Society Saturday - Columbus Day in Washington DC

It was a beautiful day to celebrate the 523 anniversary of Columbus' "discovery" of the new world.  The National Society Children of the American Colonists, along with several other hereditary and patriotic societies took part in the annual ceremony at Columbus Circle in Washington DC.  

There were representatives from Spain, Italy, and the Bahamas who spoke.  The national winner of the DAR Christopher Columbus essay read his essay, then we all processed with our wreaths.

I was joined by the National 2nd Vice President as we carried our wreath to the front of the stage.  The wreath was a little top heavy, and attracted bees, but we managed a dignified walk in spite of it.

Society Saturday - Daughters in Dearborn

The October Board meeting of the Daughters of Founders and Patriots was hosted by the Michigan Chapter in Dearborn, MI.  This is a suburb of Detroit, and the home of Henry Ford. 

The Michigan ladies were gracious hostesses supplying us with all-Michigan-made products for our meet and greet in the evening.  We enjoyed pasties, bumpy cake, Better Made chips and Rainbow chips - washed down with Vernor's and Faygo soft drinks.  For dessert we had Michigan-grown apples with caramel sauce made in Michigan.

The highlight of our Board meeting is the day spent seeing all the local sights.  This year we toured the Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village.  The museum has a lot of old cars, trains and airplanes, along with other "modern" conveniences.

The Village consists of many historic buildings that have been moved or reconstructed. We had a ride pass, so we enjoyed the turn of the century transportation -

the horsedrawn carriage

 the model T

the steam train

and for fun, the carousel

We enjoyed lunch at the Eagle Tavern and were met by the Tavern owner prior to enjoying family style food.   After lunch we chatted with a travelling salesman before touring the village.

Some of us were feeling energetic enough to turn the train at the roundhouse.

One stop was at the 1917 factory where we had the opportunity to make our own brass candlesticks with their steam-powered lathe.

The next day was our Board meeting.  Our lunch speaker after the meeting was Robert Kreipke, the Corporate Historian for Ford Motor Company.  He told us many tidbits about the company, from its founding, to its historic vehicles, to some of the other ventures such as shipbuilding and airplane building.

Society Saturday - DAR National Day of Service

I have really fallen behind in my blogging - these next few posts may be a little out of order, but I will catch up by the end of the year...

Sunday, October 11, 2015 was the 125th Anniversary of the founding of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  To celebrate, DAR declared that this was to be a National Day of Service, in keeping with one of our founding principles.

They asked that every chapter take part in some sort of a service project.

The Isle a la Cache chapter chose a genealogical and historic preservation project in Bolingbrook.  The Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission has shoeboxes full of index cards with references to early Bolingbrook residents.  Our project was to match those references with people who are buried in the 2 Bolingbrook cemeteries.  Once matched, the information was added to BillionGraves.com.  This will help anyone who is researching those people by providing additional resources for them.  And BillionGraves is much easier to research online than traveling to the Bolingbrook library and looking through the index cards. 

We all worked on laptops to upload the information and finished several letters of the alphabet before we had to go.

Society Saturday - Spelunking with the C.A.R.

Every summer, the National President of  the National Society of Children of the American Revolution travels around the country with members of the N.S.C.A.R. Board and Senior Board.  They have fun skits and member participation workshops to help promote the current National Project.  There are 9 Regional stops on this Regional Tour.

The Great Lakes Regional was hosted by the Wisconsin C.A.R. in Madison, Wisconsin.  National President Erin Jackson has chosen to support the Museum of the American Revolution which is being built in Philadelphia.  Specifically, C.A.R. is raising funds to restore Washington's Headquarters Tent.

After learning about the C.A.R. projects and goals for the upcoming year, we visited the Cave of the Mounds.  This is a National Natural Landmark which was discovered in 1939.  Descending underground we saw many natural rock formations in the limestone - present and changing for the past 450 million years.  Much of the limestone is derived from fossilized animals from that period.  The only natural life form present now are microcopic snails in the water that drips from the ceiling of the cave.  This fact elicited a lot of eeeeewwwww's from the children.

After touring the cave, members had an opportunity to find their own fossils in a bag of dirt.

www.nscar.org

Society Saturday - McAllister's Battery

The Dames of the Court of Honor leaned about the First Illinois Light Artillery Company D (aka McAllister's Battery) from Tina Beaird, Reference Librarian at Plainfield Public Library.  She has researched this company extensively and told some of her findings.

Edward McAllister from Plainfield, IL joined the Union Army as soon as he heard the news of Fort Sumter at church.  Seventy-seven other young also enlisted immediately.  They signed up for "100 days", because of course, everyone thought the war would be over quickly.

Their Company was known for their bravery during the battle of Fort Donaldson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg.  They were in charge of cannon during these battles.

During the battle of Shiloh, McAllister saw the carnage on the field, and soon resigned his commission as Captain so that he could return home to his wife and baby.  He was succeeded by Captain Henry Rogers.  Rogers was killed by a sniper at Vicksburg and was succeeded by Captain Edgar Cooper.

The Battery itself served from April 19, 1861 until July 18, 1865.  They lost relatively few men, but almost all of the survivors suffered from hearing loss due to their proximity to the cannon.

http://www.nsdch.org/

Society Saturday - Bartlett Kelley Circle LGAR

I was recently involved in the chartering of a new Circle (ie local chapter) of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic.  Several ladies in the area have ancestors (direct or collateral) who fought for the Union in the Civil War.  We organized a new Circle named for the ancestor of our Organizing President.

We were honored to have 5 National Officers of LGAR travel to help us with our first official meeting.  They began by telling about the history of the organization.

The LGAR was originally started in 1880 in New Jersey as the Loyal Ladies league.  There were several other groups in existence at the time, all existed to help care for Union veterans.  In 1886, an auxilliary was formed with 4 allied orders - all with slightly different eligibility criteria.

LGAR, as it exists today was actually started in Chicago by Mrs. Edward Roby.  Their main activities were helping veterans get pensions, and supporting the soldier's home in Quincy.

Today's LGAR works to keep the memory of our Union ancestors alive through support of the LGAR Headquarters and Military Museum in Ohio, and participation in memorial events and markings.

After learning the history of our new organization, the Charter was presented to our Organizing President.

Officers were then installed.

We are off to a great start with over 50 members.

http://suvcw.org/LGAR/Home.html

Society Saturday - CAC in the Big Easy

The National Society Children of the American Colonists held their 75th Annual General Assembly in New Orleans.

Prior to the meeting, members and adults spent time in the French Quarter and toured the Presbytere' Museum and Saint Louis Cathedral.

No visit to the French Quarter would be complete without a stop at Cafe du Mond for Cafe au Lait and Beignets.

The Presbytere' Museum had very interesting exhibits on Hurricane Katrina and Mardi Gras culture.

President General Dr. Charlene Herreid and National President Chrissy Herreid

The General Assembly itself was chaired by National President Chrissy Herreid.  Officers and Chairmen gave their reports on how they supported this year's National Project - "Comforts of the Colonial Home".  This was followed by a moving Memorial Service.

Chrissy raised money for the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY.  This organization provides summer camp opportunities for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.  Some of the monies raised will provide handmade quilts for the campers.  Several of the state CAC's provided quilt squares for a custom quilt that will be donated to the camp.

After the business session, everyone boarded the "Creole Queen" paddle wheel boat for a trip down the Mississippi to the Chalmette Battlefield.  This was the site of the "Battle of New Orleans".

On  the way, our Captain gave some historic background to the battle.  Once there, we were told of actual battle events by a Park Ranger, and we saw the mud rampart used by the Americans for defense.

There was a 100 foot high obelisk memorializing the troops as well.

Back at the hotel, we had our Candlelight banquet with Award presentation and installation of new Officers.  The new administration is already hard at work planning for next year's General Assembly.

New National President Reagan Zolman receving the gavel from Chrissy Herreid

thanks to Carole Holt and Davine Roberts for some of the pictures

www.nsdac.org/nscac