Special Edition #1

We interrupt our regular programming with this special message!  According to the last Reflections post, I was supposed to have the Conservation Corner followed by the latest Chapter Clips.  As you can see, I made some adjustments.  You will soon learn the reason for this change.  Sometimes, something unexpected and wonderful occurs.  During Constitution Week, this happened.  As soon as I received word of this special situation, I made adjustments.  You will now learn why I posted the Chapter Clips about the first NSDAR chapter as it “segways” beautifully into this special edition.  Talk about Divine intervention!

During Constitution Week, I received an e-mail from Susan Saunders with the subject line reading: DAR Strange Happening.  Just the subject made me curious, and then the content of the e-mail evoked an array of emotions.  I felt this “strange happening” was something that needed to be shared with you; therefore, I asked Susan to write an article of the event for the blog.  Here is the story as she wrote it.

 

Historic DAR Certificate Returns Home…

On September 17, 2013 Sumter’s Home Chapter held a Constitution Day Celebration at the Sumter Mall.  It was a fun-filled, exciting day for all as we recognized the day our Constitution was signed with song, Proclamations, and waving flags.  To add to the day’s exhilaration, one of the mall employees, Nancy Holmes, presented chapter Constitution Day Chair Helen Mahon with an old, framed DAR Certificate dated 1898.  We were all aghast with disbelief.  Helen gave the treasure to Susan Saunders, State Lineage Research Chair (and Sumter’s Home Regent) to research.

What a thrill it was to research this Certificate.  To begin, the beautiful Certificate had been given to Ms. Holmes by a gentleman who was at the mall back in the mid-80’s setting up a display for the 4^th of July.  Afterwards, he gave the Certificate to her saying “Hang on to this, it might be worth something.”  She held on to it for 30 years before giving it to the chapter.  That in itself is quite a story.

After thoroughly researching the Certificate, Susan found it to be the membership certificate of Mrs. Anna M. Carson Dillman (DAR #22644) dated 1898.  Mrs. Dillman joined the Chicago chapter, which has a very noteworthy legacy.  Chicago Chapter, NSDAR was established on March 20, 1891, as the first chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  While Mrs. Dillman was not one of its charter members, she was certainly one of their earliest.  She passed away in 1900.

Sadly, Mrs. Dillman’s line seems to end with her.  No other DAR members have joined through her line and only six members have joined the DAR through her Patriot James Wright.  The latest joined in 1961, and none of these ladies seem to have descendants who have joined through other Patriots.  It seems that line is dead - which leads us to the question – What do we do with this treasure?

After speaking with the Illinois State DAR Registrar and our South Carolina DAR Curator, it has been decided that Mrs. Dillman’s treasured DAR Membership Certificate should be returned home to Illinois.

 

What a story!  It’s a shame that no one in Mrs. Dillman’s family (no nieces, no nephews, no cousins, no one) wanted or valued her certificate.  Then, the questions begin.  How did this certificate of a member from the Chicago Chapter of Illinois, the first chapter in the NSDAR, end up in South Carolina?  Who was this gentleman that had this certificate?  Where did he get the certificate, and why did he have it or want it?  Why did he give the certificate to this lady?  Why did she keep it after all these years?  What made her give it to the DAR now?   There are so many questions yet so few answers.  The good news is this.  Just as Grace Marshall’s scrapbook had a fairytale happy ending and is home under the protection of the SCDAR,  Mrs. Dillman’s certificate will also have a fairytale happy ending as it finds its way back home to Illinois and under the protection of the Illinois DAR.

Even though the gentleman will never know our appreciation, I want to thank him for seeing the value of the certificate and keeping the certificate safe. Thank you to Ms. Holmes who held on to it for those many years.  Thank you to Susan Saunders for understanding the treasure she had been given, for searching so diligently for Mrs. Dillman’s family in the hopes the certificate could be returned to them, and then contacting the ILDAR State Registrar to ensure its preservation.  Thank you to the Illinois DAR who will take the certificate and give it a treasured home.

For those of you who follow the blog, you know I have a challenge for you.  This is a perfect example of why the “Reflections of Our Treasured Past” project was started, to preserve the treasures of our past and make sure they don’t end up in the trash forever lost to the future.  I cannot even begin to tell you all of the treasures that are missing from the SCDAR for which I am desperately searching.  I need your help.  As you travel, as you shop, as you browse the internet, PLEASE always be on the lookout for DAR treasures such as this especially any from our state.  As Susan Saunders can attest, you never know what may come your way, when something may come your way, or how it may come your way. 

As President General Young in her blog about the “Reflections” project quoted me as saying, “We cannot honor our heritage if we haven’t preserved it.  We cannot teach the future generations without the treasures of our past.  We cannot Celebrate America if we don’t have America’s story to celebrate.”