Hannah Lee
Chapter NSDAR, The First 60 Years
The day after Christmas in 1919, twenty-seven
ladies met at the home of Mabel Ainsworth to form
a new chapter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution. Mrs. Ainsworth was the organizing
regent. Two names for the chapter were submitted
to the ladies; in May 1921, Hannah Lee was
chosen. Since then the members have worked to
promote patriotism, education, and preservation.
To promote patriotism, they placed a framed
"American's Creed" in each classroom of the public
school and in the Legion Hall at West Union; and,
our chapter gave a small American Flag and manual
to each newly naturalized immigrants. In 1924, one
thousand Flag Code pamphlets were distributed to
local families and businesses. "An exceedingly
large box of clothing" was sent to Piney Woods
School to aid the southern mountain children in
gaining an education. Financial aid was given to
the Martha Berry School at Mt. Berry, Georgia,
through the purchase of baskets (what type
was not said). In 1927-28, the sum of $10 was
sent. For many years they sent fabric, thread, and
needles to Ellis Island for the immigrants.
Bronze plaques were placed on the tombstones of
Emily Carter, a Real Daughter (the daughter of a
Revolutionary War soldier and a DAR
member) of the Wenonah Chapter NSDAR, and Mrs.
Angelina Webb Morehouse, who was the daughter and
granddaughter of Revolutionary War soldiers, but
not a DAR member; in the new Court House at West
Union; at the fort in Fort Atkinson; and at the
site of the first cabin built in Fayette County in
1840.
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On June 2,
1940, a marker was placed by Waucoma,
Hannah Lee, and Wapsipinicon Chapters
NSDAR
to recognize the site of the Franklin
Wilcox home, the first cabin in Fayette
County, Iowa. |
Times were hard during the depression, the chapter
cut back on activities and some members resigned
for a while. During WWII, they sent books and food
to local soldiers, in one year they volunteered
300 hours to war work and 100% bought War Bonds.
In 1978, the Waucoma Chapter NSDAR of Waucoma,
Iowa, disbanded; members joined Hannah Lee Chapter
NSDAR or became members at large. It had been the
first DAR chapter in Northeast Iowa, organized in
1907. They placed markers for Sally McCarn Seeber,
a Real Granddaughter, local WWI veterans and for
Johann Gaertner, who built the St. Anthony of
Padua Chapel, or "the smallest church," at
Festina, Iowa. He did this to honor his mother's
promise to build a church if he returned alive
from serving in Napoleon's Russian Campaign.
These were some of the early projects of the
chapter. Reading the minutes and regents' reports
you see a devoted group of women who shaped their
chapters.
"If we do not lay
out ourselves in the service of mankind,
whom shall we serve?"-- Abigail
Adams
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