The September meeting of Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution was held at the home of chapter regent Cindy Madden and her husband Jerry Madden, President of Galvez Chapter SAR. Jerry gave a presentation in colonial costume to represent his ancestor, John Madden Jr. John’s father, John Madden Sr., hired George Washington to do a land survey for him when George was 19 years old, and John Jr. was 16 years old. This land survey is housed in the Library of Congress along with some of the 190 land surveys George Washington did in his youth. After John Madden Sr. passed away, John Madden Jr. sold all the family’s holdings and lived with his family in George Washingtons’ land survey office which still stands in Winchester, Virginia. Jerry and Cindy Madden visited this site several years ago.
Cindy Madden, in colonial costume, did a first-person presentation about Martha Custis Washington. At the age of 26, she was a wealthy widow with two children. She owned 17,000 acres and 5 farms. She met and married George Washington when she was 28. Many of the improvements to Mount Vernon were done using her wealth. George and Martha never had children of their own, but enjoyed her children and grandchildren. She defined the role of First Lady with her graciousness and hospitality.
Donna Sutton, who serves as State Chair of DAR Schools, gave a PowerPoint presentation about the history Kate Duncan Smith DAR School. In the 1920s, DAR raised money to build schools in remote areas of the Appalachian Mountains. One of these schools was Kate Duncan Smith School. KDS provides a caring and quality education for underprivileged children. Donations help provide Blessings Bags for students who do not have access to adequate food over the weekends. To celebrate their 100th anniversary, KDS is cleaning up a neglected area of campus around the historic bell tower, where walkways, seating, and landscaping will be installed. Donna is collecting $2.00 from each of the more than 2,500 DAR members in Louisiana to donate to this project. LSDAR’s name will be included on a permanent plaque at the project site.
We are excited to welcome four new members to our chapter! Judy Reese and her daughter Jamie Fortenberry are descendants of Revolutionary War patriot John Richardson who was born circa 1753. During the Revolution, he lived in North Carolina and served as Ensign in Gregory’s Company, 10th Regiment. Linnye Daily is descended from John Wimberley who was born October 1, 1755 in Bertie Co., NC. He was a Private and was given a land grant in Georgia as payment for his service. Diane Temple is descended from Samuel Bacot, born March 3, 1745 in Charleston. He served as a Lieutenant under General Francis Marion in 1782. Captured by the British, he devised an escape plan which resulted in his group gaining their freedom from their captors. The Florence, SC chapter of the DAR is named in his honor.
After the program, a High Tea was served to give our chapter members time to meet our new members and prospective members. They enjoyed petit fours made by Candy Monzingo, cucumber sandwiches, egg sandwiches and lemon ginger tea. Hostesses for the September meeting were Nancy Grantham, Cindy Madden, and Judy Reese.