SEPTEMBER 2007
8 Saturday, Fall Briefing
11 Naturalization Ceremony
16 Constitution Day, Massing of the Colors
29 Assisting Prospective Members
OCTOBER 2007
8 Monday, Columbus Day ceremony.
9 Naturalization Ceremony
11 Thursday, Founders Day
13 Chapter meeting at Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington DC.
27 Saturday - Fall Fashion Show
NOVEMBER 2007
10 Chapter meeting. Visit to Fort McHenry, Baltimore.
11 Veterans’ Day Ceremony, Arlington Cemetery.
13 Naturalization Ceremony
24 SAR Potowmack Debutante Ball
DECEMBER 2007
5 NSDAR Open House
8 Chapter meeting. Luncheon and Christmas party
11 Naturalization Ceremony
JANUARY 2008
12 Chapter meeting. Katherine Montgomery birthday luncheon.
FEBRUARY 2008
12 Naturalization Ceremony
18 George Washington Birthday Luncheon
MARCH 2008
8 Chapter meeting. Library of Congress, Textiles.
11 Naturalization Ceremony
APRIL 2008
8 Naturalization Ceremony
12 Chapter meeting; election of officers, followed by Prospectives
Workshop, NSDAR Library.
13 Wreath laying at Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
25-26 DC DAR State Conference.
MAY 2008
10 Chapter meeting; induction of officers.
13 Naturalization Ceremony
JUNE 2008
10 Naturalization Ceremony
21 Chapter executive board planning meeting.
JULY 2008
4 Wreath laying ceremony at Elbridge Gerry’s grave,
Congressional Cemetery
7 11:00 AM - Registration begins for Continental Congress, NSDAR.
9-13 Continental Congress, NSDAR.
The Colonel John Washington and the Katherine Montgomery Chapter were
merged into one chapter on June 20, 2002.
The Katherine
Montgomery Chapter was founded by Mary Desha, one of the four
founders of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution,
and named it in honor of her great-grandmother. Katherine was born
about 1749 in Augusta County, Virginia, a place considered at that time
to be the extreme frontier.
It was said that Katherine Montgomery was a woman of
superior character and attainments, who bore the vicissitudes and
dangers incident to a frontier life with bravery and fortitude. During
the Revolutionary War, she was a dispatch bearer, carrying secret
messages coiled in her long dark brown hair. According to family
history, on one occasion she carried her baby with her, concealing the
dispatches in the baby's diaper. Another time, while riding along on
her fine thoroughbred horse, carrying extremely secret information from
Washington's Headquarters through the British lines to the Continental
Army, she met a British Officer riding a tired, jaded horse. As she was
suspected of carrying dispatches, the officer stopped her to engage in
conversation in an attempt to find out where she was going. He
complimented her on her beautiful horse, so she challenged him to a
race. Knowing the speed her horse was capable of, she quickly
outdistanced him to such an extent that she was able to deliver her
dispatches in safely. In about 1772, Katherine Montgomery married Isaac
Bledsoe, who commanded a company through the war. He was a captain in
Christian’s Campaign and was killed by the Indians in Sumner County,
Tennessee, April 9, 1795. Katherine Montgomery Bledsoe died in Sumner
County, Tennessee, in 1800, leaving eight children, all married.
The chapter was formed by the National Society on
January 16, 1902. Mary Desha was the Organizing Regent and was
re-elected continuously until her death on December 1, 1911.
The
chapter was 100 years old on January 16, 2002. Earlier it had been
discovered that the chapter had never applied for a charter, so to
celebrate the 100 years of our chapter, we applied for a charter in
early September 2001 in preparation for our birthday party in 2002. Due
to circumstances beyond anyone's control, the chapter recently received
its charter at the end of the 112th Continental Congress, July 2003.
Katherine Montgomery chapter enfolded the members of Dorothy Hancock
chapter on December 5, 1996.
—prepared
by Barbara Anne Wyatt, August 2003
The Colonel John Washington Chapter, District
of Columbia, Daughters of the American Revolution, was organized April
3, 1917, and was named for the great-grandfather of George Washington,
our nation’s first President. John Washington, a Burgess who settled in
Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1657, was also the ancestor of Miss
Fannie Washington Hunter Weeks (1848-1928), the founder of our chapter
who holds Charter no. 23. Miss Weeks, through her Washington lineage,
was related to one of the four women who founded our National Society,
Eugenia Washington.
Led by 33 dedicated and enthusiastic regents and
their officers over the past 79 years, our chapter has consistently met
the NSDAR honor roll requirements. Outstanding members all, Colonel
John’s Daughters celebrated landmark chapter birthdays with state and
national officers in attendance. Included in the various commemorations
were the many historical DAR markers placed on members’ graves, a bronze
plaque placed at the DC Boundary Stone sw3, Alexandria, Virginia, and a
marker placed at Pohick Church, Pohick, Virginia, to honor George
Washington’s brother, John Augustine Washington, another great-grandson
of Colonel John Washington. Our members have held offices and
chairmanships with honor for both State and National. Mrs. James H.
Stansfield (1873-1964) was National Registrar, 1923-1926, who signed
75,000 applications for membership in our society. Colonel John’s
Daughters have served the DCDAR as Librarian, Chaplain, in Seimes
Microfilm, Americanism, American History Essay, DAR Magazine, Columbus
Quincentennial Committee Chairman, and much more. Many hours have been
given by our members as Docents for the DAR Museum. Special emphasis by
chapter members has been given to DAR Schools, Veterans Affairs,
Americanism, and the 50th Anniversary of World War II. Because of the
work and generous contributions of members to programs and chapter
expenses, Colonel John Washington Chapter DC 2-013 DC enjoys the
reputation of being a most outstanding DC Chapter that prides itself for
the active participation of our young adults as well as expertise on
long-standing members.
Two of our more recent outstanding accomplishments
are:
a. This chapter became the First Chapter in the NSDAR
to be designated by the Department of Defense as an official 50th
Anniversary of World War II Commemorative Community.
b. This
chapter sponsored the Colonel John Washington Homesite Wayside Marker at
George Washington’s Birthplace, Virginia. Members raised $3,000 to cover
the cost of the marker and officiated at the Dedication Ceremony April
29, 1995, to an audience of 175 persons. Through our efforts a like
marker was installed at the Colonel John Washington birthplace at
Sulgrave Manor, England, and in the DCDAR Chapter House.
-Prepared by Chapter Historian Rosalind Bishop Barton,
May 10, 1996.
