Charter Members

It was a stormy winter day, January 25, 1897, when 18 ladies met in the parlor at Hotel Belmont on the corner of Main and Belmont Street in Brockton, Massachusetts. The preceding months had been devoted to interesting those eligible, filling out applications, and assuring there being a sufficient number of charter members for a new chapter of the DAR to take a place of importance among the Massachusetts chapters, and to be a credit to the city of Brockton.

Rebecca Boomer suggested the chapter be named after Deborah Sampson in recognition of the noble service she gave to her country and in memory of the unrecorded services of the women of the American Revolution.

The first anniversary of the chapter was celebrated in the afternoon of January 25, 1898, at Hotel Belmont and the public was invited, several speakers present were: Mr. Osborne of Bridgewater, Mayor Garfield, Will Howard; and Agnes Parker. The annual meeting of Deborah Sampson Chapter, NSDAR, was held Tuesday evening at the Gurney home, and officers were elected for the present year. Membership had increased from 21 to 50. The meetings of the year had been held at the homes of our members since organization.

On January 25, 1901; we celebrated our fourth anniversary. Membership had increased by 29 new members and we now numbered 93! More prospective members were soon to be added. Our fifth anniversary was held in YMCA Hall, Brockton, and this was one of the most important events of the winter’s social season. Members and guests numbering 400, gathered to honor the occasion.

In 1902, we proudly note that our chapter increased in size and importance to become “first” in Massachusetts. Since the meeting attendance increased as well, fewer members could entertain the ten regular meetings of the chapter in their own homes; thus, Howard Seminary, Franklin Hall, and First Parish Church were utilized on invitation. In succeeding years, most meetings were held in area churches. Meetings were opened with devotional and patriotic service and closed with the salute to the flag. Ending our ninth year 1905-06, we were proud to see our membership the largest in the state and the eighth in size in the nation.

Deborah Sampson Charter Members

Rebecca C. Boomer	Lucy A. Spurr	Allie V. Kingsman
Elizabeth F. Parker	Clara L. Atwood	Alice M. Atwood
Lucy C. Howland	M. Josephine Battles	Helen A. Dean
Edith F. Howard	Mary Manley	Ellen Manley
Harriet A. Marshall	Hettie R. Littlefield	Edna G. Littlefield
Isabelle Howard	Myra E. Clark	Angie A. Holmes
Olive H. Lincoln	Annie C. Simmons	Helen F. Sargent

BECOME A MEMBER

When you join the DAR, you enter a network of more than 185,000 women who form lifelong bonds, honor their revolutionary ancestors and promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism in their communities.

National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Site maintained by our webmaster.
This site was updated on April 25, 2021

The content contained herein does not necessarily represent the position of the NSDAR. Hyperlinks to other sites are not the responsibility of NSDAR, the state organizations, or individual DAR chapters.