willard Chapter; of Berlin, has chosen for its patron saint a woman who did more for the higher education of women than any other anywhere in the United States. Emma Hart Willard was the pioneer who
Plate 18
ELLSWORTH HOUSE.
Story of the Records 147
literally hewed out the steps upon which women have climbed into the privileges of higher education. She
founded Troy Seminary, and trained most of its teachers, and thus demonstrated that women can be trained into pro- fessional teaching by women and sustain themselves under the most difficult method of acquiring knowledge. Natur- ally the special work undertaken by the chapter bearing her name is along educational lines.
The Abigail Wolcott Chapter: In April, 1893, an important announcement was made to the chapter women of Connecticut. It was remarkable that every living descendant of Oliver and Abigail Wolcott Ells- worth one hundred and sixteen in number, had united in presenting to the Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution, the homestead in Windsor, in which Oliver Ellsworth, a judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut, a member of the Council of Safety, one of the framers of the Federal Constitution, a Minister Plenipoten- tiary to France, Senator and Chief Justice of the United States, under its first President, George Washington, — lived and died. The home lot, something more than 200 feet square, was included in the gift, and the proviso was made, that the house should be preserved and maintained as an historical museum, and a meeting place for the Con- necticut Daughters of the American Revolution. The gift with its conditions was at once accepted by Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, Regent, who has done such admirable work ; and the "Daughters" immediately undertook the pleasant task of thoroughly repairing the homestead, and beautifying the grounds. A special fund was raised for the purpose, and furnishings representing the colonial period were presented practically b)^ every chapter in the State ; and in October, 1893, the old mansion was thrown open to the general pub- lic, and dedicated with appropriate patriotic services, includ- ing addresses by two grandsons, by William W. Ellsworth, and Judge Henry E. Painter, and by the Chairman of the
148 Story of the Records
General Committee, Mrs. John Holcomb. The deeds of transfer of this handsome property were given by Mrs. Frank Porter, a great-great-granddaughter of OHver Ells- worth, and accepted by the State Regent, Mrs. Kinney. This was probably one of the first official homes owned by Daughters of the American Revolution in the States. The brilliant scene will not soon be forgotten, made conspicuous and dignified by the presence of many State Officials, ac- companied by the Governor's Foot Guards in bright uni- forms. The Abigail Wolcott Chapter makes its home in the Ellsworth House, it being also regarded as a home for all other State Chapters.
Anna Brewster Fanning Chapter ; of Groton, is small, but proud of its patron saint, Anna Brewster, who was a daughter of Elder William Brewster of Mayflower fame, was born 1753, in Griswold, Connecticut. Since it is in law and practice conceded that man and wife are one, and in the old days, if not now, that the one was the husband, Anna Brewster's claim to Chapter ''Saintship" consists in the fact that she was the wife of Capt. Charles Fanning, who was a distinguished soldier in the Revolutionary Army, His service began in 1775, in New London, New York, and Peekskill, and was with Washington in Pennsylvania, and took part in the battle of Germantown, and in the defense of Fort Mifflin. He wintered in Valley Forge and shared in the perils of the battle of Monmouth. He was a charter member of the Society of Cincinnati.
The Susan Carrington Clark Chapter; of Meriden. Miss Clark was elected Regent of Connecticut in 1895, and her unexpected death occurred in October of the same year, while on a visit to the Atlanta Exposition. But, al- though she had no time to prove her ability as Regent, she was generally acknowledged to be one of the most public spirited women Connecticut has ever produced. Consequently, the only chapter she had organized being
Story of the Records 149
still without a name, what more fitting than it should bear hers, since she was descended from one of the State's most noted sons, identified with the history of the State and country. She was the great-granddaughter of Esek Hopkins, first Commodore of the United States Navy; and great-grandniece of Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. She administered her great fortune with all the breadth of view of a man, showing interest in public affairs. and kindly sympathy in thoughtful private ways. Her untimely death caused grief throughout the State as well as among the Daughters of the American Revolution, in which Society she was so much interested.
Haddam, where Nathan Hale taught school, is in charge of the Nathan Hale Memorial Chapter. Nathan Hale's story is familiar to all. The history of his brief life and tragic death has made his name famous as that of the "Martyr Spy." Nathan Hale Memorial Chapter has completed the monument erected to the memory of Major- General Joseph Spencer, of East Haddam. The Daughters throughout the State helped. This Chapter has recently erected a new granite pedestal for the bust of Nathan Hale in the park at East Haddam. The expense was largely met by public spirited townspeople.
Connecticut is so rich in material that there is an em- barrassment of riches, and the reader who has further in- terest in Connecticut's D. A. R. history is referred to the annual Reports published under the auspices of the Smith- sonian Institution, and to two little volumes published by the united action of the Daughters of Connecticut, viz: "Chapter Sketches," a history so called of the "Patron Saints" of the Chapters, and another book should be pub- lished by the same combination, — "The Patriot Daughters."
CHAPTER III.
HODE ISLAND : The women of the D. A. R. Society in New England have done their part, and with the accomplishment of years are well crowned. We will cross the line from the old Bay State and go into Rhode Island, and here we find the same enthusiasm, the same patriotic spirit governing the Daughters in all the ways they tread.
Since the days Massasoit relinquished a portion of his Mentauk lands to the Plymouth Colony, since the days of the first town meeting in ''Old Bristol," when the ser- vices were opened and closed with prayer, and the one who ventured to leave before the closing prayer was fined a shilling, down through the life of the Roger Williams colony, — this goodly heritage has not been left without a patriotic, loyal people ; and so it came that the first chapter formed in Rhode Island, December 17, 1891, was on the spot of the old shire town Bristol, by Daughters, many of whom were descendants of the four men, — Byfield, Wolley, Oliver, and Burton, who came into possession of the land by royal decree and a payment of one thousand pounds.
The work and enthusiasm spread through the towns and cities of the State. The Gaspee Chapter and the Paw- TUCKETT Chapter were organized within the year 1892. Now we find nine progressive chapters have organized with enthusiasm and success. Money and clothing were sent to the Hospital Corps and the Spanish American War Fund. The sum sent by the Pawtucket Chapter was the second re- ceived. In the hour of need they were ready. While as- sisting and caring for the sick soldiers at Camp Wikofif and seeing that they were comfortably transported to the hos- pitals, and furnishing hospital supplies, surgeons and nurses — this was perhaps the most grateful work done by
Story of the Records 151
the Rhode Island Daughters. In the intervals of peace the graves of the Revolutionary dead were not forgotten.
One chapter has a rich field for historic research in the town made famous by its greatest citizen, — General Nathaniel. Green, whose name it bears. Almost the first work of the Bristol Chapter was to raise one thousand dollars, the interest of which is annually given tip the writer of the best historical Essay in the Woman's College of Brown University. The Gaspee Chapter also raises forty dollars for the best essay on some topic in American History, to be given to a young lady student in the gradu- ating class of the Woman's College of Brown University. And the Pawtucket Chapter has devoted its energies to raising a sum of money to be used toward a building fund of the Woman's College. The "Wolf's Den" — that historic spot in Pomfret, Connecticut, where General Putnam killed the last wolf in Windham — the purchase of which has become the absorbing interest of the Woonsocket Chapter. ''Wolf Den Park" will be the result. The liberal contribution, to the War Fund of this Chapter, of the Phoebe Green Ward Chap- ter, the Narragansett Chapter, in fact of all the chapters, tells more than words what the Daughters are doing by being banded together, and the patriotism that burst its bounds and wrote its mission in fire, when the "Gaspee" was burned, has only been lying quiet in the embers for another generation to fan into life and useful- ness.
The place this State has won in the National Society by its steadfastness and helpfulness is well established, and the crowning act was the gift, through their Regent, Mrs. Charles Warren Lippitt, at the Fourteenth Congress, in the new Continental Hall, from the Flint Lock and Powder Horn Chapter; it was not the gift of fire and sword, but of love and peace, in the form of a beautiful brass Lecturn and Bible, which will through the years bring its message to coming Congresses.
152 Story of the Records
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Let us leave the land of John Rogers for that of Molly Stark to see what her descendants are doing through the Daughters in New Hampshire.
Molly Stark was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Page; she was born in Starkstown, New Hampshire, 1737, and married John Stark. It is said that General Stark had a very tender side to his nature, which was evinced by his love for pets, and by his habitual use of nicknames ; each member of his family bore a pet name. He had eleven children, and his wife was always "Molly" to him. His memorable speech at Bennington, — "This battle must be won today or Molly Stark will be a widow," has handed her name down to posterity.
History says she often stood sentinel when a young girl at the rough fort to watch for the Indians, while her father and brother were at work in the fields, or were "away to the rear." She was noted for her strong, energetic, de- cision of character; eminently hospitable and kind to all, rich or poor.
When General Stark was encamped at Ticonderoga, the weather was cold, his soldiers were ill-clad and poorly fed. The General was sad and dejected, and to make his situa- tion doubly worse, smallpox broke out among them. Molly Stark immediately sent word to him to have the sick all sent to her. Her house was turned into a hospital, and she was nurse and physician, and she did not lose a single case — some twenty in all — her young children being among the victims.
When the news came of the invasion of Boston Harbor by the British, John Stark was at work in his saw-mill. Without stopping to go home, he sprang upon his horse, in his shirt sleeves and hurried along, recruiting his neigh- bors and friends as he went. His wife lost no time in getting his clothes together in a bundle and mounting a horse followed, hoping soon to overtake him, which did not occur until she had reached Medford, Massachusetts. She delivered her bundle, stayed over night, and then retraced
Story of the Records 153
her steps alone, through the unbroken forest from Medford town to Amoskeag Falls.
Caleb, his oldest son, at the age of fifteen entered the Army of the Revolution, and was in the battle of Bunker Hill, as a volunteer in his father's regiment. He served through the war and became a Brigadier General. In later years he moved to Ohio to prosecute his claims to land grants for military service ; these were recovered in 1837. This land embraced the whole county in which Canton — the home of the late President McKinley — is situated.
The daughter, Mary, married B. F. Stickney, and was the mother of "Major Two-Stickney," who was celebrated in connection with the long boundary warfare between Ohio and Michigan.
From the daughter, Mary Stickney, was descended the late Joseph Henry Stickney, of Baltimore, whose princely bequests to the Congregational Home Missionary Society, to the Church Building Society, to the endowment of a fund for the preservation and care of Plymouth Rock, is conclusive proof that he inherited qualities of sturdy citizenship from his ancestors, — John and Molly Stark.
When Molly Stark died, the General was 86 years old. It is said when the funeral procession left the lawn, the General, too feeble to follow, tottered back into the house, saying sadly, "Goodby Molly; we sup no more to- gether on earth." We do not wonder that with such women in the Old Granite State, that her State constitution was the first on record ; nor do we wonder that early in the organization of this Society there was formed a Molly Stark Chapter, and that it carries on its rolls a membership of over one hundred.
The Library of the National Society D. A. R. has been greatly enriched by the town histories which have been contributed by New Hampshire Chapters to its archives. Consequently, this State makes a better record for itself than some of the others. This compilation was largely due to the energy of Mrs. Josiah Carpenter, then State Regent.
154 Story of the Records
AsHUELOT Chapter; of Keene, has placed a granite boulder on the corner of Main and Baker Streets to mark the road over which the patriots of Keene set forth for Concord and Lexington on that memorable day, which ushered in, not only the Battle of Lexington, but the War of the Revolution. It is a rough granite stone, with one side polished, and bears one hundred and fifty names of the men of the company, and four names unknown. And there are twenty-two Revolutionary soldiers' graves marked by this chapter, which has done some of the best chapter work extant.
Elsa Cilley Chapter; of Nottingham, has placed two memorial stones at the graves of Captain Joseph Cilley and his wife Elsa. She was remarkably capable and energetic.
BuNTiN Chapter ; of Pembroke, reports a completed list of soldiers graves identified with D. A. R. markers, in the town cemetery as twenty-two, giving the military history of each man — four buried in Allentown, eight in Hookset, N. H. Buntin Chapter, of Pembroke ; Exeter, of Exeter; Margery Sullivan, of Dover, all contributed hand- somely to the relief work of the Spanish-American War.
MiLFORD Chapter; of Milford, has marked twenty-one graves of the Revolutionary soldiers buried in the town, with bronze markers, and of those buried elsewhere in the State, desiring to preserve the name of all for the rolls of honor, who took part in that sanguinary revolt from British dominion. Milford Chapter has been recognized as doing efficient work, in having had published in the American Monthly Magazine, a list of soldiers' graves marked by the chapter; and the Anna Stickney Chapter has been doing good work in restoring historic graveyards. The Samuel Ashley Chapter, the Folsom Hilton Chapter, and Reprisal Chapter, in their work of decorating graves ; giving prizes for historical essays; and contributions for tablets, — have all well done their part.
Story of the Records 155
Molly Reid Chapter ; of Derby, has marked the spot where Major-General John Stark was born with a memorial stone, plain, strong, and simple, like his character. It is situated on a hillside orchard in East Derby; and it has also erected a modest monument to Molly Reid, its patron Saint.
The Molly Stark Chapter ; of Manchester, has contri- buted books of history to the public school library ; and also been active in the Spanish-American War relief work.
Reprisal Chapter ; of Newport, has restored Revolution- ary tombstones; and shown great interest in war relief work. Samuel Ashley Chapter has contributed to the pur- chase of Meadow Garden Farm in Georgia, and to Con- tinental Hall Fund in Washington, D. C.
Liberty Chapter; of Tilton, devotes its energies lo3^ally to popularizing an interest in American History.
RuMFORD Chapter, of Concord, contributed handsomely to the building of the New Hampshire Historical Society.
Exeter Chapter has placed tablets on the "Garrison house," built by John Gilmer about 1760, and another on the outside of the room of the house where the Continental money was kept during the Revolution. This tablet reads — '* State Treasury 1775- 1789." Another tablet has been placed by the chapter to mark the house where Washington breakfasted, November 4, 1781. Colonel Poor's residence site is marked as that of New Hampshire's most dis- tinguished representative in the Revolutionary War. The house on Cass Street, where General Lewis Cass was born, was also marked.
Eunice Baldwin Chapter erected a memorial to "Soldiers of the American Revolution buried in unknown graves."
156 Story of the Records
The Margery Sullivan Chapter, of Dover, has for her patron saint a beautiful, high spirited and witty Irish woman, born in Cork, 17 14. Her maiden name was Brown, and nothing is known of her origin, but it must have been good. She came to New York 1723. At the age of twenty- she married John Sullivan, of a distinguished family in Limerick, Ireland. They dwelt together sixty years, twenty being spent in Dover and the rem.ainder on a farm in the town of Berwick, Maine. The husband lived to be a hundred and five years of age. Margery Sullivan lived to be eighty years, and died about 1800. The fruit of their marriage was one daughter and five sons, all of whom became dis- tinguished men. One son entered the British Army, but died before the outbreak of the Revolution. Ebenezer, James, and General John Sullivan, were all officers in the patriotic Army, winning distinction.
After the war, John became Governor of New Hamp- shire, James Governor of Massachusetts, and the third founded a town in Maine, — Mount Desert, which still bears this name. A grandson became Governor of Maine, and four generations of Sullivans have left their impress upon communities where they lived.
Other work of this chapter is marking the retaining wall where the first meeting house in New Hampshire stood.
Matthew Thornton Chapter; of Nashua, offered a prize to public school pupils for the best essay on "Causes of the American Revolution." This chapter has placed a marker with the following inscription:
"On this point of land dwelt
John Lovewell
One of the earliest settlers
Of Dunston, at whose house
Hannah Dunston
Spent the night after her
Escape from the Indians
Story of the Records 157
At Pencook Island
March 30, 1698
Erected by
Matthew Thornton Chapter, D. A. R.,
Nashua, N. H. — 1902."
Ellen I. Sanger Chapter ; of Lyttleton, was named for its founder, who was zealously working for the formation of the chapter when she died. The patriotic work accom- plished by these New Hampshire chapters is of great impor- tance, and takes rank among that of the best in other states. * * * *
VERMONT: The controversy that grew out of the dis- pute between the colonies of New York and New Hamp- shire, relative to the boundary and debatable lands, including the whole of the present State of Vermont, then called the New Hampshire grants, made the name of Ethan Allen conspicuous. Allen was chosen as agent, in 1770, to re- present the settlers in the litigation at Albany. The decision was adverse to the settlers, and they were determined to re- sist. They adopted Allen's own phrase, "The Gods of the Valleys are not the Gods of the hills." Allen was made Colonel of an armed force to protect what they believed to be their rights. Affairs kept on this way until the Revolu- tion. New York maintaining her hostile attitude, and the Vermonters the possession of their farms.
When the battle of Lexington fired the country within a few days, 20,000 men had gathered around Boston. John Stark came at the head of the New Hampshire Militia ; Israel Putnam, with his leather waistcoat, came flying to the nearest town and enjoined the militia to follow him, he mounted a horse and rode to Cambridge, a hundred miles in eighteen hours ; Rhode Island sent her quota under brave Nathaniel Green ; Benedict Arnold came with the provincials from New Haven ; but Ethan Allen, of Ver- mont, started at the head of two hundred and seventy "Green Mountain Boys," on an expedition against Ticon-
IS8 Story of the Records
deroga. He knew the necessity of capturing this important fortress with its vast magazine of stores; and so this audacious Mountaineer went about his business, asking orders from no one. Benedict Arnold left Cambridge and joined the expedition as a private.
It would seem that animosity against New York had passed away in the country's greater trouble. It is well known, with a small portion of his men who could cross the Lake Champlain in time — eighty, all told— that the surrender of the fort was demanded, and when asked by the astounded Commandant, Delaplace, ''By what authority?" "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," was Allen's quick reply. As a matter of fact the Continental Congress in Philadelphia did not convene for over six hours after this surrender — yet Allen was not waiting upon orders that day! The Garrison surrendered, and the provisions were sent to Connecticut. A fortress which had cost Great Britain many million pounds sterling, with all its stores, was captured in ten minutes by a company of the undis- ciplined provincials. This was the 9th of May. On the 1 6th of June, Prescott with a thousand men was sent to occupy and entrench Bunker Hill.
Of course. General Allen did not end his war career with the fall of Ticonderoga, but we know enough to understand why there is an Ethan Allen Chapter, in Vermont, of the Daughters of the American Revolution. This chapter has located and verified sixty-seven Revolutionary soldiers' graves, and we wonder if they were the "Green Mountain boys" who captured Ticonderoga. They have bought pictures of historic meaning for the public schools ; and are collecting a D. A. R. library of old and rare books, which will help in historic study.
The Ann Story Chapter ; of Rutland, has had the name of their patron saint carved upon her tombstone at Salis- bury. By a second marriage her name became Goodrich, and her identity would in time have been lost, but for the
Story of the Records 159
timely action of this chapter. Their roll of honor list for- warded to the American Monthly Magazine for publication bears one hundred and six names. Seventy-nine graves have been located, and one hundred and seventeen verified, and this chapter has assisted in all the patriotic work of the State. The contributions of this chapter to the great Memorial Continental Hall have always been very liberal The site of old Fort Ranger, and the military road from Charlestown to Crown Point, has been honored in memory by a Barre Granite Monument.
The Brattleboro Chapter has always been busy with patriotic work; it has located and verified many soldiers' graves. It has marked the site of the old Court House, at Westminster, Vermont, where William French, the first martyr of the Revolution, met his death. The marker con- sists of a large granite boulder with a bronze tablet, on which is the following inscription:
"Court House
Built under the reign of George IH.
1772.
Scene of Massacre, March 31, 1775.
Occupied by Vermont until 1778
Brattleboro Chapter, No. 75,
Daughters of the American Revolution."
The success of this undertaking was largely due to the enthusiasm and efficiency of Mrs. Ira Sherman Jemse, Chairman of the Committee.
This Chapter started a fund for marking the site of the old camp ground at Brattleboro. One of its members, Mrs. J. J. Estey, has long been an honored and helpful member of the National Board of Management, first as State Regent and two terms as Vice President.
The Hand Cove Chapter : This chapter has raised a fund
i6o Story of the Records
towards a marker for Ethan Allen and the patriots who ren- dezvoused with him and went to the Capture of Fort Ticon- deroga, May 1775. The site commands a view of 'Tort Ti" and Hands Cove.
The Belleview Chapter ; of St. Albans, has contributed liberally to Continental Hall. It has placed copies of the Declaration of Independence in the town schools. With befitting ceremonies it planted the "Osage Orange Liberty Tree," sent out by the Society from seed sown at the ground breaking of Continental Hall, and which was propagated for a year in the Government Gardens. These reminders of "Liberty" are scattered throughout the States; and it is hoped their bountiful fruitage will be emblematic of the Society.
The Palestrello Chapter is at Wallingford. A mem- ber of this chapter is a Real Daughter, and the chapter has been enthusiastic in caring for her wants, traveling thirty miles over the mountains, through mud and snow, to attend to her need. What better testimony is required, that the spirit of the "Green Mountain Boys" still hovers over the State, than this, and that the other nineteen chapters in the State have given liberally for this patriotic work. Some will ask loyal Daughters, as they are, why they chose the name Palestrello? The Recording Secretary of this Chapter, in explanation, says, "It is written, Tn order to make a man good we must begin with his grandmother.' Why not, then, trace the bravery and loyal allegiance to God and the right, that characterized our Revolutionary fathers, and that emblazons their memory in our minds and hearts, back to their grandmothers?" She also quotes from Heinrich Heine, "When I read history and am im- pressed with any great deed, I feel as if I should like to see the woman who is concealed behind it as its secret in- centive." Then she repeats the story of Christopher Col- umbus meeting in Madrid the pretty black-eyed Felipo
Story of the Records i6i
Moniz Palestrello, and that she was the daughter of Bar- tholomew Palestrello, a man of wealth and engaged in trade by water, and owned many ships; and that Felipo made a number of hazardous voyages with her father in unfamiliar waters, and later made geographical drawings, and these were used with profit by Columbus, for when her education was finished, she became his wife; and with her dower were the valuable navigation charts, journals, and memorandums. Felipo, from childhood, had bestowed time and enthusiasm on the matters of geographic dis- covery, of which Lisbon was then headquarters. Felipo had a fine education ; was a brilliant and brainy woman, and had great influence over her husband, and was constantly urging him on in the path which finally brought him to the discovery of this New Continent. It goes with- out contradiction that this chapter ''found the woman back of it," and it was Palestrello who was the secret incentive to the discovery of America, and the chapter has chosen well their Patron Saint!
The Green Mountain State is as rich in membership throughout the chapters, as it has been in State Regents; members who are daily adding to the good work of this Society. Chapters like Bennington, Browson, Lake Dun- more, Armbee, Marquis De Lafayette, Oxbow, Hebar Allen, St. John De Grevecoeur, Ascutney, Ottauqueechee, — have caught the spirit of patriotism that has distilled in the hills of their State, and it is as firmly rooted as the Mountains of Granite ; and so they find soldiers' graves to commemor- ate ; and soldiers' children to care for ; and give freely of their substance for the National Memorial Continental Hall, which will for all time be the Universal Monument to every patriot, man or woman !
'K *}* *!* *I*
MAINE : Let us slip along the coast following in the wake
of John Smith, as his ships surveyed the bays and islands
in 1614. We will take a look at the monument erected in
his honor on the Isle of Shoals by a grateful citizenship.
II
i62 Story of the Records
Since that time, through the days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony occupancy until 1820, Maine has been an independ- ent State.
We find a sturdy yeomanry has possessed the land, and while no ''State of Maine" is credited with Revolutionary soldiery, the names of men and women are legion who did valiant service for their country in the days that tried their souls, in this most eastern territory of Uncle Sam's pos- sessions. It is because this remote section was late in as- suming the majesty of Statehood and adding the dignity of a seal upon her fair name, that the Daughters of the American Revolution were tardy in coming into the fold of their inheritance. Let it be so. Nevertheless, like the men and women who have made the state a factor in our great body politics and who do honor to her name; so have the "Daughters" of Maine, since they organized their first chapter, forged ahead with the same fortitude and high purpose that characterized their heroic ancestry.
To-day fourteen chapters are on their honor-roll, many of them celebrated in name by some "Patron Saint" — what tribute more beautiful or more appropriate could they pay to their revered dead.
Almost the first work of the chapters was to take measures to assist the historical society in purchasing the home in Portland where General and Mrs. Wadsworth lived, and which Longfellow once occupied.
Another man of Revolutionary fame has been honored. In Thomaston, a tablet has been placed to General Knox, by the chapter bearing his name. The members have pledged themselves to raise the money to restore and preserve the old church where General Knox and his family attended divine worship.
The beautiful work of the Mary Dillingham Chapter, of Lewiston, stands forth, backed by the patriotism that filled the hearts of the Daughters. It has established a public library free to all its citizens, and has a valuable historical library in connection with it. This was ac-
Story of the Records 163
complished by their unceasing work from small beginnings ; at first in rooms, and when a librarian could not be paid a salary, the Daughters volunteered their services. Through the generosity of Andrew Carnegie, supplemented by the Lewiston people and the city government, and with the aid and influence of Hon. W. P. Frye, a fine library build- ing is now in evidence ; and the Daughters of the American Revolution have builded a monument which will endure for all time in the minds and the hearts of the citizens.
We are not unmindful that one of the honored Vice Presidents came from this Chapter, Mrs. Wm. P. Frye. Much of her time being spent in Washington, she always found the opportunity of serving the Society.
The Francis Dighton Williams Chapter ; of Bangor, has added a star to its crown. Old Pemaquid, by the efforts of the Bangor women, is slowly but surely shown to be an historical landmark of great moment to all who are interested in antiquities. There is a plan to reproduce the old castle, which will be a museum, and that will show the early history of our Country. The appropriation from the Main Legislature and the Commission to carry on the work was secured by the efforts of the Bangor Chapter. The first money appropriated ($1,500) was the first money ever given in Maine for historical purposes. The Daugh- ters of Maine may well be proud that they have succeeded in entering the wedge for historical research.
Pemaquid, where once stood an old stone castle, a part of Fort William Henry, built centuries ago by the English at a cost of many thousand pounds, was later captured by the French, and is now governed by the United States.
Fifty people, English, landed at Pemaquid August 8 and ID, 1607, which date stands out in white figures marking the great fort rock.
Among the ruins to be restored, is the ancient curious ''Cache, " which has puzzled historians for years. It is a round structure ten feet deep and seven feet in diameter,
164 Story of the Records
walled up with odd shaped bricks ; the top lies two feet be- low ground, and its only opening large enough to admit a man, and, this carefully concealed by a large flat stone. It was probably a safe deposit in war times. This valuable relic was discovered by two ladies. Here beneath this stone are awaiting to be uncovered and protected the pav- ing of four forts ; walled cellars, a shipyard wharf, the brick "Cache;" paved streets that would teach us the art now; an ancient burying-ground ; cannon balls; primitive implements of every description. Here, too, was a "James- town," a name to fire the imagination ; the land lying to the west, and reaching over harbor and bay, to the distant ocean, was called ''Jamestown." It seems the hardy path- finders of Pemaquid and Jamestown had settled here thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock ; and the Pilgrims sent to this early colony for sup- plies ; and although these early builders of Jamestown and Pemaquid held sway but a term of years, they left a record that baffles historians ; but one that will eventually lead to the unraveling of this mystery, and add an interesting page to hitherto unwritten history. This grand work is being undertaken by the D. A. R. Chapters of Maine, and no doubt will be carried on to completion.
And so the good work is going on throughout all the chapters in the State; and not the least of the efforts, for which they deserve praise, is the unstinted endeavor they have made to prosecute to the finish Memorial Continental Hall ; for in that they honor, not only their own ancestry, but every woman and every man who paid tribute to the foundation of a free government.
CHAPTER IV.
EW YORK: New York has many reasons for congratulating itself for the position it holds in the organization. It is the Banner State of the organization, plucking the laurels it holds from grand old Connecticut in spite of her magnificent work ! New York now numbering nearly eight thousand Daughters and eighty-two chapters. It is not in numbers alone, but the work accomplished and the superb character of the work which has stamped it the ^'Banner State."
From its goodly heritage emanated one of the Society's President Generals, Mrs. Daniel Manning, whose masterly influence brought honor and progressiveness to the Society. One of the "Founders," the one whose "bugle call" brought the Society into existence, is a New Yorker by birth.
New York's State Regents, Vice Presidents, and chap- ter regents, have been an honor to the State, and through them the work has been brought to the present high stand- ard. Their work will have to be taken as a whole, rather than individualized. We find ourselves troubled with an embarrassment of riches ; where to begin and where to end it all in the space allotted. The chapter having the largest membership of any in the State should come in first in recognition. This is the Buffalo Chapter, of over four hundred and eighty members. The illustrated foreign lecture course on American History, which originated in this chapter deserves special mention for its great success in educating the foreign population of Buffalo, and in promoting patriotic education. These lectures began by being delivered in a hall, without seats, to over six hundred listeners. It is from this commencement that a National Committee was named by Mrs. Fairbanks on Patriotic
i66 Story of the Records
education, of which Mrs. J. Heron Crosman, the able Vice- President of New York was made Chairman.
The Chapter has recently entered upon a new line of work, directed by its Regent, Mrs. John Miller Horton; that of marking the graves of soldiers of the American Revolution interred in Buffalo, Lewiston, Niagara Falls, Williamsville, and East Aurora, and these patriotic lectures have been extended to the Poles and Italians of Lockport; they have also been delivered before Germans and Austrians. The historical stereopticon slides number four hundred and are owned by the chapter ; each year the chapter appropriating three hundred dollars to defray the expense of this work, the Regent is also Vice President of the Niagara Frontier Landmarks Association.
The chapter has marked a number of historic sites along the Niagara River. A tablet was erected at Lewiston on the site of Scott's Battery. Another marks the site of Fort Tompkins. And one marks the spot where the Griffin was built. Another marks the place of the dwell- ing of Mrs. St. John, the only house spared after the burn- ing of Buffalo by the British. The next tablet identifier the ground on Niagara Street, where the battle of Black Rock was fought, August 3, 1814. Another marks the site of the first school house erected in the village of Buffalo in 1807. During one year the Chapter contributed $1,482.92 to patriotic work. We give a picture of a scene from the Colonial Ball given by the Buffalo Chapter, by which they raised seven hundred dollars for Continental Hall.
The work of western New York must include the chap- ters nestled among the green hills and bordering the fair lakes of old Chautauqua. The Patterson Chapter of West- field, the Benjamin Prescott of Fredonia, and the James- town Chapter, are in patriotic touch with the Baron Steuben of Bath. The Chemung of Elmira, Deo-On-Ge- Wa of Batavia, Irondequoit of Rochester, Kanisteo of Hornellsville, Olean of Olean, Owahgena of Cazenovia, Tuscarora of Binghamton, Catherine Schuyler of Bel-
COLONIAL BALL, BUFFALO.
Story of the Records 167
mont. The pages of the D. A. R. Reports to the Smith- sonian Institution are teeming with work accompHshed by these chapters. The marking of patriotic graves which means research and study to place them, is greatly appre- ciated by the Government in these reports. The giving of funds for Memorial Continental Hall which has been gener- ous, the fruit thereof which is now in sight ; the awarding of medals to pupils in schools for essays on patriotic sub- jects; the gift of historical books to libraries,— all tell the story of the patriotic zeal which governs the members of these chapters.
For ten years the Mohawk Chapter has stood guard on the eastern line of the State, and has strenuously worked for the good of the whole Society. It has been honored in having one of its number, Mrs. Daniel Manning, chosen as President General. One of the most striking features of their work was the Loan Exhibition, held in May 1892. This was one of the best historical object lessons ever given by the Daughters, and was the means of securing over two hundred dollars as a nucleus for some feature of Continent- al Hall. Their charter and its environments speak volumes for their patriotism. A whole history is written in the story of its frame; which consists of thirty-five pieces of wood, every piece a souvenir telling some historical story. A brief word on the history of the situation in and around New York will refresh the memory, and give reason for the service that has marked history, by some of the New York chapters.
After the battle of Long Island, Washington was on Brooklyn Heights watching the movements of the foe. Just before sunset, as he was looking eastward, a sweep of wind like a friendly hand, lifted for a moment the flag that lay over the British vessels within the narrows: that one moment was supreme, it revealed to Washington the boats filled with men passing from ship to ship, and all the preparations for some great and combined movement. The British fleet had been ordered to act in concert with
i68 Story of the Records
the land forces, and, after attacking the batteries on shore, to pass up East River, and thus separate the American Army in New York from that of Brooklyn; but the ''Stars fought against Sisera," for a strong east wind surged all day down the East River, holding back the ships as with an unseen hand. Washington called a Council of War : the decision was to retreat to New York. Again the Army was protected by a fog. At eight o'clock the soldiers be- gan their silent march toward the ferry at the foot of Ful- ton Street; the troops embarked, and with muffled oars passed silently over to the shore, by five o'clock, save the artillery, all were safe in New York. Washington stood on the Brooklyn side through the long night, watching de- tachment after detachment disappear in the gloom and darkness, with the last boat he crossed over the river.
The next day the British sailed up East River to Harlem, and the men of war swept by the batteries on the Hudson. The British effected a landing, and the American General Putnam, who was guarding the upper part of the Island, was ordered to fall back to Harlem Heights. Not a mo- ment was to be lost, or a cordon would be stretched across the Island and cut off all retreat — Washington's army would be divided. Putnam galloped backward and forward en- couraging his men, while every linement of his face showed anxiety.
A Quaker lady, Mary Murray, had a home on Murray Hill ; it was on the road Sir Henry Clinton and his staff would take to reach his men. Putnam had sent her word to de- lay Sir Henry by any strategy. She cordially invited the British General to stop and partake of a glass of wine and refreshment ; he and his staff gladly accepted the invitation. By her courtesies she detained him until the negro servant, whom she stationed on the top of the house to watch the American Army, returned and gave the sign agreed upon to indicate that the army had passed the point of danger.
When Clinton left the house, he saw, to his great mortifi- cation, the American banners fluttering in the distance. As
Story of the Records 169
darkness came on the weary columns wound up the slope, and were received with shouts and cheers by the whole army. Washington did not conceal his delight at the Quakeress* little strategy, which had saved Putnam's Army.
Could there be an historic spot which could bring out the patriotic spirit with a clearer ring than Murray Hill? The Knickerbocker Chapter, on November 25, 1903 — evacuation day — unveiled a tablet placed upon a large boulder, to the memory of Mrs. Mary Murray, on the site of the historic Murray mansion. Park Avenue and 37th Street. Here a most patriotic demonstration took place. Addresses were made by Civic Authorities and Military dignitaries, and with music, followed by a reception and banquet at Murray Hill Hotel. Nothing could be more fitting than that the patriotic women of New York should commemorate the name and deed of this woman who did such gallant service for Washington and his army, and through them for her Country !
And now we come to one of the darkest pages of this aflPair, and we are glad of the perspective time has wrought that lifts the dark blot from our Mother Country, England, and places it on individual responsibility.
It is more than a hundred and twenty-five years since the battle of Long Island was fought, when four thousand prisoners fell into the hands of the British. The prisoners, and to this number were added others until quite twenty thousand there found their doom, and were consigned to the notorious Cunningham, who, afterwards, in England, met a criminal's death on the scaffold. The prisoners were conveyed to transports, numbering eight, — the Whitby, Falmouth, Hunter, Shambole, Scorpion, Prince of Wales, Good Hope, and Old Jersey, or "Old Hell," as her prisoners afterwards renamed her. She was a 64 gun ship in the Regular British Navy. In April 1778, she was dismantled, after she was disabled in an engagement with the French Navy. She was anchored in Wallabout Bay, near the site of the present Navy Yard. Her portholes were sealed.
170 Story of the Records
four apertures twenty inches square for the admission of air was made in her sides, heavy iron bars so fastened over these as to prevent escape ; and here between decks, eleven thousand men were confined in so small a place that they were forced to sleep with legs and arms over each other, and only able to move by simultaneous action. The food was horrible, and in stinted quantity. With insufficient clothing, no fire, no light, no medical attendance; suffering from untold diseases, smallpox, measles, yellow fever, gangrene from wounds, — no wonder eleven thousand perished in this "Hell hole" ship, alone. The loss by death in these prison ships is said to have equalled the list of killed on all the battle- fields of the Revolution.
It is related that each morning the prisoners were brought on deck and given a tantalizing glimpse of the green shores and a taste of God's air and sunshine, then offered liberty, if they would enlist under the British flag; but of all these thousands, it is recorded, only one man yielded to the temptation, and he was said to be a foreigner. Each morn- ing also the dead were brought up, carried ashore, and buried.
In a diary kept by one of the survivors, and now pre- served in the Long Island Historical Society, are found many touching incidents of endurance and suffering, such as the world has never seen surpassed. In a letter left by them, which must be prized as a sacred legacy to coming generations, are found these words, "If you are victorious and our Country emerges free and independent from the contest in which she is now engaged, but the end of which we are not permitted to see, bury us in our own soil, and engrave our names on the monument you shall erect over our bones as victims who willingly surrendered their -lives, as the price paid for your liberty, and our departed spirits will never murmur or regret the sacrifice we made to obtain for you the blessings you enjoy."
The account of their heroic sufferings reached England and awakened deep sympathy; stirring debates were made
Story of the Records 171
in Parliament; Washington sent protests, but the suffering went on for seven years. And then for more than a century their graves lay unmarked, until the encroachment of the sea exposed their bones to an indifferent public. Efforts were made spasmodically to Congress, but met with no response.
Mr. Benjamin Ayerigg employed children to pick up the bones, at a cent a pound, that he might give them burial. He buried them in a ground subsequently sold for taxes, but they were finally interred in their last resting place, — Fort Green Park.
At the Fifth Continental Congress, Mrs. S. V. White, of Brooklyn, appeared among the Daughters of the American Revolution for the first time. She had a message to bring, and like the "Message to Garcia," it stirred into action every patriotic heart. Among her stirring words, she said, after reciting the story of the Prison Ship sufferers, *'And yet they are the unremembered dead. Let us join our forces with a Monument Committee now formed and there shall be no such word as fail ; it will be done largely by individual gifts. And where shall the monument be placed? Where else than on that spot of ground wherein their bones repose, the spot of verdure towards which their eyes turned with longing during those weary years while they lan- guished on the 'Prison Ship.' Be merciful, and to us of to-day it seems a miraculous providence, the site of General Green's old Fort, where General Putnam also held headquarters, is left to us intact, undesecrated by either street or building, a plot of more than forty acres set in the midst of a populous city, by the sea, in near proximity to the battlefield of Long Island, in sight of the scene of their martyrdom, — is set apart by the hand of destiny and kept for us sacred, although forgotten. We, like Martha, have been cumbered with much serving! We older people have busied ourselves with the world's work, and amused ourselves with the world's pleasures; while our children have grown up and forgotten, and their children have come
172 Story of the Records
upon the scene, and the old story has been forgotten to be told. More than five generations of allotted life have passed, and still these ancestors of the War of the Revolu- tion are counted among the unremembered dead."
Her earnest appeal was not in vain. A Committee was appointed to work with Mrs. White; and every year she has come up to the Congress and announced to the people how the good work is progressing; but at the Congress of 1905, she had the proud satisfaction of announcing that the amount of $200,000, for the Monument to the Prison Martyrs was complete, and the Daughters were rejoiced that their contributions, added to that from other sources, had helped at least in crowning the superb efforts put forth through the years by that patriot Daughter, Mrs. S. V. White.
Much space has been given to the work of this chapter, but we must note that the chapter placed a bronze tablet in the Dutch Reformed Church in Flatbush, L. L, in memory of the Revolutionary soldiers buried beneath the church; and the last year a fund of five hundred dollars to Me- morial Continental Hall was raised to be added to their generous contributions of other years.
We again turn into the trail of history ; for reasons why the "Daughters" of Central New York are so rich in patri- otic achievement. No true Daughter of New York has to be reminded that 128 years ago one of the decisive battles of the war was fought, which created the Republic, — the battle of Oriskany, which preceded Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga. We epitomize the true condition from the graphic accounts given by the speakers. Rev. Isaac W. Bigelow and Hon. Ellis H. Roberts, at the celebration of the 128th anniversary of the battle. It was the third year of the war. Two years had passed since the opening of the conflict at Lexington, April 19, 1775. In June, came the battle of Bunker Hill. The March following, Boston was evacuated by the British.
A year gone and England had made no progress in at-
Story of the Records 173
taining her purpose. Then followed the Declaration of In- dependence, July 4, 1776; then the battle of Long Island and Brooklyn Heights; the retreat into New Jersey, the battles of Trenton and Princeton ; and the return of the British to New York. And the second year closed with no marked progress toward weakening the military powers of the Colonies.
Burgoyne set forth with ten thousand men, having no doubt but an easy victory was to be won. His army was made up of troops of the regular British Army, Tories, Canadians, Hessians, and Indians.
St. Leger was sent to make a grand sweep through the Mohawk Valley, and to meet Burgoyne in Albany. Clinton would ascend the Hudson from New York with another division of his army; and thus enable Burgoyne to form a line of fortification that would separate New England from the other States, and then the two sections could be crushed, one at a time.
The situation from the eloquent lips of Mr. Roberts was given as follows : "St. Leger invested Fort Stanwix on Aug- ust 3rd, on his way to sweep down the Mohawk Valley, and on August 6th, on these fields, met the patriots who had gathered with their brave chief, General Herkim.er. British regulars with Hessians and Indians were checked by the embattled farmers. Burgoyne's right wing was beaten back, and thus the victory of the young nation at Saratoga was made possible. The guns of these Colonists on these hills and in the valleys echoed in the Tuilleries, and taught Louis XVI. that a giant had arisen in America. The alliance of France followed as a direct result * * * without the victory of Oriskany there could have been no Saratoga, no Yorktown."
So it seems that an alibi can be proven against the state- ment of Professor Goldwin Smith, in his "Outline of Political History of the United States," — "That had it not been for America's French allies she would not have gained independence;" for we see America had no ally when this
174 Story of the Records
pivotal battle was fought, and that the American Army of Provincials did win the day against the combined forces of the British Army, with its allies of Canadians, Tories, In- dians, and "Hessian Hell Hounds."
This brings us to Fort Stanwix Chapter : Rome, which is noted for its good works. It will be remembered that the Continental Congress adopted, June 14, 1777, the Stars and Stripes as our National Flag. August 3 of that year Colonel James Thatcher, an Army surgeon of Albany, noted in his journal that recent newspapers were reporting the action of Congress about the flag. And the flag was prob- ably unfurled at Fort Stanwix in face of battle for the first time, as 200 men of the Third New York Regiment were hurrying up through Albany to relieve the Fort in view of a threatened attack from British, Indians, and Tories under Barry St. Leger and Joseph Brant. The siege of the place began on August 3, and lasted until the 22. Colonel Marius Willett, who was second in command, and who lived to an advanced age, left a journal of his personal experiences, which tells the interesting story of how this first flag was made. — 'The Fort had never been supplied with a flag. The necessity of having one, upon the arrival of the enemy, taxed the invention of the Garrison not a little, and a decent one was soon contrived. The white stripes were cut out of ammunition shirts, the blue out of a camlet cloak taken from the enemy at Peekshill, and the red stripes were made of dififerent pieces of stuff procured from one and another of the garrison. August 6, during the bloody battle of Oriskany, Colonel Willett made a sortie, raided the British camp, and carried off with his plunder five British flags. The narrative founded on his journal states that upon his return, the five flags taken from the enemy were hoisted on the flag staff under the Continental flag, when all the troops of the garrison mounted the parapet and gave three hearty cheers." Here in close proximity to old Fort Stan- wix, which never surrendered, was the portage called by
Story of the Records 175
the Indians — De-o-wain-sta — or the "Carrying Place." This point being the only means of communication between the Hudson and Mowhawk Rivers, and the Great Lakes. A tablet marking this place has been given by Fort Stanwix Chapter. The border is composed of arrow heads and wampum, and the tablet shows an Indian alert as he watches from behind a tree his canoe in the stream at his feet. This charming work of art was designed and made by Paul E. Caberet & Company, of New York, and is an honor to the chapter that has dignified this historic spot by so impressive a memorial, the place where Lafayette, Governor Clinton, Baron Steuben, and great Indian Chiefs met, to lend their aid in settlements of disputes, and in treaty making, the chapter has identified the place with this handsome tablet, not only for this generation, but for all time.
It needs no comment on what the effects of these con- flicts were upon the Revolution, but the point we would make was well taken by one of New York's State Regents, Mrs. J. V. G. Belden, — who asked why the report of our first Secretary of State, General Knox, was repeated in every history of the Independence for near a hundred years, that the number of troops furnished by New York during the Revolutionary War, was only 17,781.
When James A. Roberts of Buffalo was elected Comp- troller in 1895, his first work was to arrange systematically the great accumulation of War Records. Many muster rolls were discovered, and as a result, New York stands to- day second only to Massachusetts, with a roll of 43,675 Revolutionary Soldiers ; and this number is still to be aug- mented, for lists of officers were found without their records of enlisted men; and the records of the third line, Mrs. Belden says, are in the possession of the descendants of Colonel Gansevoort. One of the ancestors of one of the writers of these records was rescued from oblivion by the unearthing of these lost documents.
In running over the names of many of these chapters
176 Story of the Records
in the Empire State, our enthusiasm over their splendid work is damped somewhat ; for we find ourselves in the same position as Oliver Wolcott, in 1800, who, in writing a letter home said, ''We are going to the New Capitol to the Indian place with the long name (unpronounceable) on the Potomac," — meaning Conoeocheague. Would not a hint be valuable, not only to New York, but to other States to give a short sketch, telling why certain names for certain chapters were chosen, and how pronounced!
Nevertheless, Kayendatsyona, Keskeskick, Mahwena- wasigh, Onwentsia, Owahgena, Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha, Swe- katsi, Tioughnioga, will be forgiven for their good works, sake. In patriotic endeavor they are a fine example to their sister chapters, and then when we come to Adirondack, As- tenrogen, Mohegan, Ondawa, Onwentsia, Owasco, Saranac, Tuscarora, we are out of the woods enough to be able to call them by name, not knowing, however, whether they are Algonquins, or Iroquois, Cherokee, or Choctaw! Perhaps Indians' names were chosen because of a bit of irony of fate, that the names should be attached to chapters that were making record of history in the Free Republic, that the Indi- ans tried to destroy ; for it is historically true that it was left for British Generals alone, to enlist Indians in the great battles of the Revolution.
In close proximity to these comes the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, of New York City, which has always kept her shoulder to the wheel in helping to build Memorial Con- tinental Hall. The chapter has erected a monument in Holyrood Church, in memory of Margaret Corbin, the heroine of Fort Washington; and marked above all is their efifectual effort and interest in preserving Frauncis Tavern. A commendable feature of this chapter is to mark- some historic spot each year. On January 18, 1899, they unveiled a handsome bronze tablet, placed on the approaches of the Brooklyn Bridge, to mark the spot where stood the first Presidential Mansion, at No. i Cherry Street. The following inscription is upon the tablet :
Story of the Records 177
"The first
Presidential Mansion
No. I Cherry St.
Occupied by
George Washington
From April 2:^, 1789
To February 23, 1790
Erected by the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter
April 30, 1899."
On the Common of the City of New York, a Liberty Pole was erected to commemorate the Repeal of the Stamp Act. It was repeatedly destroyed by the Tories, and as often re- placed by the Sons of Liberty, who organized a constant watch and guard in its defense. The first martyr blood antedating the American Revolution was shed here, on Janu- ary 18, 1770. Another good work of this chapter is the forming of a class for girls for instruction in City History. A teacher is engaged who conducts weekly excursions to noted historical spots.
Washington Heights Chapter passed a set of resolu- tions calling upon the City authorities of New York to purchase the Morris House or Jumel Mansion which was occupied by Washington as headquarters from September 1 6th to October 21, 1776, afterwards visited by Washing- ton and his Cabinet July 1790. Accompanying these resolu- tions was another addressed to the chapters of New York City to unite in this work. Three chapters responded to this call, — the Knickerbocker, Manhattan, and Mary Wash- ington Colonial. These chapters united in an association called the "General Committee, D. A. R. of the Borough of Manhattan, New York City." A petition containing many thousand names, and endorsed by numerous societies, was adopted at a hearing before the Board of Estimate and apportionment on May 29, 1903, at which the Daughters were represented by Ex-Senator Charles L. Guy and by 12
178 Story of the Records
Mrs. Samuel J. Cramer, Regent of the Washington Heights Chapter. The Board agreed to buy the place by unanimous vote. The subsequent price was $235,000. A tablet has been placed upon the house by the Washington Heights Chapter. Mr. Josiah C. Pompelly was very active in his assistance to the Daughters in this patriotic work. The chapter yet hopes to have the custody of this historic home in their care and keeping. If so, it would seem to be con- fidence well placed by the City Fathers, inasmuch as it was through the Daughters' initiative and successful effort that the property was saved from demolition.
The Daughters of New York City and State have found in their historical research an abundance of riches. The country has yet to learn the extent of the magnificent work being accomplished along these lines by the Daughters.
The chapters along the Hudson and through the central part of the State are adding yearly valuable records. They have not builded alone for self or State environment ; their State Regents, their Vice Presidents, their Chapter Regents, and delegates, have been active in the Congresses in telling efforts for Continental Hall ; they have seen the ground broken, the corner stone laid, the Hall dedicated, and its Fourteenth Congress held under its roof, and they have been participants in all its phases. Through the efficient ser- vices of Mrs. Charles H. Terry, who was State Regent, and secretary of Memorial Continental Hall Committee throughout Mrs. Fairbanks' administration, and the faith- ful services of Mrs. John Cunningham Hazen, as a member of the National Board of Management, and Continental Hall Committee — both being constant in their interest and attendance at all business sessions — New York was well represented, and sustained in all her undertakings.
The first chapter organized in the State, and the third largest in the organization is the New York City Chapter.
We have elsewhere written of the work of this chapter in the Spanish American War. In the early days this chapter appropriated a sum of money known as the Mrs. Donald
Story of the Records 179
McLean Fund to endow a chair in American History in Barnard College (which is the woman's side of the Uni- versity of Columbia). Under this scholarship, an Ameri- can girl, intellectually ambitious, is provided, without cost, with four years full tuition, enjoying every advantage the College can bestow.
After the election of Mrs. Donald McLean as President of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the members of the New York City Chapter, in apprecia- tion of the honor that had come to their Regent, subscribed the amount necessary to complete the fund of the Mrs. Donald McLean Scholarship, in Barnard College.
A tablet to Martha Washington has been erected by the Chapter on the walls of the old Huguenot Church in Charles- ton, South Carolina, donating it through the Rebecca Mott Chapter.
One thousand dollars has been expended in the purchase of copies of the Declaration of Independence, which were framed and presented to all the public schools of the greater City of New York, including the five boroughs. One thousand dollars besides has been expended in New York City for patriotic purposes.
From this chapter was chosen the Sixth President General, which is an honor to any chapter, although Mary- land could legitimately claim Mrs. McLean as a child of her soil.
A marine on the British Flag Ship "Confiance," who had seen service under Lord Nelson at Trafalgar, declared that the Battle of Trafalgar was a 'Tlea-bite" compared with the fearful conflict on Cumberland Bay, Lake Champlain; and yet years have passed and no memorial, by government or citizens, distinguished this important battle, fought on sea and land, until the Saranac Chapter placed a handsome bronze tablet by permission of the Government on the Cus- tom House bearing this inscription, — "To commemorate McDonough's victory over the British Fleet under Downie on Cumberland Bay, Lake Champlain, McComb's repulse
r8o Story of the Records
of the British land forces under Prevost, and in memory of the sailors and soldiers of the United States, who gave their lives for their country, in their engagements at Platts- burg, September ii, 1814. Erected by the Saranac Chapter, D. A. R., 1903."
The monuments and tablets erected by other chapters are an honor to the Daughters of the Empire State. With its fund of Revolutionary history, its noble dead, its historic landmarks, the duties have been great, but evidently the hearts have been willing ; for by their fruits we know them.
Notably among these is the work of the Onondaga Chap- ter. With the help of the Syracuse Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, it has erected a tablet in memory of the soldiers and sailors who are buried in Onondaga county. This very artistic tablet was designed and executed by Mr. Isidore Konti, of New York City. Its cost was eight hundred dollars, one half of which was paid by each society. The expenses of the unveiling ceremonies were three hundred dollars, which were paid by the Onondaga Chapter in addition to the cost of the tablet. The tablet was placed on the exterior of the Government Building, and was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies, June 17, 1902. It was presented by the Regent, to Onondaga County, and accepted by the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. A roll of honor bearing the names of those commemorated by the tablet was placed in the post office.
QuASSAicK CHAPTER,on Octobcr 18, 1 90 1, placed a boulder with bronze tablet on the site of the Brewster Forge in Newburg, New York. It was at this Forge that the his- toric chain was welded, which was stretched across the Hudson River to prevent the British War Ships from pass- ing above the Highlands. The Regent, in presenting the tablet to Mrs. Samuel Verplanck, the efficient State Regent, referred in a most interesting way to the many places of historic interest in the vi-cinity; also to the welding black-
Plate 21
TABLET— SOLDIERS AND SAILOllS— OXONDAUA.
Story of the Records i8i
smith, Samuel Brewster, a descendant from Elder William Brewster of Plymouth.
The Melzingah Chapter, at Fishkill, has placed a tablet to mark the pass protected by three batteries, in 1776 to 1783. The Kanesteo Chapter has erected a boulder of glass rock and tablet of fine proportions to the patriots of the American Revolution buried in the upper Kanesteo Valley, and have placed a perpetual object lesson to coming generations on the State Armory grounds of Hornellsville. The names and service of these patriots have been patiently verified by old records and diaries, and are of untold worth to the historians of this county, who for the first time in its annals have had this lost and forgotten data to work from. Such is the work throughout the States that is being ad- mirably accomplished by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Maw-We-Na-Wa-Sigh Chapter of Poughkeepsie is preserving and caring for the Governor George Clinton House, which is now their Chapter House. A work of marked importance was the placing of a tablet on the new Court House, in Poughkeepsie, to commemor- ate the fact that the people of the State of New York in con- vention assembled in a former Court House which stood on this ground, ratified the Constitution of the United States of America, July 26, 1788.
The Mohawk Valley heroes are to be honored by a monument in the Fort Herkimer Cemetery, and to mark the spot where once stood old Fort Herkimer, a boulder will be placed where the Schell block house stood when the Schell family defended this fort from Donald McDonald and sixty Tories and Indians.
The Fort Herkimer Chapter assisted in raising a fund for the erection of a monument to General Nicholas Her- kimer and all the soldiers of Herkimer County, who died to gain a country in 1776, and for those who died to save it in 1861.
i82 Story of the Records
The Irondequoit Chapter's crowning work was the placing, in the lot jointly owned by this chapter and the Sons of the American Revolution, a boulder suitably inscribed marking the spot where the remains of Boyden Parker, with his devoted followers and some other Revolutionary heroes were re-interred. For more than forty years these martyrs laid in unhonored graves. This chapter has con- tributed half of the amount required for the perpetual care of the spot. A great incentive has been given to this patri- otic work in this vicinity through the energetic efforts of their faithful State Regent, Mrs. William S. Little.
The chapter in Addison, the Owentsia, needs no greater test of its enthusiasm and patriotism than for the Daughters to know that to provide funds for their work in restoring the old Cemeter}^ and suitably marking the graves of heroes, this chapter held a circus in October, 1902, which netted three hundred dollars, and two games of base ball played in August and September, which added another hundred dollars to the Cemetery Fund. It is supposable that the Daughters took the place of **Middle-men" in this unique, but honorable enterprise.
The one hundredth anniversary of Olean was celebrated October 6 and 7, 1904, by the Olean Chapter. In con- nection a large boulder with a bronze tablet was unveiled. It was erected in memory of Major Adams Hoops, a soldier and founder of Olean, and to keep in remembrance the patriots of the War for Independence who were buried in Catteraugus County, New York. The names and record of service of one hundred of these men, and the graves of forty-six have been located.
The Saratoga Chapter has purchased three large granite boulders, suitably inscribed and placed on the road from Saratoga Springs to the Bemis Battle Ground, where they serve as guides to the passing public.
Story of the Records 183
In the village of Courtland there is a triangular piece of ground that has been sadly neglected. The Tioughnioga Daughters with their clear ideas of local civics have ap- propriated it and named it the "Daughters' Flatiron." A suitable monument will be ready to dedicate on the Con- tinental anniversary of the county organization, in 1908.
The Oneida Chapter, of Utica, has been noted for its good work in many directions. Among the most notable was the fine bronze tablet, designed and made by Tiffany, costing $500, and raised by subscription. It was placed on the old Savings Bank building on the corner of the street through which our ally and friend, Marquis de Lafayette, dur- ing the dark days of the Revolution, passed when he entered the village of Utica, June 10, 1825, on his return visit to this country. The work of the Chapter during the Spanish-American War was of untold benefit to the suffer- ing soldiers. It has given of its substance toward the res- toration of the historic Pohick Church, Fairfax County, Virginia; and a noted feature of its work is the marking of soldiers' graves. Uniting with the Sons, they have marked and identified sixty-nine graves of the men who conquered those peaceful valleys. "Amid the tangled weeds, waving grass, and nodding daisies, the 'Daughters/ with reverent steps planted the marker and the flag." This service will the Daughters of Oneida Chapter continue until there shall remain no unmarked hero's grave in Oneida County. The commemoration of the great events that swept over this State with monuments and tablets ; the search for unmarked graves of soldiers, and the wonderful success that has crowned each effort, in establishing these men in the annals of history, with the awards of medals given to the students of history, tell the story of the Daugh- ter's work in the State of New York. If patriotism is worth while, if a country is worth while, then this work is worth while — "Lest we forget."
CHAPTER V.
EW JERSEY : Having traced Chapter histories through the New England States we have found them commemorating most of the stir- ring events which took place in that region during the first four years of the War of the Revolution. But now that Washington was compelled to retreat from New York into New Jersey and Pennsylvania, much of its progress can be traced through these States in the same way and in the South to which the scenes are now transferred; and in which sections the final battles were to be fought. It was in this State that Washington made some of his most brilliant strategic movements. For instance, the one which enabled him to out-general Howe at Trenton, under cover of a misty and foggy night, and thus to get possession of the place, and to win the battles of Monmouth and Princeton, which had such heart- ening effect upon the discouraged troops. It was also in this State and Pennsylvania that his greatest trials came upon him and his troops, during the hard winter at Valley Forge, and that he displayed the highest military genius in over- coming or enduring the evils which beset him, but few will deny, for he virtually outgeneraled both Howe and Corn- wallis more than once. Some historians have attempted to belittle Washington by comparing him with Wellington and Napoleon, but one has only to compare the moral character of the men, and it becomes an irresistible con- clusion, that Washington was second to no General of modern times, for it was he who led this forlorn hope of America through the seven years of strife and hardship to final victory.
The Battle of Monmouth would hardly now rank as more than a skirmish, and yet it was here that Washington saved General Charles Lee's army from rout and retreat, so that
fr-
MONMOUTH MONUMENT.
Story of the Records 185
this little battle, if not won, is regarded as a pivotal point in Revolutionary history. It is said that this is the only engagement in which there were troops from all the colonies, and at no time was Washington's army in New Jersey over eleven thousand available men. One wonders that so much could be accomplished pitted against trained British soldiers, who had every want supplied, while Wash- ington's army was weakened and on the point of distress for the necessaries of life.
Monmouth Chapter of Red Bank has placed a bronze tablet upon Tennent Church, which bears this inscription — "1778, D. A. R. Insignia 1901. In grateful remembrance of patriots who on Sabbath, June 28, 1778, gained the vic- tory which was the turning point in the War for Independ- ence. And to mark a memorable spot on the Battle Field of Monmouth, this tablet is placed by Monmouth Chap- ter, Daughters of the American Revolution, September 25, 1901."
While New Jersey is comparatively a small State in ter- ritory her soil is sacred and steeped in the blood of patriots. Trenton, Monmouth, Princeton, Morristown were crucial stations in those stressful days, therefore, the "Daughters" may well cherish with pride the part this Colony took in shaping events. And thus it seems quite natural that one of the first things for Chapters to do after organizing should be to enter upon a selected course of historical studies of the part she played in these stirring times.
The Chapter of Paulus Hook, under the splendid leader- ship of the State Regent, Mrs. Althea Randolph Bedle, early in its history devoted a series of regular meetings to these studies, with great profit to themselves and the guests invited to participate. Papers were prepared and read by other chapters besides that of Jersey City. The topics were, "The Political Situation at the Outbreak of the Revolutionary War;" 'The Celebrated Boston Tea Party;"
i86 Story of the Records
"Opening of the Campaign in New Jersey;" "Description of Prominent Officers in the Revolutionary War in the Jersey Line ;" "The Army at Morristown ;" "Progress of War in New Jersey and Battle of Red Bank ;" "The Battle of Monmouth ;" "The Story of Hannah Arnett, the Strat- egist, and what other New Jersey Women did in the Revolu- tion;" "The Hardships of the Second Winter at Morris- town, and the Concluding Operations in New Jersey." No more informing and profitable Chapter work could be sug- gested.
Paulus Hook Chapter has devoted much energy to erecting a monument in memory of the Battle of Paulus Hook. This interest was shared by Col. John T. Toffy, Ex-Governor George T. Wertz, Honorable Robert Huds- peth and General James Rushing, who were able to present the matter in such a manner to the State Legislature as to secure a grant of $1,500, which was given to the Paulus Hook Chapter by the State for the erection of the monument, thus relieving the Chapter of its pecuniary anxieties. This monument was unveiled in Jersey City with appropriate patriotic ceremonies, November 24, 1903. This work came about largely through the inspiration of Mrs. Bedle.
Jersey City Chapter has devoted much time to the studies of both local and national historic themes. This is the Chapter to which the State Regent belongs, and she not only takes a great interest in its welfare, but in Chapters throughout the State. Her means, leisure and inclinations all being favorable to such efforts. Personally, Mrs. Bedle, wife of the Ex-Governor, is very popular, both in home Chapters and the National Board, of which she is a mem- ber.
The General Mercer Chapter; of Trenton, recently furnished a room in Colonial style, in the Old Barracks at Trenton.
I'LATE 23
rAULUS HOOK MONl'MKXT
Story of the Records 187
General Frelinghuysen Chapter ; of Sommerville, in- stituted a "Patriotic Dollar Fund" for contribution to the Continental Hall Fund, Washington, D. C. This chapter has instituted another popular feature, an annual outing excursion to historic points. One was to the Old State House at Bound Brook, where Madam La Turrette did the honors with old-time hospitality, and another took them to Mellick's home in Plainfield. In June of this same year the annual meeting of the Revolutionary Memorial Society was held at Wallace House, and entertainment was pro- vided by the Frelinghuysen Chapter, and was a great suc- cess, as the day was fine and the attendance large. And thus a tidy little sum of money was raised for Wallace House Fund. Soon after this a beautiful rug was placed in this interesting old mansion's dining room, the work of the Revolutionary Memorial Society, many of whose mem- bers belong to both organizations. Frelinghuysen is an honored name in New Jersey, dating back for five or six generations.
Essex Chapter of The Oranges, has taken up collecting old furniture and china of the Revolutionary period, a sub- ject that appeals to the warm interest of the chapter mem- bers, that **fad" being peculiarly womanish. This chapter has also made a picnic excursion to the old Presbyterian Church at Springfield, New Jersey, immortalized by fight- ing parson Caldwell.
Continental Chapter ; of Plainfield, is working to place a memorial at "Washington's Rock."
One of the most notable State Chapters is that of Captain Jonathan Oliphant, which has devoted much of its energies to improving the "Old Barracks," and has placed many valuable and interesting historic objects there- in, including old mahogany furniture, china, pictures of historic events, made at the time, such as Washington de-
i88 Story of the Records
livering his first inaugural address on the balcony of the City Hall, New York, as first President of the United States. The design is to make the Old Barracks of Trenton not only a monument, but a State Museum for the study of colonial history.
The purchase, restoration and presentation of Trenton Barracks is more largely due to the indefatigable and un- ceasing energy by the Regent of Captain Jonathan Oliphant Chapter, (Mrs. S. Duncan Oliphant) than to any one else, tho' much hard and praiseworthy work has been done by other regents, and many generous contributions made not only from other chapters but other patriotic societies, and citizens, and it is an achievement of which New Jersey is justly proud.
Captain Jonathan Oliphant Chapter; of Trenton, was named for Jonathan Oliphant, who was born in 1739, in the old homestead at Oliphant's Mills, and who married General Boudinot's sister. He also studied law, and at the age of 20 years commenced to practice in Elizabethtown. He was the oldest son of Judge David Oliphant and grand- son of Duncan Oliphant, an extensive land proprietor of New Jersey. Five generations were born in this home- stead.
Being in the militia service, he, with others, took the fol- lowing oath — *T do sincerely profess and swear I do not hold myself bound by allegiance to the King of Great Britain, so help me God ! I do sincerely profess and swear that I do and will bear true faith and allegiance to the Government established in this State and the authority of the people, so help me God !" He took his company, com- posed of neighbors and tenants, to the defense, spending his fortune in equipping and maintaining them while in his service.
The wife of this brave man, Mrs. Jonathan Oliphant, was no less brave and courageous, as she was left at home with her little son, ten years old, the only male attendant.
Story of the Records 189
She with her serving women and the wives of the tenants kept the mills thereon running day and night to provide food for the women and children and every living thing on the place in the absence of the master and men fighting for life and liberty.
Some chapter, yet to be, of New Jersey would honor itself by choosing this pioneer woman of the Revolutionary period as its Patron Saint. Who can find her Christian name and affix it, that her works may praise her, and give her a personal identity?
Captain Jonathan Oliphant, broken in health and fortune, was retired for disability. (September 9, 1777) The money he had borrowed was demanded in gold, and at that time the only money in general circulation was Continental Money, and valueless. He was thus impoverished by the very men for whose homes and families he had gone forth to assist in defending.
"Trenton Barracks" are situated near the Delaware River, in Trenton, on Front Street, built of stone, (1775) and were first occupied by Scotch Highlanders, and at- tracting geat attention by their Highland costumes, after- wards by the German Yagers, by the hated Hessians, and finally by our own Continentals. For some years, it was used for an "Old Ladies' Home," and was purchased No- vember 3, 1902, for six thousand and some odd dollars, by the "Old Barracks Fund Committee," and deeded to the Barracks Association of Trenton.
BouDiNOT Chapter, of Elizabeth, has as its Patron Saint, General Elias Boudinot, a man of distinguished character, whose life was devoted to making history. His great- grandfather, Elie Boudinot and his wife, Jeanne Baraud, who fled from La Rochelle, France, immediately upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, to England, and came to this country early in the year 1687, where they founded a family. General Boudinot was born in Philadelphia, 1740. He studied law at Princeton with Richard Stockton, one
190 Story of the Records
of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. And was in the midst of a successful practice and laying the foundations large for his subsequent patriotic and moral eminence when the Mother Country began to cause the Colonies to resist encroachments. Elizabethtown was at this time the home of Hannah Arnett, William P. Smith, William Livingston and other eminent citizens of the State who took an active part in the stirring events of the time, and through their influence it became the centre of the patriotic movement throughout New Jersey.
General Boudinot was a Trustee of Princeton College, a position he held over fifty years, early in 1775 he was Chairman of The Committee of Safety, and was soon chosen a member of the Provincial Congress, which took New Jersey out of the control of Benjamin Franklin's son, then the Tory Governor of the State, and by this body was sent to Philadelphia to the Continental Congress to confer as to what course it was best to take in New Jersey. During the Revolutionary War he served on the Staff of General Washington, and was appointed by Congress Commissary General of Prisoners.
When the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain was rati- fied, (April 15, 1783) he had the honor of affixing his signature. Under the Constitution he further served his country, in the First, Second, and Third Congresses. Washington was called the Father of his Country, but General Boudinot might be styled, "The Father of the State of New Jersey."
From the Trustees of Yale College, he received the honorary degree of L. L. D.
He was the first President of the American Bible Society to which he gave an endowment of ten thousand dollars.
On the occasion of President Washington's inauguration (1789) as the first President of the United States, as he passed through Elizabethtown on his way to New York, he was entertained at luncheon by General Boudinot. A tablet commemorating this event has been placed. Surely no
Story of the Records 191
chapter could have a more inspiring Patron Saint than the hero as above described.
Camp Middlebrook Chapter, of Bound Brook, has marked some thirty Revolutionary soldiers' graves.
Trent Chapter, named for Chief Justice Trent, the founder of Trenton, has a chapter pin bearing the crest of the Trent family.
It was while Washington was in New Jersey that the darkest hours of the Revolution were passed. His army, discouraged by defeat and retreat from New York, the men poorly clad, poorly fed, and not paid except in greatly de- preciated currency, the winters passed in camps at Morris- town and Valley Forge were truly seasons that tried his soul. There was sickness in camp, and worst of all, "Nost- algia," or homesickness. Many of the militia only having enlisted for short terms, pined to be at home. Desertions were frequent, and at one time a mutiny occurred, which Washington did not try to discourage, but let the men march away toward Philadelphia to "demand their rights" of the Colonial Congress! Meeting some British by the way, who understood the situation, they were importuned to desert from the "Cause," this aroused so much indigna- tion, that when General Wayne came up with a detach- ment, they joined his forces and captured the whole party. It is pleasant to relate that this "strike" of militia men produced a good effect on Congress, for measures of relief were soon after adopted.
Fortunately, about this time, Lafayette with his ships, money and French troops arrived, and this gallant young hero was at once given a place on Washington's staff, where he was honored and beloved as a son of the Chieftain. It was this arrival of the French allies which largely turned the tide and put new courage into loyal American hearts, and nothing could stay the progress to the finish now.
The winter of 1778-79 was passed by the American Army
192 Story of the Records
at Middlebrook, New Jersey. They were neither paid nor fed, and nothing but the sturdy patriotism of the camp prevented a mutiny. So that the coming of Lafayette could not have been at a more opportune moment.
It is not possible to write of New Jersey Chapter work without blending with it the story of the Revolution. Each Chapter is named for either a battle, as Paulus Hook, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, Morristown, etc., or some prominent person identified with the War, as Boudinot, Oliphant and others.
The progress of events often carried Washington's greatly tried army over into Pennsylvania, where the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown were fought, and where two dreary winters were passed at Valley Forge ; where all the severest experiences of army life seemd to culminate. So we pass on to Pennsylvania. * * * *
PENNSYLVANIA : New Jersey and Pennsylvania were linked together in the Revolutionary War as closely as the Siamese Twins. In the beginning of the campaign in these States Howe's naval forces were in the Delaware, and Benedict Arnold, part of the time, in command in Phila- delphia, where he married into a Tory family, and, probably, was brought under the influences which finally led him to betray his country, though one of the bravest American officers during the earlier years of the struggle. Wash- ington's army spent the winter at Valley Forge, where un- told hardships were endured by the soldiers. The Battle of Brandywine was fought before going into winter quar- ters, and it was in this engagement that Lafayette was wounded. On the day after the battle, Washington, un- dismayed by defeat, continued his retreat to Philadelphia. Twenty miles below Philadelphia he met Howe at Warren's Tavern. For awhile both armies manoeouvred for positions like pawns on a chess-board, then a spirited skirmish en- sued, and a great battle was thought to be iminent. But, as often happens, either Providence or the elements took a
Story of the Records 193
hand in the affair when a violent storm of wind and rain swept the field. The combatants were deluged, their am- munition soaked, and fighting made impossible. On the next day Howe marched down the Schuykill. Washing- ton recrossed the river and confronted the foe. Howe wheeled and made up stream towards Reading. Washing- ton, fearing for his stores, pressed forward to Pottstown, but the movements of the British proved to be only a feint ; again Howe wheeled, and marched rapidly to Norris- town Ford, crossed the river, and hastened to Philadelphia, which place he entered the next day without opposition, and the main British army encamped at Germantown.
After the Battle of Germantown, Washington took up his headquarters twelve miles from Philadelphia, at White- marsh. Winter was at hand, and the patriots were suffer- ing for food and clothing. Howe, knowing the distressed conditions of the Americans, determined to surprise their camp. On the evening of the 2d of December he held a council of war, and it was decided to march against Wash- ington on the following night, but Lydia Darrah, at whose house the council was held, overheard the plans of the enemies of her country. On the following morning she obtained a passport from Lord Howe, on the pretence of going to mill, and rode rapidly to the American lines, and sent the information to Washington. When on the morning of the fourth the British approached Whitemarsh, and Howe found Washington ready for him, his cannon mounted and the soldiers drawn up in line of battle. The British man- oeuvred for four days without success, and then marched back to Philadelphia, outgeneraled by a woman! And all that winter the twenty thousand British and Hessian soldiers occupied the "Quaker City," and tradition says, they led a gay life, for the supplies of the British had been abundant. What a different state of affairs ex- isted in the camp of the patriots. When the American Army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge they left bloody footprints on the frozen and snowy ground, and
13
194 Story of the Records
they were suffering for food, clothing and with homesick- ness. There was moaning and anguish in the camp which wrung Washington's heart with sympathy. Congress had in a measure abandoned him, and many pubHc men with- held their sympathies, and thus he was unsupported in this crucial hour. It is said that Washington's private table at this time was scantily supplied, and that for desert he and his staff used the wild nuts of the forest. Even Samuel Adams, who first blew the blast for freedom's cause in Massachusetts, Washington's one time friend and sym- pathizer, withdrew his confidence. Then there was a con- spiracy, headed by Gates, Conway and Mifflin to supercede the Commander-in-Chief, and to put either Gates or Lee in his place. These were the usual incidents that attended on greatness when its sun is undergoing an eclipse, sent, no doubt, by Providence, to try the souls of men and see if they are the genuine stuff of which Heroes are made. Washington was still and steady, and made no sign, and soon this apparent alienation passed away and was for- gotten, and from that time until the end, his fame grew brighter and brighter, until it outshone all others. Congress awoke to its duty, but it was this in- cident united to the strange "mutiny" which broke out among the soldiers that made or brought about a struggle for the location of the Federal Capitol, and finally resulted in making Hamilton resolve that the seat of Government should be an independent site, free from the dictation of any State, This is one of the illustrations that small events often by strange and devious ways lead to ends not foreseen but by those who instigate them. There is a Providence doeth shape the course of events — even of history.
Pennsylvania has contributed many Chapters to the So- ciety of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she still has rich stores of historic incident to draw upon.
Most of the Pennsylvania Chapters united for two ob- jects of special interest in their own State, namely, the building of a monument to the soldiers of the Battle of
Story of the Records 195
Brandywine, in Lancaster County, and to the memorial to Mrs. Julia K. (Nathaniel B.) Hogg, their first State Regent. Of the latter the idea was to establish an historic Prize Fund, the income of which is to be awarded to a student of one of the women's colleges of Pennsylvania, for excel- lence in historical scholarship. The conditions are correct- ness in historic statement, and purity of diction.
Bellefont Chapter; of Bellefont, through the perse- verance of Mrs. Sarah Burnside Valentine, a member of the chapter, has obtained over 70 names of Revolutionary soldiers, whose bodies lie in Centre County, and marked their graves. As new names are added a ''marker" will identify every one.
Berks County Chapter is noted for its good work.
Chester County Chapter; of West Chester, has fur- nished a room in the historic Mansion at Valley Forge, General Washington's headquarters.
They have a roll of honor list of old Revolutionary soldiers buried in Brandywine Manor churchyard (Presby- terian).
In this churchyard lie the remains of Colonel Thomas Bull, who died July 13, 1873, aged 93, he was for a time confined in the Jersey prisonship. He was a member of the Convention which framed the State Constitution in 1790. He represented Chester County for many years in the State Legislature.
Colonel Crawford Chapter ; of Meadville, has erected a memorial to General David Mead.
Delaware Chapter ; of Media, put a tablet in the Wash- ington House, Chester, inscribed, ''Where Washington wrote at midnight the only report of the Battle of Brandywine, Sept. II, 1777."
Donegall Chapter ; of Lancaster, has started a library,
196 Story of the Records
and has adopted a fine book-plate, which is quite appropri- ate in design.
Liberty Bell Chapter; of Allentown, has a library which bids fair to become the historical library of Lehigh, and it has also adopted the same book-plate design as Done- gal Chapter, with the exception of the Chapter name be- low. The design is of a woman in colonial cap and short- waisted dress seated at the window, beside the spinning wheel, which overlooks a farmhouse scene.
The Philadelphia Chapter, has over three hundred members. One member is on record for organizing a re- lief corps of her own, and personally distributing supplies in camp and hospital before the larger work for the relief of the soldiers in the Spanish-American War was begun by the National Society.
Valley Forge Chapter ; though a small one, lives up to her traditions. It contributed for the suffering Cubans, for Mount Vernon Chapters' project — refurnishing Pohick Church — and for the purchase of Meadow Garden Farm. It gives an annual prize to the High School for best his- torical essays, and looked after soldiers' families in the Spanish-American War.
Wyoming Valley Chapter; of Wilkesbarre, has en- closed with a steel fence ''Queen Esther's Rock," famous in the tragic history of Wyoming massacre.
Philadelphia has six Chapters — "Declaration of Inde- pendence," "Flag House," "Independence Hall," "Phila- delphia," "Quaker City," "Merion" of West Phila- delphia, which have all done noble work in the Spanish- American War, as did so many Chapters of the State, which will be noticed in detail elsewhere ; and Pennsyl- vania Chapters have kept always at the head of subscribers
Story of the Records 197
to the Colonial Hall Building Fund at Washington D C and some of the best work on the National Executive Board has had the benefit of the services of Pennsylvania's efficient State Regent, Mrs. Julia K. Hogg.
Quaker City Chapter, of Philadelphia, has presented to the General Muhlenburg Society, Children of the Ameri- can Revolution, a framed charter of the Society, together with a photograph for each child of the old church of the Trappe, one of the few Revolutionary churches now left It is known as the "Augustus Lutheran Church," and th- corner-stone was laid May second, 1743. It was founded by Rev. Henry Muhlenburg, father of General Peter Muhlen- burg, the "fighting parson," for whom the Childrens' so- ciety IS named. Both of these distinguished men's bodies lie m the little graveyard behind the church. During the Revolution this church was repeatedly used, through the cold weather, as quarters for the American soldiers.
Philadelphia is inexhaustible in its objects of historic in- terest. Carpenters Hall— hidden way back in a little blind alley or street where the Colonial Congresses first sessions were held, and Independence Hall, where the Federal Con- gresses were convened and where the Declaration of In- dependence was signed and the glad tidings rung out on the old Liberty Bell, which has since made so many journeys to great Expositions, just to be seen by the youngest des- cendants of the patriots. The old historic Society, its build- ing, organized by Benjamin Franklin and others; the old graveyard, where one catches a glimpse of the simple stones that mark the graves of that great man and his wife. One feels in that city as though he were indeed treading on Holy Ground.
...^'l^^^^'^^^Ph^^' established by that apostle of peace— William Penn, was during the Revolution several times not only the seat of Government, but of war. And this city produced the greatest of the Revolutionary diplomats, Benjamin Franklin, whose complaisant tact, united to firm-
198 Story of the Records
ness, accomplished more than John Adams, Jefferson, and Arthur Lee. FrankHn outclassed all our envoys to Europe, and, finally, gathered up the tangled thread and wove them into a strand, that held firmly to the last.
Pittsburg Chapter, of Pittsburg, has done much good work in protecting the redoubt of Fort Pitt Block House. During the session of the State Legislature (1883), when a bill which was presented, and if passed, would have "given railroad corporations in the State power of eminent domain over any and all kinds of property for any corporate pur- pose," the Pittsburg Chapter petitioned to have the bill amended, "whereby sites and buildings of the Colonial and Revolutionary period preserved for their historic interest within the State should be excepted." The Bill passed both the House and the Senate without the amendment, but it was vetoed by the Go'-.^ernor in order to protect the "Ameri- can Home" from condemnation proceedings.
Presque Isle Chapter, of Erie, on November 6th, dedi- cated a memorial in one of the City parks in memory of General Anthony Wayne — who died in the Block House in Erie, December 15, 1786. The Regent of the Chapter unveiled the Monument and presented it to the City, and it was received by the Hon. William Hardwick, Mayor of the City.
Graves of Revolutionary soldiers buried at Erie are Colonel Seth Reed, born in Uxburg, Mass. ; Basil Hoskin- son, a soldier born in Virginia ; Captain Daniel Lee, of Massachusetts, where he served as Lieutenant and Regi- mental Quartermaster ; also as Brigade Major, and finally, Captain of the Third Massachusetts Militia ; Andrew Coughey, and Hubbard B. Burrows, in State Militia of Seventeenth Pennsylvania troops ; Thomas Foster, who en- listed at the age of fourteen in the Continental Army as a private, and Hon. William Bell, who was with the first company that left Harrisburg during the Revolutionary
I'LATE 24
BLOCK HOUSE— FORT I'lTT, I'lTTSBURG
Story of the Records 199
War. He was a prisoner in Canada, and one of the un- fortunates to be confined on a prison ship. These graves all show how the soldiers, after the war, went away from their homes to grow up with the new country, or "The West," as Ohio was then known as the "Great West."
TuNKHANNOCK CHAPTER, of Tunkhannock, found the names on burial places of twenty Revolutionary soldiers who are buried in Wyoming County, and had their names inscribed on tablets and set in the walls of the corridor of Tunkhannock Court House.
The Phcebe Bayard Chapter, of Greensburg, has placed an inscription to the memory of Phoebe Bayard, wife of St. Clair, the Patron Saint of the Chapter, who died eighteen days after her husband, General St. Clair, and lies buried by his side.
The earthly remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath an imposing monument erected by the Masons, and as one panel was vacant, the Chapter re- solved to have his wife's name inscribed thereon.
Several Chapters in the State are to, or have contributed to furnishing Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge, since that historic spot has come into the possession of the Sons of the American Revolution. Chester County Chapter furnished one of the bedrooms with furniture of the Colonial Period.
The George Clymer Chapter, of Towanda, contributed to the American Flag House in Philadelphia, and the "Betsey Ross Memorial Association." It was to honor Betsey Ross, who, with her skillful hands, made the first official American Colonial flag bearing the stars and stripes.
Miss Pearson, of the Harrisburg Chapter, of Harris- burg, has written or compiled a valuable work, a "History of Dauphin and Lebanon Counties and Biographical En- cyclopedia of Dauphin County." The Chapter is inter-
200 Story of the Records
ested in the "Appalachian National Park" bill, and ob- tained the promise of their Congressmen to support it.
But these facts cannot be written in full, nor a detailed account given of all the good work Pennsylvania D. A. R. Chapters have done, any more than in any other State. Possibly some Chapters not mentioned deserve the meed of "Well done," as much as those which are noted in this recital of patriotic endeavor.
* * * *
DELAWARE: Elizabeth Cook Chapter, of Smyrna, sent a maple sapling for the Sequoia's arch in California when all the Colonial States were contributing a tree.
C^SAR Rodney Chapter, of Wilmington, cultivates a taste for history among the younger generation by offering prizes to scholars of the High School for best essay on American history.
Colonel Haslet Chapter; of Dover, was very active during the Spanish-American War, being so near camps of returning soldiers. The Chapters of the State worked as one body under the title of "War Relief Corps of Delaware."
The Chapters of the State at the close of the Spanish- American War united in erecting a monument to Lieut. Clarke E. Churchman, son of the State Regent, Mrs. Elizabeth Clarke E. Churchman, who lost his life in the Government service, as an expression of their good appreci- ation and sympathy with his honored mother.
Elizabeth Cook Chapter holds its meetings on the tenth of each month in commemoration of the birthday of Elizabeth Cook, for whom the chapter is named.
Colonel Haslet Chapter, and The John Pettigrew Chapter, have each been zealous in good works during the Spanish-American War, which thing can also be said of all the other chapters of the State.
Story of the Records 201
CoocH^s Bridge Chapter, was organized on Flag Day to commemorate the fact that at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware, was first unfurled the regulation American flag in the Revolutionary War. It was thought to be appropriate that such an important thing as flinging the stars and stripes to the breeze should be not only celebrated but perpetuated through chapter history.
3p 35^ JJC 5{J
MARYLAND : From the days of the **01d Maryland Line" and beyond, "Maryland, my Maryland," has stood on the Honor Roll for liberty and a free country. From that eventful day, 1774, which has forever signalized the un- changeful devotion of their ancestors to principles which was their inheritance as Englishmen, and their proud pos- session as colonists, under a Charter whose corner-stone was Civil and Religious liberty, they have stood side by side with their sister colonists in resistance to taxation without representation. On that autumn the sons of Mary- land in Annapolis and Ann Arundel County, consigned the cargo of the Peggy Stuart, of the "detested plant," to the consuming fire, compelling the owner to apply the torch. By the burning of the Peggy Stuart, Boston cannot boast of having the only "Tea Party." Little did these patriots think in burning this ship, that it was decreed that the flames which they had laid for her destruction would rise as incense, and that Peggy Stuart be wafted to eternal fame, and with it, for all time, the principles for which it stood. To be sure there would be a "Peggy Stuart Chapter" to keep these memories green, and to pluck and preserve other laurels of the deeds of gallant heroes and patriotic heroines, and place them in imperishable records.
The Baltimore Chapter, so close to the waters where floated the ship which carried Francis Scott Key to Fort McHenry, where the radiant flag unfolded in the morning breeze above the ramparts, and proclaimed the victory won; so near the spot where the burning thought
202 Story of the Records
that swelled a patriot's breast found utterance in imperish- able song, that shall be the Nation's so long as the old flag floats, — could we look for any other but strong, helpful, patriotic women, who always stand for the right, and who can always be depended upon by their presence and voice in the councils of the Society, like their ancestors of old to stand for principle.
What the Society has stood and worked for in the coun- cils of the nation for years was, to prevent desecration of the flag, this chapter has brought to pass in the legislature of its own State. Good work for the ''Daughters" of this State, that gave to the Country the "Star Spangled Banner."
The Maryland Line Chapter is perfecting plans for a memorial to the "Maryland Line," by Mrs. Lea Knott, Regent, an object it has had in view since its formation. By other chapters in due time honor will be paid in the same direction. Knowledge is coming daily to those delvers into history of the noble deeds of patriotic men, and wherever a stroke was made for liberty, those names will be honored. The Maryland Daugh- ters have arranged to place a tablet in the Stock-House to Col. Tentch Tilghman, who made the famous ride from Yorktown to Philadelphia after the surrender of Corn- wallis. Through the leadership of Mrs. Pembroke Thorn, the State Regent, and Miss Elizabeth Chew Williams, Vice- President General, fine work has been done for Continental Hall.
The Frederick Chapter has carried out the wishes of its first Regent, and Maryland's first State Regent, the late Mrs. John Ritchie, by erecting a memorial to the twelve Judges of the Frederick Court who pronounced the first decision declaring the "Stamp Act" to be unconstitutional and void. Mrs. Ritchie, in a paper read before this chap- ter, November 1893, called, "Our first official resistance to the British Stamp Act," gave the date when this Act took place. The "Stamp Act," she writes, "was passed on the
Story of the Records 203
22 day of March, 1765. On November 19 of the same year, the Frederick Court met in regular session. The Act provided 'that all bills, bonds, leases, notes, ship's papers, insurance policies, and all legal documents to be valid in the Courts must be written on stamp paper.' '* *'What an alternative! either the hated stamps must be used, or all the business of the county must come to a stand-still. What a responsibility for these Judges! but they were equal to it, the Court met and consulted, and on the fifth day an order was passed, 'It is the unanimous opinion of this Court that all the business thereof shall and ought to be transacted in the usual and accustomed manner, without any inconvenience or delay, to be occa- sioned from the want of stamped paper, parchment, or vellum; and that all proceedings shall be valid and effectual without the use of stamps, and they enjoin an order of all sheriflfs, clerks, counselors, attorneys, and all officers of the Court to proceed in their several advocation as usual.' She writes further, 'We hear of these men again in the long, troublous years that followed ; they were active and prominent in the patriot's cause. Sons of Liberty, Members of Committees, Members of Council, and then in the fore front the little army that arrested from the great and powerful Nation over the seas, the liberty with which we are to-day blessed !' "
She then makes her appeal, "May it be the pious task^ as it is the duty of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, to clear away the accumulation and the oblivion of years, and to bring to light and honor the names and deeds of those heroes who have been partially forgotten ; for when that order was passed, the first blow for constitutional liberty in this land was struck — and it was struck by the Frederick County Judiciary."
This appeal was not made in vain ; the years have passed, this Daughter has entered her inheritance into the summer- land of peace ; but the chapter, true to its trust, has honored these men, and fulfilled the admonition ; and in so doing, has honored the name of Betty Harrison Malsby Ritchie.
CHAPTER VI.
ISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Monday evening, February 29th, 1892, the members of the So- ciety of the D. A. R., resident in Washington, in response to a call of the Recording Secre- tary of the National Board of Management, met in the Parlors of the Riggs House for the purpose of forming a local chapter, there being at that time no chap- ter in the District.
The following officers were duly elected : Regent, Mrs. Elizabeth Blair Lee ; Vice Regent, Miss Sarah A. Lips- comb; Recording Secretary, Miss Janet E. H. Richards; Corresponding Secretary, Miss Ella Loraine Dorsey; Treasurer, Miss Virginia Miller ; Registrar, Miss Violet Blair Janin. The Chapter name selected being Mary Washington, and from time to time, in tlie course of years, other chapters have been formed, until now there are six- teen in the District of Columbia, which ranks as a State.
The roll of membership now numbers over 220. Among this membership are many illustrious names. There are de- scendants of the Washingtons, the Balls, the Blairs, the Livingstons, the Greens, the Hardings, the Bledsoes, and the Lees, represented by Miss Virginia Miller, who has as State Regent and Vice President been prominent through the years in the District D. A. R. work; the Henrys are represented by that enthusiastic "Daughter," Mrs. Kate Kearney Henry; there are also the Franklins and the McBlairs. Mrs. Emily Lee Sherwood Ragan, a descend- ant of Thomas Lee of Woodbridge Manor, of Long Island, is also a member of this chapter.
Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison, the first President, was an honored member of the chapter. Mrs. Elizabeth Blair Lee is the daughter of Francis P. Blair. Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood, one of the Founders of the Society, considers
Story of the Records 205
it an honor, inestimable, to be a member of the first chapter in the District of Cokimbia, where this great organization had its birth ; where it was put into swaddling clothes, and taught to walk alone. She fully recognizes what the Dis- trict has done in the work of forwarding this great move- ment; and feels fully assured that some day, when the years have passed that will give a true perspective, the picture will have no false lights ; and the States afar off will recognize the hard work, the unceasing energy, the Daughters of the 16 chapters in Washington have freely given all these years toward the upbuilding of this Society.
Recently an interesting event connected with Mary Washington Chapter was the presentation of a portrait of Mary S. Lockwood, by one of the Chapter members, who is an artist. Miss Aline Solomons, to the Chapter, to be donated by it to Continental Hall, to be placed in that palace beautiful ; the first portrait of the kind yet pre- sented. Very interesting impromptu exercises occurred at the Chapter meeting (January, 1906), on the occasion of the presentation, which was made on behalf of the artist by Miss Janet Richards. Mrs. Henry, Chapter Vice-Re- gent, presiding; Mrs. Mussey, Regent of District Chapters and others made brief addresses. The cut used in this book is a copy of Miss Solomon's portrait, and is regarded as a speaking likeness. The presentation of this portrait came as much of a surprise to Mrs. Lockwood as to others present.
To be sure only a small minority can be Secretaries, Historians, Registrars, Treasurers, or Librarians ; but a host can be high privates who keep the wheels lubricated and things moving. It is the high privates here and else- where that help the chapters to acquire historical spots and mark them with monuments of stone, or tablets of bronze; it is the high privates who find, by research, valu- able historic papers and letters ; it is the high privates who will hold sacred the name of every heroine of the Revolu- tion, and see that her name is enrolled on the Roll of Honor ;
2o6 Story of the Records
it is the high privates who will see Memorial Continental Hall finished, — a complete tribute to patriotic men and women, — and who are bending every energy toward that end.
This is what the "high privates" in the District of Col- umbia are doing, — they are proving "that a handful of corn planted in the top of the mountain can be made to shake like Lebanon." The kernels of this handful of corn bear significant names, — There is the Mary Washington Chapter, the Martha Washington, Dolly Madison, Katherine Mont- gomery, Lucy Holcomb, and Betty Franklin, — names that are household words for patron saints; then there is the American, broad and true; the Army and Navy, to keep them in line; Hail Columbia to keep them in cheer; Continental lest we forget ; Constitution to keep them straight ; Manor House to shelter them while homeless ; and Potomac — of course, ''All's quiet along the Poto- mac;" for the Daughters hold the c ity by right; in the Thirteen Colonies; and then the "Continental Dames" to freshen memories of our grandmothers.
There are Captains of Industry in these chapters, and they have chosen different channels and roads whereby to reach the summit of their hopes, — Continental Hall ! Some took the "Box" road — round trip ticket $3.65 ; — some went by way of the "Dolls Bazaar," personally conducted by Miss Julia McBlair, of the Mary Washington Chapter — scenic scenery ; time limited ; — reported at end of route, bills all paid : balance $802.00 for Continental Hall, and on a second trip — by the dramatic route — Mary Washington scored an- other $800 dollars net. Others took the "Calendar" route and brought in goodly sums for the same purpose.
Had every daughter taken the Calendar route and become a month or a week, or a day, or an hour, or a minute, or even a second, at the respective price per ticket, — $300, $100, 50 cents, 10 or 05 cents, — the money would be in the bank for the completion of Memorial Continental Hall.
The first State Conference held in the District was on
Story of the Records 207
November 30, 1901, in which every Chapter took a lively interest. On January 17, 1892, the Daughters of the Dis- trict gave their first Annual Tea in memory of Washington's wedding day, in accordance with a resolution sent into the Board by Miss Elizabeth Bryant Johnston, suggesting that this observance should be an annual function with all the chapters over the world. And thus it came,
While Polly put the kettle on We all took tea — January 17, 1903.
In 1904, this anniversary was celebrated by a Colonial Ball, in which $275 was cleared for Continental Hall.
The District Chapters accepted the honor suggested at the Continental Congress of annually presenting a gold medal to the best scholar in American History, in the George Washington University; every chap- ter joins in making a united fund for this object. And no project is put forth by the National Society or the District, where united work is demanded, that you do not find the chapters standing shoulder to shoulder, without a drone in the hive. Look at the Spanish War work that had its beginning and ending in Washington; look at the annual Congresses — all the work of somebody — that all things necessary be in readiness for that gathering. All this is the work of the District chapter members serving on Committees.
The social functions are a pleasure and a necessity to bring the members of this great body into closer communi- cation with each other; but somebody must see to it, that all things are made ready. It is the Daughters of the Dis- trict that hold out the glad hand, and bid welcome to the visiting members.
When they are not busy with the greater work of the National Society, each chapter goes to work on its own responsibility for furthering patriotic ends, and gathering in money for the completion of the Library of the Con- tinental Hall.
2o8 Story of the Records
A beautiful service was performed by the Dolly Madison Chapter, May 12, 1903, by placing a bronze marker at the grave of General James McCabbin Lingan, a soldier of the War of the Revolution, who was killed by a mob in Baltimore, August 28, 181 2. Some interesting incidents were related during the ceremonies bearing upon the times of General Lingan's service for his country during the Revolution, and of his untimely death. The story of that awful night of August 28, 1812, has been told so faithfully by every historian that the repetition is unnecessary. It will be enough to say, that when the war cloud began to gather in 1812, party strife ran high. Alexander Contee Hanson's paper, the Federal Republican, published in Balti- more, was the exponent of the Federalists. The office was destroyed by a mob, but Hanson stood firmly for a free press, for a free people. He rented another building to carry on his publication.
General Lingan and General Henry Lee— "Light Horse Harry" — devoted Federalists and warm friends of the Editor, determined to use their friendly offices to temper the rashness of youth, and yet to do their duty if the mob attacked.
When the mob burst into the jail where all these and many other prominent men had been thrust, one man, Mumma by name, led one faction, and stood with a club and struck the men down as they came out, where they lay in a heap for nearly three hours, during which time the mob continued to torture their mangled bodies. Friends at last rescued them, but General Lingan was dead.
Miss Ella Loraine Dorsey, at the ceremonies, made this statement as it came to her from her mother's lips, who had heard it from an eye witness, Thomas Reyburn ; who, being pushed forward by the crowd, was within earshot of the victims. He said, "When Lingan was driven to the door, his appearance was hailed with cries of 'Tory! Traitor!' he tore open his shirt bosom exclaiming, 'Look at these scars, I got them fighting for your liberty, do they look as
Story of the Records 209
though I were a Tory or a traitor?' But the words had hardly left his lips when a blow from Mumma's club felled him to the ground."
The mob refused to give up the body, but finally con- sented on condition of an obscure burial.
When the funeral services were held September i, 1812, in Washington, no building was found large enough to hold the throngs, and Washington's tent was struck in Parrott's woods — now Oak Hill Cemetery — where the orator, John Park Custis, the Clergy, Lingan's comrades, and others, made such reparation as love and justice could make to his memory.
The liberty of the press, bought in 1776 by the blood of thousands, was reassured by these men of 1812.
Miss Dorsey also repeated this incident : "The coach con- veying Mr. Webster to Washington broke down some fif- teen miles north of Baltimore. He had a case before the Supreme Court, and felt compelled to push on. He hurried to the nearest tavern to get a private conveyance to Baltimore. While his supper was being prepared, Mr. Webster told his host of his haste and his reason for it. The landlord objected to the darkness, the distance, and the hour, but finally said he had found a man willing to go. He proved to be Mumma, and Mr. Webster said it occurred to him, as the man who had butchered General Lingan, he might think it a patriotic service to butcher him, too ; but, as he said, T felt young and strong, and thought no man could easily put me under the wheel.' "
After a few miles, Mumma drew up the horse in a dark grove, and said:
''Are you Daniel Webster?"
'That is my name," was the reply.
"Do you know who I am?"
'T do," said Webster, "you are John Mumma, the butcher."
"You know me then, and you are not afraid to drive over this road along with me in the night?"
14
2IO Story of the Records
**Not in the least," said Mr. Webster, "why should I fear you?"
"I do not know, but I think there is not another Federalist in the County who would say as much." He added he was glad to free his mind about the Baltimore riots, he and others, he said, had had no ill will to General Lingan, General Lee, and the rest ; they were misled, they were told out there in the Country that the Republic was to be be- trayed to the enemy by traitors, and a nest of them had a press in Baltimore, and were every week publishing their treason to the world, and plotting the ruin of the Nation.
''When they reached their journey's end, he would take no pay for his service, said he was glad of a chance to ex- plain the part he took to one of the injured party, and rode off in the night."
The Army and Navy Chapter has been full of good works. In addition to its contributions to the Continental Hall Fund, and to other calls of local interest, this chapter contributed to the relief of the families of those who perished when the battle ship Maine went down in the Havannah Harbor.
When war was declared, this chapter took as its special duty the care of the families of soldiers and sailors of the regular service. A Chapter Relief Society was organized, and sewing meetings were held throughout the summer. Contributions came from many quarters. More than thirty families were assisted, living at different ports over the country. This relief work seems to be one that cannot be laid down, but must be kept up indefinitely ; for this chap- ter is still rendering assistance where needed.
The Mary Washington Chapter also took up the duty of the hour and organized in the Distirct a War Committee under the able Chairman, the late Mrs. Margaret Dickens, whose tragic and lamentable death occurred by fire, July 7,
Story of the Records 211
1899, to conduct relief work among the families of the Dis- trict volunteers gone to the front. All through the hot sum- mer these women traveled the city streets and the dusty roads of the Camps ; sparing neither time, thought, or money, in their efforts to assist the District Militia, and the soldiers' families left destitute through the unexpected de- lay in the payment of soldiers wages. Always careful were these women to impress upon those enforced to ac- cept help, that it "Was only a slight recognition of gratitude to the American soldiers in our midst." The appeal of this chapter for help was answered by a generous subscription started through the ''Evening Star," one of the local papers. Merchants, marketmen, landlords, and other citizens, added handsome sums, having confidence that these women would put this money to the best and most economical use. The Committee reported that they had fed 2y families — or 164 persons, — paid $100 per month in rent, clothed 100 indi- viduals, sent 5 families into the country, and obtained work for many more. This comes from the Society being so thoroughly organized; and, therefore, ready for emerg- encies.
This Chapter also gives annually a gold medal for the best paper on American History by the pupils of the High School. Miss Elizabeth Bryant Johnston has for many years been the able Chairman of this Committee.
The Martha Washington Chapter assisted in the same laudable work of helping the needy families of soldiers, by employing women to make up garments for hospital use ; the money doing double duty, feeding the hungry, in helping to clothe their own destitute soldiers in the hospital.
This Chapter, after a complete reorganization during 1904, came up to the D. A. R. Congress with her $65.00 for Continental Hall Fund ; and through its active Regent and zealous members, the Chapter has already reached the num- ber for an accredited delegate to the annual Congress.
212 Story of the Records
The Catherine Montgomery Chapter was organized by Miss Desha, one of the Founders of the Society, and who was an Assistant Director of the D. A. R, Hospital Corps. They have a goodly sum put aside for a memorial in Con- tinental Hall.
The Continental Chapter gave a liberal amount of money to the Hospital War Fund ; and abundance of articles for soldiers use, — bedding, delicacies, books, and papers were carried to Camp Alger. The members also made, gave, or begged, $150 in cash.
The Columbia Chapter also contributed freely to the Hospital Corps. It did a great work through the individu- als in visiting the Camps and providing for the sick soldiers there. One member started and carried on for a long time a lunch room, under the auspices of the W. C. T. U. Here soldiers could stop and rest, get a good meal without charge ; and with all the facilities of letter writing and reading. Many a boy was saved from the dens of the city by this timely forethought.
If the work of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion had done nothing more for the country than what they accomplished during the Spanish War, the Society is there- by fully made ready to answer for the reasons of its being; and the ''Daughters" of the District, as elsewhere, have given liberally to Continental Hall.
The Manor House has put aside a goodly sum, and it is drawing interest for a chosen memorial for Continental Hall. This chapter is setting a good example — others may well follow — by instituting a course of historical lectures every winter, to which generous invitations are extended to other Daughters.
The Continental Dames Chapter, the youngest and smallest of the chapters has to its credit in the Treasury
Story of the Records 213
$100 for a memorial to Continental Hall. The Miriam Dan forth Chapter, from the returns of an illustrated lec- ture by Dr. Anita McGee, on Japan, had a handsome sum to turn into the Continental Hall Fund. The Elizabeth Jackson Chapter is raising a fund, in order to erect a suit- able memorial to Elizabeth Jackson, their patron saint.
Many have said the District of Columbia is too well re- presented with her 16 chapters. They must bear in mind that an even distribution of members, would leave no chap- ter with less than fifty members — an average but few of the States reach.
CHAPTER VII.
EFORE crossing the Potomac to enter the inheritance of the Daughters of the remaining ''Old Thirteen," let us take a cursory review of the ground work of patriotism.
First, most emphatically do we assert that the service of good women and men in the time of peace is far more important in the long run than in war. Since the days of the Revolution, nine tenths of our history has been made in time of peace. It is not the enemy, who bear arms, that can work the greatest injury; but it is the corrupt citizen, the shirker of responsibility, the apathetic, well-to-do citizen, who refuses to be actively patriotic. More's the pity that we have not a standard of citizenship that measures everybody by their works and patriotic deeds, and allows them an enrollment in citizenship according to the sheaves gathered.
Show us the man or woman who is not inspired to do their duty for our time, through admiration of their an- cestors and their achievements for the time they lived, and you have pointed out an unpatriotic citizen.
When this Society has marked all its historic spots, has erected monuments to the heroines and heroes of the Revolution, marked the graves of the heroic dead, their work will have just begun. As long as there is a country over which the American flag floats, whose incoming foreign population does not know anything of our laws or institutions ; so long as there are the young descendants of heroic ancestors, the coming citizens of this country, who must be taught the ground work of citizenship, there will be work for the Society to do. That work does not alone belong to the Daughters and Sons of the thirteen Colonies. Wherever our civilization has
Story of the Records 215
blazed its way, it has been by the sturdy hand and heart of the descendants of those who helped to make them what they are, and this Republic will look for them to do their part in the great world of humanity, by helping to make the country, nearest them, the best possible.
Listen to the words of Pericles in an oration over the heroic dead, who had fallen while defending the liberty of Greece, when he eloquently told them why men should do honor to the memory of their dead. *'It was not that they, secure in their immortality, needed temple or column to perpetuate their fame or reward their virtues, but because through admiration of what is heroic, men rise to higher levels."
"No wreath is given, no monument raised by a nation to the memory of its illustrious dead, but it blossoms with good for the living through all future time, — virtue is en- couraged, patriotism kindled, and all that is noble in our nature, inspired to action by this homage to the greatness and goodness of our race."
This greatness and goodness is widespread in this Re- public. The Mothers of the Republic were the helpmates of heroes. When the war trumpet was sounded, like the Spartan mothers, they sent forth their husban<fe and their sons to battle, bidding them to return with their shields upon them. Would we know of what metal our fore- mothers were made, search the records and read the pages of history.
* * * *
GEORGIA: Georgia was the 13th Colony to come into Statehood. It has not been our purpose to tell the story of the planting of the thirteen colonies, but to briefly touch upon their fight for life and unity, and to give the reasons for the being of the great Society of which we write. We find the temptation too strong to not say a word for that noble philanthropist, James Oglethorpe, as we come over into Georgia. The people who laid the founda- tion of our institutions in the New World were forced by
2i6 Story of the Records
principle to seek new homes. They all came from a common impulse, and that was to escape from some sort of oppres- sion. They left the Old World and crossed the untried seas that they might be free. Sometimes the oppressor was the State, sometimes the Church, sometimes Society. These emigrants built new homes on the shores of New England; they entered dense forests; they sailed up the Hudson; found shelter from the storms in the protected corners of the Chesapeake. They met hunger and priva- tion and death on the banks of the James ; they were buf- feted by winds ; and on the shores of the Carolinas and Georgia, found shelter in the estuaries of the great rivers. In spite of all, homes were built, crops planted, — life went on. It is the old story that has been repeated since the tribes of Israel scattered in their line of march — the human race in search of home and liberty.
James Oglethorpe was born in Oxford, England. He was a high churchman, a soldier, a Member of Parliament, a cavalier. He was a generous hearted man, benevolent and full of sympathy. It is said that he was as far-sighted and brave as John Smith, and as chivalrous as De Soto. He came to the New World to find a home for the poor and down- trodden, the imprisoned for debt; his appeal to George II. to plant a colony in America being granted.
In honor of the new King, the Province was called Georgia. It was under his leadership the first Colony was planted on the banks of the Savannah. He shared the dangers and the hardships of his colony. They selected a site on a bluff, on which now stands the City of Savannah. Here on the first of February, 1733, the foundations were laid for the oldest English town south of the Savannah River. Broad Streets were laid out, a public square was reserved in each quarter, a village of tents and board houses sprung up amid the pine trees, — it was the new Capital of a new commonwealth where men could not be imprisoned for debt.
More's the pity that the Country's great philanthropist.
Story of the Records 217
Robert Morris, who, by his money and generosity, saved it in the time of peril, had not been under the protection of Oglethorpe, the philanthropist, ere he languished in prison at the hands of an ungrateful Republic, for money he owed !
The Indian Chief, Tomo-Chici, came from his cabin to see his brother, Oglethorpe. The red man said to the white man, ''Here's a present for you." The present was a buffalo robe, painted on the inside with the head and feathers of an Eagle. "The feathers soft, mean love; buffalo skin mean protection — love us, protect us," said the Chieftain. Such a plea was not lost on Oglethorpe. He was kind and loving; and his name and fame spread abroad, and the Indians came from near and far to confer with the sweet tempered white chief. As the years went by, the colony thrived, and new additions came. Slavery was positively forbidden ; this province was for the white laborers, for whom it had been founded.
Among others, Oglethorpe brought back with him after his visit to England, were three hundred Moravians — among them John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and his brother, Charles, who came as secretary to Governor Ogle- thorpe; and in 1738, the famous George Whitfield came. It is said of Whitfield his daring nature proved a match for all the troubles of the wilderness. He went the length and breadth of the land preaching; thinking no more of native land, he found a peaceful grave in New England.
After ten years service to the New Commonwealth Ogle- thorpe returned to England crowned with blessings.
Twenty years after the granting of the charter, the trustees made a formal surrender of their patent to the king, and a royal government was established. Before the Revolution, notwithstanding its many vicissitudes, Georgia had become a prosperous and growing colony.
But the marching of troops back and forth over the State and the occasional battles, put the State in dire distress. For a time the whole of Georgia was prostrate before the King's army. Relief came when General Pickens, at the
2i8 Story of the Records
head of Carolina Militia fell upon the British forces with such energy that the whole army was annihilated; and western Georgia recovered what had been lost.
Then followed the siege of Savannah. Here the brave Sergeant of Fort Moultrie fell to rise no more. While this siege, that ended most disastrously to the American Cause, was going on, the American arms were being made famous on the ocean. On the 23rd of September, Paul Jones fought his first naval battle, and won the day against the British off the Coast of Scotland. So closed the year 1779. But the colonies were not yet free.
After that, the contest in North and South Carolina ended in driving Cornwallis into Virginia.
How much to remember have these ''Daughters" of Georgia; how much to be thankful for; how many lessons to take to heart, and convey to the coming citizens of their great commonwealth ! Briefly we have told the story of their birthright to the Sisterhood of States ; and now note what the Daughters are doing to preserve their inheritance.
Mrs. Robert Emery Park (Emily Hendre) State Re- gent, in her able report for the Smithsonian records, said, "That owing to the lapse of time and the ravages of war, the archives of Georgia are in a fragmentary and dilapi- dated condition, scattered and torn and crumbling to dust; but before many years are over the efforts of the Daughters will have dragged these priceless records from their mouldy hiding places, and it is hoped that they will be secured from further harm by preservation in print." At the first State Conference a Committee was appointed to make an inventory of all records which had escaped obliteration. This Committee consisted of Mrs. Wm. Lawson Peel (Lucy Cook), of Atlanta; Mrs. Edward Karow (Anna Belle), of Savannah; Mrs. T. M. Green (Metta Andrews), of Wash- ington, Georgia. They found by research that much valu- able historical material still remains amid the dust and cob- webs of the Old Court House.
Mrs. Karow took special interest in having published
Story of the Records 219
the manuscripts in the possession of the Georgia Historical Society of Savannah. Mrs. Peel resolved to reclaim from oblivion the names of the Revolutionary soldiers in the State archives, to whose neglected condition her stirring words had previously called attention. Mrs. Green devoted herself to the preservation of county records. Mrs. Park, State Regent, had a bill presented before the Legislature, asking for an appropriation for collecting, copying, and preserving these old documents. To the energy and ser- vice of these four Daughters may the foundation of what- ever is accomplished he ascribed. It is well known by the Daughters of all the States, especially in the South, where so few Revolutionary records have been published, how difficult it has been to prove the well known service of Ancestors in the War. For instance, it was due to the pressure brought upon the Massachusetts' authorities for research of the records by the Daughters, which became such an onerous task to the State Secretary, that first gave the impetus for their publication. These State publications have been going on since 1894, and yet are not completed.
An article which appeared in the American Monthly, written by Mrs. Patrick H. Mell (Annie White), of Ala- bama, attracted the attention of Mrs. Peel, and of Miss Margaret Harvey of the Merion Chapter, Pennsylvania. The Pension Office at Washington gave up its secrets, and Miss Harvey made the list of Georgia's Revolutionary soldiers. Two thousand names, finely illustrated, were presented Joseph Habersham Chapter.
Meanwhile, under Mrs. Peel's direction, the records in the office of the Secretary of State of Georgia were copied. Between the two lists there is as complete a record of Georgia's soldiers in the Revolution as can now be made ; both lists in full, stamped with State Seal, are deposited with the Secretary of State. It is hoped Georgia will follow Massachusetts, and have them published with the accompanying vouchers, as volume one of the archives of the State. What better work could be done than has been by the Georgia Daughters?
220 Story of the Records
The Savannah Chapter has undertaken the patriotic and important work of printing the Revolutionary records in custody of the Georgia Historical Society. A certain num- ber of the Edition will be used in exchange with libraries of other states. Much of the copying was done by Miss Karow.
Patriotic education is the keystone of the state work. Nearly every chapter in the state is awarding medals for the best papers on American heroes, both men and women. Last year the subject was Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, and the medal awarded was a silver Loving Cup, bearing the insignia of the Daughters of the American Revolution on one side, and the Coat of Arms of the Uni- versity on the other, which is nearly the Coat of Arms of the State.
A stately shaft of Georgia marble has been erected by the Elijah Clarke Chapter in a prominent square in Athens, to their patron saint, Elijah Clarke, one of Georgia's heroes. This little band of patriotic women within one year raised $i,ooo, and have paid for the monument, be- sides making contributions for Continental Hall and other objects.
And now comes the ambition to erect a monument to Georgia's intrepid heroine, Nancy Hart. The story of Nancy Hart has been well recited by one of Georgia's Daughters to emphasize the reason for memorializing her name. We copy a part of the statement given by Mrs. Julius L. Brown:
"Nancy Hart was a "Georgia Cracker," and lived in what is now Elbert County, close to Broad River, into which flows a creek called *The War Woman's Creek," in honor of the deeds of the farmer's wife, whose home was at its mouth.
"In the early days of this young State, Nancy Hart was looking after her children, hoeing her patch, and by the way of treat, going into the wilderness, gun on her
Story of the Records 221
shoulder, (she was a strapping woman, red haired, six feet tall, and some say cross eyed), and bringing down birds for dinner, sometimes a deer. She put antlers up for a gun-rack ! — then for utility only. She would go on a hunt for a bee tree ; and that would mean, patience, keen sight, the tramp through the forest into the swamp with its peril of snakes, and what Nancy called 'varmints,' and certain danger to clothes. After she had caught a bee in her cup while sucking the nectar from some sweet flower, she would release the prisoner and watch its circumlocution round and round her head, until at last it would strike out and take 'a bee line' for the home tree in the forest. In- tently would she eye the golden brown bee blazing the way toward the honey. All this meant the breath of life to Nancy Hart.
"Nancy spun and wove and hated the Tories, but she loved the 'Liberty boys,' as she called the Whigs! She put up with her husband, but frankly declared him 'a poor stick,' because he took no sides, held his tongue, plowed his crop, and took to the swamp when Tories were around.
"She never saw a newspaper, hers was a man on horse- back at her front bars, carrying a bag of corn to mill ; through him she got echoes of what was going on outside. She heard the negroes were kept busy throwing up earth works at Savannah; heard what staunch patriots the Jews were; and that the Legislature was holding sessions on Sunday. This section around Augusta was so rebellious, the English called it the 'Hornet's Nest.' She heard how the Tories cut the cloth out of the looms ; how they cruelly ripped open that symbol of luxury, the feather bed, and scattered the feathers, while the women wept, — but not so Nancy Hart; at hearing these things she said bad, bad words, like a man.
"Her opinions were known, and the Tories delighted in fretting her. Her house had but one room, cozy, with its splint bottomed chairs, spinning wheel, and big gourd to hold the eggs, a shelf piled high with home-spun spreads
222 Story of the Records
and quilts of time honored Irish chain, rising sun, and star patterns ; but best of all a woman handy with the gun ; and reputed pastmistress of the frying-pan. And such a doc- tor! everybody came to her; and no child dare refuse from that hand the dose of calomel or huge cup of peruvian bark. One day the soap-gourd was empty ; the pot was set on the coals, the room was full of fumes, the mother stirred, talk- ing to her children, teaching them patriotism. Suddenly up goes a little girlish hand, pointing to a crack in the chimney. Sure enough some one was looking and listen- ing ! The mother talked more loudly than ever, giving her opinion about the Tories. Stirring, she watched, looked — those eyes again! As quick as thought a ladle full of boiling soap was dashed into them. The shriek told how it hurt. Out rushed Nancy and caught her prisoner. She had what Huxley calls the 'Proper dose of fanatism' for a revolutionary.
"As the months passed and the war went on, one day Nancy looked down the road — company coming! — five Tories from the Camp at Augusta. After murdering Colonel Dooly on their raid, they concluded to call on their old acquaintances, the Harts. They were sure of a tongue lashing, but also a good dinner. Nancy received them with a scowl. They said they had come to see whether she had helped a rebel to get away from the King's men.
'The facts were that she saw a Whig coming on a horse, she let down the bars, told him to fly through her front and back door, and take to the swamp. When they came hunting him she had muffled up her head, and asked why they wanted to bother a poor, sick woman.
"'Had she seen the man?' 'Oh, yes!' pointing the wrong way. Had they looked they would have seen the horse's tracks. They v/anted dinner, and the leader briefly told her to cook one.
" 'Never feed traitors and King's men ; you have made me unable to feed my own, everything gone but that one old gobbler you see in the yard.' "
" 'Cook that, then,' he said, shooting it.
Story of the Records 223
"Nancy changed her tactics; called ten year old Sukey to fly around and help. Down by the big spring on a stump lay a conch shell, used to give signals to Nancy's 'poorstick' in the swamp. Sukey was sent for water, and secretly told to blow for 'Paw' to 'keep close.' "
'The warriors relaxed as they sniffed the smoking hot turkey and the tasty corn cake, and eyed the fresh honey and jug of buttermilk. Their guns were peacefully stacked, and they began to eat, too busy to talk — they forgot the lady of the house,
"Again Sukey was sent to the spring and told to blow the trumpet. Nancy quietly edged around until she stood in front of the stacked muskets. She had quietly pushed out the chinking in her log wall, and thrown out two muskets before they noticed her. Goodby, good dinner! Up they sprung! but Nancy's musket faced them, and they knew she could shoot. One man rushed toward her, and she shot him dead, just as Sukey, true chip of the old block, came rushing in crying, 'Daddy and them will soon be here ;' and Nancy brought down another; then planting herself in the door, bade them 'deliver their carcasses to a Whig woman.' When her husband and three other men wanted to interfere, she said 'No, they surrender to me, and shoot- ing is too good for them.' By her order they were hung from a tree. — A rough story for Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution."
"This rough woman must have had redeeming traits. Kindness she must have possessed, or she would not have been the neighborhood doctor; she must have had a good mind, to care for political questions; and nobility, to love liberty. Her six children loved her. As she said, 'Drat 'em, when they get into trouble they always send for me.' " Some one sums her up thus, 'She was a honey of a patriot, but the devil of a wife.' "
It is related that when her (Nancy's) husband died, after a suitable time she married a young man — they pulled up stakes, and moved west to grow up with the Country !
224 Story of the Records
The Stephen Heard Chapter of Elberton, has located the home of Nancy Hart, and the work before the State for this year is the erecting a monument to this heroine. The stone has already been presented to the State Regent.
The purchase of "Meadow Garden," Augusta, through the active interest of the Georgia Daughters, and the ma- terial help of the National Society, which was the home of George Walton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, has given the Society a foothold in Georgia. Under this roof have assembled many of the noted men and women of the land. President George Washington was George Walton's guest at Meadow Garden ; Marquis de Lafayette was taken to Meadow Garden in 1824, be- cause it had been the home of George Walton. The il- lustrious Madam Octavia Walton De Vert was George Walton's granddaughter, and was often a guest at this house. History has been gathered from over its threshold ; and the "Daughters" have made the records.
The Macon Chapter had a real daughter for Regent, Mary Hammeral Washington. After her death the Chap- ter decided to commemorate her valuable services by chang- ing the name of the chapter to The Mary Hammeral Wash- ington Chapter.
As we have previously noted, that she not only was pre- sent at that important Conference of October 6 and 7, 1891, but while she lived she was a firm supporter of Memorial Continental Hall, and the organization. Since her death, in loving remembrance, her son and daughter have annually appropriated gifts to the hall fund
Wilkes County Chapter, of Washington, Georgia, has purchased that part of the battle ground of Kettle Creek, known as War Hill, where an engagement occurred Febru- ary 14, 1779. It contains about 14 acres. The Americans were commanded by General Pickens of South Carolina, assisted by Elijah Clarke and John Dooly of Wilkes County.
Story of the Records 22^
The British, under Colonel Boyd, were defeated; Colonel Boyd being killed on the field. This victory saved Georgia in this crisis. Wilkes County has many valuable records, which will be cared for, as one of the State Committee, Mrs. T. M. Green, is Regent of the Chapter.
The Atlanta Chapter, the mother of chapters in the State, can well be proud of the conscientious, thorough work of her children ; as can well be the National Society in the well doing of the Old Colonial State,— Georgia !
* * * *
SOUTH CAROLINA : One of the thinking ''Daughters" from South Carolina, Mrs. Malvina S. Waring, once wrote, "That two opposing destinies have always been open to women: one, to do as nearly nothing at all as is possible under every existing circumstance; the other, to do as nearly everything worth doing as is compatible with human limitations. Women choose for themselves, — and we as a band of women have chosen ! we have elected to do some- thing, and from the Great Lakes to the Great Gulf; from the Atlantic to the Pacific, we are doing something. We have begun to feel the thrill of strength in union, and the
sweetness of companionship cemented with a purpose we
are entering into our kingdom to possess it. Heaven be praised ! Think of the strides we have already made !"
"Before the era of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the women of the Country possessed of or- nithological taste had to take up with a pet canary, a caged mocking bird, a talking parrot, a long tailed peacock, or any other old bird' ; but now the European Eagle is as much ours as anybody's — I am glad of it! * * * * How nice it is to feel that we have a share in the Stars, as well as the Stripes of the National Cosmos* * * * * In short, we are just the leaven needed in the land of the free to keep from getting too free, and too far away from the bearing of our glorious past. * * * * If we cannot, 15
226 Story of the Records
with all our patriotism, go into war, we always will be the Household Troops and Life Guards."
Is this not what we might expect from a Daughter of the land of Rebecca Mott and Emily Geiger? Let us re- fresh the memory by briefly covering this ground, and the days, and what was wrought by the sturdy yeomanry in the chivalric times of 'yG.
Cornwallis was master of South Carolina, General Green superceded General Gates at Charlotte, North Carolina. On the 8th of September, the British reached Charlotte: the Americans had retreated to Salisbury. It was after the battle of Sandon Creek, when the Maryland Line and the Delaware Continentals withstood the shock of battle with such bravery, where the brave Baron De Kalb was wounded eleven times, and fell in the agony of death. Then came the battle of King's Mountain ; when Georgia and South Carolina were left in the hands of the British, and North Carolina invaded.
Major Patrick Furgeson had been sent by Cornwallis with 1,200 men to cross the western part of South Carolina, and to proceed to Charlotte. He met a large force of ''Mountain men of Georgia and the Carolinas," who were as- sembled to oppose his progress toward Cornwallis. They met on King's Mountain, an eminence in South Carolina, just across the line from King's Mountain Village, in North Carolina. The Americans were under Colonel Campbell and Shelby, in the center; Colonel's Savier and McDowell on the right; Colonels Cleavland and Williams on the left. They moved simultaneously on the enemy. The battle lasted over an hour. Furgeson fell at the head of his regulars, dying, according to tradition, by the hand of Colonel Williams, who also was slain. The Furgeson men — 8oo surrendered, 200 escaped, the other 240 having fallen. The Americans lost 20 killed. Thus ended one of the most decisive battles of the Revolution.
Green's army was but the shadow of an army; but with great energy he reorganized his forces, and divided them
Story of the Records 227
into the eastern and western division. The command of the latter was given to the great General Morgan. Corn- wallis despatched Colonel Tarleton with his famous cavalry to destroy Morgan's forces, or drive him out of the State. The Americans took a favorable position at Cowpens, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, in an open wood known as Hannah's Cowpens ; being a part of a grazing establishment belonging to a man named Hannah. On the 17th of January the attack was begun by Tarleton, and the British line was broken and put to flight. Lieutenant Colonel Washington and Tarleton had a personal encounter on the field, and the latter fell with a sword slash in the hand. His corps was annihilated. Ten British oflicers were killed. Artillery, muskets, and flags were the trophies of the battle.
The days went on, with marching and counter marching by both armies. General Green's masterly power was evinced in retreat as well as in action. After having re- cruited his army by loyal Virginians, he marched to Guil- ford Court House, took a strong position and awaited his antagonist. On March 15 the two armies met, the result was rather a drawn battle, but the killed and wounded of the British were far greater, and the result was equivalent to a British defeat.
The British forces in the Carolinas remained under Lord Rawdon. Cornwallis, after issuing boasting proclamations, retreated to Wilmington, and immediately proceeded to Vir- ginia. General Green had Rawdon to contend with, and ad- vanced to South Carolina and marched with the main body to Hobkirk's Hill, a short distance from Camden, where Rawdon was stationed. A battle ensued. At a critical moment valuable American oflicers were killed, who com- manded the center ; the regiments became confused, fell back. It was Rawdon's opportunity ; he pressed forward — captured the hill. The Americans retreated from the field, but saved their artillery, and bore away the wounded. Again the genius of Green made a masterly retreat. Sumter,
22S Story of the Records
Lee, and Morgan were on the alert to scour the country, cutting off supplies for the enemy, breaking their lines of communication, and striking them right and left.
It was the loth of May that Lord Rawdon evacuated Camden, and retreated to Eutaw Springs, sixty miles above the mouth of the Santee River. Other posts fell into the hands of the Patriots. By the 5th of June, only Eutaw Springs, Charles, and Ninety-six, remained in the possession of the British. Now we find General Green at Ninety-six.
It was during this period that Rebecca Motte showed her patriotism, her loyalty, and her nobility of character. When she was driven from her beautiful home by the British, she took shelter in a farm house not far off. Her Mansion on the Congaree had been ruined. Fort Motte was the principal depot between Charleston, Camden, and Ninety-six, and was doubly valuable to the British, who were now in full possession of it.
Marion and Lee used strategy and effort to dislodge the enemy. Lee then intimated to Mrs. Motte the advisa- bility of taking possession of her home to drive the enemy out. She consented ; and when attempt after attempt failed, owing to inferior bows and arrows, she gave the soldiers some that had been sent her from the East Indias, and with the work of fine marksmanship, the dry shingles were soon ablaze. The British tried to quench the flames, but Marion with his riflemen drove them away. McPherson raised the white flag ; the firing ceased ; the flames were ex- tinguished,— the surrender was complete.
Consider the courage and moral strength of this woman ; a few hours later she was the dignified and gracious hostess, entertaining the British and American of^cers at dinner.
Ninety- Six was now beseiged by General Green ; for twenty-seven days the siege was pressed with vigor. They had cut off the supplies of water from the Fort; they could not have held out more than a couple of days longer ; but Lord Rawdon was rapidly approaching with two thousand men. On the 1 8th of June, Green raised the siege and retreated,
Story of the Records 229
Green escaped with his army. Rawdon pursued, but, as usual. Green's tactics outwitted Rawdon. The British abandoned Ninety-six, and fell back to Orangeburg. Green, with ceaseless activity, followed the retreating enemy. When he had passed Broad River, he was in dire necessity of sending an order to General Sumter, who was then on the border, to join him, that they might unite their forces and attack Rawdon, who had divided his Command. But the country, between the two armies, through which the bearer of this must pass over, was filled with Tories who were even more hostile than the British. No trustworthy man was found willing to undertake the perilous trip, and run the danger of being caught and hung as a rebel.
It was at this critical moment that a young girl, Emily Geiger, presented herself to General Green and offered her services as his messenger. It is needless to say that General Green, in his great dilemna, was surprised, and more than satisfied with this offer, for he was undoubtedly right in his reasoning, — a woman stood a better chance of reaching General Sumter's Camp than could any man, es- pecially one of the army. The General wrote a letter, and when he handed it to her, verbally communicated to her its contents, to be told to Sumter in case of accident.
For fifty miles, mounted on horseback, this young girl rode over a country, every foot of the way, over bridle- path and highway, guarded by British soldiers and Hessians.
On her second day out, Emily was stopped by Lawson's scouts, coming from the direction of Green's army. She was looked upon with suspicion, and was closely questioned as to her errand. She could not readily give a satisfactory account of her mission, and was, therefore, shut up ; and a Tory woman sent for to examine her for treasonable com- munications.
Emily, in the interim of waiting, lost no time. As soon as the door was closed, " she tore the letter into pieces, chewed and swallowed the last remaining piece of the tell tale message. The Tory mistress arrived, and after
230 Story of the Records
careful scrutiny of her clothes, finding no treasonable com- munication, Emily was released from custody. This little episode only added zest to her zeal. Taking a somewhat circuitous route to make the deception more complete, she at last struck the road that led to Sumter's Camp. Upon reaching the General's headquarters, she asked to see him, and literally by word of mouth delivered the message of General Green's, after relating the adventures of her peril- ous trip!
Sumter joined Green as requested on the heights of the Santee. On the 22nd of August, Green left the heights, and marched toward Orangeburg. The British decamped at his approach, and took post at Eutaw Springs, forty miles below. The Americans pressed forward, and on September 8 a fierce battle ensued. The British lost by far the most men. Rawdon resigned his Command of the British forces to Colonel Stuart, and went to Charles- ton. Stuart held his position, but the following day hastily retreated to Monk's Corner. Green followed; and after two months of manouvering, the British were driven into Charleston.
In the meantime St. Clair had cleared North Carolina by forcing the enemy to evacuate Wilmington. The whole country south of Virginia was now free of the King's dominion, save Charleston and Savannah. The latter City was evacuated by the British on July 11, 1782, and Charles- ton on December 14, 1782. This ended the Revolution in the Carolinas and Georgia. Cornwallis had supplanted Arnold, and the last acts of the Revolution was to be enacted in Virginia.
We leave the question to the broad minded historian to say how great a factor Rebecca Mott and Emily Geiger were in the results of the movements of the victorious Generals in the Southern Army, which gave the death blow to the Revolution.
The State of South Carolina stands out in bold relief as one of the Old Thirteen, that dared to recognize for all time the service of a heroic woman. The old seal of
Story of the Records 231
South Carolina having become worn in the course of its long service of a hundred and twenty years, in 1895, the Legislature of the State ordered a new seal to be made similar to the original, except that the supporters should be individualized, and that Emily Geiger and William Moultrie should be placed thereon as the representatives of a patriotic citizenship. From henceforth every State document signed by the Governor must bear the impress of Emily Geiger ere it becomes an official paper.
Is it to be wondered at that the descendants of such ancestry should be found allying themselves to com- memorate the names of these patriotic women and men who were such factors in the founding of this Republic; not only have these ''Daughters" honored the names of women and men, but historic battle fields as well. They have the Rebecca Mott Chapter, the Nathaniel Green, the Moultrie, the Cowpens, the Columbia, the Kings Mountain, the Andrew Pickens, Sumter's Home, the Esther Marion, Kate Barry — what an array of historic names ; — but every year the Congress would be wanting, if the familiar faces of the South Carolina Daughters were not there to tell of the work being done in the Palmetto State on the ground whereon was finally thrashed out the principles of Liberty to the Colonies.
Did these women catch the spirit of the organization from that small patriotic body of women, ten all told, marshalled by that brave girl Mary Mills, born Mary Gill, in the Colony of Pennsylvania, 1758, daughter of Robert Gill, who, soon after her birth, moved to South Carolina, and settled on Fishing Creek. Gill took an active part in establishing a church in the wilderness, and the rich lands surrounding brought forth abundant harvests, especially of wheat. The years passed on ; the Revolution broke upon them. Mr. Gill was too old to enter the service, but he buckled the armor on to his four sons and bid them go forth. When the harvest time came, all the men able to bear arms had gone to the war. None remained to secure the crops upon which families depended for a living.
232 Story of the Records
It was at this crisis, says Elizabeth Ellett, ''That Mary (Gill) Mills and her nine companions — let us give their names and pass them down in history, — Mary, Margaret, and Ellen Gill ; Isabella and Margaret Keler ; Sarah Knox ; Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary Mills; Mary McClare, and Nancy Brown, — formed themselves into an organization and called it, 'The Company of Reapers,' for cutting and gathering the grain. Day after day this little band of women went from farm to farm, and gathered the crops. The only question they asked was, Ts the owner out with the fighting men?' For six weeks they gave unceasing labor through the country, and Providence smiled upon their generous enterprise — there were no storms during that period to destroy the ripened grain that was awaiting the fair reapers."
At one time when a company of Colonel Neil's men were going to Williamson's after leaving White's mills, two of the men got separated from the others, it was late at night and pitch dark; they were anxious to get up with Neil — had they lost their way? They stopped at Mr. Gill's to get direction. As soon as Mary was convinced that they were Liberty men, she offered her services against her old father's judgment, to show them to the path lead- ing out to the main road. It was so dark she was obliged to tie a white cloth upon her back, that they could see to follow her, and the distance was several miles. Years after the war one of these men, named Hunter, traveling through the country, and stopping for the night at the old Court House at Walkers, inquired for the brave girl who had done them this service.
Like many another damsel in the country, Mary had a lover in Camp. This was John Mills, a neighbor, of whose exploits she continually heard. He was with Sumter through- out the war. When the British were driven down the country, John seized the opportunity for a short furlough, to lead his betrothed to the altar. John Mills and Mary Gill were married May 31, 1782. She lived a staunch patriot through girlhood and womanhood. Her husband
Story of the Re c 07' ds 233
and children were richer through her advice and council, and her life added another page to the heroic women of South Carolina in the Revolution.
And so the "Daughters" of South Carolina of the twentieth century have learned that to-day is meaningless unless linked with yesterday and to-morrow; and to-day their effort is for organization, and to-morrow will declare what that organization will have accomplished ; and when occa- sion comes for action in any good cause, such organization will be promptly recognized, as it was by the Government during the Spanish-American War.
The small Chapter of King's Mountain makes up in zeal and patriotism for its size, and the monument completed under the executive ability of the Regent of 1903, will mark in granite the sacred spot where the heroes of King's Mountain fell.
The Rebecca Mott Chapter has shown its earnestness by erecting a tablet to the memory of Rebecca Mott in St. Phillip's Church, the ancient tabernacle wherein this patriotic woman worshipped. The impressive ceremony of unveiling the tablet was conducted by Dr. Vedder, the Pastor of the Huguenot Church, and Chaplain of the Chap- ter. A tablet to Martha Washington was placed in this Church by the New York City Chapter, an act much ap- preciated by the South Carolina Daughters. Mrs. Frances Mather Jones has beer, the active leader of this chapter since its organization. The work of this chapter in its gifts to Continental Hall, and to the Lafayette Statue in Paris has been generous. A work largely due to the loving enthusiasm of its Regent, who is known as the mother of the "i6th Pennsylvania and 2d Wisconsin," — involves a story that has its pathetic and tender side. Three soldiers of the Spanish War died in Charleston in the summer of 1898, and were buried in Magnolia Cemetery, just opposite the spot where six hundred Confederates are at rest. The chapter has assumed the care of these three graves. The
234 Story of the Records
National flag is upon the headstone, and waves over the graves. Upon the loth of May, when the graves of those who wore the grey in '6i are annually covered with flowers, those who wore the blue in our last war are remembered by the warm hearted Southern daughters, "because they were Patriots." On May 30 the National Memorial Day, they again receive a tribute of flowers, ''because at home their comrades are remembered on that day." — When strife is over, the heart beats of Patriotism are of the same time and tune.
The Columbia Chapter enthusiastically entered into the work of raising $1,000 to erect the granite monument given by the Legislature to the Daughters, to commemorate the names of three great Generals, — Marion, Sumter, and Pickens. Mrs, Rebecca Pickens Bacon, honorary State Regent, and granddaughter of General Pickens, conceived the beautiful idea of giving the opportunity to every living descendant, lineal and collateral, of contributing one dollar each to the monument. From California and Texas to the Atlantic coast the dollars poured in to help on the fund. With the help of the State it was accomplished, showing what good friends the "Daughters" find at Court, when a patriotic work is being promulgated. The Columbia Chap- ter in February 1900, placed a white marble tablet, in memory of Emily Geiger's ride, in the lobby, in the State Capital at Columbia.
In the little Church yard of the Old Stone Church, not far from Anderson, General Andrew Pickens is buried. The Cateechee Chapter Daughters have taken .upon them- selves the care of the cemetery grounds. The Cowpens Chapter has given of its purse liberally to Continental Hall, and is co-operating in a movement for the preservation of the battlefield of Cowpens.
To the end of the Chapter, the Daughters of South Carolina will see to it, that the sacrifice of life and fortune by their ancestors will bring its reward in loving reverence and remembrance.
CHAPTER VIII.
ORTH CAROLINA: In entering the Old North State, we have a strong inclination to go back of the encounter of Green and Corn- wallis — back of the *' Mecklenburg Declara- tion," back of the days when it is said the North Carolinians would not pay tribute "even unto Caesar," back of the days when the settlers loved their country and called it "The land of summer," back to their day of legend and history. Everybody knows of the at- tempt of Sir Walter Raleigh, to establish an English Colony in the New World. The Spaniards were in Florida, the French in Nova Scotia ; but England had no possession in North America when Raleigh crossed the sea. Those were pioneer efforts of Sir Walter Raleigh, they might be called failures ; but they were the stepping-stones of the advance movement that settled Jamestown, Virginia.
It is an old story ; the landing of the Colony of a hundred and seven souls, on the Island of Roanoke, 1585, and which, subsequently, sick and discouraged, returned to England with Sir Francis Drake, the great sea rover, who appeared with his ships off the coast of Roanoke. Then came Sir Richard Grenville, fifteen days after, with three vessels, bringing the promised supplies, but found the men gone. He left fifteen men on the Island, with provisions for two years, when he returned to England. These men are sup- posed to have been killed, or captured by the Indians ; only a ruined Fort, some empty huts, and some bones were left to tell the tale.
In 1597, other Colonists came to the Island, bringing with them seventeen women and nine children, evidence sufficient to prove that a permanent home in America was anticipated. A few days after the landing, Virginia Dare was born, the first white child in North America, born of
236 Story of the Records
English parents. Her mother, Eleanor Dare, was the Daughter of John White, the Governor of the Colony. Official record was made of her baptism the following Sunday. The Colonists soon found the necessity for many additional articles for their moderate comfort. At their urgent request Governor White returned to England to secure supplies, expecting to return the following year. When he reached England, he found the Mother Country at war with Spain, and England threatened with the Ar- mada. The Queen demanded his services, and it was not until 1590, three years later, that he succeeded in returning to America. When he at last arrived, the Colony had dis- appeared. The one clue alone was the word "Croatoan," which he found carved upon a tree. It had been agreed between them, that if they changed their place of abode in his absence, they would carve on a tree the name of the place to which they had gone.
As far as any knowledge goes the Colony might as well have disappeared off the face of the earth, since all that is known is that the Colony arrived — Virginia Dare was born — White returned to England — the Colony disappeared, and "Croatoan" the only legacy left.
Through the research of historical students a chain of evidence has been woven, from which conclusions have been drawn, that the last colony gave up hope of help from England, and cut off from all other human associations, became a part of the tribe of friendly Croatoan Indians, shared their nomadic life, intermarried with them, and that their descendants to-day are found among the Croatoan Indians of Robesen County, North Carolina. Also traces of the wandering tribe have been found as far south as Louisiana — members with blue eyes, light hair, and bear- ing the names of some of the Colonists. Whether Virginia Dare was one among them we shall never know, but the full tradition of her life among the Indians is embodied in the "Legend of The White Doe."
The scattered fragments of this legend have been care-
Story of the Records 2^^^
fully collected, and woven into symmetry by the author of the "White Doe," Mrs. Sallie Southall Gotten. She says in her preface, "Much has been written about the Indian Princess, Pocahontas, and much sentiment has clustered around her association with the Jamestown Colony, while few have given thought to the young English girl, whose birth, baptism, and mysterious disappearance, link her for- ever with the earlier tragedies of the same era of history. It seems a strange coincidence that the Indian maiden, Pocahontas, friend and companion of the white man, hav- ing adopted his people as her own, should sleep in death in English soil, while the English maiden, Virginia Dare, friend and companion of the Red man, having adopted his people as her own, should sleep in death on American soil, — the two maidens thus exchanging nationality, and linking in life and in death, the two Countries, whose destines seem most naturally to intermingle."
Settlers came into the Carolinas from Virginia and Mary- land; Quakers came from New England and Delaware; French, Huguenots, German refugees, found homes on the banks of the Ncuse ; Peasants of Switzerland came and founded New Burn, and the country began to be dotted with farms and hamlets. The years went by, the colonial days brought its pleasures and its hardships, made harder by the power that should have held out the hand of succor and encouragement. The time came when the Colonies began to act together. It was the descendants of these men and women who took up the burden of the song of Life and Liberty, and resolved by compact to hold fast to all that was of good report left by these conquerors of a despotism ; and so the Daughters of the land of Virginia Dare, "The land of summer," the land of "The White Doe," and Croa- toans, the land of Mecklenburg, and Guilford battle field, have joined the forces who are to see to it, that there is no more lost history in the State.
The Council Oak Chapter will see that the fragments
238 Story of the Records
of the Council Oak, which have been shivered by Hghtning, shall be made into historical souvenirs, and the spot will be marked where the majestic oak stood sentinel, guarding the place Savier, Campbell, the McDowells, and other offi- cers, on their way to King's Mountain, halted and formed their plan of campaign.
The Dorcas Belle members, besides their generous con- tribution to Memorial Continental Hall, are keeping loving watch over the graves of the men who fell in this campaign, and are buried in Green Hill Cemetery. The Edward Buncombe Chapter is accumulating funds to erect a monu- ment to their patron saint, whose body lies in an unknown grave in one of the burying grounds of Philadelphia.
Mecklenburg Chapter; — the very name brings up so much of history — it is no wonder the members always find enough for willing hands to do. Besides their own home work, they have raised one hundred dollars for Memorial Continental Hall.
Salem Centennial Chapter, organized In the historic Moravian Church, has devoted itself to the study of North Carolina history, and with this will come fresh memories of the heroes of Alamanac, Moore's Creek, Guilford Court House, the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration, and the fair participants of the Edenton Tea Party.
Whitmel Blount Chapter ; of Henderson, offers a prize to the students of city schools for the best essay on selected Revolutionary topics ; and are collecting a fund for the erection of a monument to the Granville County patriots.
The Chapters of the State have offered a medal to the students, of the State Normal School and Industrial College for young women, preparing the best paper upon the un- written history of North Carolina. This offer has been re-
Story of the Records 239
considered, the medal will be withdrawn, and a Scholarship awarded for post graduate work.
The seed of patriotism that was planted, in tears, in North Carolina, has blossomed for the healing of the Nation, and the Daughters will nuture it through love, and will resurrect and establish its history.
* >i< * :!i
VIRGINIA : It was in Virginia that the closing scenes of the seven years' Revolutionary War were enacted. Vir- ginia furnished a Patrick Henry to arouse and thrill the Colonies with his eloquence ; Jefferson, the man of thought; Richard Henry Lee, and Washington, the great leader and General ; besides a host of less patriotic lights to blaze the way in freedom's cause ; men who clasped hands across the intervening wilderness with Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and John Adams in New England. These large-minded men of both sections were able, eventually, to gather all of the best elements into one from the Colonies lying between Massachusetts and Virginia, with three Colonies to the South, North and South Carolina and Georgia, to do some of the best fighting for Freedom of the whole war, under the leadership of General Green, whom some historians rank next to Washington in Generalship, or strategy, and command over men.
When Cornwallis and Carlton had met defeat after defeat, in the North and South Carolinas, they finally decided to march into Virginia, to there concentrate their forces for a finish of the affair, for these British Generals considered that north of Baltimore the war was Virtually ended. Little did they know or heed that Washington had been re-in- forced by a powerful ally, and that a French fleet was rapidly approaching the scene of action. Resting secure in his own thoughts and position of the British fleet in the Rhoades, Cornwallis decided to make his stand at York- town.
Washington and Lafayette were at hand, and the keen €yed young Frenchman soon discovered the advantage this
240 Story of the Records
situation would be to the allied armies. He communicated his plans to Washington, who was hurrying through Mary- land to join him, and, with consummate skill, manoeuvred to get his army one side of the enemy, knowing that the coming fleet would soon arrive to prevent Cornwallis either running away or retreating.
Lafayette and Washington begun the siege of Yorktown, September fifth, wherein Cornwallis had supposedly snugly fortified himself with ample protection and a waterway of retreat in case of necessity.
Count de Barras' fleet, with eight ships of the line, and ten transports, approached, and being superior in numbers and advantages, attacked the British ships in the Bay, and was soon in sight of the astonished and discomfitted Corn- wallis, who was again outgeneraled, and after thirteen days of siege, he ran up the white flag of surrender, and articles of capitulation followed. Thus it was that the "last stand" was made and lost on Virginia's patriotic soil, and the war was ended to the great joy of all the patriots.
Cornwallis is said to have sulked in his tent, while his army was laying down its arms at the feet of Washington, under the pretense of being too ill to be present, while Major General O'Hara, who led the whole British Army, marched from the trenches into the open field, where, in the presence of the allied armies — French and American — seven thousand, two hundred and forty-seven English and Hessian soldiers laid down their arms, delivered their stand- ards, and became prisoners of war.
This little sketch of the last act in the drama would hardly be complete without adding "That after the sur- render the British army was marched under guard to Lan- caster, Pennsylvania." Washington, with the victorious American and French returned to the camps of the New Jersey and the Hudson.
Virginia may well cherish pride in the part she took in the War of the Revolution, and it is no wonder that so many of her patriotic sons have been called to the Presidency and
Story of the Records 241
that she early learned the honorable patronymic, 'The Mother of Presidents."
With this brief resume of history, we will return to our narrative of chapter work.
Mount Vernon Chapter ; of Alexandria, is one of the largest and most enthusiastic, wielding quite an influence within the State. Alexandria was one of Washington's places of public worship. His square pew is still shown in Christ's Church, and his dignified figure was often seen on the streets of the City, for here also he attended the Masonic lodge of which he is a member.
Carroll House, where General Washington received his first commission from General Braddock, is the object of reverent care of Mount Vernon Chapter. It is a most picturesque and quaint old building, and the Chapter is making every endeavor to purchase it. On the river front side is a hanging garden, the like of which probably has not its counterpart anywhere on the Continent. Shrubs and trees over a century old adorn this primitive roof garden, and while alive and still growing, show signs of great age and decay, so that soon no vestige of this interest- ing relic will remain.
It was this chapter instituted the restoration of Pohick Church, another church where Washington was a vestry- man and worshipper. Mount Vernon Chapter has lent a hand to many other good works beside the restoration of Pohick Church. Through the courtesy of an official at Mount Vernon, this Chapter was able to respond to a re- quest made by Pawtucket Chapter, of Rhode Island, through Virginia's State Regent, for trees from Washing- ton's home, for the Daggett Farm Park, to be planted on Arbor Day. One of the D. A. R. organizers, Miss Susan Hetzel, is a member of this Chapter.
Mrs. Eleanor Washington Howard was the last Wash- ington born at Mount Vernon, and it will be of interest to State that this event occurred in the room where General 16
242 Story of the Records
Washington died. Mrs. Howard has been the Regent of Mount Vernon Chapter, and is, at this time, serving as State Regent of Virginia.
MoNTPELiER Chapter; of Orange, has been chiefly en- gaged in the local work of securing a public library, and while the building is still unfinished, nearly 1,000 volumes have been collected.
Fort Nelson Chapter; of Portsmouth, is interested in having the streets, in the city of Portsmouth, originally named for General Lafayette and a gallant British officer who sympathized with the colonies, restored to their proper and original titles.
Hampton Chapter ; of Hampton, offered a High School prize for the best essay on Jamestown and John Smith. In connection with the Hampton branch of the Association for the preservation of Virginia Antiquities, the Chapter placed a tablet in Symes-Eaton Academy in memory of Benjamin Symes and Thos. Eaton, founders of what is said to be the first free school in the American Colonies, which honor is claimed by both Virginia and Maryland.
Beverley Manor Chapter ; of Staunton, offered a public school medal for best essay on The Battle of Point Pleasant and the men who went from Staunton, a subject presumably full of local color and of interest to home folks.
Blue Ridge Chapter; of Lynchburg, also offered his- toric prizes on Revolutionary history, and the Chapter at one time was proud of a "real daughter," Mrs. Asbury Tilden Phelps, whose father. Colonel John Bell Tilden, served on General Washington's Staff.
Dorothy Henry Chapter; of Danville, is accumulating funds for a monument to Revolutionary heroes.
Story of the Records 243
The Margaret Lynn Lewis Chapter ; of Roanoke, is a small chapter, but has been enabled to do a good work by- placing a fine monument over the grave of General Andrew Lewis at Salem, Virginia. The monument, a granite shaft, has the following inscription quoted from President Theodore Roosevelt's "Winning of the West" : —
"General Andrew Lewis, 1716-1781 — Pioneer Patriot, Hero of the Battle of Point Pleasant, which was the most closely contested of any battle fought with Northwestern Indians, was the opening act in the drama whereof the closing scene was played at Yorktown."
Frances Bland Randolph Chapter; of Petersburg, recently celebrated the surrender of Cornwallis by a Colonial ball.
Great Bridge Chapter ; of Norfolk, is one of the largest chapters, and erected a monument on the banks of the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal on the site of the Great Bridge, with appropriate ceremonies — 1903.
Hampton Chapter; of Hampton, looks after and keeps in repair tombstones of Revolutionary heroes lying in St. John's churchyard.
Albemarle Chapter; of Charlottesville, the first work it ever did of a public character was to furnish a duplicate of Mount Vernon for the Columbia Exposition, Chicago, 1893, and that most exact replica was seen and admired by thousands who otherwise would probably never see it on the picturesque heights overlooking the Potomac.
This Chapter takes great interest in building an avenue, to be known as ''Jefferson Memorial Road," to connect "Monticello,'* Jefferson's home, with Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, to which institution he devoted the best energies of his life. His wide experience, travel and
244 Story of the Records
tastes all splendidly equipped him for founding an institu- tion of learning, and he said he would rather be known as the founder of a College than as President of the United States.
Miss Caroline R. Randolph, great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, belonged to this chapter as an honorary member during the late years of her life. This chapter has marked the grave of Mrs. Marie Antoinette Hendrick, a granddaughter of Patrick Henry.
Betty Washington Lewis Chapter ; of Fredericksburg, also had a granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, Mrs. Marie C. Mason, as an honorary member on its rolls. At one time that chapter offered a medal for the best essay on Colonial history, which was won by a student of the Freder- icksburg College.
Perhaps no better close for this history of Virginia chap- ters could be selected than one relating to the final scenes of the closing drama — ^'The treaty of 1783 was briefly these articles: A full and complete recognition of the the Inde- pendence of the United States, the recession by Great Britain of Florida to Spain; the surrender of all the re- maining territory east of the Mississippi, and south of the Great Lakes, to the United States ; the free navigation of the Mississippi and the lakes to American rivers ; the conces- sion of mutual rights in the Newfoundland fisheries ; and the retention of Canada, Nova Scotia, and the exclusive control of the St. Lawrence by England.
"Early in August, Sir Guy Carlton received instructions to evacuate New York City. Three months were spent in making arrangements for that important event. Finally, on the 25th of November, 1783, everything being ready, the British army embarked on board the fleet ; the sails were spread, the ships stood out to sea ; dwindled to white specks on the horizon ; disappeared. The British were gone. After the struggles of an eight years' war, the patriots had achieved the independence of their country. The United
Story of the Records 245
States of America took an equal station among the nations of the earth.
"Nine days after Carlton's departure there was a most effecting scene in the city. Washington assembled his offi- cers, and bade them a final adieu. When they were met the chieftain spoke a few affectionate words to his com- rades, who came forward in turn, and with tears and sobs, which the veterans no longer cared to conceal, bade him farewell. Washington then walked to Whitehall, followed by a vast concourse of citizens and soldiers, and from there departed to Annapolis, where Congress was in session. On has way, he paused in Philadelphia, and made to the proper officers a report of his expenses during the war (it will be remembered, he received no compensation for services until many years afterwards) . The account was in his own hand- writing, and covered an expenditure of seventy-four thousand, four hundred and eighty-five dollars — all correct to a cent.
The route of the Chief from Paulus Hook to Annapolis was a continuous triumph. The people by thousands flocked from villages and roadside to see him pass ; gray-headed statesmen to speak words of praise ; young men to shout with enthusiasm; maidens to strew his way with flowers."
CHAPTER IX.
ENTUCKY: Daniel Boone will take us into Old Kentucky. He had lived on the banks of the Yadkin, North Carolina, where his father settled, and he moved from Pennsylvania when Daniel was a boy. We will follow him into Kentucky, where he was sent in 1769, to explore the border region of that State. We cannot narrate all the vicissitudes of this brave pioneer, but the architects of the National Capitol, when they placed the four oblong panels in Alto-relievo over the doors of the Rotunda, to do honor to some of the early pioneers, they engraved upon the walls of the capitol the history of the Red Man better than they knew. On the east is the landing of the Pilgrims, and the Indians offering them bread in the form of an ear of corn; on the west is a panel containing a groupe of five figures, representing Pocahontas' interposition in preserving the life of Captain John Smith ; over the North entrance, William Penn is represented under the spreading elms in the act of presenting his treaty, the elder Chief is carrying in his hand the Calumet, or ''Pipe of Peace ;" while over the southern door, Daniel Boone has just discharged his rifle, and the dead Indian lies at his feet. Where can we find a more graphic description of the Indians' history? During the Revolution, the Kentucky pioneers were constantly beset by the Indians. After the expedition of General Clarke, in 1779, the frontier was more secure, thousands began to emigrate into the territory. Virginia relinquished her claim, and in 1792 Kentucky was admitted into the Union. These early pioneers took with them the religion, the patriotism, and the sturdy qualities that make a true and solid people. In the nineteenth century Ken- tucky Daughters rallied to do honor to her great men and women. It was a natural sequence that the first Chap-
Story of the Records 247
ter should have as their patron saint John Marshall, their chief citizen, who sits in dignity in marble at the feet of the United States Capitol, and through the ages will tell to coming generations who was the first Chief Justice of the New Republic. This Chapter, since its early days, under the leadership of the late Mrs. Henry L. Pope, has never stopped in its good work. From their hands the great explorer. General George Rogers Clarke, will have erected to his memory a befitting monument.
BooNESBORO Chapter will erect a monument on the historic spot of Boonesboro, where Daniel Boone first located. The Rebecca Bryan Boone Chapter has restored the monument to Daniel Boone at Frankfort. The Isaac Shelby Chapter, few in numbers, does the patriotic work of Daughters who are in earnest. They have sent books to the soldiers in the Phillippines, given gold medals to the best historical students.
The Daughters of the land of Henry Clay, the great leader of the Whig Party, and one of the strong pillars of the Nation, will see to it that the men and women of their Commonwealth are enrolled among the Nation's great heroes, their noble deeds, their sacrifices for home and Country will be recorded in the ''Daughters' Book of Line- age."
The most striking incident in the history of the Indian wars was that commemorated by the Lexington Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in the dedication of their memorial to the pioneer women of Bryan Station. The members of this Chapter have earned for themselves distinction by erecting the first memorial ever raised in this country to women by women, and in a worthy manner have honored a deed celebrated in the history of their State. The members, without reserve, have given time and labor to this work, and now have the gratification of knowing, as a result of their efforts, a suitable monument marks one of the most important events in Kentucky history. On motion
248 Story of the Records
of Miss Nelly Talbott Kincaid, this work was begun in 1894. Miss Genevera Morgan, who had long endeavored to excite interest, was unceasing in her work for its adop- tion.
The story of these heroic women is as follows, given in part by Mary Caswell McLellan : "Early in the summer of 1782 a band of warriors assembled in Chillicothe for the purpose of perfecting plans for a raid upon the weak settle- ments of Kentucky. They were joined by two renegade white men, several British officers encouraging them, and holding out the hope of regaining once more their former hunting grounds. Nearly one thousand Indians ad- vanced into Kentucky. Their plan was to surprise and capture Bryan Station, and then attack Lexington, five miles away. It was a garrison of forty-four men ; the station was in the form of a parallelogram, with block houses at the angles. The spring which supplied the Garrison was at the foot of the hill, at a distance of fifty yards from the fort. The Indians reached Bryan Station on the night of the i6th of August, their presence being unknown to the Garrison. They were in ambush in the canebrake, on the opposite side of the creek, within easy gunshot of the spring. One hund- red Indians were placed on the Lexington road, on the other side of the fort ; they were to attract the attention of the Garrison, and decoy them outside *:he wall ; this ac- complished, the main body would rush from their hiding places upon the unguarded gate of the Fort, and effect an entrance. A company of volunteers were to leave the fort next morning to go to the assistance of a settlement south of the Kentucky River. As they were passing out, they were greeted with bullets from the rifles of the savages near the Lexington road. They soon defined their object, for they were skilled in Indian mode of welfare. Runners were sent to Lexington for aid, preparations were made for siege. A serious embarrassment was the want of water; if the men went to the spring, they would be attacked. They were told that the Indians across the creek believed their
Story of the Records 249
ambush was unknown. The women were called together, and a project of their going for water advanced; it was a hazardous task. At first they hesitated ; but, being told that the Indians would not disclose their ambush by firing upon the women, the women realized that the hope of the Fort was on their accomplishing this task, one by one they took their buckets and sallied forth ; they went in a body to the spring, where they were in easy range of the rifles of the several hundred savages. They reached the spring in safety, and bravely returned, though it is told, as they neared the Fort, their steps quickened into a run for the shelter of the Fort. Soon the fighting began in earnest, but reinforce- ments from Lexington reached them before noon. The Indians loss was heavy, and at night they tried to set fire to the Fort, but before daylight they broke camp and stole away."
The memorial which marks the site of this famous attack, and commemorates the historic part taken by women, is an octagonal stone wall, five feet in height, twelve in di- ameter, built about the spring which issued at the foot of the hill, whose top was crowned by the Fort. On the face of the wall are three large tablets, bearing suitable inscrip- tions, and several smaller ones, upon which have been carved the names of the women who carried the water.
Mrs. Wallis M. Shelby, a great-great-granddaughter of the founder of the Fort, was unremitting in her work for the accomplishment for this memorial. Mrs. Mary Gratz Morton did much to make the memorial ceremonies inter- esting. The Regent, Miss Lucretia Hart Clay, a great- granddaughter of Henry Clay, was the presiding oflicer at the ceremonial. The tablets were unveiled by Miss Mary Brinker Bryan, a great-great-granddaughter of William Bryan, founder of the Station. Could any work be more appropriate or add a deeper veneration for the founders of the Commonwealth, or speak in more telling terms for the work of the Daughters of Kentucky?
Fifteen of the ancestors of Miss Elizabeth Bryant Johns-
250 Story of the Records
ton, who was a Kentucky woman, and well known in the Society, as having been Historian General of the National Society, and on the Board of Management, were among the women memorialized. Polly Hawkins Craig was her great- great-grandmother. She was seventy years old at the time of the attack, and was the first woman to volunteer to go for the water, and her grand-child, nine years old, carried a "piggin" on her head, and thus brought water to the Fort.
Miss Johnson has heard her great-grandmother, Ann Sanders, describe the battle, tell the story of moulding the bullets and scraping lint, and making bandages for the wounded. Robert S. Johnson was during the siege at Wil- liamsburg representing the House of Burgesses, from the County of Kentucky. His wife was among the volunteers who carried buckets to the spring. She left a little girl in the Fort, and a boy baby in the cradle, which was set on fire by the Indian's burning arrows, and the little sister rescued her baby brother, and this baby later became the Honorable Dick Johnson, afterwards Vice-President of the United States with Martin Van Buren.
The Kentucky Chapters throughout the State in contri- butions to Continental Hall ; in rewards for study for his- tory, in doing the ''next things," are making their record.
The National Society has drawn deep from Kentucky Daughters. The first to answer Mrs. Lockwood's appeal to organize was a Kentucky woman. Miss Mary Desha ; later, was Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth ; also from Ken- tucky; and Mrs. Eleanor Holmes Lindsay, who has served on the National Board, and again so efficiently as Chairman of the Committee on Architecture, is from Kentucky.
In reviewing the work of these women, we go gack to the pioneer days, and we find the reason for their untiring
patriotism.
* * * *
TENNESSEE : The country was on the eve of revolution when the first settlers crossed the mountains into Tennessee.
Story of the Records 251
This small band of riflemen that gathered on the banks of the Watauga, along the western slopes of the Alleghanies, were the advance guard of Christian civilization. They blazed the way through the wilderness. These early pioneers found the bufifalo trace had become the Indian trail ; in years these were widened into roads, over which the uncounted hosts, who were to people the western half of the Continent, were to travel. Then the roads became turnpikes, and civilization transformed the turnpikes into the steel highways of the Nation — emblematic of the birth and growth of the great Republic.
We know of the sturdy yeomanry of Watauga, those "Over Mountain Men," who came to rescue and help, turn the tide at King's Mountain, under Savier, Shelby, Camp- bell, and McDowell, and thus far away Tennessee struck a blow for liberty.
History tells us that through all the years of the revolu- tion, John Sevier and his little band of two hundred riflemen held the gateway of the Alleghenies against the savage hordes enlisted by Great Britain. It was the pure and unselfish love of liberty and its principles which promp- ted this "rear guard of the Revolution" to join in the struggle against the British, and never once did the savages break through these mountain defiles into Carolina. For twenty years the contest lasted. Victories at last sub- dued the Indians. It was then the people said, peace and "Nolichucky Jack," (as they called Sevier) reigned upon the borders. As one of their worthy daughters has said, "Among the pioneers of this country were descendants of the Cavalier and Puritan, the patriotic Welch and the sturdy Scotch-Irish ; but whatever their blood or lineage, — of Puri- tan or Cavalier stock, of the land of the Shamrock, the Rose or the Thistle, — they all united in their love for their country and their devotion to those high principles which governed our forefathers and mothers, and sustained them in the long, desperate struggle, begun in the fence corners of Concord and Lexington, and most gloriously terminated
252 Story of the Records
on the field of victory at Yorktown." We cannot accom- pany Sevier through all the years of his Governorship of the short lived State of Frankland, or as a representative in Congress from the valley of the Mississippi, but we know he was made Brigadier General by Washington's appointment, was the first Governor of the State of Tennes- see, and held that position or one in Congress until his death; but we follow him in part through the days of chivalry and romance that we may get a closer view of his intrepid love of his country.
What have we in history more heroic than the migration of 300 of these men and women from Watauga, into the wilds of Tennessee, under the leadership of that steady patient. God-fearing man. General James Robertson, whose answer to General Savier, when he tried to dissuade him from this plunge into the wilderness, was — "We are the advance guard of civilization, and our way is across the Continent." The fort they built on the Cumberland and half a score of log houses was the beginning of fair Nash- ville.
The spring following their emigration, the Indians showed signs of hostility. Robertson, with his brave band sallied out of the Fort, and charged down the hill, and ordered his troops to dismount. They soon discovered about three hundred Indians in ambush ; some of the In- dians escaped and ran for the Fort; while the horses of the whites had run in another direction, many of the In- dians ran in pursuit of the horses. The men left in the Fort had gathered about the gateway, where, surround- ing them, were fifty large, ferocious dogs, trained by the settlers to hunt wild beasts and Indians.
The wife of General Robertson, who was Charlotte Reeves of North Carolina, had mounted the look-out sta- tion, and stood rifle in hand, watching the rapid events upon which hung the life of her husband. She did not lose her self-possession, but she called to the sentry, — "Open the gates and let the dogs upon them!" the order
Story of the Records 253
was obeyed, and away the dogs flew and attacked the nearest body of Indians. They were obliged to halt and fight the dogs with their tomahawks. This gave the opportunity for the whites to escape to the fort. Mrs. Robertson stood at the gate, as Robertson's men followed one after an- other, and entered the fort. As her husband came in, covered with powder and smoke, she is reported as saying to him, "Thank God ! who gave the Indians a dread of dogs and love of horses."
It was James Robertson and his compatriots who added an increasing value to the vacant lands beyond the Cum- berland mountains.
The treason of General Wilkenson of Kentucky, was in strange contrast to the conduct of Robertson. The tempt- ing bait of Spanish gold for separation, had no allurements for honest James Robertson, notwithstanding the hardships and uncertainty of years of conflict. The admission of Tennessee as a State to the Union, and the election of John Savier as its first Governor, and the treaty of peace with the Indians, made up in full to these early pioneers for the hardships of these trying years.
Mrs. Mildred Spottswood Mathes, who was so often welcomed in the councils of the ''Daughters," in the early days of the organization, when every stroke rightly aimed meant so much for its life, has given as a legacy to the records what she has found in research. In her account of the days in Tennessee, when the State was a babe in the sisterhood, and had not as yet been adopted, she says, "Tennessee had a share in our great National Struggle for Independence ; for she inherited some of the victories won on the soil of other states, and she has told how brave the women were in the face of danger; spinning, weaving, making garments, tending the cattle and fields, parching the corn, and beating it into meal, and soaking it with a wild honey and maple syrup, filling the bags so as to have the food ready at a moments warning in case of invasion."
254 Story of the Records
Echota was the capital city of all the Indian tribes, from the Tennessee River to the mountains of Georgia ; here was their council house, where all questions of peace or war was decided; here in fantastic dress of paint and feathers, the war dance was held, and here the Calumet was smoked. The green corn dance, and the sacred dance of the "white dog" was performed. It was the home of the great Archi- magus, or King of the Cherokee nation, the wigwam of Oconnostota, the most powerful chieftain of all the tribes was near, and the abode of Nancy Ward, the "beloved woman," was under their protection; she was the prophet- ess of the tribe, and lived in barbaric splendor; she was a woman queenly and commanding, one who was to play such an important part in the fate of so many people, and almost in the destiny of a nation. She was a half-breed princess ; her father was an English officer, and her mother a Cherokee. Nancy Ward was more than a queen, she was the inspired sibyl ; her power was absolute ; her influence was always on the side of justice and humanity. Peace reigned in Echota, until Alexander Cameron, a Scotchman, a bad adviser and disturber of the peace, made discontent among the Indians. He questioned the white man's right to land, and oflfered bribes for treachery. James Robert- son went alone to Echota, met the Indian Council of the various tribes, who were all there in their war-paint and feathers, but he persuaded them to smoke the pipe of peace, and there he met the ''beloved woman," Nancy Ward. Later, she went to Isaac Thomas, an Indian trader, at mid- night, and told him to tell Robertson that the whole Indian nation was on the war-path, and to be ready. Through this timely warning, the savage plans were thwarted, and they were repulsed with heavy loss. Constant warfare was begun, every Indian town was burned except Echota, the home of Nancy Ward, who never failed to warn the white men. During one of the raids, a number of women ven- tured out of the Fort, to take exercise, and bring water from a spring to the Fort. Among them was Catherine
Story of the Records 255
Sherill, a daughter of one of the earHer settlers ; she was a dark, rich type of beauty, about twenty years old. While unsuspecting danger, a sudden war-whoop rang through the woods, a band of yelling savages rushed toward them ; — the women darted to the gate of the Fort; the Indians close after them. Catherine had gone farther than the rest, and was cut off from the entrance. John Savier saw her danger, and rushed out to save her in the face of three hundred yelling savages. Robertson pulled him back, say- ing, "You cannot save her, and will destroy us." Kate saw her danger, the tomahawk and scalping knife waving over her head. The savages were between her and the gate, she turned and made for a stockade, which was some dist- ance from the entrance ; she leaped over an eight-foot high palisade, and fell into the arms of Savier, who was waiting there to catch her, and for the first time, he called her "My Bonny Kate! my brave girl for a foot race." The Indians lost many in the affray, and the Fort was not damaged.
Two years passed, and as we have told before, Robertson had departed from Watauga, leaving his truest and tried friend, Sevier. Robertson and his men plunged into the forest, while Colonel John Donelson, father of Mrs. Andrew Jackson, was to take the families and effects by inland navigation from Fort Patrick Henry down the Holston and Tennessee and up the Ohio and Cumberland rivers, the distance being over two thousand miles. No man, red or white, had ever attempted the voyage. It lasted four months. Savier during this time found a little rest from Indian depredations as they were on their good behavior, and made up his mind to do a little celebrating on his own account. He made preparations for a barbecue on an extended scale, to which he invited all his friends ; this included all the women and men and children in the terri- tory. Under wide spreading trees were long tables, that would seat several thousand guests, oxen split open and dressed, were being barbecued on huge gridirons over
256 Story of the Records
charcoal fires; cider and applejack was plentiful, and the feasting and dancing was to last "until the stars paled on the mountain."
Before the feast, a ceremony was to be witnessed in the house. Sevier had laid aside his hunting shirt, and was dressed in the full uniform of a continental colonel, and by his side stood the graceful, beautiful, ''Bonny Kate," who four years ago had made the eventful leap over the stock- ade. Parson Doake, with a contented smile, pronounced John Sevier and Catherine Sherill husband and wife.
As before written, this is the woman who was the wife of the first Governor of Tennessee. Do we wonder now, that they have a "Bonny Kate" Chapter in old Tennessee, and that its patriotic Regent, Miss May Temple, and members give marked attention to the early history of the State, so rich in patriotic deeds and historic incident? This is a notable feature that marks the work of every chapter; for the descendants of the heroes of Watauga settlement and King's Mountain are to be found scattered over Tennessee. Thirty-three revolutionary soldiers' graves have been found, and proper recognition and service given.
Williamson County is rich in historic incident. After the conclusion of the war with England, North Carolina awarded her sons, for military service, grants of land in Williamson County. Hither came the men of the Revolu- tion and made homes, some from Georgia, others from Virginia, South Carolina, and elsewhere. Old Glory Chap- ter, of Franklin County, has been doing good work in the identification of the graves of these men, and they have in hand the erection of a monument to their honor ; they have also noted many historic places. A part of the old Natches trace on a sheltered lot on Main Street, the old law office of Thomas H. Benton, and two places where important treaties were made with the Indians, have been marked. A crowning effort of the Daughters of this State is to erect a monument to the soldiers of 1776.
Story of the Records 257
The Hermitage and Watauga Chapters of Memphis have restored the stone at the grave of Mrs. Dorothea Spottswood Henry Winston, daughter of Patrick Henry. Watauga Chapter has shown a deep interest in their own State Centennial, as well as other National Expositions, showing they keep abreast with the forward movement of the country.
The Chickamauga Chapter did a work for the soldiers during the Spanish War, whose record would fill a space much larger than we have to give. Its Regent has well said, "But our women are knights errant to the last." By unanimous vote the members of Chickamauga Chapter pledged their time, efforts, and money for relief work among the soldiers at Camp Thomas. One surgeon said, '^You ladies can do nothing. We need everything before our Government supplies can arrive ; we need cots, for we have typhoid patients on the ground ; we need fifty blankets be- fore night for soldiers sick with pneumonia." The sur- geon, the Regent said, "Had never gauged the capacity of a woman's good will." Before night a volunteer com- mittee of twenty "Daughters" had supplied every one of the articles enumerated as necessary. They did not wait for some one to furnish "transportation," but procured a wag- gon and went themselves with the goods, to see that no mistake was made by a careless servant in the distribution. An appropriation of fifty dollars was made from the chap- ter treasury, and a committee appointed, known as the "Hospital Committee of the Chapter," and each member worked as if each day might be her last. The Regent, Mrs. Amelia I. Chamberlain, and the Treasurer, Mrs. Katherine W. T. Rathbun, with one or two others, were on duty through all the days of this arduous task, beginning early in May, and working until the very close of the war, though living on Lookout Mountain.
W. J. Trimble, of the National Relief Commission, has left this record, ''From our rapidly depleting treasury, we fear to draw the funds absolutely necessary for the diet
17
258 Story of the Records
kitchen. The Daughters of the American Revolution had already placed to our credit two hundred dollars for the purchase of butter, and now they come forward to relieve all anxiety, saying, 'Establish your kitchen, and we will pay all the expenses,' and they have more than made good their generous offer. The light diet kitchen of Camp Thomas, with their untold blessings, belong to the women of Cha- tanooga."
The Cumberland of Nashville, supplied the regiments of soldiers that passed through with well filled baskets, and Watauga Chapter organized for war work. As soon as war was declared a committee of the whole called in their neighbors to form the ''Watauga Relief Circles," and they enlisted for the war. The needs of the Second Tennessee Regiment of Infantry were adopted as their special charge. This regiment was stationed at Camp Alger, Washington, D. C. In addition to every conceivable article being pro- vided for soldiers needs and comfort, several hundred dol- lars were sent for the relief of the sick. The Hermitage Chapter in connection with the Watauga Chapter have fitted up a room in the Aged Woman's Home of Memphis for any descendant of a Revolutionary patriot who may need such help. The war work of this chapter was done in connection with the Watauga Chapter. Another Chap- ter did good work along these lines, the Margaret Gaston of Lebanon; it has also contributed liberally to Continental Hall.
In fact, there is not a chapter in Tennessee that has not caught the patriotic spirit of those early pioneers. If they are not all direct descendants, they must have absorbed it from the soil, and breathed it in the air.
CHAPTER X.
HIO: At the close of the War of the Revolu- tion the "Territory of Ohio" was considered to be in the far West. Washington had been in that favored region twice. Once as a Government surveyor, and the second time with the ill-fated expedition of General Braddock, who lost his life in the AUeghanies in a fight with the Indians. And no doubt Washington's representations of this beauti- ful land enhanced its fame, for soon after the war was closed it was proposed in the State Legislature of Virginia, as well as the Federal Congress to pay troops for service in Government lands, and both Generals Putnam and Symmes organized colonies, composed mostly of old soldiers, to settle in the territory on sections assigned them. General Putnam selected the Southeastern portion of the State, and founded the town of Marietta, while General Symmes selected land in the vicinity of Fort Washington, and later on, lands preempted by members of his company, the City of Cincinnati was founded on the last site of old Fort Washington, which was first located at South Bend. In 1788 John Cleve Symmes made a contract with the Government for the purchase of a million acres of land lying between the Miami rivers, and afterwards sold to Mathers Denman, what is the present site of the ''Queen City" of the West.
General Putnam's grant included much of the ''Western Reserve," and thus the Ohio territory was settled by de- scendants of the armies in the Revolutionary War. It soon began to fill up, and was admitted into the Union 1800, the first state of the middle West to come into the Federation. Connecticut, New Jersey, New England and Virginia furnished most of the early settlers, many of whom took a leading part in building up the state. A historian has
26o Story of the Records
said 'That the citizens of Ohio have as much reason to be proud of their origin as those of New England, Pennsyl- vania, or Virginia have to boast of theirs." The pioneers of the forest were those noble patriots who had imperiled their lives and shed their blood in the War of the Revolu- tion, and when the conflict was ended their country was too poor, with its depreciated currency, to pay the debt, their eyes turned to Ohio, where the Putnam Colony founded Marietta, and the Symmes at Fort Washington founded the city of Cincinnatti on La Belle River, a land of promise, "as fertile as the valley of Egypt," each old soldier taking up not only his quarter section, as war pay, but adding by purchase to his acreage, as did the ancestor of the writer, and in some instances, thus establishing a record that muster rolls have failed to show.
In one of the darkest periods of the Revolution W^ash- ington was asked what he would do if the British finally succeeded in subduing the Colonies, he replied, "Submis- sion is now out of the question." "But whither shall we fly?" ''Behind yonder mountains," said he — "There we can be free in the valley of the Ohio, which is as fertile as the valley of Egypt, and with the mountains for a barrier we can defend ourselves and be happy." From such be- ginnings one would naturally expect to find good material for chapter organization. And the very first work under- taken by the Cincinnati Chapter was to unite its efforts and energies with those of the Sons of the American Revolution to place a statue of "A Minute Man on Guard," at old Fort Washington.
A beautiful work was inaugurated by one of the members of the Cincinnati Chapters of Cincinnati of widespread im- portance, a few years since, inasmuch as it proposed to do for children of foreign birth what was being done for the Children of the American Revolution, viz. ; educate them in patriotism by holding up its heroes and heroines for ad- miration and emulation, and giving these alien children knowledge of American history. The society is known as
Story of the Records 261
'The Children of the Republic," and Mrs. John A. Murphy is its foster-mother and founder. This unique or- ganization has passed the experimental stage, and is now progressing into other states, and meets with popular favor everywhere, there being no difficulty in securing speakers at any time or place for such an evidently useful society.
During the Spanish-American War Ohio Chapters took an active part in relief work, and under Mrs. Estes G. Rathbone, the "Daughters" joined the "Army and Navy League," and, working with this League, Mrs. Rathbone was placed in charge of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Day- ton Railroad Stations, and also at the Junction. It was early decided that relief work should not be confined to Ohio soldiers alone, but that every soldier passing through the state should receive every possible relief and comfort needed. Thus soldiers from Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and other states received aid and comfort. The Cincinnati Chapter at this time also instituted and ran a hospital car, with a force of nurses and physicians and every necessary appliance. Other State Chapters also en- tered heart and soul into this work for the soldiers. But it is simply impossible to go into details, as there is enough to fill a large volume if all that the D. A. R. chapters did during that brief Spanish-American War were told.
The Jonathan Dayton Chapter; of Dayton, received permission from the City Council to improve Van Cleve Park, the scene of Indian battles before the Revolution, and the location of the first settlers. It is Dayton's one his- toric spot, and is proudly cherished by citizens as well as chapter members. The first house built in the town has "been given to the Chapter, and it is to be a Chapter House and depository of historic relics.
The Nathaniel Massie Chapter; of Chillicothe, pre- sented to the city the portrait of the founder, General Mas- sie, the portrait being provided by three grandsons of the General.
262 Story of the Records
The Western Reserve Chapter; of Cleveland, In con- junction with the Martha Pitkin Chapter, has made a faithful search for the records of the pioneer woman patri- ots, and the result was published in the Woman's Depart- ment of the Centennial Commission under the title of "The Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve." Ohio chapters have published their own lineage books, and taken an in- terest in having chairs of history established in various colleges in the state.
The Western Reserve Chapter, has established a practical custom in arranging for courses of his- torical lectures for foreigners in their own language, which are profusely illustrated by stereoptican views. The large population of foreigners in Cleveland, and the fact that there is no histories in their language in the public library, make this course of lectures peculiarly and signifi- cantly helpful, and as they have been principally attended by young men, rendered this a most fruitful field of labor. This course was highly appreciated by those for whom they were intended who expressed their gratitude in no uncer- tain terms. There are nearly forty thousand Magyars or Hungarians in the city by the lake.
A standing obligation of the chapter is its large contri- bution towards the maintenance of a course of lectures upon American history in the Western Reserve College for women, which it is hoped in due time will expand into founding a chair for that study.
Ohio Chapters, as in other States, have encouraged a study of American and Revolutionary history by pupils in the public schools through prizes offered for best essays- on designated subjects.
The Wawwilaway Chapter; of Hillsboro, took part by special invitation in the dedication of the new High School building, and its souvenir of the occasion was left on the wall of the same in the shape of a handsome tablet,.
Story of the Records 263
ten and a half by five and a half feet, on which is inscribed the Declaration of Independence, the lettering and decor- ating all in blue on a pure white background. The keystone of the arch is the head of Washington, and the old time "Mother" the centre-piece of the foundation.
The John Reily Chapter ; of Hamilton, has come into possession of the old Powder Magazine of Fort Hamilton. The fort was built in 1791 by General Arthur St. Clair, as a protection against the Indians, and enlarged in 1793 by General Anthony Wayne. It is named in honor of Alex- ander Hamilton, and it was abandoned in 1796. When the Government sold the property it became in successive years a jail, a church, a school-house, a magazine for the cannon and ammunition used on patriotic occasions, a private dwelling, and now a Chapter House and Museum for John Reily Chapter. This log building has been removed by the chapter to a more central site, given by the city on the banks of the Miami, within the boundaries of the old Fort.
The New Connecticut Chapter has found patriotic expression in erecting a memorial monument to General Edward Paine, the Revolutionary soldier who founded Paynesville, in 1800, which was dedicated July 4th, 1900.
Mary Washington Chapter; of Mansfield, has located several graves of Revolutionary soldiers in the village ceme- tery, while New Connecticut Chapter has prepared short histories of the Revolutionary soldiers in Lake County whose graves have been located. These local lists are of great value to genealogists, and they have been distributed to many libraries and institutions, including the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, the Newberry Library of Chicago, the Genelogic and Historic Society of Boston, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati; and what was begun as a labor of love, will thus soon have paid its own necessary expenses. This Chapter has placed a tablet in the portico of the Sailor's Memorial Build-
264 Story of the Records
ing. In these and various other ways, the Ohio Chapters have made a goodly record.
The Columbus Chapter; of Columbus, has derived much profit and pleasure from a series of papers contributed by its members entitled "Tales of a Grandfather" — giving bits of ancestral history.
For another interesting amount of work the Chapter has done we quote from the report of the Chapter by Mrs. Ed- ward Orton, Jr.: — "June 28, 1904, was the date of inter- esting ceremonies attending the unveiling of a peace me- morial tablet, by the Columbia Chapter. This monument consists of a huge pink granite boulder, resting on a circular bed of masonry. It is situated in a beautiful little park in that part of the city known as West Side, but was originally named Franklinton, and was founded while Columbus proper was still the forest primeval.
"The event this memorial commemorates is more than local in character, as it is of interest in the State as well as the capitol of Ohio. During the war of 1812 the British, as- sisted by the Indian allies, were waging a cruel and relent- less war. The headquarters of the army of the North- west, under General William Henry Harrison, afterward ninth President of the United States, were at Franklinton. The Indian tribes of Ohio were a constant menace to the safety of the inhabitants. It was resolved to take means which would relieve and possibly control the entire situa- tion. In pursuance of this determination a council was held between General Harrison, representing the United States Government and four Indian tribes, the Wyandotts, the Shawnees, the Senecas and the Delawares. The spokesman of the Indians Vv^as an old and venerable Wyan- dotte Chief, known as "Tarhe the Crane." He was recog- nized as a leader, respected for his fine traits of character, and was friendly to the whites. The council was held on the twenty-first of June, 1813. General Harrison stood under the magnificent branches of an elm tree, surrounded by the
Story of the Records 265
officers of his staff in brilliant uniform. Behind was a de- tachment of soldiers, on his front were the Indians, around all were the inhabitants of the region far and near, with many a mother and maid as interested spectators.
"The General began his address in calm and measured tones, urging the Indians to move further into the interior or else openly espouse the cause of the Americans against the British foe. At the close of his remarks a profound silence followed. It was a trying moment for all. Human life and safety depended upon the response. At last old Tarhe arose and gave his hand to General Harrison in token of friendship, and stated that he and his braves would become the friends and allies of the Americans.
'*A scene of great excitement followed. Shouts of joy filled the air. Women wept, and the children by cries and laughter added to the confusion.
"The Indians were true to their promise. The council while not properly a treaty may be regarded as such. It in effect confirmed the treaty of Greenville, and resulted in a permanent peace between the whites and Indians of Ohio."
This is the event the Columbus Chapter has commemor- ated, and the day of the unveiling ceremonies was a me- morial one in their annals.
INDIANA: Indiana, like Kentucky and Ohio, received many Revolutionary soldiers into her fertile territory dur- ing the days following the Revolution, but many of her immigrant settlers hailed from North and South Carolina, so that in the early days a notable feature of the landscape was the pioneer cabin with the chimney outside the house, in the Southern fashion, while "Yankees" put theirs inside, to make snug corners for closets. Chance visitors could thus, at a glance, tell where the settler hailed from, from the style of the cabin he put up.
Southern Indiana was noted for its picturesque and beau- tiful scenery, and the inland for its rich prairie lands which
266 Story of the Records
had only to be "tickled with a hoe" to burst forth into lux- uriant crops that were the wonder and admiration of the pioneers, especially those who came from the rocky lands and sterile fields of New England.
The Indiana Chapters from the first united with the Sons of the American Revolution, and later the ''Children," to locate graves of Revolutionary heroes. And already a large number have been found.
The General De Lafayette Chapter is located at the city of Lafayette, and a granddaughter of General Lafay- ette, Madame de Melanie de Laserrie de Corcelle, was an honorary member of the Chapter at the time of her death, August, 1895. Her daughter, the Marquise de Chambrun,. is also an honorary member. This chapter presented a "loving cup" to the Battleship Indiana, 1896.
The Carolina Scott Harrison Chapter; of Indian- apolis, was named for the first President General, wife of President Benjamin Harrison, and is probably the largest in the state. This chapter also has on its rolls the Ex- President General, Mrs. Fairbanks, and Mrs. Mary McKee, daughter of Ex-President Harrison. During the Spanish- American War, this chapter did much good work for soldiers' relief, as did so many other chapters of the state. The generous gifts of Mrs. Fairbanks, from time to time, to Continental Hall building fund, add greatly to the pres- tige of this Chapter.
Spencer Chapter; of Spencer, has located and marked the graves of nine Revolutionary soldiers.
The Dorothy Q. Chapter ; of Crawfordsville, is also en- gaged in this laudable work.
Piankeshaw Chapter, of New Albany, keeps "Indiana Day," and recently celebrated by responses to roll-call from
Story of the Records 267
Indiana authors, and with papers on the early courts, early educational and religious institutions, and the early literature of Indiana were read. All the Indiana Chapters keep in mind and celebrate Washington's birthday, and Flag Day. The day before the anniversary of Flag Day fell on Sunday that year, Saturday, June 13th, the Chapter made a pil- grimage to the site of the home of George Rogers Clarke, of Clarkesville, about three miles from New Albany, at the Falls of the Ohio. The Chapter through its committee is securing all the historic relics obtainable to frame into its Charter, among them a piece of pear tree that stood in front of a house where the first State election in Indiana was held.
The Washburn Chapter, of Greencastle, is one of the latest organized, and was named for General Washburn, who surveyed the Yellowstone Park, and who was a general in the late domestic war, as well as descended from a long list of Revolutionary heroes. Putnam County has several Revolutionary soldiers buried within her limits, and there is no doubt that this young chapter will not be far be- hind in locating and marking their graves. Mrs. De Motte, one of the chapter officers, is a daughter of the "Patron Saint," and wife of the celebrated lecturer on Physics and Ethics, notably that of "The Harp of the Senses," — Prof. John D. De Motte, who has done a good work.
The John Paul Chapter, of Madison. There was a small cemetery of a few squares breadth right in the heart of the city, which long since had sunk into that unsightly decrepitude of the neglected graveyard, when the chapter sought and succeeded in awakening an interest in convert- ing this neglected God's acre into a park, and it has since been transformed into a place of rest and beauty, a little gem of a park, in the center of the place and a pride to the city. This cemetery site, which Colonel Paul donated to the city in 1809, was then far beyond the corporation limits. It
268 Story of the Records
now occupies a conspicuous position in the city. Neglected for years it was a reproach to the living, and irreverent to the dead. Nothing remained to do but to convert it into place of rest and inspiration of the living, in memory of him who gave it. It has been a great disappointment to the writers not to find a flourishing chapter in old Vincennes, Ind., a place so rich in incident of historic interest.
^ >;; ^; ^J:
ILLINOIS : There are nearly two thousand members en- rolled in Illinois D. A. R. Chapters. The first chapter was organized in Chicago by Mrs. Frank Osborn, Regent, March, 1891.
In 1893 ^h^s Chicago Chapter had charge of the Revolu- tionary relics in the Columbia Exposition, to which many other chapters throughout the country contributed. A Department Congress was held May 19, 1893, at the Art Palace on the Lake shore, and much interest in the Society and its objects was developed in the West. One of the leading features of the occasion was an afternoon tea and reception held at the residence of Mrs. Potter Palmer, who was president of the Woman's P)oard of Lady Managers of the Exposition. Many distinguished women of the United States and foreign countries were present at this elegant en- tertainment.
The Chicago Chapter tendered a public reception to the Count and Countess de Rochambeau (who were guests of honor of the Nation at the unveiling of the Rochambeau Statue at Washington, D. C, May 24th, 1902), at the Art Institute in Chicago in con- junction with the Sons of the American Revolution in honor of their sires who so signally served our country in its hour of need, which occasion brought together all the notable and most distinguished citizens of Chicago, and was in every way a brilliant success.
The naming of chapters in Illinois was in many instances illustrations of happy hits in nomenclature, for instance:
Story of the Records 269
Fort Dearborn, of Evanston, Chicago being virtually on the site of the old Fort. George Rogers Clark, of Oak Park, mini (the Indian name) of Ottawa.
The Moline Chapter ; of Moline, took a lively interest in the affair when Miss Elizabeth Key, the granddaughter of Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Ban- ner, v/as dismissed from Government service, this chapter started a petition to the United States Congress for Miss Key's re-instatement, which we are informed was finally accomplished.
Moline Chapter cherishes as one of its most interesting assets a gavel made from the oak under which Black Hawk, the noted Indian Chief, signed a Treaty of Peace between himself and the whites, and was presented to the Chapter by the State Regent. Mrs. Deere was a member of this chapter when State Regent, and she presented each of the public schools with a copy of the Declaration of In- dependence.
North Shore Chapter, of Highland Park, Princeton of that place and Springfield, have each done much to incul- cate high ideals of citizenship, and to make the study of American History more popular in the public schools by offering prizes on Revolutionary and other historic themes connected with the growth of the Nation.
The Rev. James Caldwell Chapter, Jacksonville, con- tributed handsomely to relief work during the Spanish- American War, and the same thing might be said of all the other chapters of the State.
Letitia Green Stevenson Chapter, of Bloomington, was named in honor of one of the Presidents General, Mrs. Stevenson, wife of Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson. This chapter has always been noted for good works anc^
270 Story of the Records
devoted to patriotic deeds. It has located and marked sev- eral graves of Revolutionary soldiers buried in McLean County. The social features of the chapter has been re- markably successful.
The Fort Armstrong Chapter; of Rock Island, has marked the site of old Fort Armstrong. The monument is built on the spot where the Block House once stood, and is between Fort Armstrong Avenue and the Mississippi River. The monument is built of blocks of native stone, oblong in shape, 9 feet high and surmounted by a pile of cannon balls. One side bears this inscription : *The site of Fort Armstrong. Built 1816. Abandoned 1836. Erected by Fort Armstrong Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Rock Island, Illinois, 1901." On the opposite side, about a foot in diameter, is the insignia of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution. Others participated in this patriotic work which was first inaugurated by Mrs. Grace Bowers (Mrs. Thomas Brooks), a charter member of the chapter and heartily endorsed by Major Stanhope English Blunt, Commander of the Rock Island Arsenal, without whose hearty co-operation success would have been impossible. Major Blunt made an interesting address on the laying of the base of the monument, giving a history of the Old Fort and of the privations of the army in those early pioneer days. At the unveiling of the monument a month later, Mr. Edward H. Guyer, a son of the American Revolution, delivered an able address telling the story of the brave men who had figured in the history of the Fort.
The memorial was then formally tendered to Major Blunt, by the Chapter Reegnt, Mrs. Elizabeth Bradley, and accepted by him as a representative of the General Govern- ment.
Old Fort Armstrong was originally built of wood and stone, was a typical stockade of the time, and gave com- plete protection against the Indians. Having outlived its usefulness it was abandoned. It was located on
Story of the Records 271
the crossing lines between the East and the West, on a rocky island in the Mississippi, then the only avenue of transportation between the North and the South. Having served its purpose well, and civilization having obliterated the footsteps of the past, it is well for the "Daughters" to unite with the Government in preserving the memories con- nected with this interesting spot. Perhaps if the Illinois •chapters had done nothing else than to restore old Fort Armstrong it would have been excuse enough for being, l)ut Illinois chapters have done something greater yet in restoring Fort Massac. The story of this oldest Fort in the West is woven with many a strand of interesting history beginni..g with the French, who held its first thread, then came the Indians as allies, then, with the French the priest, the first missionary who delivered the first religious dis- course in the West, and laid the foundations of civiliza- tion on Christian principles just as the Pilgrims did in the New England Colonies. Father Mermet, according to ''Kopp's Jesuite Missionaries," made his visit at Fort Massac at about 1 700- 1 703. After the French and Indian occupancy the British wove the strands of history in this old fort, and .since, it has been the resting place of thousands of emigrants who followed the **Star of Empire which westward takes its way," and now after the vicissitudes and changes of nearly two hundred years Fort Massac, has, through the initiative of the Daughters of the American Revolution, been con- verted into a Memorial Park, traversed by paths leading under sylvan shades, a place of resort for old and young alike, who find in it, not only rest and recreation, but a stimulus to many interesting researches into the pages of history. The site is one of the most beatiful on the Ohio river, and commands many delightful views. The earth- works are still in a good state of preservation and very much resemble the earthworks near New Orleans.
Even the gravelled sentry walks being easily traced. "Al- though multilated and in ruins when the Daughters of the American Revolution entered upon their rescue work it was
2y2 Story of the Records
even then the noblest and most beautiful landscape in the pioneer history of the West." It was a great enterprise when they undertook to prevent the ravages of the river, to beautify a spot so rich in historic interest and incident without other resources than good intent and faith. To Mrs. Matthew T. Scott, Vice-President General of Illinois, be all grateful tribute paid, for to her belongs the chief credit since in her thought was born the patriotic desire to keep this interesting site for a public park — a State possession — but also for the arduous, unceasing, untiring effort prose- cuted by her, until that desire became an accomplished fact.
"The State Legislature responded to the Daughters' pe- tition that they should be the custodians of the honored site, and, though time may soften their interest, they will never allow it to obliterate the traces of their charge, one of the most interesting relics of our country's history."
The bill appropriating ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the purchase and improvement of Fort Massac, was passed by the Illinois Legislature on May 7, 1903, and was signed by Governor Yates a few days after (May 15).
Three thousand, five hundred dollars was paid for the twenty acres of ground composing the park, and sixty- five hundred dollars expended in carrying out the plans designed by Prof. J. C. Blair, of the University of Illinois, under his personal supervision.
The Fort Massac Commission is composed of the Gov- ernor of the State of Illinois, the Secretary of the State and the Auditor of State, the State Regent of the Illinois Daughters of the American Revolution and two Illinois Daughters appointed by the State Regent and their suc- cessors in office, all to serve without compensation. Mr. J. C. Blair, the custodian of the work of restoring reported December 28, 1904: "The grading is all done, roads and walks are all complete, all dead timber on the place neces- sary to come away has been removed, the keeper's lodge is now in course of construction, and everything in readi-
Story of the Records 2y2>
ness for the reception of the plants in the springtime ; the fencing and the gateway are completed." The river is to be kept back by a sea-wall, and there is to be a Museum and Auditorium combined. In this connection a brief resume of the history of Fort Massac will be of interest to the reader. History asrserts that the fort existed as early as 1 7 10 although others claim 1702 as the time. There are two stories of the origin of the name of the fort. Ac- cording to one, Indians disguised in bearskins decoyed the troops across the river and massacred them and because of this alleged fact, the name has been corrupted from massa- cre. President Roosevelt in his ''Winning of the West," said the name was bestowed after the French had built the fort, and that it was so named in honor of the engineer who did the work. The fort was built when the English were colonizing the Atlantic Coast, and France was es- tablishing a new empire along the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes and in the Mississippi Valley. Each had Indian allies, the English, the Iroquois, and the French the Algon- quins. The French choose to pave the way by sending zealous Jesuite missionaries to win the Indians to Christi- anity. The trader gave him a fair valuation for his furs arwd shared his hardships and repelled his enemies. Wher- ever an Indian village was found, the French established a fort and an Indian mission. The posts were either trading stations or built to protect the traders and the Indians. Such a post, doubtless, was Fort Massac. Massac figures in Clarke's conquest of Illinois, 1778, when Fort Massac and Kascaskia were captured by 153 men without loss. History relates numerous instances in the early settlement of Illinois in which the fort figures up to 1794, when Wash- ington in an order dated March 31, directed that the fort be rebuilt. The necessity of rebuilding was brought about by the plan of certain dissatisfied settlers, to invade the possessions of Spain in Louisiana. The settlers were ex- asperated by the failure of the Government to enforce the free navigation of the Mississippi. It seems that Southern 18
2/4 Story of the Records
Illinois or the territory -now known by that name, was a happy hunting ground for the Indians; especially was it prolific in buffalos, and their peltry furnished the most im- portant article of barter in extensive .transactions between the Indians and French traders.
This mission and trading post was brought to a disas- trous close through a quarrel among the Indians them- selves, in which, unfortunately, the French, in trying to keep the peace became involved to the extent their lives were endangered, and they fled for safety, leaving behind all their stores of trade and barter, together with thirteen thousand buffalo hides, which they had collected for shipment to Canada and from thence to France.
Conflicts between the French and English soon brought evil days to the dwellers of Illinois. France claimed all the country watered by the Mississippi river and its tribu- taries— England, no less grasping, claimed from the At- lantic to the Pacific ocean on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast entitled her to all that lay beyond it. War soon followed these rival claims, but for a long time, Illinois by its remoteness escaped the harassments of the conflict. In 1752 the French burned down the first English trading post established on this side of the Alleghenies, and thus the war began. In 1755 Braddock was defeated near Fort Du Quesne. One readily recalls the part Washington took in that battle. He had had experience in fighting with Indians and asked Braddock, the British General, to be allowed to fight the Indians in their own way. The Indians v^ere fighting for the French. Braddock's reply is familiar to every school boy — "High times, young man, high times, when a young buckskin can teach a British General to fight." The British General fell a victim to his folly, but that young ''Buckskin" lived forty-four years longer, to found for the Americans their Republic. One after another the French forts fell into the hands of the English. Louis- burg yielded to Boscawen; Fontenac was taken by Brad- street, and in 1758, General Forbes again began his march
Story of the Records 275
with ten thousand men for Carlisle, Pennsylvania, against Fort Du Quesne, now Pittsburg. The French and Indians not being able to withstand so large a force blew up the fort and with all their stores took to rafts and flatboats down the Ohio so hoping to join forces with the French on the Mississippi. They were well acquainted with this stretch of country and selected an elevated enbankment that overlooked the mouth of the Cherokee river and which commanded a view of the ''beautiful river," eighteen miles below to erect a fort and make a final stand against their English foes. The stand was final — and from that day — a sad day to them — when by orders of their superiors, the French garrison at Massac retired to Fort Chartres, no French soldier has trod this classic shore. The French be- ing vanquished by the English in the war, peace was made by the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763. The French sur- rendered all their possessions east of the Mississippi river. But the French held Fort Massac until compelled to give it up by a special order April 21, 1764. Fort Massac was not again occupied by troops until trouble arose with Spain, about 1796, when it was repaired and occupied under special orders of Washington, who as President, was Commander- in-Chief of the United States Army. It was used in the French crisis under Genet's ministry. Mad Anthony Wayne and General Wilkinson, at the head of the army, oc- cupied the Fort, and for periods of time made it their headquarters. Aaron Burr made it one of his points where he directed his southern conspiracy, and it was there that he formed his entangling alliance with General Wilkinson. To this place he came to perfect his plot to make an empire out of the southwest ; and here the beautiful wife of Blan- nerhasset first learned of the gigantic enterprise in which her husband was involved, that swept away a fortune and rendered her a wanderer from her home in the dead of winter. It was also the scene of many other intrigues in those pioneer days between Spanish, French and ambitious Americans male and female.
276 Story of the Records
The fort was repaired and used for defensive purposes during the war with Great Britain 1812-1814.
And as said before, "it for many years remained the most beautiful, though mutilated and in ruins, landmark of the early pioneer history of the West. It is the one and only relic left in Illinois, that as Daughters of the American Revolution, we are called on to guard reverently, as the custodians of a shrine."
CHAPTER XL
ISSOURI: During 1904, the members of the Society to the Daughters of the American Revolution resident in Missouri, had a busy- time of it in preparing for the social and other duties incidental to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to be held in St. Louis that year. Mrs. Geo. H. Shields, State Regent, at the State Confer- ence, 1903, appointed Mrs. Wallace Delafield, State Vice- Regent, chairman of the Relics Committee of the exhibit to be held during the Fair. Through the kindness of the Mis- souri Historical Society a large and beautiful room was assigned to the D. A. R. Committee (No. 204) in the An- thropological Building, and with the members of the Com- mittee Mrs. Wallace Delafield, Mrs. J. N. Booth, Mrs. W. G. Chappell, Mrs. E. A. DeWolf, Madame Bacom de Figueire de Robston, Miss Dalton, Glover and others, se- cured a fine exhibit of Colonial, Revolutionary and other relics and with the aid of several state chapters, including several within the Louisiana Purchase States, this room was soon neatly furnished.
Mrs. George W. Shields at one time member of the National Board, and late Regent of the great State of Missouri, is a member of the St. Louis Chapter. Mrs. Del- afield was regent during the Louisiana Purchase Expo- sition, having been elected at the Congress of 1903. Mrs. Delafield as hostess of the Daughters of the American Revolution, had the honor of being elected a member of the Hostess Association of the Louisiana Purchase Exposi- tion, and a great many courtesies were extended that body through the Hostess Association.
St. Louis has long enjoyed the prestige of being a city highly appreciative of art and refinement. Hence, when it was discovered that the grandfather of one of America's
278 Story of the Records
most notable painters, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, was buried with some Revolutionary soldiers at Fort Bellefon- taine, this fact had a peculiar significance, and it was Mrs. John Booth of St. Louis, who suggested that these graves should all be appropriately marked, especially that of Major Whistler.
Major Whistler ran away from his home in Ireland, and came to America with Burgoyne's army. Being very much pleased with America he decided to remain, but returned to Ireland for "The Girl he Left Behind Him," Miss Anna Bishop, whose father's estate adjoined that of Whistler's. The young people came to America and settled in Mary- land, from which state John Whistler joined the American army in 1791. He and his son William Whistler (also in the army) were ordered from Detroit in 1803-4 to locate a Fort at Chicago, to be called 'Tort Dearborn." John Whistler was a brave officer enjoying the confidence of his superiors, else such an important commission had not been assigned him. He was the father of several sons, the youngest, George Washington, being the father of the celebrated artist.
St. Louis has several flourishing chapters, and the only "Hannah Arnett" chapter so far recorded. It was of Han- nah Arnett's service to her country, whose story graphically told, awakened the interest throughout the land which ]ed to the organization of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
This chapter is composed of seventeen young women who are keeping green the memory of the grand Rovolutionary dame from whom it takes its name. The St. Louis Chapter did much good work in assisting the National Society dur- ing the Louisiana Purchase Exposition by contributing some interesting relics of the Revolutionary period which were exhibited in the room with the National D. A. R. Society's collection, which was directly under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, which as custodian of its historic possessions, gave this patriotic society, on this oc-
Story of the Records 279
casion, unusual distinction and honor, which no State could possibly bestow however anxious and willing to do so. Socially, this St. Louis Chapter has made an impression on the community, and its members have found over three dozen names of Revolutionary heroes sleeping with the pioneers of the State, and every effort is being made to get and record each man's service to his country. * * * *
MONTANA : This far Western State has a membership of nearly one hundred, and the four small chapters have held on to patriotic ideals most valiantly. During the Spanish-American War, the chapters united their efforts and collected 600 volumes for the American Library in Manilla, with the commendable object of establishing an alcove, to be named in honor of the Montana soldiers who gave their lives for the extension of liberty. These chapters are. Silver Bow, Butte; Ravelli, Hamilton; Ore Fino, Helena; and Yellowstone Park Chapter, of Livingston. Silver Bow takes its name from the stream that runs below the city of Butte, among the rocky mountains, and forms a silver bow as it meanders along its winding way. The busi- ness men of the city are uniting in the effort to establish Flag Day, as a holiday, throughout the State.
The State of Montana, fortunately or unfortunately, was destined to be the ground over which the Constitutional ques- tion was fought — "Whether after a State had chosen her regent and vice State regent by her delegate or delegates, and such choice had been presented to the D. A. R. Con- gress, as the Constitution directs, could that choice be in- terfered with by a delegate from any other State ?"
Mrs. William McCracken, Regent, and Mrs. Walter H. Weed, State Regent, were the contestants in what is known as — the "Montana Matter." Mrs. Weed was a resident of Montana for several years, and at one time was Vice Presi- dent of the State ; after her legal residence was given up she was chosen Vice Regent, which at that time was in accord- ance with usage, as others were representing States under
28o Story of the Records
the same conditions. The delegate of the Fourteenth Con- gress, from Montana, chose these women respectively to represent the State. Congress, by a motion from a dele- gate not from Montana, referred the matter to the Board of Management for adjustment — this motion, in its pre- amble, intimated that the choice was not that of the Chap- ters of Montana as a whole. There is where the first mis- take was made in regard to this matter, for even Congress must abide by the law as set forth in the Constitution, and when the subject was fully investigated, by the Board, (probably without any vested right) it was decided that the Regent and State Vice Regent had been duly elected, according to the Constitution; and that Congress had no right to interfere, much less a delegate from any other state. * * * *
KANSAS: Topeka Chapter of Topeka; did much relief work during the Spanish-American War, and has also contributed to the "Meadow Garden Farm" fund of Phila- delphia, with the feeling that all patriotic memorial ser- vice is as much for the remote "Daughters" to engage in as of those on the spot. Although so far removed from all the stirring scenes of the Revolution, these chapters have taken up the pioneer work of preserving the site of the Pawnee Indian village, where Lieut. Zebulon Pike, in 1806, hauled down the flag of Spain and unfurled the flag of the United States by order of President Jefferson. Gen. Pike contributed much good service in pioneer days, and Fre- mont, the first explorer to reach the highest peak of the Rockies in 1848-49, proceeded to place the standard there, and it, henceforth, has borne the name of "Pike's Peak" in honor of that brave pioneer's services. This chap- ter has placed a bronze tablet in the sidewalk before old Constitution Hall, Topeka.
This chapter also offers prizes for best essays on the "Santa Fe Trail," in the public schools, to be called the "Fannie G. Thompson prize," as she originated the project adopted by the Kansas Daughters of marking the line of the
St07'y of the Records 281
*'trair' through the State, — that road over which so many thousands of emigrants, men, women and children followed their way to the West, in wagons known as "Prairie Schooners," but too often to leave their bones whitening on the plains.
* * * *
NEBRASKA: Nebraska rejoices in seven chapters and more in prospect. The Deborah Avery Chapter, at Lincoln, and the Omaha Capter, at Omaha, each are engaged working on Pioneer History, some of which subjects are even older than our Colonial History, and will be of great importance in the archives of the State. Such subjects as the "Archse- ology of Nebraska ;" the ''Primitive People ;" the "Lewis and Clark Exposition;" 'Tort Atkison and the Fur Traders in Nebraska;" the "Mormons and California Gold Seekers ;" surely a wide enough field for chapter research.
The "Daughters" in Nebraska inspired by the spirit of investigation, and aroused by new endeavor in searching for events in American History connected with the Louisi- ana Purchase, of which the wide and then mystical domain of Nebraska had been a part, they discovered one very im- portant event that had occurred upon Nebraska soil on the banks of the Missouri river. When Lewis and Clark led that courageous band of explorers to find what there was in this great expanse of new territory beside the "Sage Grass, Cactus, and Coyottes," that Daniel Webster thought comprised the greatest part of that purchase; and, knowing that they were instructed by President Jefferson to find the Indians wherever possible and make known to them the new ownership of the Territory and smoke with them the "Pipe of Peace" whenever and wherever possi- ble,— they learned that a general council point of the vari- ous tribes of the Missouri Valley had long been located where now is the little town of Calhoun on the Missouri — where the council fires on the surrounding bluff called the tribes together. Therefore, the explorers as they came up the river and neared this spot kindled council fires, and in
282 Story of the Records
answer to the signals representatives from various tribes came together, and here the first council was held and the first agreement made between the Americans and these Western Indians. This Council occurred on what has al- ways been known as ''Council Bluff." August 3, 1804, four- teen years later, the farthest Western outpost was located at this place to hold these possessions and was garrisoned with fifteen hundred soldiers, and called "Fort Atkinson." As early as 1899 a few of the Daughters of the American Revolution who had made a study of these facts, presented to the Omaha Chapter a plan for marking the one hundredth anniversary of the spot on which was consu- mated one of the great events of American History. On the banks of the Saleni River, as Lewis and Clark called it^ but now known as "Salt Creek," near Lincoln, a ten ton boulder, brought from the north land by the glaciers of past ages, and stranded on the plain, was unearthed and on its sides inscribed — "Lewis-Clark 1821-1904;" underneath this the insignia of the Daughters of the American Revolution. On the other side was inscribed, "Placed by the Sons of the American Revolution, and the State Historical Society of the State of Nebraska." The great boulder was care- fully removed from its long resting place where it had become a veritable "Squatter Sovereign," after its long journey through the Ages from its native home to this historic spot, where in the presence of nearly four thou- sand of Nebraska's citizens, this valuable landmark was dedicated on this centennial day. Hon. John H. Mickey and his chief of staff. Adjutant General Culver, were present; ex-Governors Boyd and Holcomb; United States Senator Joseph H. Millard, and Hon. Edward Rosewater. The Mayor and Council of Fort Calhoun, Mrs. Arion Lewis, a descendant of Capt. Lewis, and many others occupied the platform. By order of President Roosevelt, the United States Government was represented by Brig. General Theodore Wirt, and a battalion of infantry from Fort Cook, commanded by Major George Cecil. Mrs. Abraham Allee,
Story of the Records 2^^
whose untiring effort had brought to a successful climax the first combined work of the D. A. R. State organiza- tion, presided. Mrs. S. B. Pound, of Lincoln, Chairman of the Executive Committee, after the oration of the day, by Hon. William S. Guriey, closed the impressive scenes, and her address in the following words :
"The story of this rock, for the thousands of years after it found its second home, will have to be left to the imagina- tion.^ It is tempting to picture the Indian Chief and his warriors passing it ; herds of buffalo and antelopes, grazing around it— wolves howling near it at night, the storms that have buffeted it, the gopher burrowing at its foot, and the prairie lark singing perched on its top in summer. Or, on the time the White Trappers's emigrant wagons passed and the first settlement was made nearby at Salt Basin. A few years more and the whistle of the locomotive was a familiar sound; and soon the settlement had grown to a prosperous city. Finally, in the year 1904, the rock finds itself an object of interest. It is examined, measured, and approved. It is moved from its long abiding place in its second home, and suitably graven and brought here to perpetuate the name of the explorers, — Lewis and Clark." "The strains of 'America' ascended from band and people
as they stood around this mute, but eloquent stone, as
the curtain fell upon this impressive scene, and another land- mark had been placed in the path of history."
* * *
COLORADO : Colorado is not to be left behind when it comes to movement along educational lines. All D. A. R. Chapters are presumably doing some of this work. For instance: Zebulon Pike Chapter, of Colorado Springs, Denver Chapter, of Queen City of the West, and Arkansas Valley Chapter, in Pueblo, are doing for the West the same thing that their ancestors did in the early years of the Re- public, helping to build a nation ; and no lands have earlier rivaled the rose, in blossoming under physical and mental cultivation, than the picturesque Commonwealth of Colo- rado.
284 Story of the Records
The Colorado Chapter: In December, 1904, an im- portant thing in Chapter history took place in Denver, viz. : v^hen eighty members of the "Daughters of the Revolution" withdrew from that organization and began the formation of the "Colorado Chapter," Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. J. B. Grant, Regent, this was followed by forty of the Daughters of the Revolution, in Pueblo, organ- izing the "Pueblo Chapter," Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. J. B. Ormand, Regent; in Greely, Daugh- ters of the Revolution, and Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, with women not belonging to either organization, formed the "Centennial Chapter," Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. M. J. Hogarty, Regent. The chapter in Oura takes the name of "Chipeta," for the widow of Chief Oura. The Colorado Chapters were repre- sented at the Fourteenth Congress by Mrs. J. B. Grant, State Regent, and Mrs. John R. McNeil, delegate, who has long and faithfuly worked to bring about this happy con- sumation, and these ladies brought a handsome contribution to the Continental Hall Fund. These important changes occurred during the State Regency of Mrs. John Campbell.
The Centennial State Chapter, through its name commemorates the admission of Colorado into the Union (1876). The Pueblo Chapter recalls the Spanish settlers, and by its accessions to our ranks near doubles the strength of the Daughters of the American Revolution in that place, where Arkansas Valley Chapter has worked faith- fully for the past two years.
The Zebulon Pike Chapter, of Colorado Springs, is the revered mother chapter of the State. The present chap- ter work of the state consists largely of forming public opinion based on patriotic foundations, and to promote a higher grade of citizenship than prevails in some of these Western States, where political honors too often go to the "'Hustlers," rather than to the best men of the community.
Story of the Records 285
ARIZONA : Even Arizona has its chapters, Maricopa, (an Indian name) at Phoenix, of over a score of members. It early showed its interest in the proper housing of the Na- tional Society, by giving a Mary Washington Tea for the benefit of the Memorial Hall Fund; and, as such a State should, it offered a gold medal for prize essays to public school children. As great oaks from little acorns grow, this patriotic seed-corn is going to see that patriotism gets thoroughly grounded in the public school curiculum.
;!< ^ H< *
ARKANSAS : Has three chapters, Helena, Little Rock, and Mary Fuller Percival. Arkansas somehow seems to have had the power to attract to itself, when an "Emigrant Boom" was on early in its history many of the survivors of the Revolutionary War, whose bones lie bleaching in that State and many of these graves have already been marked by the D. A. R. Chapters.
CHAPTER XII.
ALIFORNIA: California has but few chap- ters. The Chapter Sequoia, of San Fran- cisco, is a flourishing one, and early in its history it displayed much public spirit, and in connection with other patriotic societies sought to perpetuate itself in some living way; so that in 1894, it planted a "Historic Arch," to be formed by a mingling of trees and foliage from some native trees of each of the Colonial States, in Golden Gate Park. There was also a liberty tree planted by this chapter in the same place. The center of the arch is a tree from Pennsylvania, the Keystone State.
This chapter has had the nineteenth of April made a legal holiday and it is observed as "Patriots Day;" the Sons of the American Revolution and other patriotic societies joining in this work to specialize the day when the first blow for liberty was struck.
The Oakland Chapter did much good work during the Spanish-American War in Red Cross work, as did other chapters. But Oakland Chapter led oflf in this relief work with an enrolled membership of 1236. That meant $1236 in its treasury. Truly a splendid endeavor for one chapter to make. These members were not all chapter members, but Red Cross workers under the direction of the chapter, and they found plenty to do when soldiers were coming and going to the far away islands of our new possessions that are reached most quickly through the Golden Gate.
The Santa Ysabel Chapter, of San Jose, retains In its name the appellation bestowed by the old Spanish padres upon the mountains now known by the more prosaic title of "Coast Range." This chapter has made history a study,
Story of the Records 287
a social and educational feature, since so far as known not a single Revolutionary relic, or even Revolutionary sol- dier's grave lies within the borders of the State. Interest in patriotic events have been kept alive, and thus the citi- zens of the West keep themselves united with those of the East in the bonds of reverence for a common ancestry and destiny.
Sequoia Chapter was the first to offer its services to the National Red Cross Society, in the State, and one of its members, the President of Mills College, threw open her beautiful home for convalescent soldiers during the Span- ish-American War.
EscHSCHOLTziA CHAPTER, named for the California yel- low poppy, has shown much vigor from the start, and al- ready paid especial attention to organizing a course of His- torical Lectures on Old California and its Missions, a most interesting theme for study. The first Regent of this chap- ted, of Los Angeles, was a woman of national reputation, and at one time the most popular in the United States — the late Jessie Benton Freemcnt.
5jC 5j< Jji 5fC
WASHINGTON STATE: To go far afield for an ex- ample, we will begin with the State of Washington. This is one of the newer stars added to the flag which cannot boast of many chapters, or of Revolutionary data, although it is a State enriched with considerable pioneer history of inter- est. But, since the descendants of Revolutionary patriots go everywhere on this broad continent, to plant institutions and homes, they carry their historic inheritance with them, and wherever the women are of such "stock, you will be sure to find a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution." The spirit of this Patriotic Society has found its way to remotest places, and is a good sign that American ideas and institutions are to be perpetuated.
There are several chapters of the D. A. R. in the State of Washington, — The Esther Reed Chapter, of Spokane, is
288 Story of the Records
founded upon a name that richly deserves recognition. Why ? Because it is a bright illustration of what one woman can do for a *'Cause/' when she once sets her hand to the plow. In the spring of 1780, when the destitution of the Continental Army was so great that even Washington had fears that it would be forced to disband, the women of Philadelphia organized for relief under the leadership of Esther Reed, and communications were addressed to the women of other Colonies, asking and urging their co- operation. Esther de Bradt Reed was chosen president of the society and gave herself unsparingly to the work. Ma- terial was purchased through contributions of the women members, and their jewels and trinkets were sacrificed to raise funds. Two thousand and two hundred shirts were made for the soldiers, and on the Fourth of July, 1780, Esther Reed wrote to AVashington that the subscription fund that they had raised amounted to two hundred thou- sand, five hundred and eighty dollars ($200,580), making the whole amount in paper money, three hundred thousand, three hundred and thirty-four dollars. What a splendid work for those days when everybody was comparatively poor! Early in September of this year (1780), Esther Reed died from the effects of her unremitting labors, and as heroically for her country, as though she had fallen on the field of battle. And so thought the good men of Phila- delphia, for when her death was made known, the Council and Assembly of Pennsylvania adjourned as a mark of re- spect to this woman who had accomplished so much at such a price, and in honor of her ''exalted virtues." With such a model ever before them, this chapter of Spokane cannot fail to respond to every patriotic call from their Country.
The Tacoma Chapter chose as its patron saint, the mother of Washington, Mary Ball. In 1899, it dedicated a beautiful memorial to Narcissa Whitman, the first white woman to found a Christian home in the State, — a pioneer teacher and a missionary to the Indians, by whom she and
NARCISSUS WHITMAN FOluNTAIN.
Story of the Records 289
her brave husband, Marcus Whitman, were murdered. This is the Marcus Whitman who made the famous ride to Washington, our Capitol, that saved Oregon to the United States.
The women belonging to the chapters in the State of Washington recognize it as an important duty for a D. A. R. Chapter to mark every significant event in pioneer life, as of equal importance with Revolutionary History.
The Narcissus Memorial is m the form of a beautiful and most artistic drinking fountain for children, and is situated in Wright Park, the most central in the city. The pedestal is of bronze in a bold conventional design, and is surmount- ed by the beautiful figure of Mrs. Whitman. On the face of it is this inscription :
"Erected under the auspices of the Mary Ball Chapter,
D. A. R. As a Memorial to Narcissa Prentis Whitman, A Pioneer Teacher, A Christian Martyr, Massacred by the Indians, Wallaaper, Washington, Nov. 29, 1847." Her last prayer was for the children she had taught and loved. On a similar panel on the opposite side are these words :
"Erected A. D. 1899, Contributions from School Children, S. A. R., D. A. R., and Park Commissioner of Tacoma."
At the dedication of this memorial the Indian band of twenty members from the State School of Indians took part in the exercises. They were descendants of those who per- petrated the massacre, and this feature was unique and most expressive of changed conditions.
The Washington Chapter; of the State of Washing- ton claims the privilege of placing the first portrait of the first President of the United States in Continental Hall.
19
290 Story of the Records
This chapter had one "Real Daughter," Mrs. Rebecca Tyle, who lived to the remarkable age of 94 years. The Lady Sterling Chapter, of Seattle, has done a good work in marking, with a boulder of native granite, the battle of Seattle, fought in 1856, when the United States sloop of war, the Decatur, saved the little village from annihilation by the Indians.
The youngest chapter is named Sacajawea, at Olympia, in honor of the brave Indian woman, who by her familiarity with the mountain passes and her acquaintance with the tribes along the trails, materially assisted Lewis and Qark in their perilous expedition.
All the chapters of this State are contributing generously to a monument fund for the erection of a statue of General Washington, on the Campus of the State University at Seattle.
* * * *
Rainier Chapter; of Seattle, gives prizes for historical essays by public school children, and is thus helping on the good work, educationally. The members of this chapter contributed to the silver service for the "Olympia," flag- ship, commanded by Admiral Dewey, and to the Monument of Marcus Whitman, at Walla-Walla, and contributed to the restoration of Pohick Church in Virginia, where Wash- ington worshipped.
Both Virginia Dare and Mary Ball Chapters, of Taco- ma, devote their energies and funds to beautifying the City Parks. Thus it is that the newer regions of the West are carrying on the historic work of the older States where our history began.
ALASKA: Still farther away in Alaska, descendants of Revolutionary fathers and mothers have carried the light with them and started in to organize and do some work that shall be of lasting benefit to the world. Alaska Chap- ter, at Sitka, has fourteen members, some of whom reside at remote points, but wish to keep in touch with the move-
Story of the Records 291
ment, so they have joined hands with the others. Already a Hbrary has been started and received contributions of books from Eastern States. A prize has been offered to pubHc school pupils and is awarded on Washington's birth- day. The home of the chapter is a log house built by the Russians in 1831. Alaska Chapter has a unique work in hand. That of erecting a memorial to Catherine Second, in the Russian Cathedral of Sitka, who early expressed her sympathy with the rebellious American Colonies. The memorial, according to the usage of the Greek Church, must take the form of a painting of St. Catherine, framed in beaten silver. The Russian Bishop of Sitka has secured permission from the Russian Government for the erection of such a memorial, as the Greek Church in Sitka is a Russian Mission, and as such under the patronage of that Govern- ment.
According to records, about one-half of the women of Alaska are descended from Revolutionary soldiers ; their ancestry representing all of the thirteen original States except two.
The D. A. R. Society of Sitka, in conjunction with the Woman's Club, occupies one of the oldest houses in Sitka. It stands on the site of one of the old Russian blockhouses. The primary object of the chapter is to establish a public library, and considerable progress has been made. * * * *
MINNESOTA : There are over a dozen chapters in Minne- sota, all of them active in promoting historic studies in the public schools, by offering prizes for historic essays on Revolutionary subjects or characters. Colonial Chapter, of Minneapolis, one of the largest, has pursued two lines of endeavor. The first, has been that of giving patriotic en- tertainments at social settlements, boys' clubs, and mother's meetings, in connection with the Mission School, and at the Soldier's Home. The themes selected are made as in- teresting and as attractive as possible ; being descriptive and personal talks, such subjects as, "Washington and
292 Story of the Records
Mount Vernon," 'The Origin of Patrotic Songs," illus- trated by singing them. Many Scandinavians have attend- ed these lectures, and they soon learn to join in the choruses with much satisfaction. At such entertainments one of the members of the D. A. R. Society explains what it means to be a Daughter of the American Revolution, and that one of the chief objects is to teach others to be loyal to the country; to understand its history; and to love, honor and respect the flag at all times and places.
The second line of work is to stimulate the study of American History among the public school children, by offering prizes of handsome flags for the best essay on his- tory. In reviewing chapter history^ it will be seen that D. A. R. chapters in all the states are doing a good work in stimulating the young to study American History, especial pains being taken to teach the foreign population the sources from which American Independence sprung, and that liberty is not license, but the greatest good to the greatest number; and that all personal rights must cease whenever they infringe upon the rights of others.
The Daughters of Liberty Chapter; of Duluth, has furnished a room in St. Luke's Hospital, which is evidence that its members do not lose sight of the present needs in contemplation of the past.
Fergus Falls Chapter ; is one which encourages historic study in the high schools ; while the Greysolon Duluth Chapter, of Duluth, has set itself a pleasing task, that of furnishing a window in the Carnegie Library of the city. A beautiful design has been prepared by Mrs. J. B. Weston, of Duluth, and shows Duluth, the famous voyager, stand- ing on the shore of the Wisconsin side of the beautiful harbor. The figure suggests intense interest. In the lower panel is found the fleur-de-lis, recalling the French origin of the explorer. This beautiful memorial window will cost nearly a thousand dollars, more than half of which has al-
Story of the Records 293
ready been subscribed by chapter members. The Nathan Hale Chapter, of St. Paul, is working for a monument for its patron saint. All the chapters in this flourishing western state are in good condition, and were active in relief work during the Spanish-American War, and have also con- tributed handsomely to the Continental Hall Fund.
St. Paul's Chapter; of St. Paul, is the largest in the State, and has had two State Regents, Mrs. R. M. New- port (Eliza Thompson Morgan), and Mrs. D. A. Monfort (Mary Jane Edgerton), and the state is now honored with a Vice President General, Mrs. William P. Jewett (Ella Petrie Lamb) ; whose efficient service has elsewhere been noticed in these records, and in January, 1892, it oflfered the following resolution which was sent to the Continental Con- gress (by Mrs. George C. Squires) and was adopted with favorable notice: — "That each year the anniversaries of the death of our three martyred President, — Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, — be celebrated on the Sunday following that of President McKinley." St. Paul Chapter was or- ganized thirteen years ago on October 13, with thirteen members, and according to the superstition this ominous beginning should have proved almost a fatality; but in spite of it, the chapter is noted for many good works, has waxed strong and rejoices in a membership of over two hundred on its rolls.
Wenonah Chapter ; of Winona, in conjunction with the Sons of the American Revolution, observed with appropri- ate ceremonies the placing of a ^'Marker" at the grave of Stephen Taylor, the only Revolutionary soldier known to have been buried in the State. Mrs. Augusta Camp Rising, (Mrs. Franklin Rising) the State Regent, made the ad- dress.
During the Spanish- American War, Minnesota Daugh- ters of the American Revolution rendered most efficient aid, and sent many comforts to the soldiers of the state,
294 Story of the Records
both when they went forth and when they returned with their sick in need of hospital suppUes. This service was notably the work of the Colonial Chapter, of Minneapolis, which acted as auxiliary to the Red Cross. But the work for the living soldiers of the Spanish War had scarcely closed when the local disturbance with the Indians at Leech Lake, called for the tribute of flowers for the dead who so gallantly paid the penalty of other men's blunders.
Distaff Chapter; of St. Paul, during the Spanish- American War, did not confine its efforts and sympathies to our boys "in Khaki ;" for their first work was to make gar- ments for the destitute women and children of Cuba, and a set of hospital flags which were presented to the regi- ments encamped near the city. These contributions are mentioned as unique offerings in the cause of patriotism, yet this chapter's efforts were not exhausted on these de- mands, for, with others throughout the state, they made the usual supply of night-shirts, comfort bags, and deli- cacies for the absent ones. This chapter has purchased a handsome flag for the West End Reading Room, that for- eigners who congregate there may have it as a daily object lesson, ever waving before and over them in lines of beauty.
Minneapolis Chapter; of Minneapolis, has furnished a room in the "Jones-Harrison Home for Old Ladies," as a memorial of their only "Real Daughter," Mrs. Nancy Eliz- abeth McDonald. To stimulate interest and research Monu- ment Chapter offered prizes for the two best letters writ- ten by pupils of the Eighth Grade Public School, stating their choice of a patriotic hero, to be honored by a monu- ment somewhere in the city limits.
All of the chapters of the Northwest did more or less effective work in relief associations during the Spanish- American War, and all have made contributions to Contin- ental Hall, the home of the National Society.
The chapters of this region began in the very beginning of their work to build up a respect for the American flag,
Story of the Records 295
co-operating with other patriotic societies to secure from the State Board of Education (1894-1895), the proper authority to raise the American flag, over all school build- ings during school hours, a custom that is now almost universal throughout the United States, and wherever we have public schools in our newer possessions. Several patriotic societies claim the initiative of this movement, but the truth is, it was one of those finer impulses which possess many minds at about the same time, as genius is said to do when directed to inventions. Such an "idea" might well be shared by many since it does credit to all who helped to stir up public sentiment; and later to pre- vent its being used for advertising purposes. The St. Paul Chapter of Minnesota went still further, petitioning the State Legislature to prohibit the raising of any foreign flags on any public buildings.
* * * *
IOWA: Within the State of Iowa over thirty chapters have been organized, all of them make it a part of their business life to become intimately acquainted with the his- tory of the American Revolution and of the state. They have interwoven this thought in the selection of the chapter names, such as, for instance: — the Abigail Adams, of Des Moines ; Clinton, of Dubuque ; Council Bluff, of Council Bluff; Keokuk, of Keokuk; De Shon, of Boone, which has furnished a room in the local hospital — the Eleanor Moore — which it maintains.
Francis Shaw Chapter; of Anamosa, has done credit- able things in completing and opening a library building, costing $11,000 (eleven thousand). Cedar Falls, of Cedar Falls, Elizabeth Ross, of Ottumwa, named for the maker of the American Flag; Martha Jefferson, of Manchester, and Martha Washington, of Sioux City, and Penelope Van Princes, of Independence, weave in the traditional feminine strands that bind together so many historic incidents of the Colonial and Revolutionary period ; while the Mayflower, of Red Oak; the Pilgrim, of Iowa City; the Spinning
296 Story of the Records
Wheel, of Marshalltown ; Stars and Stripes, of Buriington; Waterioo, of Waterloo; Okamanpado, of Estherville; and Nehemiah Letts, were all named for persons, places, or things connected with the State or foundation of the Nation. Recently, quite a number of graves of Revolutionary sol- diers have been identified at various points in the state and marked; while that of Charles Shepard, a soldier pioneer, near Mount Pleasant, has had quite a distinction, as an appropriation of $500 for a monument for him was secured from the State Legislature by the ''Daughters" of the state, led by the Abigail Adams Chapter, of Des Moines. The money was expended under the direction of McFarland Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Mount Pleasant, thus exemplifying the utility and beauty of patriotic socie- ties working in harmony for those objects which make a mutual appeal to their patriotism.
* * * *
MICHIGAN : The chapters of the "Badger State" are com- posed of the descendants of the American Revolution, who have cherished its lessons and traditions, since they have no battlefields or other places in the State connected with that era to memorialize. The Michigan chapters have kept in touch with chapter work elsewhere. For instance : The Ann Arbor Chapter, of Ann Arbor, contributed hand- somely to the restoration of Pohick Church in Virginia, and the Le Salle Monument to be erected by the Algonquin Chapter at St. Joseph, Missouri; and other chapters have aided in the purchase of the "Betsey Ross House" at Phila- delphia.
The Committee on "Burial Places" have located and marked the graves of four Revolutionary soldiers, and one woman, Sarah Nelson Terhune, who well deserves that her last resting place should be thus honored. The wife of John Terhune demonstrated her patriotism in a signal manner. This patriotic woman walked eight miles over lone country roads to warn the Americans of the approach of the British, who had encamped at nightfall on her father's farm at
Story of the Records 297
Hacketisack, New York, and this walk was taken in the night with only the stars over head to guide or lighten the way. She died August 27, 1850, aged 88 years, after sharing with her husband the hardships and trials of a pioneer life in this state and home of their adoption. She, with her husband, is buried at Carpenter's Corners, Pittsfield County, Michigan.
The Ann Arbor Chapter has suffered a great loss in the death of its first Regent, Mrs. Sarah Caswell Angell. By a unanimous vote, a petition has been sent to the Na- tional Board, asking the privilege of changing the Chap- ter's name, in memory of their beloved first Regent, so that it shall hereafter be known as the "Sarah Caswell An- gell Chapter."
Louisa St. Clair Chapter; the first organized in the state, has put a broad construction on the word ''Patriotic." They have established a social settlement in one of the foreign districts of Detroit. They have visited the Woman's Club regularly, giving simple talks on patriotic subjects, often illustrated by pictures, music, and relics pertaining to the subject under discussion; they have given lectures to the women in the foreign settlements, upon our country, our government, national and local history, and information that would tend to assist them in bringing up their children to be law-abiding, self-respecting Americans, a credit to their parents and useful members of the community. With an influx of one million foreigners, annually, this is much needed work, and the work of the chapters throughout the country in this direction is to be highly commended.
The birthday of the National Flag was celebrated June 14, 1904, and was the occasion of a notable ceremony by the "Daughters" of Michigan, at Belle Isle, in the planting if the little Osage Orange Liberty Tree, which sprang from the seed planted at the ground breaking of Memorial Con- tinental Hall, and the trees distributed through the State Regents to the state. Following impressive ceremonies.
298 Story of the Records
Mrs. W. J. Chittenden, State Regent, surrounded by the ''Daughters" and "Children," placed the tree in the soil where it is hoped it will thrive for many years. Mrs. Ar- thur M. Parker, Regent of the Louisa St. Qair Chapter, gave a stirring address. In closing she said, "May this little tree blossom and spread until it becomes as immortal as the "Laurel" of victory, and the "Olive branch of peace." The singing of "America" closed the interesting ceremonies. * * * *
WISCONSIN : Wisconsin has about a dozen chapters, all very much interested in all the good works, that make their appeal to patriotic societies, and the Milwaukee Chapter claims to have started the agitation throughout the States, which has resulted in the passage of laws in several states against the desecration of the National Flag, although the Congress of the United States has not yet seen fit to pass such a bill. The chapter began a campaign in favor of Senate Bill 3174 Fifty-fifth Congress, second session, and has kept at it ever since, making progress slowly, but still not discouraged, because making progress.
In the early days of this Society, we remember these earnest workers from Wisconsin, to whom the organization owes much for their invaluable assistance, — Mrs. John Mit- chell and Mrs. James Sidney Peck.
Havinrj gone over hastily, because we must, some ten of the States of the Northwest, giving brief histories of Chapter work, enough has been given to show that work, like seed of certain winged species of plants and trees, — the good seed of National history, the history of the Revolu- tionary period, and of the fathers and mothers who were the moving figures in that grand day of small beginnings, but of great results, — have been carried from the East, South, and Colonial States, wherever new states have been founded and have blossomed into stars shining on our "Banner;" there the good work of patriotic women has gone, and is bearing fruit. No one need despair of this Republic so long as there are women who are religiously cherishing the "ideals" that have built this progressive Nation.
CHAPTER XIII.
EXAS : The first report from Texas given by the State Regent, Mrs. Florence Anderson Clark, was at the fifth Continental Congress, February i8, 1896. In it she said, "As soon as notified of my appointment, I endorsed for reappointments the chapter Regents at Galveston and Deni- son, and by happy inspiration nominated as Regent for Dal- las, Mrs. Cornelia Jamison Henry." In her report of 1898, Mrs. Clark said, "When I was appointed to the State Re- gent's position, there were three members of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Texas, one in Galveston, one in Denison, and one in El Paso, and they were separated by prairie and mountains from five hundred to nearly a thousand miles. I have overcome these distances, by the aid of the United States mail, and the stream of missives from the Regent's ofiice has been like the flutter of white wings about a dovecote in the Spring."
The Regent might have been encouraged with one other name, — that of Mrs. Aurelia Hadley Mohl, of Houston, Texas, who was in Washington at the time of the organiza- tion of the society, October 11, 1890, and her name is en- rolled among the eighteen on the autograph list (see plate). We must pay tribute to the great leader of liberty in Texas, — Sam Houston; bom near Lexington, Virginia, a son of a Revolutionary soldier — and a mother who had the fortitude and courage to emigate with her six sons and three daughters over the mountains into Tennessee in the early days. We do not marvel that after all the vicissitudes of struggle for an education and a livelihood, of his enlist- ment as a soldier, in the War of 181 2, we find him an Adju- tant General of his own state, and in 1821 a Representa- tive in Congress, and in 1827, Governor of Tennessee. When a lad he read Pope's translation of the Illiad until
300 Story of the Records
he could repeat it by heart. He wanted to study Greek and Latin, but was refused by his schoolmaster, upon which he left school. Later, he resigned his commission in the army to study law. He was married in January, 1829, and for reasons unknown to the public, he was strangely separated from his wife. He left Tennessee and went to Arkansas, and became a frien "* to the Cherokees, and by official act of the ruling chiefs, h.^ was formally admitted to all the rights and privileges of the Cherokee Nation. In 1832, he went to Texas, where a Revolutionary movement was organizing against the Mexican Government; and he soon became Commander-in-Chief of the Texan Army.
After the declaration of the independence of Texas, he re- signed his command, and was immediately re-elected Com- mander-in-Chief of the New Republic. All know of the surrender of Santa Anna to Houston at San Jacinto, and of the treaty that secured the independence of Texas. Houston was then elected President of the New Republic, and it was Sam Houston who took the preliminary steps for the great measure of annexation to the United States. Texas became one of the States of the Union in 1845, ^'^'^'^ Sam Houston and Thomas J. Rusk were the first Senators sent to Washington. We do know that this marvelous man, the son of a Revolutionary soldier, planted the seed of patriotism that has taken such deep root; and that the "Daughters" of this noble State have arisen and organized to immortalize the names of the great men and women who are adding luster yearly to its name.
Miss Julia Washington Fontain was Regent, very appro- priately, of the George Washington Chapter of Galveston, as she was a great niece of George Washington. The first work of the State was the raising of funds by this chapter for the endowment of a Chair of History at the University of Texas. Her report were filled with accounts of patriotic work performed by the chapter.
The last report of the lamented Mrs. John Lane Henry was completed by Mrs. S. W. Sydnor, the newly elected
Story of the Records 301
Regent, who speaks tenderly and lovingly of the work of the twelve chapters of Texas, especially has she dwelt on the enthusiastic work for Continental Hall. The first Con- tinental Hall entertainment given in Texas was by the Weatherford Chapter on Flag Day, 1903 ; it was also the first time Flag Day was celebrated in the State. We can see that it is enthusiasm that tells, not alone numbers, and we will predict that there will always be a ready hand to help in the "Lone Star State."
^ ^ ^ ^
LOUISIANA : The chapter with the suggestive name of "Spirit of '76," of New Orleans, is not large, but is very active in patriotic deeds. Hence, during the Spanish- American War, it sent many boxes of supplies to Tampa, Florida, and to Cuba. There was no lack of this patriotic feeling in any section of the South during that brief struggle of this Nation, to get rid of "intolerable conditions," and to hold up the hands of a people striving for freedom, in our immediate neighborhood. It was this New Orleans Chapter which began the movement to collect a ''Library of History," as an annex to the "Harvard Library." And also offered medals to pupils of the high schools for the best essays on Revolutionary history.
* * * *
NEW MEXICO : There are but two active chapters in this State, — Sunshine, at Santa Fe, and the Jacob Bennet, at Silver City. Sunshine Chapter was the first to be formed in the Southwest, and its members made strenuous efforts to secure as many as possible into the ranks of the Society, and to promote the ideas that it stands for. A study of Donephan's History of New Mexico has been a part of regular chapter work. On August 12, 1903, a large and handsome reception was tendered the daughters of General Stephen W. Kearney, — Mrs. Western Bascom of St. Louis, — who, as a General in the United States Army, on the 19th of August, 1846, took peaceable possession of New Mexico.
On August 19, 1904, Sunshine Chapter erected an-
302 Story of the Records
other monument. This time it was placed in the heart of the old Spanish town of Santa Fe, in the plaza where, on that day, fifty-five years before, General Kearney read the proclamation of annexation to the United States, and the Mexican officers, priests, alcades, and others took the oath of allegiance. The following inscription is on the monu- ment:
'Tn this plaza, General Stephen W. Kearney, U. S. A., proclaimed the peaceable annexation of New Mexico, Aug. 19, 1846."
On the face of the stone is inscribed these extracts from the Proclamation :
*'We came as friends to make you part of the Republic of the United States.
*Tn our government all men are equal.
"Every man has a right to serve God according to his heart.
''Erected by the Sunshine Chapter, D. A. R., 1901."
On the 21 of the same month, Mrs. Bascom, through the mediumship of Sunshine Chapter, presented a handsome portrait of her father to the Historical Society of New Mexico. Ex-Governor L. Bradford Prince, who is a mem- ber of the Mayflower Society and the Cincinnati, also of the Sons of the American Revolution, is president of the Historical Society of New Mexico, and accepted the paint- ing for the Society. Addresses were made by several men who had served under General Kearney. While this is not strictly Revolutionary work, it is along that line, since every historic incident or character identified with our National growth is a worthy subject for loyal citizens to commemo- rate and duly celebrate in some form.
Sunshine Chapter is making an effort to obtain the old *'Garita" or guard-house, situated on the hill leading to old Fort Marcy. It is believed to be one of the few Spanish forts left in the country, and was used by three govern-
Story of the Records 303
ments, — Spanish, Mexican, and American. When it is re- stored it will be used as a chapter house, and a depository of historic relics.
Active measures are being taken to mark the terminus of the "Santa Fe Trail," by the erection of a stone arch. So that the members of the Sunshine Chapter feel that it has made its presence felt in the community. The ''Rough Riders," from this vicinity, of President Roosevelt's regi- ment, when they were mustered out at the close of the Spanish-American War, were given medals, one to each soldier.
Jacob Bennett Chapter^ of Silver City, was organized on the birthday of its patron saint. It celebrates Flag Day, Peace Day, Washington's birthday, and Independence Day impartially; and business and social meetings have been held on alternate weeks with great success. An old log cabin of one of the early settlers was purchased by the chapter, and fitted up as a Chapter House. Mrs. L. Brad- ford Prince, has been the able State Regent since the state was organized. She is a member of Sunshine Chapter. * * * *
ALABAMA: The Alabama chapters presented a silver "Loving Cup" to the Battleship Alabama, when she was launched.
It is of interest to know that ''Light Horse" Harry Lee's body found a resting place at Dungeness, Cumberland Island, off the Georgia coast, and it was the Regent of "Light Horse Harry Lee Chapter," of Alabama, who, some years ago, discovered the spot where he lies. The plain stone slab bears an inscription as follows :
"Sacred
To the memory of
Gen. Harry Lee,
of
Virginia.
Obitt— 25 March
1818— Aet. o^r
304 Story of the Records
The chapters of this state have erected a pyramidal mon- ument to mark the battle of Talladega, as a memorial to the brave soldiers who fell in that engagement with savages. There has, also, been an effort made throughout the state for securing the names of **Real Daughters," and to mark all the graves of Revolutionary soldiers lying within the state boundaries.
In presenting this work, genealogical and historical ar- ticles were published in the Montgomery Advertiser, and much interest awakened thereby, and through this avenue many persons have secured valuable data in establishing faimly records.
There is a large chapter at Burmingham, the General Sumter, and as might well be expected of such an enter- prising place, as this iron manufactoring city of the South, the chapter partakes of the same spirit, and devotes its energies to promoting civic conditions consistent with the highest American ideals, based upon historic conditions.
There is the Mobile Chapter of Mobile; the Peter For- ney, of Montgomery, besides several smaller ones in the state, all engaged in marking the graves of Revolutionary soldiers; and all contributed to the Talladega Monument, and are loyally exerting a good influence in their several locations.
* * * *
MISSISSIPPI ; Mississippi has but few chapters, the most important being the Natchez Chapter of the city of Natchez, the members of which, for two summers, were driven from their homes by floods or yellow fever, and in consequence, the work of the chapter has been along the line of present needs, rather than held up as a beacon light shed on the past. Under the able guidance of the State Regent, Miss Alice Quitman Lovell, the good work has been kept alive in the State, and she has through the years come up to the Congresses with renewed energy, and always rendered effi- cient service to the Cause.
Holly Springs and Ralph Humphries are miOre recent
Story of the Records 305
organizations. These chapters have made a specialty of social features, and tried to stimulate the pride and ambition of the young, by offering historic prizes to the best essayist on Revolutionary history, in the public schools. These prizes consisted of a set of histories to the successful pupil, as being of more lasting value than a medal.
* * * *
NORTH DAKOTA: These two States of Dakota have but one chapter each, William Mason Chapter of Fargo, and Hot Springs Chapter of Hot Springs. During the Spanish- American War the William Mason Chapter worked with the local branch of the Red Cross. This organization sent one nurse to Manilla, paying for her outfit, traveling expenses and salary. Large amounts of hospital and general comfort supplies for the soldiers were raised under the leadership of Mrs. Francis C. Holley, but just as the work was well under way a disastrous fire occurred at Bismarck, destroy- ing the leading business houses of the city, and among them the building containing all this material prepared by the ladies of the D. A. R. The loss was irreparable and all efforts had to be devoted to home demands, and no further work could be attempted under such a general misfortune to the community.
^ 2)C SjC ^
SOUTH DAKOTA : South Dakota has its 'one chapter at large" embracing on its rolls members scattered throughout the State, who yet wished to identify themselves with this patriotic society, and it is known as "Hot Springs Chapter." This scattered membership has prevented any concerted work for either war or peace. They have actively opposed desecration of the flag or using it for advertising purposes. A beautiful room in the famous Wind Cave has been fur- nished by members of this "Chapter at large."
* * * *
FLORIDA : Members of the Jacksonville Chapter, during the Spanish-American War, forseeing that their nearness to the scenes of action would probably make their services 20
3o6 Story of the Records
not only acceptable, but necessary, prepared for emergen- cies by taking a course of lectures on the care of the wound- ed and proper diet for the sick. This chapter and Maria Jefferson, of St. Augustine, are united in raising funds to restore the gates of the picturesque old town of St. Augus- tine. A woman's auxiliary met weekly during the war period to sew for the soldiers, and when the troops went to Tampa, goods in store were sent to the Florida "Boys" every week; but when 20,000 were camped within the city limits, the ladies found all they could do at home. Sheets, pillow cases, night-shirts, wines, jellies, soups, flowers, books, comforts or conveniences of various kinds found their way into the precincts of the camp where they were most gratefully received.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA.
jgfgp^^^ HE Islands of the Sea have offered wanderers 83^ 0!^Sj from home, who have found a residence in these far away places, an opportunity to express their national feelings through forming a chap- ter by becoming members-at-large. Hawaii has one such; for instance, Aloha Chapter, which has over two dozen members enrolled. These "Daughters" were present in a body when the island was transferred to the United States. And when the American troops land there, going and coming from the Philippines, everything is done by these American women to make ''Our Boys" feel that they are among friends, and every comfort and attention of which they may stand in need is bestowed upon them.
There is a chapter in Japan, and one represented in Paris, by a descendant of Lafayette. There is, also, a chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa ; and chapter members are scat- tered over the world, namely, in England, Egypt, Porto Rico, Philippine Islands, Cuba, and Spain. Thus it appears that American ideas are on the march and that wherever a Daughter of the American Revolution goes, there goes with her something representative of high American ideals.
And this brings us to the end of our record of Chapter Work, and yet not all that could be said of the splendid record D. A. R. Chapters have made, as their excuse for being, something had to be left out, and possibly the very things that ought to have enriched these pages has been unwittingly omitted. We have tried to do our best with the mass of material that has been simply overwhelming, and from the time we began to digest and arrange it, to the end, our admiration for chapter work throughout our country has been constantly on the increase.
3o8 Story of the Records
Among the many patriotic societies, of which there are so many grand ones in the country, none can show more extensive efforts to disseminate pure American ideals, based upon history, than this unique organization of which we have attempted to give an idea through these necessarily abbreviated records.
All the officers of the society must come and go, but be it remembered that the Chapters are the foundation stones upon which the noble structure stands ; and that the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, while not ''worshipping their ancestors," do, and always will, aspire to give them all due reverence and honor.
Plate 2G
AN "ARMY OF TWO.
CHAPTER XV.
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE CHILDREN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
N 1895, ]\^rs. Daniel Lothrop (Harnett M.) of Massachusetts, conceived the idea of es- tablishing a graft upon the parent Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, through a Children's Auxiliary, to be known as the "National Society of the Children of the American Revolution," to which boys and girls were alike eligible. The Children's Society is to be regarded always as a branch of the parent organization, and all of its by-laws and work must be in harmony or patterned after that as a model, and the branch society does most properly come under the jurisdiction of the National Society. The very inception of the Children's Society was for it to be a school of patriotism, and a feeder of the older and larger body.
Ten years have elapsed, and those who joined in i8q5, have now reached their majority. In some cases an entire local Society, consequently, graduated its members ; they be- ing either *'Sons" or ''Daughters." From small beginnings, in Washington D. C, the membership, October, 1904, num- bered 6304. A majority of the early recruits have marched past the reviewing stand and broken ranks, and this con- stant change makes it difficult to give exact membership. The first branch was formed at Concord, May 11, 1895, ^"^ the first public meeting was held at the Old South Meeting House of Boston, July 4, 1895. The membership dues are fifty cents.
This Society has done much to instill historical inci- dents into the minds of youth, to emphasize the dignity of Flag Day. and to introduce patriotic exercises into the public schools on such days as, — Washington's Birthday,
310 Story of the Records
Fourth of July, and the other anniversaries closely connected with National History.
A good deal of work has been accomplished in the way of "markers," by these young patriots. Many graves of Revolutionary soldiers in obscure places have been located and marked, as in Billerica, Massachusetts, where 360 Revo- lutionary soldiers are buried, and the Children's Society had identified 169 of these, and fresh flags and markers are placed on each of these graves every year on Memorial Day. Miss Frances Mabel Fairchild, and her sister, Con- stance Neilson Fairchild, young girls in their teens, residing in Quebec, Canada, but of Revolutionary stock, are honor- ary members of the society, and have rendered a commend- able service by securing permission to place a tablet within the walls of the old prison of Quebec, over the graves of thirteen soldiers of General Montgomery's army, killed in the assault Pres de la ville, December 31, 1775, which reads as follows:
"Beneath this tablet repose
the remains of thirteen soldiers of
General Montgomery's Army,
Who were killed in the assault on Quebec,
Dec. 31st, 1775.
Placed to their memory by several
American Children."
A marker of the birth-place of Stephen Hempstead has been placed on the walls of the old homestead by the society bearing his name. He was a friend of Nathan Hale and shared many of the perils of service for which Hale was chosen and gave up his life. To Hempstead's keeping, Na- than Hale confided his watch and letters when they parted.
Stephen Hempstead fought at Groton Heights, and was one of those severely wounded who were piled into a rough cart and rolled down the steep hill to the river. He sur- vived the ordeal many years, but was all his life a cripple in consequence.
Story of the Records 311
The Thomas Starr Society ; of Groton, placed a mem- orial tablet in the Ebenezer Avery House of that place. The Society with the picturesque name, Blue Hen's Chickens Society of Delaware, are erecting a memorial to Lieut. Qark Churchman, the only son of Delaware who lost his life in the war of Cuba. Although this is not Revolutionary historical data, it is data of footprints in "Freedom's Cause,'' and as such regarded as ligitimate.
The Porain Ripley Society, 1899, placed a tablet on Suter's Tavern, Georgetown, D. C, as the place of General Washington's Headquarters, while surveying the site of the City of Washington, 1791. This tavern is at 3051 M Street.
Patty Endicott Society; of Pueblo, Colo., held its or- ganizing meeting on May 30, 1904. It is under the guidance of Arkansas Valley Chapter, D. A. R., and now has eight members, with others about to enter. Their date of organi- zation was Memorial Day, and the first work undertaken was the decoration with flags and flowers of several graves in Riverview Cemetery.
The heroine whom these children honor was a little maid of Boston, II years old when Gage held sway. While she was visiting a playmate one day the latter's father re- ceived news which must reach Patty's father that night without fail and unknown to the British officers. Hastily the gentleman confided to the wondering child a queer and seemingly incomprehensible message about a wheelwright and charged her to repeat it word for word to her father only. Then he hurried away to avoid an expected attempt at his capture. Meanwhile the lady of the house gave the child another message about a sleeve pattern to be cut bias. As she started for home the lady called to her not to forget the directions. Listening spies heard these words and hastened to the authorities with the story that the child had an imporant message for the colonists, and she was arrested before reaching home. Confronted with a de-
312 Story of the Records
mand for the information she carried the truthful child hesitated. She would not lie, nor would she betray a trust which she felt might hazard the safety of the patriots. But the thought of the bias sleeve pattern steadied her. This was truly a message given her, yet its telling could harm no one. With trembling heart, but outward composure, she repeated slowly and distinctly every word with which the good lady had charged her. No cross-questioning served to make her vary the statement or add to it. She de- clared that it was the true message and that there was no more of it. The simple words about the bias pattern seemed to the puzzled officer like a cipher which might relate to arms and ammunition concealed by the patriots, and a squad of soldiers was dispatched across country to capture these supplies. The little girl was released and hurried home to her anxious father. In the privacy of his study she re- peated the queer words about the wheelwright and ex- plained her detention. Saying only, ''You were a sensible child," her father hurried off into the darkness. Half the night she lay awake worrying about his safety and thinking that if she were only a boy she might have helped him. Next morning, however, he told her that her presence of mind had saved thousands of dollars and perhaps a thou- sand lives, and he would not exchange her for a dozen boys. Years afterwards, when the war was over, she found among her father's papers a memorandum which explained the mysterious message carried so faithfully and blindly long ago, and understood how, though ''only a girl," she had saved the day when a boy's blunder in transposing dis- patches had nearly cost the lives of all those concerned in a well-laid plan to rout the British.
Some of the incidents in the lives of the heroes and heroines for which these children's societies are named are very interesting and some of them, possibly, but for the search after data of what the young did in those heroic days would in the lapse of time been quite overlooked in search for those of greater significance. We can only give a few for want of space.
Story of the Records 313
The first Sergeant, William Jasper, for whom the Society of Seneca Falls, N. Y., is named, was an humble sergeant of the Second South Carolina Regiment, who, without a thought of fear, risked his life in saving the flag during the attack on Charleston, S. C, 1776, and gave up his life in Savannah, Ga., for another flag cherished by his regiment and embroidered by the hands of Mrs. Elliott, wife of the colonel of artillery. To the boys who bear his name as a watchword, the flag must have more than ordinary signifi- cance.
The Cambridge Society, of Cambridge, Mass., had the honor by special invitation of the late Admiral William Thomas Simpson, to hold one meeting on the historic frigate Constitvition.
Rebecca Bates, the name of the society in Marshalltown, Iowa, was the daughter of the lighthouse keeper at Scituate Harbor. During the War of 1812, when Rebecca was about 14 years old, a British warship appeared one afternoon off the harbor mouth and prepared to attack the town. From the lighthouse tower this brave little girl watched the small boats coming in with great anxiety wishing she could do something to ward off the invaders. Her father and the men of the house were away on the mainland and no help was in sight. Something must be done. Suddenly she had got down the town drum left with her father for some slight repairs. She seized that and putting the fife in the hands of a little friend beside her, those two little girls crept forth, unseen by their mother or the men on the other side of the point, and these two little heroines started the in- spiring tune of Yankee Doodle, blowing the fife and beat- ing the drum as if the whole brigade were behind them.
The anxious townspeople hearing the unexpected sound thought reinforcements must be coming from Boston for their relief. They manned their boats, rushed boldly out to meet the enemy shouting and firing. Surprised by this vigorous demonstration, where no opposition had been ex-
314 Story of the Records
pected the British soldiers retreated hastily to their ships expecting every moment to see a battalion coming round the point. And still the wild music beat and beat, coming nearer and nearer until the sun set, and the British ships lifted their anchors and sailed away, — when, tradition says, the tired little girls dropped down on the road and laughed until they cried.
It has been suggested by some lookers-on that the time will come when there will be no more for either Daughters or Children of the American Revolution to do ; all graves and places having been marked by monument, tablet, or wayside stone. That can never be, so long as we cherish American ideals, for these very places will have become shrines, and those who cherish the past will find expression for their abiding reverence and faith through annual pil- grimages, in remembrance thereof.
THE END.
Ind
e X
Adams, Abigail (wife of John), 119, 120, 121.
Adams, Abigail, chapter Mass., 122.
Adams, Abigail, chapter Iowa, 122.
Adams, John, President U. S., 119.
Adams, Mrs. Helen Redington, au- thor Chapter Sketches, 144.
Adams, Magazine, 28.
Adams, John Quincy, 120.
Adams, Patriot, Samuel, 194.
Adams, John, chapter, 132.
Adjourned meeting, Oct. 11 to Novem- ber 18, 1890, 25.
Advisory Board Sons American Revo- lution, 24.
Alabama, in Spanish-American Revo- lution, 26, 61, 303.
Alaska chapter, Sitka, 254, 290.
Albermarle chapter, 243.
Alden, Mrs. Charles H., 66.
Alexander, Mrs., Rhode Island.
Alexander, Mrs. S. R., Penn.
Alger, Mrs. Russell, Chairman S. A. W. Committee, 66.
Allee, Mrs. Abraham, state regent, 282.
Allen, Ethan chapter, 158.
Allen, Betty chapter, 13'2.
Army and Navy chapter, 206.
American History (Chair) Bernard Col- lege, 179.
American Monthly Magazine, 48.
Angel, Mrs. Sarah Caswell (Ann Arbor chapter named), 297.
Angers, de David, artist, 89.
Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Chapter, 297.
Anna Baily Warner Chapter, Groton, 137.
Anna, Mother Mary, 69.
Anna Wood Elderkin Chapter, 138.
Anniversary Battle Oriskany, 172.
Annual Appropriation to Library, 59.
Annual Report to Smithsonian Insti- tution, 51.
Annual Session, 33, 78.
Applications for nurses, 65.
Applicants for membership, 56, 57, 58, 59.
Architectural competition plans, 78.
Articles deposited in the corner stone, 81.
Arizona, 285.
Arlington nurses monument, 72, 73.
Arkansas, 285.
Arkansas Valley Chapter, 284.
Army and Navy Chapter, 206.
Arnett, Hannah, story, 14 (chapter St. Louis), 278.
Arnold, Benedict, 157.
A resolution never rescinded, 43.
Asliley, Samuel, chapter, 154, 155,
Ashuelot chapter, 154.
Aspenwall, Johanna, chapter, 132.
Assistance verification papers, 49.
Avery, Mrs. Elroy, Ed. monthly mag- azine, 49.
Avery, Deborah, chapter, 281.
Awarding medals, 42, 43, 44, 45.
Baltimore Chapter, 201.
Baily, Anna Warner, chapter, 138.
Baldwin, Eunice, chapter, 155.
Banner, State, Conn., 135.
Barton, Clara, Surgeon General, 23, 39.
Ball, Mary, chapter, 290.
Bascomb, Mrs., chapter regent, 68.
Batchelder, Abigail, chapter, 132.
Battlefield, Long Island, 167.
Battle Oriskany, 174.
Bedle, Mrs. Althea Randolph, 185, 186.
Belden, Mrs. J. V. C, 175.
Belfont Chapter, 195.
Belleview Chapter, 160.
Belle, Dorcas, chapter, 238.
Bennett, Jacob, chapter, 303.
Bennington Chapter,
Beverly Manor Chapter, Staunton, 242.
Betty Washington Lewis Chapter, Fredericksburg, 244.
Bigelow, Col. Timothy, Chapter, 124.
Blair, Mrs. Appoloni M., President Board Lady Managers Louisiana P. Exposition, 109.
Blount, Mrs. Henry, Insignia medal. (Ed. Robey's) 40.
Blount, Whitmel, Chapter, 238.
Blue Hens Chickens Children's Socie- ty, American Revolution, 311.
Blue Ridge Chapter, 242.
Board of Management (powers), 47.
Board Lady Managers Louisiana Pur. Ex. entertain D. A. R., 95.
Bonny, Kate, chapter, 231.
Boonesborough Chapter erect monu- ment, 247.
Boone. Rebecka Bryan, Chapter, 247.
Bryan's Station, 247.
Boudinot Chapter, 189.
Boynton, Henry V., Advisory Board, 24.
315
3i6
Index
Boynton, Mrs. Henry V., (Vice-pres- ident), 23, 24, 29, 30, 88, 74.
Bradlee, Mrs. dressed men for Bos- ton tea party, 128.
Bradlee, Mrs. Elizabeth, Chapter, re- gent Mrs. Frank Mixter, 128.
Brattleboro Chapter mark old Court House, 159.
Brockett, Paul, redraws insignia, 41.
Breckenridge, Sophanisbe P., Chair. Insignia Com., 40, 41.
Breckenridge, Mrs. J. C, 66.
Brewer, Dorothy, Chapter, 132.
Bristol, Dr., clergyman, 51.
Bristol Chapter, 151.
Brooks, Mrs. Thomas, ceremonies at Fort Armstrong, 270.
Brown, Mrs., informal meeting, 21.
Brown University, Woman's College, 151.
Buffalo Chapter, 165.
Buntin Chapter, 154.
Building Fund, Woman's College, Paw- tucket Chapter, 151.
Butte Chapter, 279.
Bunker Hill, 124, 125.
Buntin Chapter, Pembroke, 154.
Burrows, Mrs. Julius C, President Children's S. A. R., 96, 97.
C.
Cabell, Mrs. Virginia E., Vice Presi- dent General (Vice President presi- ding), 23; adjourned meeting, Oct. 18, 1890, 25; reception Feb. 22, 1891, 26; important meeting at her house, present 27, 30; presiding in the ab- sence of Mrs. Harriman, 38; spirited address on Continental Hall, 75; telegram on laying corner stone, 83.
Cabcret, Paul E., artist, 175.
Caesar Rodney Chapter, Wilmington, 200.
Caldwell, Rev. James, Chapter, 269.
Caldwell & Co.— official jewelers, D. A. R., 41.
California, Spanish-American War, 286.
Cambridge Chapter, Cambridge, 124, 126.
Campbell, Mrs. John, 284.
Camp Middlebrook Chapter, 191.
Card Catalogue, 55.
Carpenter. Miss Josiah, 153.
Carrying Place Tablet, 175.
Carrier, Mrs. N. Y., 68.
Casey, Edward, 78.
Catherine Schuyler Chapter, 166.
Cedar Falls Chapter, 295.
Caesor Rodney Chapter. 200.
Commander-in-Chief, Elm tree, Cam- bridge, 124.
Centennial State Chapter, Denver. 284.
Central New York Chapters, 172.
Centennial State Chapter, 284.
Certificates, 58.
Columbia Chapter, 206.
Committee on Medals, 42, 43.
Committee Spanish-American War, 66,
Continental Dames Chapter, D. C, 206.
Chapter ledger, 56.
Chapter medal award, Mary Washing- ton Chapter, 211.
Chamberlain, Mrs. Amelia, 257.
Chaplain General, Mrs. Teunis Ham- lin, 23.
Chappell, Mrs. W. G. 277.
Chapter names of Western N. Y., 166.
Chapter names in Iowa, 295.
Checks and money orders, 56.
Chemung Chapter, Elmira, 166.
Chester County Chapter, 195.
Chicago Chapter, 268.
Chicamauga Chapter, 257.
Children of the Republic (Society), 261.
Chipeta Chapter, Oura.
Chittenden, Mrs. W. J., State Regent, 60, 68, 298.
Church of Our Father, 33.
Churchman, Mrs. E. Clark, 200.
Cilley, Elsa, Chapter, 154.
Cincinnati Chapters. 260.
Clark, Elijah. Chapter, 220.
Clark, Mrs. Florence Anderson. 299.
(Jlark, Mrs. A. Howard, secretary gen- eral, 23, 30.
Clark, Susan Carrlngton, Chapter, 148.
Clark, Submit, 132.
Clay, Miss, Bryan's Station, 249.
Clinton, Chapter. Dubuque, 295.
Cobb. Lydia, 132.
Cooch's Bridge Chapter, 201.
Collaterals, 31.
Collaterals proving eligibility from other lines. 32.
Colonel Haslett Chapter, 200.
Colonial Ball, Buffalo. 166.
Colonial Chapter, Minneapolis, 291.
Colonial States printing Revolutionary records. 46.
Continental Chapter. 206.
Colorado Chapter, 284.
Columbia Theatre, 42.
Columbia Chapter, 206, 234.
Columbia Chapter tablet, Emily Gei- ger's ride. 234.
Congress, 1897. 37.
Continental Chapter, 187.
Columbus Chapter, Columbus, 264.
Committee on dedication Lafayette monument, (Chairman, Mrs. Adlai Stevenson); Committee on Georgia State Records. (Chairman, Mrs. Wil- liam Lawson Peel, Atlanta), 218, 219.
Colonial Chapter, 291.
Committee on Organization (Chairman Mrs. Henry V. Boynton), 29.
Index
317
Comparison of first and later Con- gresses, 34, 35.
Connecticut, 135.
Connecticut Chapters organized, Mrs. deB. R. Keim, 135.
Concert, New York City Cliapter, 71.
Conspiracy against Washington, Gen,, 194.
Constitution Chapter, D. C, 206.
Continental Chapter District Columbia, 206.
Continental Hall, 74, 75.
Cook, Elizabeth, Chapter, 200.
Corbin, Margaret, 132.
Corner Stone, contents, 81.
Corrections from application papers, 56, 57, 58, 59.
Cost of publishing Directory, 52.
Council Bluff Chapter (and others), 295.
Council Oak Chapter, 237.
Coudin, Mrs. Winthrop, 68.
Cowpens Chapter, 234.
Crosman, Mrs. J. Heron, 166.
Cranston, Bishop, Earl, D. D., 77.
Credential Committee, Chairman, 55.
Creamer, Mrs. Samuel J., 178.
Crawford Chapter, 195.
Cumberland Chapter, Nashville, 258.
D.
Darling, Flora Adams: Overtures from Mrs. Darling to Mrs. Lockwood re- garding organization, 21; Mr. McDow- ell's correspondence, 22; Vice Presi- dent General in charge of organiza- tions, 23; Independent methods, 28; oflSce declared vacant, 29; severs her relations with D. A. R., letter to Mrs. Harrison, 29; facsimilie letter, 29; First Chapter in Daughter of Revolution, 29.
Daggett, Dolly, 132.
Daggett, Polly, 132.
Daggett, Sarah A., regent, 133.
Dakotas, North and South, 305.
Dare, Virginia, 235.
Darah, Lydia, outgeneraling Howe, 132.
Darwin, Mrs. Gertrude B. Chairman on report to Smithsonian Institu- tion, 51.
Dalton, Miss, 277.
Daughters of Liberty Chapter, 292.
Davidson's addition to Insignia de- sign, 41.
Davidson, Joseph K., 40.
Deaths of Army nurses S. A. W., 72, 73.
Deborah Sampson Chapter, 126.
Deborah Avery Chapter, Lincoln, 281.
Declaration In'lependence Chapter, Pliiladelphia, 196.
Dedication Memorial Continental Hall, 83.
Dedicatory Prayer, Mrs. Tennis Ham- lin, 83.
Dellafleld, Mrs. Wallace, 277.
Delegate Body, 30.
Delaware Chapter, Tablet Washing- ton House, 185.
Delaware, 200.
DeMott, Mrs. John W., 267.
Denver Chapter, Denver, 234.
Department of Organization, in charge of Committee, 26.
Department of Work, 53.
Descendant of Lafayette, resident of Paris, France.
De-Shon Chapter, Boone, 295.
Desha, Founder: Vice President Gen- eral, 23; her testimony in Ameri- can monthly magazines, 18; pro- posed two names, 20; proposal for Seal, 25; present at meeting October 6-7, 1891, 30; presentation Founders medals, 44; on committee S. A. W. named by Board, 66, 69; call by ex- members of Hospital Corps, 72; at laying of corner stone, 81; on the Paris committee at the unveiling of Lafayette monument, 99.
Detroit, Mrs. Chittenden, regent, Louisa St. Clair Chapter, 298.
DeWolf, Mrs. E. A., 277.
Dickens, Mrs. W. W., Chapter Re- gent, met tragic death, 210.
Dickson, 111., 60, 68.
Dictionary Catalogue, 59.
Did not publish a magazine to make money, 44.
Dillingham, Mary, Chapter, Lewilston, 162.
Dimmick, Mrs. President Harrison, 22.
District of Columbia, 204.
Direct descent necessary, 294.
Distaff Chapter, 294.
Directory, 52.
Discussion on Insignia design, 40, 41, 42.
Distaff Chapter, St. Paul, 294.
Dolliver, J. P. Senator's Address, 87.
Dolly Madison Chapter, 206.
Donegal Chapter, Lancaster, 195.
Dorcas Bell Chapter, North Carolina, 238.
Dorothy Q. Chapter, 266.
Dorsey, Ella Loraine, 69, 208.
Drake, Sarah, wife Gov. Wolcott, 1.36.
Draper, Mrs. Amos G., treas., 66, 132,
Earl, Mrs. William L., Vice Presi- dent general, 23.
Eligibility, (members) 30. 32, 33.
Elizabeth Cook Chapter, Delaware, sent tree for "Sequoia .\rch," 200.
Elizabeth Jackpon Chapter, District Columbia, 213.
3i8
Index
Ellsworth, Gov, Roger, 136.
Ellsworth Homestead, 147.
Ellsworth, Judge Oliver, 136.
Ellsworth, Abigail Wolcott, 136.
Eschscholtzia Chapter, Los Angeles, 287.
Estey, Mrs. J. J., 159.
Essex Chapter, New Jersey, 187.
Exter Chapter, 154, 155.
Eunice Baldwin Chapter, New Hamp- shire.
Exhibition Congresses, 1893, Chicago,
Facsimile of eighteen signers at first meeting, Oct. 11, 1890, 22.
Fairbanks, Cornelia Cole, election, 102; S. A. W. Committee, 66; purchase ground for memorial continental hall, dedication ceremonies at laying corner stone, address, 79; address at dedication, 84; presentation of portrait. 91; pre-eminent services, 90; initial movement at Mrs. Fair- banks' home, 91; as a public speak- er, where educated, marriage, 91; lineage, 91.
Fairchild. Constant Neilson, Quebec, C. A. R., 3:10.
Fanning, Anna Preston, Chapter, Jow- ets City, 148.
Federal Government honors Paul Jones' ashes, 131.
Fergus Falls Chapter. Minnesota, 292.
Files In registrar general's office, 56, 51, ^^.
Fulton's, Mrs. residence. Field Hos- pital, 287.
First Chapter organized Chicago, Mrs. Frank Osborn, 27.
First President General, 32, 33, 34.
First State regents, 27.
First State Conference, District Co- lumbia, 206, 207.
First portrait presented to Continental Hall. 289,
Flag Day, Cooch's Bridge, Delaware, 201.
Flag House Chapter, Philadelphia. 196.
Flint Lock and Powder Horn Chap- ter, 151.
Florida Chapter work, 305, 306.
Fontain, Mrs. Julia Washington, 300.
Former editors Smithsonian reports, 51.
Foote, Mary Sawyer, 42.
Fort Armstrong Chapter, Rock Island, 270.
Fort Griswold, Groton, 137.
Fort Massachusetts Chapter. 133.
Fort Herkimer Chapter, 181.
Fort du Quene, 275.
Fort Massic, restoration, 271.
Fort Nelson Chapter, 242.
Fort Stanwix, Invasion St. Leger, 173, 174.
Founders Medals, 42.
Fontaine, Mrs. Julia Washington, re- gent, 300.
Forney, Peter, Chapter, 304.
Foreign Lecture course, Buffalo, 124.
Franklin Folger, Abiah Chapter, 134.
Frye, Mrs. William, Vice president, Maine 66, 163.
Frye, Hon. W., 163.
Forsyth, Miss Isabella, offers amend- ment to Constitution, 47.
Freemont, Jessie Benton, 287.
Forseyth's hymn, at Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition D. A. R., 110.
Foster, Hon. John W., 29.
Foster, Mrs. John W. (Mary Park), 129.
Frances Shaw Chapter, Anamosa, 295.
Frederick Chapter, 202.
Fulton, Sarah Bradlee, Chapter, 127, 128.
Fulton, John, too ill to go, wife vol- unteered, 128, 129.
Gaston, Martha, Chapter, 258.
Gannett, Benjamin, Chapter. 127.
Gaspee Chapter, Rhode Island, 150,151:
Gavel presented to Potomac Lodge, 79.
Genealogies and discrepancies, 55.
Genealogy historian and her duties, 50.
Gavel used at laying of corner stone, 79.
Geer, Judge, 76.
Geer, Mrs. Augusta Danforth Contin- ental Hall committee, 76.
Getchell. Mrs. F. H., greeting at dedication, 82.
General Freelinguyshe Chapter, 187.
General Sumter Chapter, Birmingham, 304.
General Mercer Chapter, Trenton, 186.
George Clymer Chapter, Tomanda, 190.
Georgia Colony, 215.
Geiger, Emily, 226, 231.
Gill. William L., brings greeting and advice, 23, 24.
Gill, Wilson L., S. A. R., 25; draw- ing of the seal.
Goddard, Hannah, 132.
Gold medal. District Columbia, 204.
Good work. Army and Navy Chapter, 210.
Goode, Mrs. G. Brown, successor to Miss Breckenridge, 23, 30, 38. 41.
Goode, Dr. Brown, service to the society, 24.
Gould, Helen, 69.
Grand Prix awarded D. A. R. S., 100.
Grant, Mrs. J. B., regent, 284.
Grave of Light Horse Harry Lee, 303.
Great Bridge Chapter, 243.
Index
319
Greenwood Chapter, Winsted, 142.
Greeley, Mrs. A. W., elected Vice president, 23, 38, 66.
Green, General Nathaniel, 151, 15T, 231.
"Green Mountain Boys," Ethan Al- len, 157.
Green, Mrs. P. M., 218.
Hadden, Mrs. Leonora F. (Mrs. R. G.) New Orleans, 301.
Hadden, Mrs. S. A. W., 68.
Hail Columbia Chapter, Dis. Col. 206.
Hale, Nathan, Memorial Chapters, Conn., 135, and Minn. 291.
Hale, Rev. Edward Everett, D. D., 79.
Hamlin, Mrs. Teunis, Chaplain gen- eral, 23, 33, 81.
Hampton Chapter, Hampton, 242, 243.
Hancock, Dorothy Quincy, 121, 132.
Hands Cove Chapters, Vermont, 159, 160.
Hannah Arnett Chapter, St. Louis, 278.
Hazen, Mrs. John Cunningham, 178.
Harlem Chapter, organized and named, 28.
Harrison, Mrs., 68.
Harrisburg, Penn., Chapter, 199.
Harris, Elizabeth, author, 125.
Harrison, Carolina Scott, President General, 92; sent her genealogy to Mrs. Lockwood, 22; elected Presi- dent General, 23; calls important board meeting, 28; first Continental Congress, 37; at first reception, 26; Important conference, 30; date of death, 34; took no pleasure in pub- licity, 34; a tea at the White House, 39; Continental Hall, 75 character sketch, 93; Huntingdon portrait, 93; ancestry, 94.
Hatch, Mrs., S. A. W. Com., 66.
Harrison, President United States, ap- points Mary S. Lockwood, 35.
Harrison, regent Philadelphia Chapter, 68.
Hart, Ruth, Chapter, Merlden, 145.
Hart, Nancy, 220.
Harrison, Caroline Scott, Chapter, 266.
Harvey, Miss Margaret, 219.
Headquarters National Society, 24.
Heber Allen Chapter, Vermont, 168.
Heard, Stephen, Chapter, 224.
Henry, Dorothy, Chapter, 242.
Henry, Mrs. Kate Kearney, demands that Mrs. Lockwood's name be add- ed to Founders' 'list, 42, 204.
Henry, Mrs. John, .300.
Henry, Mrs. John lane (Caroline Jam- ison) regent Texas, 299.
Henry, Mrs. William Wirt, 28, 38.
Hentzel, Miss Susan, 241.
Hermitage Chapter, Memphis, 257.
Hodge, Mrs. 0. J., Ohio regent on Continental Hall Dedication Com., 82.
Hogg, Mrs. Julia, (memorial Historic prize fund) 27, 32, 38, 195, 197.
Hoopes, Major Adams, memorial. Clean Chapter, 182.
Horton, Mrs. John Miller, 91 (pre- sents portrait), 166.
Hospital corps, 65.
Hospitality of Mrs. Cabel, 26, 27, .37.
Hot Springs Chapter, Hot Springs, 305.
Howard, Mrs. Emily Washington, 241.
Huntington Portrait, 94.
Hull, Elizabeth Clark Chapter, 138.
Hichborn, Mrs. Philip, 66.
Historian General. — Mary S. Lock- wood, 22.
Historical Arch, Golden Gate Park,
I.
Incidents Emily Geiger, 226. Incidents following organization, 26. Incident, Battle Long Island, 168. Incident of the Scarlet Cloak, Faith
Trumbull, 140. Independence Chapter, 196. Incident of "The White Doe," 237. Indiana Chapters, 265. Iowa, 295. Illinois, 268. Inscription in tablet, Brooklyn Bridge.
176, 177. Introduction to Chapter History, 15. Invasion of Fort Stanwix, 174. Iowa, 295. Irondequoit Chapter, place boulder,
182. Shelby Chapter, Kentucky, 246, and
Tenn., 250. Island of the Sea, 307.
J.
•Tackson, Lucy, 132.
Jacksonville Chapter, 305.
Jacob Bennett Chapter, Silver City,
163. Jamestown Chapter. Maine, 163, 164. Jamestown Settlement older than
Plymouth Rock, 163, 164. Janin, Miss Violet Blair, registrar,
204. Jemsey, Mrs. Ira Sherman, 159. Jersey City Chapter, 186. Jewett, Mrs. William F., Chairman
corner stone committee, 81, 293. Johnston, Miss Elizabeth Brvant, 43.
44. 207, 211, 250. Johnston, Mrs. Sarah E. Historian and
Compiler of Lineage books, 50. Jones, .John Paul, Chapter, Madison,
Ind, 267.
320
Index
Jones, Paul, Chapter, Mass., 130, 131. Jonathan Dayton Chapter, 261. Jesseraund, Monsieur J. J., French Ambassador, 84.
Kanesteo Chapter, erected boulder, Hornellsville, 181.
Kansas, 280.
Karew, Mrs. Anna B. W., 218.
Katharine Montgomery Chapter, Dis- trict Columbia, 206.
Keim, Mrs. deB. R., organizer, Con- necticut, 28, 135, 82.
Kentucky, 246.
Keokuck Chapter, Keokuck, 295.
Kings Mountain, plans formed under Council Oak, 231.
Kinney, Mrs. Sarah T., Colonial Hall dedication ceremonies.
Kinney, Sarah T., 135, 140, 148, 82.
Knickerbocker Chapter, New York, 169.
Knott, Mrs. Leo, (member Committee of organization) 30, 38, 83, 202.
Knox, Lucy, 132.
Konti, Izidore (artist), 180.
Kramer, Mrs. Samuel J., 177.
L.
Lady Managers Louisiana Purchase Ex- position, 96, 97.
Lafayette Chapter, Lafayette, 266.
Laws, Miss Anna, 68.
Lecture and Bible, gift of Rhode Is- land Chapters.
Legend on insignia D. A. R., 40.
Lee, burial place of ''Light Horse Harry," 303.
Lee, Elizabeth Blair, regent Mary- Washington Chapter, Washington, D. C, 66, 204.
Letetia Green Stevenson Chapter, Bloomington, 269.
Letts, Nehemiah Chapter, 295.
Lewis, Mrs. Margaret Lynn, Chapter, 243.
Lewis, Betty Washington, 244.
Last message of Mrs. Harrison on Continental Hall, 76.
Loan exhibit, Mary Floyd Talmage Chapter, 143.
Lockwood, Lillian, business manager, 49.
Lockwood, Mary S., Founder, His- torian General, 20; letter to Wash- ington Past, Hannah Arnett, 14; blew the first blast, 18; met Mary Desha, 19; statement of the general understanding, 21: urged Mrs. Har- rison to accept the presidency, 22; conference Oct. 6-7, 1891, 39; dele- gate at large to World's Columbian
Exposition, 35; Resolution for mem- orial Continental Hall, 74; edited first Lineage book, 39; drawing of insignia, 40; Kate Karney Henry and others demand that Mrs. Lock- wood's name be added to list of Founders, 43; her pen work ante- dated others, 43; presentation of Founders medals, 43, 44; at Louisi- ana Purchase Exposition, 95, 96, edit American monthly magazine 39; memorial building ressolution, 74; took part in laying corner stone, 81; planted osage orange trees, 77; edits report to Smithsonian Insti- tution, 52.
Lothrop, Mrs. Daniel, Organizer of Children's Society American Revolu- tion, 72, 82, 309.
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 28.
Louisiana Chapter in Spanish-American War, 301.
Lucy Holcomb Chapter, D. C, 206.
Luther Chapter, 154.
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 108; Mrs. Daniel Man- ning selected chairman board of lady managers, 100; invitation to D. A. R. to occupy a day, 75; special invitations to the eighteen who joined Oct. 11, 1900, 75; ex-presi- dents present, 108; other guests, 76; Mrs. John Miller Horton, 108; day se- lected, 108; other celebrations of D. A, R. birthdays, 109; Mrs. Manning's welcome, 109; address, David K.Fran- cis, 109, 110; introductions of presi- dents general Mrs. Wallace Dela- field, 110; Jlrs. Fairbanks address, 110; Greeting, Mrs. Alice Ewing, Walker, 110; Mrs. Lockwood, chair- man of arrangements, 110, five min- ute speeches and reception in V»'o- man's buildings. 111; elegant ap- pointments. Ill; reception in State building. 111; St. Louis Daughters D. A. R. reception to president general. 111; good results of social features, 112, Mrs. Mannings enter- tains, 112; other receptions, 112.
Liberty Chapter, New Hampshire, 155.
Liberty Pole, Massachusetts, 130.
"Liberty Tree," Osage orange, 77.
Liberty Bell Chapter, Allentown, 196.
Library and national society, 60.
Lindsay, Mrs. William, presentation of Founders' medals, 44.
Lindsay, Mrs. Eleanor Holmes. Chair- man Medal Com., 43, 44. 78.
Lindsay, Mrs. William, Chair mon Com- mittee of Architecture, 82.
Lineage Book, 49.
Lippitt, Charles Warren, 151.
Lipscomb. Miss Sarah A., 204.
Litch Gate. Fairfield, 138.
Little, Mrs. William S., 182.
Index
321
Little Rock Chapter, 285.
Louisiana, 301.
Lovell, Alice Quitman, 304.
M.
Maryland 201; Maryland line chapter, 201.
McBlair, Miss Julia, 206, 111.
McCracken, Mrs. William 279.
McAllister, Miss Louise, 28.
McCartney, Mrs. W. H., 31, 68
McDonald, Mrs. Marshall, treasured general, 23, 38, 74.
McDowell, William A., (descendant of Hannah Arnett), 19, 23, 24.
McGee, Dr. Anita Newcomb, Spanish- American War, 66, 69.
McKee, Mrs. Mary, daughter of Pres- ident Harrison, 39.
McLean, Mrs. Donald, Sixth President General, at important conference, 31; regent New York City chapter, 71; election, 105; of good Revo- lutionary stock, where born, mon- ument at Fredericksburg, dedica- tion address, 106; history yet to make, 106; a Chapter members meet- ings, 106; fund to complete scholar- ship, 179.
McNeil, Mrs. John, delegate, 284.
Macon Chapter, 224.
Manor House Chapter, District Colum- bia, 206.
Men, Mrs. Patrick, 219.
Main, Mrs Charlotte Emerson, Regent District Columbia, 83.
Main Chapters, 161.
Maryland Line Chapter, 202.
Molton, Mary, 132.
Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, New York, 176.
Mary Washington Chapter, District Co- lumbia, 204.
Massachusetts Chapters, 119.
Massic Fort, 271.
Massury, Mrs. dedication, 82.
Mawivenawasigh Chapter, 181.
Manning, Mrs. Daniel; Fourth Presi- dent General, 97; Chairman Hospi- tal Corps Com., 66; Address at D. A. R. Congress, 69, 70; character sketch, 97; special appointment by President McKinley, 98; Paris Ex- position, D. A. R. at presentation of statue of Washington; appoints Committee to represent D. A. R. Society, 98, 99; ceremonies at La- fayette statue unveiling, Paris, 99; representative Aniei<ican woman, 100; loving cup, 101; Louisiana purchase exposition, 100; birth, an- cestry, 101, 102.
Murray Mary, 168.
Mary Dillingham Chapter, 162.
Mary Washington Chapter, Mansfield,
206. Mary Washington Colonial Chapter,
176. Maryland Chapters, 201. Martha Washington Chapter, D. C,
206. Martha Washington tablet placed in
Hugenot church by New York City
Chapter, 179. Margery Sullivan Chapter, Dover, 156. Marion Esther Chapter, 231. Massachusetts Chapter history, 119. Massie, Nathaniel Chapter, 261. Medford- (town), 128. Melzingah Chapter, 181. Meadow Garden, purchased, 224. Melzinga Chapter, Fishkill tablet, 181. Mariana Mother, 69. Marion Danforth, illustrated lecture,
Dr. Anita McGee, 213. Mary Dillingham Chapter, Lewiston,
162. Masons in charge, 78, 79. Mathes, Mrs. Mildred Spotswood, State
regent, 253. Martha Pitins Chapter, Ohio, 259. Meeting of National Board 1898, 65. Mecklenburg Chapter, 238. Men, Mrs. P. H., 303. Membership 1897. Members of Spanish-»Amer5can War
Fund Committee, 71. Memorial Continental Hall, 74. Mendez, Rev. Dr. H. P., 84. Merion Chapter, Philadelphia, 196. Mills, Mary Gill, 232. Michigan, 296. Minton, Mrs. New York. Minnesota, Spanish-American-War, 291. Minute Men, 26. Minneapolis Chapter, 294. Minton, Mrs., 42. MUler, Miss, Virginia, 204. Miriam Danforth Chapter, District Co- lumbia, 213. Missouri, 277. Mississippi Chapters, 304. Mnitia Service Oath, 188. Minnesota, 291. Missouri, 277.
Mitchell, Mrs. John, 77, .298. Mother of "16 Pennsylvania and 2d
Wisconsin", 233, 234. Mohawk Chapter, 181. Motlier of a Patriot clause, 30, 32. "Mother Baney", 137, Mobile Chapter. 304. Molly Reid Chapter, Derby, mark Gen- eral Starks' birthplace, 155. Molly Starke, 152. Moline Chapter, 269. Mohl, Mrs. Aurelia Hadley, Houston,
299. Mohawk Chapter, 167. Monument Charles Shephard, 296.
322
Index
Monmouth Chapter, Red Bank, 185. Monument, Paulus Hook, 185. Mount Vernon Chapter, 241. Monument, Narcissa Whitman, Taco-
ma, 289. Mott. Rebecca, 70, 226, 23.3. Montpelier Chapter, Orange, 24t, Montana, 279. Montine Chapter, 237. Montfort, Mrs. D. A., (Mary Jane Ed-
gerton) State regent, 291. Mussey, Mrs. Ellen Spencer, 205. Murray, Mary's, successful strategy,
168, 169. Munion, Mrs. Pennsylvania, 68. Murray Hill, 108. Murphy, Mrs. John A., Founder of
" Children of the Republic ", 72,
82, 261. Muster Rolls discovered, 175.
N.
Nancy Hart, history by Mrs. Julia
L. Brown, 220 to 222. Nathaniel Maurice Chapter, Chilicothe,
261. Naragansett Chapter, contribution, 151. Nash, Mrs. Frances S. director War
Com., 66, 69. Nathan Hale Memorial Chapter, 149. Natchez Chapter, 304. National Society organized, 13, 22,
23. National Society branches. Children
American Revolution. 135 and 309. Nebraska, 281.
New Connecticut Chapter, 263. New Hampshire, 152. New Jersey, 184. New Mexico, 301. New York Chapters, 26, 165. New York Chapters with Indian
names, 176. New York City Chapter, Mrs. Donald
McLean regent, 28. New York City Chapter complete the
McLean scholarship, 179. New York City Chapter place monu- ment, 233. Newport, Mrs. R. M. Morgan State
regent, (Eliza Thompson), 291. Norton, Mrs. Mary Gratz, Bryan
Station, 249. North Shore Chapter, 269. North Carolina, 235. North Dakota, 305. Nurses Association, 72 (Monument)
O.
Oakland Chapter, Oakland, 286. Objects of Work, Pennsylvania Chap- ters, 194, 195.
Official Organ, Adams' magazine, 28. Officers, Mary Washington Chapter,
District Columbia, 204. Office of Treasurer General, 48. Ohio Chapters in Spanish-American
War, 261. Ohio, 259, 260. Old Colony Chapter, Massachusetts,
133. Old Liberty Bell, Independence Hall,
197. Old Pemaquid Chapter, 163. Oliphant, General Jonathan Chapter,
187, Oliphant, Mrs. Duncan, 187, 189. Old Pemaquid, historical landmark,
163, 164. Clean Chapter, Clean, 182. Omaha Chapter, 282. Onondaga Chapter, 180. Oneida Chapter with S. A. R. mark
graves, Utica, 183. Cnondago Chapter, Onondago, 180. O'Neil, Mrs. S. A. W., Can., 66. Opportunity to represent objects of
Society at Columbian Exposition, 90,
96. Orophens Chapter, 279. Organization, 13. Origin Society American Revolution,
32. Orton, Mrs. Edward, 264. Osborn, Mrs. Frank, 38. Our History, paper by Eugenia Wash- ington, 18. Owentsia Chapter. Addison, 182. Owen, Frederick Denison, 80, 84. Owentias Circus, 182. Oxford Bow Chapter, Vermont and
others, 161.
Paulus Hook Chapter, 185.
Palestrello Chapter, Wallingford, 160, 161.
Palmer, Mrs. Potter, 268.
Palmer, Mrs. Sophia F., Rochester, 68.
Parker, Mrs. Arthur M. Louise, St. Clair Chapter, 298.
Park, Mrs. Robert Emery, Georgia State Revolutionary Bill before the Legislature. 218. 219, 220.
Paris Exposition, July 4, 1900, 87.
Pages D. A. R. Congresses, 45.
Palmer, Mrs. S. A. W., 68.
Park, Wolf's Den. 144.
Pathetic Story of Real Daughter, 60.
Patriotic Work of the National So- ciety, 6.5.
Patterson Chapter, Westfield, 166.
Patriotic Lectures, 298.
Patty Endlcott Chapter, Pueblo. 283.
Pautucket Chapter, whea organized, 150, 151.
Index
323
Paul, John Chapter, 267.
Paulus Hook Chapter, Mrs. Arthur Randolph Bedle, 186.
Paulus Hook Fund, 186.
Peele, Mrs. Wm. Louson, 218 and 219.
Pepperell, Massachusetts, 129.
Pepperill Bridge, women of, 130.
Pettigrew, John Chapter, 200.
Petition to President Roosevelt, Anna Warner Baily Chapter, 138.
Pearson, Miss of Harrisburg Chapter, 199.
Peck, Mrs James Sidney, Vice Pres- ident General, 298.
Peggy Stuart Tea Party Chapter, Maryland, 201.
Pennsylvania, 192.
Personnel and Work of Board of Man- agement, 46.
Phelps, Abigail Chapter, 1.36.
Philadelphia Chapter, Spanish-Ameri- can War Fund, 196.
Philippines, American troops at Ha- VFaii, 307.
Phoebe Bayard Chapter, 199.
Pioneer Work of National Society, 43.
Piankeshaw Chapter, 266.
Pickens Chapter, 231.
Pittsburg Chapter, Pittsburg, Re- doubt of Fort Pitt, 198.
Pohlck Church, restoration, 241.
Potomac Chapter, District Columbia, 206.
Pound, Mrs. S. B. Lincoln, Chairman executive committee, 283.
Pope, Mrs. Henry L., 247.
Porter, Horace, restored John Paul Jones remains to his country, 131.
Porter, Mrs. David D., 23. (Vice Pres- ident), 38.
Porter Milicent, Waterbury, 139.
Pueblo Chapter, 284.
Presidents General, (Founders' Med- als), 44.
President United States, 65.
Presentation of Portrait, Mrs. Fair- banks, 91.
Presque Isle Chapter, 198.
Prince, Mrs, L. Bradford, 303.
Pryor, Mrs. Roger, New York, 165.
Prison Ships, 171.
Purchase of Putnam's Hill, 144.
Putnam, Israel, 144, 157.
Putnam, Deborah Avery, Plainfield,, 144.
Putnam Park, Elizabeth Porter Chap- ter, 144.
Putnam Hill Chapter, Greenwich, 144.
Putnam's Army, 144.
Putnam, General, founder of Marietta Colony, Ohio, 259.
Powers of Executive Board to fill va- cancies, 46.
Powers of Continental Congress over elections, 46.
Quaker City Chapter, Philadelphia, 196, 198.
Quequechan Chapter, Massachusetts, 134.
Quarles, Caroline Saunders, (Mrs. Jo- seph V.) Vice President General.
Quassaic Chapter, New York, 180.
Quequechan Chapter, 134.
Quincy, Massachusetts, 121.
Quincy, tomb John Adams, 122.
R.
Rathbone, Mrs. Estes Y., 261.
Radcliffe, Dr. Wallace, benediction, 90.
Ranier Chapter, Seattle, 290.
Randolph, Francis Bland Chapter, 243.
Revello Chapter, 279.
Real Daughter (Incident), 61.
Recognition of the Lineage books, 49, 50.
Records of Chapters, 54.
Recording Secretary Palestrello Chap- ter, Vermont, 160, 161.
Reed, Esther Chapter, 288.
Registrar General's Office, 56.
Reid, Mrs. Whitelaw, S. A. W., 68.
Religious organizations assisting in re- lief work, 69.
Rhode Island, 150.
Reminiscences of First Continental D. A. R. Congress, 33
Reprisal Chapter, Newport, 154, 155.
Reports of Continental Congress, 48.
Reports Smithsonian Institution, 51.
Resolution of sympathy with King Ed- ward VII, 97.
Result of Inquiry at U. S. P. 0., 48.
Return of British, 244, 245.
Reily, John Chapter, 263.
Richards, Miss Janette E. recording secretary Mary Washington Chapter, 240.
Richardson, Mrs. S. A., 83.
Ritchie, Mrs. John, 202, 203.
Riggs, Sarah Chapter, 139.
Revere, Paul, 128, 132.
Resolution oCfered for Continental Hall October 18, 1890, 74, 75.
Resolution prepared by Mrs. Walworth relative to Founders, 75.
Response of Founders, 45.
Revolutionary relics collection Louisi- ana Purchase Exposition, 277.
Roanoke Island Colony 1585, 235.
Robey, Mrs. Edward, suggestions for Insignia, 40.
Robey, Edward, son of Mrs. E., drew design, 40, 41.
Roberts, Mrs. Pennsylvania, 68.
Roberts, James A., 175.
Robston, Madame deBoconde Flguerie, 277.
3^4
Index
Roman Catholic Sisters, Spanish-Ameri- can War, 62.
Romero, Senora, wife of Mexican min- ister, 97.
Rounsaville, Mrs. J. H., 31.
Routine in Registrar General's office, 59.
Roosevelt, Mrs. President, 94.
Roosevelt, President United States, 94.
Rose, Dr., Pennsylvania, 68.
Rosa, Mrs. Edward S. Bennett, Libra- rian Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 110.
Ross, Betsy Chapter, 132.
Rumford Chapter, Concord, 155.
Rumbling Echoes of Mrs John Adam's Little Shot, 121.
Sacakjawea, 290. Salem Centennial Chapter, 238. Sampson, Deborah Chapter, 127. Santa Fe Trail, 303. Santa Anna surrender, 286. Sanger, Elen J. Chapter, 157. Satterlee, Bishop, 84. Savannah Chapter, Revolutionary rec- ords, 220 Sevier, John, 252, 253. Sequoia Chapter, San Francisco, 286. Scott, Mrs. Mathew T., 82, 272. Shelby, Isaac Chapter, 247. Shaw, Thomas Chapter, 295. Sherman, Senator Address, 13. Sherman, Roger, 145. Silver Bow Chapter, Butte, 79. Sherwood, Emily Lee, (Ragan), 13, 22,
31, 95, 107. Silliman, Mary Chapter, 141, 143. Simonds, Colonel, 79. Sisters of Mercy, 69. Sixth President General, 105. Slade, Mrs. William Geary, President
Daughters 1812, greeting, 82. Smith, Prof. Goldwin, against his
statement, 173. Society D. A. R., 13. Society Seal adopted, 40, 41, 42. Selection of nurses accredited by War
Department, 65. Society Motto chosen, 25, 75. Solomons, Miss Aline, librarian, 205. Sons American Revolution, gift of a
flag, 77. Sons American Revolution Advisory
Board, 24. South Dakota, 305. Spanish American War, 65. Sperry, Mrs. S. A. W. Conn., 66. Spencer Chapter, 266. State, New York, 165. Stark, Molly, 153, 155. Stark, John, invasion of Boston, 152,
155, 157. Stark, Caleb, entered army aged 15.
Stark, Mary, married B. E. Stickney, mother of major Two Stickney, 153.
Status of President General, 24
Stakely, Mrs., War Com., 66.
Sternberg, General, M., 65.
Sternberg, Mrs. George M. 66, 82.
Stephen, Mrs. S. A. W. State regent, 68.
Stevenson, Second President General, 95; Interest in Memorial Continental Hall, 76; telegram on laying corner stone, 83; succeeded Mrs. Harrison, 95 ; time terminated 1894, 95 ; re- elected 1896, 95; character sketch, 95; ancestors, 96.
Stickney, Anna Chapter, 154.
Stickney, Joseph Henry's bequests, 153.
Stone, Nellie B., 52. (Directory)
Story Ann Chapter, 158.
Story of Memorial Frame, New York, Mohawk Chapter, 167.
Strathmore Arms, located, 23.
"Strathmore Arms" D. A. R. organ- ized there, 13.
Stringfleld, Mary Love, State regent North Carolina, 83.
Stars and Stripes Chapter, Burling- ton, 296.
Sullivan Margery Chapter, 156.
St. Louis Chapter, 278.
St. Barnabas Guild, Spanish-American War, 69.
St. Clair, Louisa Chapter, 297.
St. Clair, Mrs. Leila Dent, Vice Presi- dent, 38.
St. Margaret, religious order, 69.
Syracuse Chapter and S. A. R. erect tablet with Onondago Chapter, 140.
St. Louis, D. A. R. Hostesses Louisi- ana Purchase Exposition, 95, 96, 97, 98.
St. Leger and Mohawk Valley Chap- ters, 166, 167, 173.
St. Paul Chapter, St, Paul, 293.
South Carolina, 225.
Sullivan Ebenezzer, Patriot officer, 156.
Sumter Chapter, 304.
Sunshine Chapter, Santa Fe, 301.
Surgeon General, George M. Sternberg, U. S. A., 65.
Spanish-American War Committee, Mrs. Russell B. Alger chairman, 66.
Spencer Monument, Nathan Hale Chap- ter, 140, 141.
Spencer Chapter, Spencer, 140.
Squires, Mrs. George C, resolution, 293.
Syracuse Chapter work, 140.
Tea Party, Md., 207. Takoma Chapter, 288. Talmadge Chapter, loan exhibition, 142.
Index
325
Talmadge, Major Lytchfleld, 142. Talmadge, Mary Floyd Chapter, Litch- field, 143. Tallant, Mrs. Walter S. State regent,
Montana, 279. Taplin, Mrs. S. A. W. Com.. 66. Tennessee, first settlers, 250. Territory Ohio, settlement, 259. Terhune, Sarah Nelson, eight mile
walk, 296, 297. Terry, Mrs. Charles H., chairman, 178. Texas, independence, 299. Thayer, Capt. Nathan, 126. Thomas, Mary Sawyer Foote, brought
up Founders' resolution, 38. Thom, Mrs. Pembroke, 68, 202. ^ Thornton, Mathew Chapter, 156. Thirteen Colonies Chapter, D. C, 206. Tiffany, tablet to Marquise de Lafay- ette, 183. Tioughinoga, Daughters "Flat Iron
Cortland, 183. Together meeting, Connecticut, 136. Topeka Chapter, Kansas, 280. Transports, names of Prison ships, 169. Treasurers General, 53. Treatment of Continentals in Prison
ships, 169, 170. Trent Chapter, named for founder of
Trenton, 191. Trent New Jersey Chapter pin. 191. Trumbull, Faith Robinson Chapter. 139. Trumbull, John, artist, 139. Trumbull, Jonathon, 139. Trumbull. Sarah, Rockville, 146. Trumbull, Amml, 146. Trumble, Joseph, 146. Trumble, Sabra, 146. Tullock, Miranda B. Vice President
In charge of organizations, 37. Tullock, Mrs. Miranda B. helps secure
site for Continental Hall, 76, 80. Tuffts, Susannah Chapter, 132. TuCfts, Anna Adams Chapter, 132. Tunk Hannock Chapter, 199. Tuskarora Chapter. Binghamton, 166. Twenty-seven thousand women (D. A. R.) in War work, 70.
U.
United States at Paris represented by
Mrs. Manning, 98. United States Government calls for
nurses, 66, 67.
Valentine, Mrs. Sarah Burnside, 195. Vanderpool, Miss, New York. 67. Valley Forge Chapter, 196. Vermont, 157.
Verplank, Mrs. Samuel, regent, 180. Victory that saved Georgia, 225. Virginia, 239.
Virginia Dare Chapter, 290. Vice President in charge of organiza- tion of Chapters, 54.
W.
Ward, Phoebe Green Chapter, 151. Walker, Mrs. Alice Ewing, Vice Presi- dent, 97. Walworth, Elen Uardin, Founder, quo- tation from American Monthly mag- azine, 8; makes the acquaintance of Miss Desha, 20; informal meet- ing at Mrs. Brown's, 21; a meeting of three, 21; secretary general, 38; moved for reconsideration Resolu- tion on Founders, 42, 43; dates on medals, 43; first editor American Monthly Magazine, 49; director Na- tional war relief association, 69; Oct. 24, 1891, suggested name for building, "Memorial Manor", 75; part in laying corner stone, Hunt- ington's portrait, Mrs. Harrison, 93. War S. A. W. Committees, 66, 67, War Fund, 71.
Warren and Prescott Chapters, 133. Warring, Mrs. Clark, resolution, 99. Warren, Mercy Chapter, 125. Watauga Chapter, 257. Webster, Daniel, incident, 209. Washburn Chapter, Ind., 267. Washington, Mary Chapter, (Stephen
Heard), 224. Washington City, 13. Washington Post (paper), 13. Washington, Eugenia, Founder, 38; registrar general, 23; informal meet- ing, 30; quotations from address, "Our History" 30, 31; present at im- portant meeting, Oct. 6-7, 1891, 30; Founders' Medals, 42, 44; recom- mendation of Medal committee, 43; public award^ of Medals, 44. Washington Martha Madam, 123. Washington General George, 123; me- morial building project, 74; Cam- bridge, Mass., 124; in New York, 167'; outgenerals Howe, 168; in New Jersey, 184; Battle of Mon- mouth, 185; policy with deserters, 191; joined by Lafayette, 191; Christ church, Alexandria, 241; Washington and Lafayette, 191; at Valley Forge, 191; distress and later fame, 194; Brother Jonathan, 140; reception of Deborah Sampson, 127; in Ohio, 260; end of Revolutionary War. 2.3:9, 240, 241; guest of Gen. Boudinot, 190. Washington statute, France. 98. Washington George University Medal,
207. Washington State, 287, 289. Washington Chapter, Ohio, 264.
^-^t
/ n d e X
Wasfaln£:ton Heights Chapter, " f.,
177. WaehJn;itoi> Forf. 126. WashirMTton, Mary Hammond Chapter,
224. W«e(l Mrs. ^ alter, 83, 279. Welc<^iie, Mrs. Manning, Louisiana
P'T-'jhase Exhibition, 96, 97, 98. ".enonah Chapter, 293. Western Reserve Chapter, 262. What D. A. R. Charter demands, 51. What the Ledger shows, 53, 55. What goes into the Lineage book, 49. What the Magazine aims to do, 48. What is presented by Vice President
Generals at monthly meetings, 54. When applications go to the treasurer
general, 53, 54. When first annual Congress was held,
33. Wheelock, Deborah, Chapter, 132. Whitman, Narcissa, missionary monu- ment, 289. Yv'hitman, Marcus, famous ride to
Washington, 289. Wliite, Mrs. S. V., 171, 172. White, Janette L., the struggle of her
life, 35. Wisconsin, 298. Wilbour, Mrs.
427. Willard, Mrs.
146. Williams, Frances Dighton,
163. William Ellery Chapter, Rock Island,
270. Willianiatic, Anna Wood Elderkin,
Chapter, 138. Williams, Mrs., 618, 202.
Joshua, state regent, Emma Hart, Chapter, Chapter,
Wln^ock, Mrs. W. C, Vice Pres- ident, 23, 38.
Winthrop, Hannah J., Chapter, 124. 125.
Wisconsin, 298.
Wolf, Den, Promfret, 151.
Wolcott, Abigail, Chapter, 136, 147,
Wolcott, General Oliver, 136.
Woman's Club and D. A. R., Sitka, 291.
Womans' College, Pennsylvania, His- toric prize, 195.
Womans' National War Relief Asso- ciation, 69.
Women's Nurses Examining Board, 66.
World's Columbian Exposition Invita- tion, 35.
Work of Arkansas Chapters, 285.
Willis, Ruth, Chapter, Hartford, 139.
Work of Restoration, Ruth Wil- lis Chapter, 139.
Work of District Chapters for An- nual Congresses, 205.
Wooster, Mary Clapp Chapter, 139.
Wooster, Mary, Danbury, 138.
Wright, Prudence, Chapter, 129, 130.
Wyoming Chapter, Queen Esthers* Rock, 279.
Young Daughters part In Founders
ceremonies 45. Yellow Stone Park Chapter, 279.
Zebulon Pike Springs, 284.
Chapter, Colorado
StP
-A\t%
,. *. iH ^MM^^i
#.^■1* -^i
|
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |
mi ^^M ^^ i'^to^--
^1 m *^ ^^ :»^ -^
iil^" I.. . . . ........ . , , ..-
^^ M m w W '^^ 'i-^ -^
^!^ lIsC! -M ^ '^'v ,? Ill 3' |i4 9C ¥': Jf^'-^ ■* ^^