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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Some Real Daughters of the American Revolution
These women are our nearest links in
independence and it is surprising fact that there are one
hundred and fifty-eight "Real Daughters" alive to-day (July 4,
1911). Sentiment has impelled the Daughters of the American
Revolution organization to provide each "real daughter" with an
enduring souvenir to be handed down to posterity, and this
memento takes the form of a solid gold spoon properly inscribed.
No dues or fees are expected from these survivors, as members of
the Daughters of the American Revolution.
E. Ellen Batcheller
Miss Batcheller was born in Freetown, New York. The
founder of her family in America was Honorable Joseph Batcheller
who came from England in 1636 with his wife Elizabeth, one child
and three servants. Miss Batcheller's father, Charles Batcheller
was the personal friend and co-worker with Gerrit Smith and
Wendell Phillips. Too old to enter the army at the time of the
Civil War, he sent his son, who was a martyr to the cause. Miss
Batcheller is also eligible through two grandmothers, Rebecca
Dwight and Sarah Norton, to membership in the Mayflower,
Colonial Dames and Huguenot Societies, but her chief patriotic
work has been with the Daughters of the American Revolution,
organizing the General Frelinghuysen Chapter and remaining
regent until elected state regent, in which position she was
eminently successful, organizing nine new chapters in as many
months. Few, if any families have more illustrious members,
Whittier, Daniel Webster, Caleb Cushing, General Dearborn,
Senators Morrill and Allison and many others. A sister of Miss
Batcheller married James Jared Elmendorf a descendant of
Sobieski, King of Poland. Miss Batcheller is a staunch
Episcopalian, has traveled extensively in her own country and
resides in Somerville, New Jersey.
Mary C. Beach
Mrs. Beach, corresponding secretary of the Daughters of
the American Revolution comes of Colonial and Revolutionary
ancestry. She is a native of New York and is eligible to
membership in the Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution on the maternal side through five different
ancestors; the Holland Dutch and Huguenot French, who are so
closely identified with the history of New York, and on the
paternal side from the Scotch-Irish Puritans of New England. She
is a member and ex-regent of the Continental Chapter and
chairman of the Committee on Neighborhoods, and two classes have
been formed in industrial training through her. With the regent
of the chapter, she is a frequent attendant at the Juvenile
Court and is also greatly interested in the night schools and
particularly in the foreign classes, and believes that they
deserve the support and co-operation of the Daughters in
promoting good citizenship. She was instrumental in forming a
new chapter in Telma, Alabama, which was christened "The
Cherokee," and at their first meeting she was elected an
honorary member.
Lucy Preston Beale
Mrs. Beale was elected through the Continental Congress
in Washington to the honor of vice-president-general of the
Daughters of the American Revolution. She was already well known
as a representative for her state to the Colorado Exposition.
She is the daughter of the late honorable William Ballard
Preston and Lucy Staples Redd and was born in Montgomery County,
Virginia, at the old family seat, Smithfield. When it was
proposed to reproduce for the Virginia State building at
Chicago, facsimiles of the furnishings of the home of
Washing-ton, Mrs. Beale was able to save the state some expense
by her offer to furnish several counterparts from the household
belongings of old Smithfield. She is descended on both sides
from distinguished Revolutionary ancestors and in her we find
the high courage which grapples with different enterprises, the
talent that organizes, the executive force that reaches
completion, and the diplomatic instinct that leads all
circumstances to the consummation of determined purpose. The
office to which Mrs. Beale was called was not of her own
seeking, for contented in the happy home of an honored husband,
she found all that her true, womanly heart asked, in his
devotion and that of her children to which is lavishly added the
warmest devotion of a wide circle of friends.
Lucia A. Blount
Mrs. Blount was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was
the daughter of Lovett Eames and Lucy C. Morgan Fames, and comes
of good Revolutionary stock. Mrs. Blount was educated in
Kalamazoo College under Dr. and Mrs. Stone. She lived several
years abroad to educate her children. Since her home has been in
Washington she helped to organize and was made the president of
the Pro-ra-Nata Society, an organization which has taken a front
rank in the federated clubs. Mrs. Blount is a charter member of
the Daughters of the American Revolution. She has been a
vice-president and historian for two years. She has also been
identified with several other societies and clubs whose trend is
for the betterment of society.
Helen Mason Boynton
Mrs. Boynton was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, of Massachusetts
parentage on both sides of the house in an unbroken line back to
1630, when Robert Mason came to America from England and settled
in Dedham. The family was prominent in civil and military
affairs in the colonies. Thomas Mason, son of Robert, was killed
by the Indians at the defense of Medfield in 1676. Lieutenant
Henry Adams, one of her lineal ancestors was also killed in this
massacre. He was the ancestor of Samuel Adams, Revolutionary
patriot, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, presidents of the
United States. Andrew Hall, her colonial ancestor on her
mother's side, was a lineal descendant of Elizabeth Newgate,
daughter of John de Hoo Hessett, of England. The Halls were
active in the Indian wars, and in the Revolution. Mrs. Boynton's
national number is twenty-eight. She has served as
vice-president-general in charge of organization,
vice-president-general, honorary vice-president-general and
librarian-general. In 1871 she married General H. V. Boynton an
officer of national reputation in the Civil and Spanish Wars. He
received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in the attack on
Missionary Ridge.
Mrs. Susan S. Brigham
Mrs. Susan S. Brigham, of Worcester, Massachusetts, won her
century goal February 3, 191 1, and is the daughter of Ammi
Wetherbee, a Massachusetts Minute Man.
Very close indeed to the century mark
are Mrs. Jane Newkirk, of Laporte, Indiana, and Mrs. Margaret K.
Johnson, of Flemington, Kentucky; also Miss Jeannette Blair, of
Madison, New York, who entered upon her ninety-eighth year May
30, 1911. Her father, Seth Blair, enlisted three times during
the Revolution.
Elizabeth Carolyn Seymour Brown
Mrs. Brown was born at Linden, Michigan. She is a granddaughter
of the late Zenas Fairbank, one of the early and most prominent
citizens of that town. She was educated at the University of
Michigan, and was an active member of the musical and dramatic
societies connected with that institution. She spent several
years teaching in the schools of Ann Arbor and Manistee,
Michigan, and Duluth, Minnesota. She married Frederick Charles
Brown, editor and journalist, and since his death in 1900 has
resided in Phoenix, Arizona, and at the present time occupies
the position of preceptress at the Arizona State Normal School.
Mrs. Brown has been an enthusiastic worker in the Maricopa
Chapter. Being a writer of merit and possessing a love for
research she made an efficient officer and historian and
furnished the chapter with a great deal of interesting data
connected with the early history of this section. On her
mother's side she is descended from Thomas Dudley and Simon
Bradstreet, colonial governors and on her father's side from
Mathew Gilbert, also one of the colonial governors.
Mrs. Roberdeau Buchanan
Mrs. Buchanan, a native and life-long resident of Washington
City, is the wife of Roberdeau Buchanan, of the Nautical Almanac
Observatory. She entered the Society of the Daughters of the
American Revolution on February 2, 1892, by virtue of descent
from her grandfather, Thomas Peters, who was one of the original
twenty-eight men of family and fortune who formed the famous
First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, November 17, 1774. He
served with great distinction at the battles of Trenton and
Princeton, under General Washington. Mrs. Buchanan was elected
to a vacancy on the National Board of Management as
registrar-general on December lo, 1894, and at the Congress of
1895 was elected to the office of recording secretary-general
Mrs. A. L. Conger
Mrs. A. L. Conger, widow of Colonel A. L. Conger, of Akron,
Ohio, is a woman who has devoted much of her life, time and
means to charitable works. She is a member of the Woman's Relief
Corps, the Daughters of the American Revolution and other
patriotic organizations and has from the beginning of the Civil
War, done all that she possibly could in the interest of the
soldiers and their families. After the death of Colonel Conger
she went to Kirksville, Missouri, and studied osteopathy at the
Still Institute graduating with honors. She is an enthusiastic
osteopathic physician and spent more than two years in the
Philippines, giving her services, time and money to the relief
of the soldiers of the Spanish-American War. She was in the
field at Iloilo-Iloilo and gave all her time to the hospitals.
She is deeply interested in Evangelistic work and has
contributed largely to Evangelistic and other charitable work in
Akron. She has three sons. Her eldest son, Mr. K. B. Conger,
assisted Mr. McAdoo when he built the great New York tunnel.
Captain A. L. Conger, Jr., is in the United States Army. Her
youngest son is engaged in railroading.
Julia Catherine Conkling
Mrs. Roscoe Conkling, founder and first regent of the Oneida
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was born in
Utica, New York, May 4, 1827. She was the youngest child of
Henry Seymour and Mary Ledyard Forman Seymour. Mrs. Conkling was
endowed with rare gifts of personal beauty and most lovable
traits of character. AH her early life was spent in Utica. In
June, 1855, she married Roscoe Conkling, who was just beginning
his brilliant public career. During the many winters Mrs.
Conkling spent in Washington with her husband, she was
frequently mentioned as one of the most graceful and refined
women of the administrations of President Lincoln and President
Grant, and as possessing a high-bred charm of manner rarely
equaled. The Oneida Chapter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution was formed at her house in 1893 with a most
gratifying number of eligible applicants, full of zeal and
patriotism, present Mrs. Conkling died at Utica, New York,
October 18, 1893.
Mrs. J. Heron Crosman
Mrs. Crosman has been deeply, lovingly interested in the
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
from its inception. When the vice-president, first in charge of
organization, was sent to form a chapter in New York, initial
meetings were held at Mrs. Crosman's house and the proposed
members were entertained by her. From these beginnings grew the
great army of over four thousand daughters of the American
Revolution in New York, the banner state. Mrs. Crosman was the
fourth member from New York and her national number is 262. Her
distinguished services were fittingly recognized when in 1900
she was elected vice-president-general to represent the Empire
State in the councils of the society. She is a member of the
Continental Hall Committee and of the Magazine Committee. Among
her ancestors who won renown in Colonial and Revolutionary times
is Elihu Hall who served as lieutenant-captain and colonel,
receiving his commission as colonel of the Susquehanna battalion
in 1778. He was descended from Richard Hall of Norfolk, England,
who settled in Cecil County, Maryland. John Harris, another of
Mrs. Crosman's colonial forefathers, came from Yorkshire,
England, to Philadelphia, where he married Esther Say. Mrs.
Crosman was Miss Ellen Hall, daughter of William M. and Ellen
Campbell Hall. Mr. J. Heron Crosman, whose wife she is, is a
member of an old West Point family. Besides being an honored and
beloved Daughter of the American Revolution, Mrs. Crosman it a
Colonial Dame, and a promoter of the Society of Children of the
American Revolution. A beautiful home life is her crowning
inheritance.
Mrs. M. E. Davis
Mrs. Davis is a native of Wisconsin. She removed from that state
to Washington, D. C, and joined the Daughters of the American
Revolution in 1896, being indorsed by and entering through the
Columbia Chapter of the District of Columbia. Mrs. Davis has
served the chapter as historian, treasurer, vice-regent and
regent and represented it in the Continental Congress as
delegate or regent from 1897 until she was elected to fill out
the unexpired term of Mrs. D. K. Shute, resigning the office of
regent to become treasurer-general. At the Fourteenth
Continental Congress she was called upon to succeed herself. No
other candidate being brought forward, she was declared the
unanimous choice of the congress. Mrs. Davis is of English
descent in three lines of ancestors. She also had the honor of
receiving and reporting the two largest contributions to the
Memorial Continental Hall, that to the Fourteenth Congress being
in cash and pledges and amounting to $37,660.32 and that to the
Fifteenth Congress being in cash and pledges amounting to
135,654.60.
Mrs. Charles H. Deere
Of Colonial ancestors Mrs. Deere has record of sixty-five who
were founders and patriots and fighters in the Indian wars. Six
of their descendants marched at the first alarm at Lexington.
Mrs. Deere is a member of the Memorial Continental Hall
Committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Elizabeth Hanenkamp Delafield
Mrs. Delafield was the daughter of Richard P. Hanenkamp and
Agnes C. Jones, his second wife. She was born in Missouri and
has resided in St Louis all her life. On her father's side she
is descended from Pennsylvania Dutch, on her mother's side from
Virginia ancestry. One of her ancestors was governor of Virginia
in 1617. She has been prominent in the work of the Daughters of
the American Revolution, having held the offices successively of
treasurer and regent of the St Louis Chapter, vice state regent
and state regent of Missouri. At the sixteenth Continental
Congress she was elevated to the high position of
vice-president-general of the National Society. She was chairman
of the Daughters of the American Revolution at the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition, where the entertainments arranged by her
were a great success. She has served the Daughters well on the
Continental Hall Committee, as the liberal contributions from
Missouri show. She is a member of the Daughters of 1812, of the
Colonial Dames and the Colonial Governors and of many local
clubs for betterment. She is the wife of Wallace Delafield, one
of the best-known business men of St Louis and has five
children. Mrs. Delafield is a descendant of Peter Humrichhouse.
William Jones, who was killed at the battle of Guilford Court
House, was another of her ancestors.
Mary Desha
Miss Desha was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and was the daughter
of Dr. John Randolph and Mary Bracken Desha. She was educated at
Sayre Institute and the Kentucky State College at Lexington. She
was a teacher in the Kentucky public schools for twelve years,
until 1886, when she came to Washington to take a position under
the government. This she held until her death in 1910. Miss
Desha is most prominent as having been one of the three
founders, with Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth and Miss Eugenia
Washington, of the National Society of the Daughters of the
American Revolution. In that society she served in many
capacities. She was assistant director of the Daughters of the
American Revolution Hospital Corps, which furnished a thousand
trained nurses during the Spanish-American War. She was an
honorary vice-president-general of the National Society, and
served on many of its committees. Miss Desha was a president of
the Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy, and was parliamentarian of the National Mary
Washington Memorial Association and recording secretary of the
Pocahontas Memorial Association.
Mrs. John H. Doyle
Mrs. Doyle was born in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1851. In 1868
she was married to John H. Doyle, of Toledo, Ohio, where her
parents moved after the Civil War. Her father served as a
surgeon all through the war. Her maiden name was Alice Fuller
Skinner. She was the second member to join the Daughters of the
American Revolution in Toledo, Ohio, and is now vice-regent of
the Toledo Chapter. Mrs. Doyle has always been an enthusiastic
and conscientious worker for the Daughters of the American
Revolution and in the many philanthropic efforts of Toledo and
throughout the state of Ohio. She is a member of the Colonial
Dames and one of the board of managers of the Ohio Circle She is
also a member of the Colonial Governors Society and has always
taken a foremost place in all matters in which she was
personally interested and is to-day one of the representative
women from the state of Ohio.
Mary Orr Earle
Mrs. Mary Orr Earle, corresponding secretary-general of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, is the daughter of the
late Hon. James L. Orr, of South Carolina. She was born in 1858,
while her distinguished father was Speaker of the United States
House of Representatives. Mrs. Earle's connection with the
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is
through descent from Robert Orr, a captain of Pennsylvania
troops, and dates from the organization of the society in 1890,
she having been one of the early vice-presidents and a member of
the first national board. At the congress of 1895 she was
elected corresponding secretary-general, which position she has
filled with marked ability. Gifted with rare mental and social
qualities, Mrs. Earle has drawn around her a large and cultured
circle of friends at the national Capital, where her
accomplishments as a linguist are much appreciated in the
diplomatic corps.
Mary Chase Gannett
Mrs. Gannett, the third historian-general of the Daughters of
the American Revolution, is a New England woman by birth and
education, her early home having been in Saco, Maine. Her
grandfather on the maternal side, Samuel Peirson, entered the
Revolutionary Army when very young and after a short period of
active service became Washington's private secretary. Her
great-grand-father was Major Hill, who served through the war
and afterwards held many positions of trust and honor. On the
paternal side Mrs. Gannett is descended from General Frye, an
officer who distinguished himself at the battle of Louisberg,
and as a reward for his services received a grant of the
township in Maine which has since borne the name of Fryeburg.
Mrs. Gannett was married in 1874 to Henry Gannett. Her husband
is one of the leading men in the scientific society of
Washington. He is a geographer by profession and has been for
many years connected with the United States Geological Survey.
Augusta Danforth Geer
Mrs. Geer, vice-president-general of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, was born at Williamstown, Massachusetts.
She was the daughter of Keyes and Mary Bushnell Danforth. She is
of good Revolutionary stock, being the grandchild of Captain
Jonathan Danforth, a soldier at Bunker Hill and Bennington,
besides her grandfather, two uncles and ten other relatives who
fought at Bunker Hill. Her father served several terms in the
state legislature of Massachusetts and was for many years leader
of the Democratic Party in County. Miss Danforth was married in
January, 1856, to Asahel Clark Geer, a lawyer of Troy, New York.
She was educated by her brother-in-law, Joseph White, secretary
of the board of education of Massachusetts and one of the
founders and trustees of Smith College, and for nearly forty
years treasurer and trustee of Williams College. She was an
excellent scholar, especially proficient in the languages. Mrs.
Geer was one of the earliest members of the National Society of
the Daughters of the American Revolution and has been unwavering
in her devotion to its largest interests.
Marie Raymond Gibbons
Mrs. Gibbons was born in Toledo, Ohio, but removed with her
parents to California when a young girl and her subsequent life
was entirely passed on this coast. In 1871 she married Dr. Henry
Gibbons, Jr. She was a member of the Society of Colonial Dames
of America and of the Order of the Descendants of Colonial
Governors, and eligible to the Society of Descendants of the
Mayflower, but her special interest was in the Society of the
Daughters of the American Revolution. She was the organizer and
regent for two years, of the second Chapter of Puerta del Ora.
Mrs. Gibbons was eligible to the Daughters of the American
Revolution through several lines, but chooses to found her claim
to membership upon the services of Captain Samuel Taylor of
Danbury, Connecticut, an ancestor of her father, Samuel Augustus
Raymond. When, during the war with Spain, San Francisco became a
vast camp and the Red Cross Society was established for the aid
of our volunteers, the patriotic instincts and the generous
feeling of Mrs. Gibbons at once responded to the call
Mrs. Euphrasia Smith Granger
in 1909 came to Washington to the annual meeting of the
Daughters of the American Revolution as an alternate for her
regent.
Mrs. Teunis S. Hamlin
Mrs. Hamlin was elected four times to the position of
chaplain-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution and
was the first to hold this position. Mrs. Hamlin's descent is
from Andrew Ward, who one of the four was sent from the Bay
Colony to govern Connecticut, having come over the sea with
Winthrop. Her great-grandfather, David Ward, entered the first
New York Continental Regiment at the age of fourteen, while her
great-great-grandfather was killed in the militia during
Burgoyne's raid into Vermont. Her grandparents were pioneers in
Michigan, where for three generations the "Ward Line" was the
great steam-boat line on the Great Lakes. Mrs. Hamlin has been
very active in Home Mission work, being a vice-president in the
Woman's Presbyterian Board of Home Missions. She has been a
strenuous opponent of Mormonism and few understand the subject
better than she. She is treasurer of the National League of
Women's Organizations, and it was due to her that resolutions
relative to an amendment of the Constitution of the United
States on polygamy was introduced and unanimously passed at a
Congress of the Daughters. She was educated in the State Normal
School of Michigan, and was a fine parliamentarian and fluent
extemporary speaker.
Georgia H. Stockton Hatcher
Mrs. Hatcher, regent of the General de Lafayette Chapter,
Daughters of the American Revolution, of Lafayette, Indiana, was
born in that city July 11, 1864, and is of New Jersey
Revolutionary stock. In 1883 she was graduated from the Moravian
Seminary for Young Ladies at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which is
the oldest institution of the kind in this country, the school
having been turned into a soldiers' hospital during the
Revolution. In 1889 she became the wife of Mr. Robert Stockwell
Hatcher, of Lafayette, and after a long residence in France and
other European countries returned to her native city. Mrs.
Hatcher was commissioned as chapter regent by the national board
June 1, 1893, and on April 21, 1894 she organized the General de
Lafayette Chapter at Lafayette, Indiana, which is in a
flourishing condition, with a membership of twenty-seven
enthusiastic daughters.
Jennie Franklin Hichborn
Mrs. Hichborn, registrar-general of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, is the daughter of Philip Franklin and Mary
Bailey Franklin, and born in southern Vermont She was educated
at Leland and Gray Seminary, Townshend and Glenwood Seminary,
Brattleboro, Vermont At the age of nineteen her attention was
called to music, and three years were profitably spent at the
Old Boston Music School, after which several years were devoted
to church music and teaching the art. Mrs. Hichborn's claim of
eligibility to the National Society of the Daughters of the
American Revolution is through Captain Comfort Starr, Captain
Richard Bailey, Lieutenant Joshua Hyde and Philip Franklin, the
second. At the Congress of 1895, she was elected
registrar-general of the society. Mrs. Hichborn is the wife of
Philip Hichborn, the distinguished chief constructor of the
United States Navy. A son and daughter constitute the home
circle.
Mrs. Iley Lawson Hill
of Lakeport, California, who is over one hundred and three years
of age, having been born in Adams County, Ohio, May 5. 1808. Her
patriot father, James Lawson, was born in 1760 and was but
seventeen years of age when he entered Washington's army, and
when the war for our independence was over he fought in some of
the Indians wars.
Mrs. J. Stewart Jamieson
Mrs. Jamieson, registrar-general, entered the society by virtue
of the records of two patriots, James Schureman, born in New
Jersey, in 1751, and died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, June 23,
1824. Served in the Revolutionary army; was a delegate to the
Continental Congress from New Jersey in 1776-1777 and was
elected to the first Congress as a Federalist, serving from
March, 1789, until March, 1791, and again to the fifth Congress,
serving from May, 1797, until March, 1799. Was then chosen
United States Senator in place of John Rutherford, serving from
December, 1799, until February, 1801, when he resigned.
Subsequently became mayor of the city of New Brunswick and was
again elected to Congress serving from May 24, 18 13, to March
2, 1815. Dr. Melanchthon Freeman of Piscataway Township, New
Jersey, was a member of the Committee of Observation and surgeon
in the state troops. Colonel Forman's battalion, Heard's
brigade.
Mary Katharine Johnson
Mary Katharine Johnson, vice-president-general of the Daughters
of the American Revolution, was born in Washington, D. C, and
was educated at the Fulford Female Seminary, Maryland. She is a
daughter of the late Mitchel Hervey Millar and Sallie Clayton
Williams Millar and the wife of Charles Sweet Johnson, who is a
member of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution. On the paternal side she is descended from
John and Jane Millar, born in Scotland, who came to America from
Ireland in 1770 and settled in the western part of Pennsylvania;
on the maternal side from Pierre Williams, sergeant-at-law, of
London, England. Mrs. Johnson has been actively interested in
the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution for many
years, having served one year as registrar-general and one year
as a member of the National Advisory Board before she was
elected vice-president-general.
Charlotte Louise Lawrence
Mrs. Lawrence, a Daughter of the American Revolution, has the
following ancestry: She is a great-granddaughter of Roger
Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was
her mother's grandfather; the great-grand-daughter of Major
Morgan, her father's grandfather on his mother's side; the
Great-granddaughter of Colonel Jonathan Bliss, of Longmeadow,
Massachusetts, by her father's grandmother on his father's side,
who commanded a Massachusetts regiment of the Continental Line,
and a great-great-granddaughter of David Morgan, from her
father's grandmother on his mother's side, who was a private in
Captain Joseph Hoar's company of Colonel Gideon Bart's regiment
of Massachusetts militia, who served in 1782 in the army of
Canada.
Mrs. Lawrence, a charter member of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, was the daughter of Randolph Morgan Cooley and Maria
Louise Stevenson Cooley. She is the wife of George A. Lawrence
of New York City.
Charlotte Emerson Main
Mrs. Main was vice-president-general in charge of the
organization of chapters. She comes of fine New England stock.
On her father's side her ancestry has been traced back to the
time of King Henry VI. Mrs. Main's paternal grandmother was a
direct descendant of Roger Conant, who was appointed first
governor by the Dorchester Company of St Ann, Endicott being his
successor. Mrs. Main's mother, Elizabeth Emerson, belonged to
that family which was so prominent in the early educational life
of New England, the most widely known member being Ralph Waldo
Emerson, whose fame as a thinker is world-wide. Her maternal
grandmother was Esther Frothingham, daughter of Major Benjamin
Frothingham, the personal friend of George Washington. Mrs. Main
has been identified with the Daughters of the American
Revolution since 1896, having filled many important offices in
the society.
Ellen Spencer Mussey
Mrs. Mussey is a woman esteemed for her knowledge of practical
affairs and general business capacity. She was chosen by the
District Supreme Court as successor to Mrs. David J. Brewer on
the Board of Education for the district. For years was active in
the business life of the Capital and a genuine factor in the
practice of law at the local bar. Organizer of the Washington
College of Law. Member of the Daughters of the American
Revolution and state regent of the District of Columbia.
Descended from Caleb Spencer, who enlisted from Dan-bury,
Connecticut, under Captain Benedict, in the first call for
troops.
Mary McKinlay Nash
Mrs. Nash, regent of the state of North Carolina, Daughters of
the American Revolution, was born in New Bern, North Carolina,
January 2, 1835. She is the daughter of John Pugh Daves and
Elizabeth V. Graham Daves. Her paternal ancestor was of England
and came to this country about the middle of the seventeenth
century, settling first in what is now Chesterfield, Virginia.
Her maternal ancestors were Grahams, of Argyleshire, Scotland.
Mrs. Nash was educated at St. Mary's School Raleigh, and at
Madam Chegaray's, New York. On August 11, 1858, she was married
to Hon. John W. Ellis, who was later made governor of North
Carolina. Governor Ellis died while still in office, July 7,
1861. In 1866 she became the wife of James E. Nash, of
Petersburg, Virginia, who died in New Bern May 30, 1880. On
March 21, 1892, Mary McKinlay Nash was appointed regent for the
state of North Carolina, her identity with its interests and
history rendering her peculiarly fitted for this honorable
position.
Mrs. Samantha Stanton Nellis
The next "real daughter" in point of age is Mrs. Samantha
Stanton Nellis, of Naples, New York, whose father Elijah
Stanton, was one of Washington's bodyguard. She was one hundred
and one years of age January 5 last (1911).
Esther Frothingham Noble
Mrs. Noble is the wife of the Rev. Thomas K. Noble, pastor
emeritus of die First Congregational Church of Norwalk,
Connecticut. She is a native of Massachusetts and connected with
some of the most prominent New England families. On her mother's
maternal side she is a direct descendant of Major Benjamin
Frothingham" a personal friend of George Washington and one of
the original members of the Order of the Cincinnati. On her
mother's paternal tide she belongs to the noted Emerson family,
that long line of ministers and teachers who have been ever
since Colonial times such an important factor in the religious
and educational life of New England. On her father's side she is
descended from Captain Thomas Bradbury and from Roger Conant,
who were among the earliest settlers of Massachusetts. During
Mr. Noble's pastorate in Norwalk, Connecticut, she was state
vice-regent of Connecticut and regent of the Norwalk Chapter.
She is a member of the Daughters of the Cincinnati, the
Daughters of Founders and Patriots and the Daughters of 1812,
the Mary Washington Memorial Society and the board of directors
of the Aid Association for the Blind, and also of the
Presbyterian Home for the Aged. She is an honored member of the
Society of New England Women and of the National Geographic
Society.
Lucy Parlin
Almost in sight of Judge's cave, in the home of her son-in-law,
near New Haven, Connecticut, lives Mrs. Lucy Parlin, one of the
surviving daughters of the heroes of 1776. The father of this
venerable lady was Elijah Royce, of Wolcott, Connecticut, who at
the age of sixteen enlisted in the Revolutionary Army and served
seven years and three months. In the famous battle of Monmouth,
New Jersey, he received a severe sabre wound on the face and was
left for dead on the field. During the terrible winter at Valley
Forge, Corporal Royce was awakened one night by some intruder
who was trying to share his scanty blanket. He kicked the
unwelcome visitor most lustily, and when daybreak came, to his
surprise and chagrin, he saw the familiar features of the
Marquis de Lafayette.
Mary Steiner Putnam
Mrs. John Risley Putnam, vice-president-general of the Daughters
of the American Revolution, was born in Ohio. Her life until her
marriage was mainly spent in her father's country seat,
Glendale, fifteen miles out of Cincinnati. Her father, Robert
Myers Shoemaker, was one of the most prominent citizens of his
state, being a power among railroad men of the country. Mrs.
Putnam's mother was, before her marriage, Mary Colegate Steiner,
the daughter of Captain Henry Steiner, who served in the War of
1812. Mrs. Putnam is a charter member of the Daughters of the
American Revolution and one of its most zealous officers, having
been from the first vice-president-general representing the
state of New York. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison was an early and long
valued friend of Mrs. Putnam, and when the latter came to
Washington in the interest of the National Society a warm
welcome awaited her at the White House.
Mrs. Mary Anne Rishel
of Clintondale, Pennsylvania, is the daughter of a Revolutionary
veteran, a sister of a veteran of the War of 1812 and the mother
of a Civil War veteran. Her father served during five years of
the Revolution as a ranger on the frontier. Mrs. Rishel
celebrated her ninetieth birthday, March 23, 1911.
Two remarkable women among the group of "real daughters" are the
twin sisters, Elizabeth Ann Russell and Julia Ann Demary, of
Lake Odessa, Michigan, daughters of John Peter Frank, a patriot
of the Revolution.
Mrs. Mary Anne Scott
of Medway, Massachusetts, who was born December 29, 1^51, when
her father, Thomas Piatt, a veteran of the Dorchester Heights
Guards was in his eighty-eighth year, is said to be the youngest
"real daughter."
Although one hundred and thirty years have elapsed since
Cornwallis surrendered, there is still one Revolutionary
pensioner upon the government pension rolls, Phoebe M. W.
Palmiter, of Brookfield, New York, who entered upon her
ninetieth year December, 1911. Her father was Jonathan Wooley,
born in Swansea, New Hampshire, August 21, 1759, and died in
Vermont, July 21, 1848. He enlisted in the Vermont Volunteers in
1775 at the age of sixteen in Colonel Capron's command and
served under Gates and Sullivan. He was present at Saratoga at
the surrender of Burgoyne and also took part in the battle at
Valley Forge.
Mrs. William Watson Shippen
Mrs. Shippen was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, the daughter of
George Washington, D. C, and joining the Daughters of the
American Revolution in 1896, ancestry extends back in all its
lines to the early settlement of this country. She early married
William Watson Shippen, of New Jersey. He was always prominent
and active in affairs in his native state and she was his
coadjutor in all his schemes for its prosperity and progress.
She was prominent during the late war in the Sanitary Commission
and has always been connected with popular charities. She is a
leading member of the Ladies' Club in New York; also a trustee
of Evylyn College, the woman's college of New Jersey. When a
regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution was to be
appointed in New Jersey, Mrs. Shippen was chosen and held office
from April, 1891, to February, 1895. In large measure it is due
to her good judgment, patience, perseverance and tact that the
organization has been perfected in New Jersey. It is one of the
most cleverly and thoroughly organized of all the states. After
serving as regent she was unanimously elected one of the
vice-presidents-general of the National Society.
Mrs. J. Morgan Smith
Mrs. Smith comes of illustrious Colonial and Revolutionary
ancestry. She is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the
American Revolution through seven different ancestors who served
in the Revolutionary War. For ten years she held the state
regency of Alabama, and her service, efficient, faithful and
enthusiastic, has won for her a high place in the esteem and
affection of her "Alabama Daughters." At the sixteenth
continental congress Mrs. Smith was made vice-president-general,
a distinction which she has well earned, not only by her
tireless efforts in her own state, but by labors which have been
far reaching and national in their extent. Mrs. Smith is also an
honored member of the Pennsylvania Colonial Dames and an officer
of the Alabama Colonial Dames.
Mrs. Baldwin Day Spilman
Mrs. Baldwin Day Spilman, vice-president-general of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, is a daughter of Senator
and Mrs. J. N. Camden, and though born in Wheeling, West
Virginia, has always lived in Parkersburg. She was educated at
Madam Lefebvre's school in Baltimore. She lived in Washington
during her father's service in the United States Senate and
traveled abroad, thus acquiring many graces which distinguished
her, and which later attracted the fine young lieutenant who
became her husband, and which have made her successful in the
work which she has undertaken. Mrs. Spilman formed the James
Wood Chapter in Parkersburg. In the annual congress in
Washington, in April, 1904, she was elected regent of the little
mountain state of which all West Virginians are so justly proud.
She was later elected to the position of one of the
vice-presidents-general of the Daughters of the American
Revolution. Mrs. Spilman's Revolutionary ancestor, Captain
Cornelius Stimrod, enlisted in the Westchester Militia of New
York in 1776 under Colonel Alexander McDougal He commanded a
company of Minute Men in 1782.
Mabel Godfrey Swormstedt
Mrs. Swormstedt is a native of the "Old Bay Stated' and a
graduate of Wellesley College, class of 1890. She was a teacher
in the Washington High School for three years and is the wife of
Dr. Lyman Beecher Swormstedt. She is the mother of a beautiful
daughter eleven years old. She has held several offices in the
Columbia Chapter, culminating in the regency. She has been
president of the Washington Branch of the Association of
Collegiate Alumnae and corresponding secretary of the Ladies'
Aid Association of the Homeopathic Hospital. Mrs. Swormstedt
claims six Revolutionary ancestors.
Mrs. I. C Vanmeter, Jr.
Mrs. Pattie Field Vanmeter was an enthusiastic and active member
of the National Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution from the earliest days of its organization, having
joined in 1890, when a pupil in Mrs. Somer's popular school in
Washington, D. C. The tradition of her family lead her to an
immense interest in a society which honored Revolutionary sires.
She was the daughter of Thomas M. Field, of Denver, Colo., and
was born in that city on April 10^ 1865. She was graduated from
the Denver High School in 1883, and bore off prizes in painting
and in elocution. After leaving school in Washington she, with
her younger brother and sister visited, in 1887, most of the
countries of Europe. On May 4, 1892, she was married to I. C.
Vanmeter, Jr., of Kentucky, and they removed to Winchester,
Kentucky, where on February 24, 1893, she died.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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