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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