Notable Women
of Abigail Adams Chapter NSDAR

Although each and every member of Abigail Adams Chapter NSDAR through the past 120 years has been and is vital to chapter life, we list below the 14 founding members. These were women of foresight, strength of spirit and determination. In establishing the first chapter in the State of Iowa, they deserve the deep and lasting gratitude of all members of the Iowa Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Chapter Founders:

Carrie Margaret McAyval Ogilvie	Sophia Maxwell Dolson Andrews	Alice Alvina Crawford Bailey Gorst
Barbara Roxana Fusselman Garver	Dr. Mary J. Loomis Gaylord	Antoinette C. Akers Graber
Elizabeth Brown Howell	Mattie Atwood Locke Macomber	Lillian Hoag Monk
Mary Helen Baylies Peters	Adella J. Arnold Pratt	Edith Hepburn Thummel
Hortense Octavia Bailey Vail	Ella Lyford Warfield

Iowa State Regents who were members of Abigail Adams Chapter NSDAR:

Emma Gertrude Hull	Elizabeth Brown Howell	Alice Given Brenton
Edna J. Dudley Throckmorton	Betty Davis Wallace	Sara Jane Shaler Harwood

Carrie Margaret McAyval Ogilvie
(1857-1939)

Carrie Margaret McAyval Ogilvie was the organizer of Abigail Adams Chapter, first chapter in the State of Iowa. Born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Carrie was second Regent and the first by election of chapter members. Mrs Ogilvie, whose great-great-grandfather, Hugh Thompson of Pennsylvania, fought in the Revolutionary War, spent several months of concentrated effort to interest women in the Des Moines area and surrounding counties during the summer of 1893, the national organization having been formed October 11, 1891. She was rewarded with success when the chapter was organized in August 1893. Carrie was elected as the first Regent by the National Board, but declined, instead feeling the honor should go to Sophia Andrews, whose father had served in the Revolutionary War. Carrie held chapter, state and national offices over the years. In Des Moines, she was editor and proprietor of The Midwestern Magazine. By 1925, she was residing in Massachusetts. She died in 1939 in Seattle, Washington.

Sophia Maxwell Dolson Andrews was the first Regent of Abigail Adams Chapter. Her father, John Dolson (or Van Dolson), fought at the Battle of Trenton, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Yorktown and many other engagements. Mrs. Andrews, a native of New York, was educated at the University of Michigan, active in Des Moines civic affairs, and held the distinction of being the first woman admitted tothe Iowa Legislature as a press correspondent. She wrote for Chicago and Philadelphia newspapers. She was an accomplished spinner. She was Buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines and her grave is marked as a "Real Daughter."

Sophia Maxwell Dolson Andrews
(1829-1924)

Alice Alvina Crawford Bailey Gorst (1854-1948), our fourth Regent, born in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was the great-great-granddaughter of Revolutionary War veteran Isaac Davis, later Governor of New Jersey. Alice was educated at the University of Wisconsin. She held numerous elective offices in the chapter, before leaving Iowa in 1916 and transferring her membership to a Wisconsin chapter. Mrs Gorst was a world traveler and active in civic affairs. She is buried in Illinois.

Barbara Roxana Fusselman Garver
(11 August 1838 - 6 June 1909)

Barbara Roxana Fusselman Garver was born in Indiana, the great-granddaughter of a Revolutionary War soldier from Connecticut, Aaron Merrill. No evidence of offices held was found. She is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines.

Dr. Mary J. Loomis Gaylord, the eighth Chapter Regent and great-granddaughter of Connecticut veteran, John Gaylord, held most offices in the chapter, including several terms as treasurer. She was born in Indiana and is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines.

Dr. Mary J. Loomis Gaylord
(1840-1920)

Antoinette C. Akers Graber (1864 - unknown) was born in Indiana. Her great-great-grandfather, John Rogers, went to Quebec with Benedict Arnold, was taken prisoner and died there. No record of chapter service has been found. By 1895-96, she had moved to Geneseo, New York. She is buried in New York.

Elizabeth Brown Howell
(1867-1932)

Elizabeth Brown Howell was the sixth Chapter Regent. Her great-great-grandfather, David Brown, was a Captain of the Minute Men in Concord. It has been said he might have given the order to fire "The shot heard round the world." Mrs. Howell held numerous chapter offices including that of Regent. She was State Regent of Iowa 1912-1913 and a Vice President General. She is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines.

Mattie Atwood Locke Macomber (1853 - 1931) was born in New York. Her great-grandfather, John Locke, commanded that squad of men who staged the Boston Tea Party, throwing tea into Boston Harbor. She took pride in tracing her lineage from the Adams family as well as Ethan Allen. She was a member of the first graduating class of Iowa State University, had further work at the University of Michigan and studied languages in Germany and France. In 1895, she was conferred an honorary degree, Master of Philosphy, from Iowa State. Mrs. Macomber taught at Vassar before her marriage, and throughout her life was a travel conductor. No record of chapter offices she held has been found. She is buried in Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines.

Lillian Hoag Monk (1858 - 1938) was born in Nevada, Iowa. Lillian's great-grandfather, Leonard Perkins of Connecticut, was her Revolutionary ancestor. Married to a doctor in Nevada, she had two children and was employed as a librarian. There is no record of chapter service, and circa 1907, she was living in California, where she resided until her death. Lillian Hoag Monk was a prolific author and wrote several history books, some of which are still available She is buried in California.

Mary Helen Baylies Peters (1850 - 1940) was the third Chapter Regent. Mary Helen claimed as her Revolutionary ancestor Eleazer Wheelock, founder of Dartmouth College. She is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines.

Adella J. Arnold Pratt
(1858 - unknown)

Adella J. Arnold Pratt was the fifth Chapter Regent. Her ancestor was her third great grandfather, Israel Arnold of Rhode Island, the state of her birth Adella held several elective offices, including Chapter Regent, and committee appointments. By 1904, the Pratts had left Iowa. She is presumably buried in Illinois.

Edith Hepburn Thummel (1856 - 1913) was born in Marshalltown, Iowa. She joined DAR on the service of her third great-grandfather, Thomas I. Chittenden, first Governor of Vermont. Her father, W. P. Hepburn, was an 11-term congressman from Iowa. The Thummels left Des Moines and resided in Michigan, Philadelphia, New York City and Long Island. Throughout the years, Mrs. Thummel retained membership in Abigail Adams Chapter. She died at sea on a voyage to Hawaii, and her body was returned for burial in New York. She is buried in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.

Hortense Octavia Bailey Vail was born in New York. Hortense resided in Colfax, Iowa at the time of joining DAR. Her Revolutionary ancestor wa unusual, in that he was her second great uncle. Her supplemental papers were based on the service of her great-grandfather, Phillip Briggs of New York. She served on chapter committees before returning to New York State in 1902. She is buried in June Cemetery, North Sale, Westchester County, New York.

As widows, in 1910, Mrs. Vail and her two sisters traveled around the world. Landing in New York, after leaving from San Francisco 18 months earlier, Mrs. Vail was interviewed by the press: "Mrs. Vail said one of the impressions she gathered on her trip was that the Malay women, that is certain Malay women, were among the handsomest in figure in the world and had features that reminded her of the classic Greeks."

Ella Lyford Warfield
(1852 - 1922)

Ella Lyford Warfield was born in Quincy, Illinois. Her Revolutionary ancestor was her second great-grandfather, Samuel Chapman, a Colonel with the Connecticut line and a veteran of the French and Indian War. Ella served on chapter committees. Ella's great-great-granddaughter, Kristine Winber, is a current member of Abigail Adams Chapter and proudly wears Ella's insignia.. Ella Lyford Warfield is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines.

State Regents

Emma Gertrude Hull

Emma Gertrude Hull was the Second State Regent of Iowa, 1894 - 1895.

Elizabeth Brown Howell was the Tenth State Regent of Iowa, 1912 - 1914 and Vice President General NSDAR, 1914 - 1919. She served as the chairman of numerous state and national committees, especially noted for relief efforts during WWI.

Alice Given Brenton served as the Twenty-first State Regent, 1934 - 1936.

Alice Given Brenton

Edna J. Dudley Throckmorton

Edna J. Dudley Throckmorton served as the Twenty-fifth State Regent, 1942 - 1944; 3rd Vice President General NSDAR; and chairman of numerous state and national committees.

Betty Davis Wallace served as the forty-third State Regent, 1976 - 1978; Vice President General NSDAR, 1978 - 1981; a strong supporter of DAR Schools Who funded the Iowa Betty Davis Wallace Building on the Tamassee School campus, Tamassee, South Carolina; served as chairman of state and national committees.

Betty Davis Wallace

Sara Jane Shaler Harwood

Sara Jane Shaler Harwood served as Fifty-fourth State Regent, 1992 - 1994; Vice president General, 1994 - 1997; Curator General NSDAR, 1998 - 2001; chairman of state and national committees and national administrative committees.

Notable Women of Abigail Adams Chapter NSDAR

Notable Women
of Abigail Adams Chapter NSDAR