September 16, 2024 John Paul Chapter, DAR

Daughters of the American Revolution
established local chapter in June 1902

On a June day in 1902, in the parlors of the Madison Hotel, located on the southwest corner of Second and Mulberry Streets, a group of ladies met to charter the John Paul Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The national DAR organization was founded in October 1890 with it’s primary objective: To perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence. It also was one of the first major women’s organizations in the country. There were plenty such groups for men, but women were not allowed to join those.

Pictured above are those who attended the chapter’s first Flag Day meeting, June 14, 1903, held at the home of Sen. and Mrs. W.A. Guthrie in Dupont, Ind. In those days, transportation involved carriages or a trip from the passenger train depot on West First Street in Madison to the Dupont station.

A copy of the photo in the Research Library and Archives identifies the attendees. From left: first row, Mrs. S.M. Strader, Miss Foster, Mrs. C.B. Melish, Mrs. Crecraft (at the time, Lucy Ann Guthrie), Marjorie Lewis, Mis Mamie Lewis, Mrs. Clarence Dryden, Mrs. Sam Graham and Mrs. W.H. Todd; second row, Mrs. Hiram Foster, Mrs. Blankenship; Mrs. Richard Johnson, Mrs. R.L. Ireland, Mrs. Bice, Mrs. Owen Moffett, Miss Ella Calloway and Miss Mayme Lewis; back row, Mrs. William Ogden, Miss Marie Garber, Mrs. Mary Wyatt, Mrs. Fred Lewis, Mrs. Ira Montgomery, Mrs. John A. Zuck, Mrs. Mollie Cravens, Mrs. W.A. Guthrie, Miss Mary Fowler, Mrs. Robert White, Mrs. James H. Crozier and Miss Emma Cosby.

The top photo is of those attending the 25th Anniversary (Silver) of the founding of the John Paul Chapter in the summer of 1927. If I can find an identification of the women pictured, I will add that to this post.