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Pymatuning Chapter History

Pymatuning Chapter, NSDAR, was officially organized February 25, 1920, in Sharon, PA, when Mrs. Anthony Wayne Cook, Vice President General of DAR, and a member from Pennsylvania, came to install the officers, which included Organizing Regent Helen Flemming Reed. However, our application for a charter was not submitted until April 29, 1921, due to the inability to secure parchment skins for the charter.

 

The chapter's name is that of an authenticated Indian chieftain of the area. The Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians inhabited most of Pennsylvania when the white man came. Pymatuning or “Pihmtomink,” is thought to have been a Delaware chief; the name means “a place where the man with the crooked mouth lived."

 

The chapter has always worked to promote the objectives of the NSDAR: Historic Preservation, Education, and Patriotism.

 

To preserve American History, chapter members have contributed to the DAR Constitution Hall (Washington, DC), Valley Forge National Historical Park, and the "Madonna of the Trail" statues along the National Old Trails Road in twelve states (the statues honor the spirit of the pioneer mothers who traveled westward). Another preservation/conservation project was Penny Pines, a Reforestation Program sponsored by the National Garden Clubs, Inc., in coordination with the U.S. Forestry Service. Throughout the U.S., pine trees were purchased for a penny each and planted by the CCC around 1939. The PSSDAR recently rededicated Pennsylvania’s Memorial Forest near Tidioute in the Allegheny National Forest.

 

Locally, the chapter has assisted in placing historical memorial markers on the graves of daughters of American Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Sharon, PA: In July 1981, a Real Daughter marker was placed on the grave of Anne Hartford Titus Blackstone, daughter of Revolutionary war soldier Matthew Hartford, in conjunction with Mrs. Warren, a descendant of Matthew Hartford, who was Regent of Valley Forge Chapter, NSDAR, at that time, and later a member of Pymatuning Chapter. In May 2011, another Real Daughter marker was placed on the grave of Terressa Quimby Carver, daughter of Revolutionary War soldier Samuel Quimby (also buried at Oakwood Cemetery), in conjunction with Pittsburgh Chapter, NSDAR, where Mrs. Carver was a member.

 

To promote patriotism during World War II, chapter members supported the war effort by donating to war fund drives, serving as USO senior hostesses at Camp Reynolds, and canteen hostesses at the local USO center, knitting and sewing articles for service members through the Red Cross, taking charge of the war stamp booth at Woolworth's, and serving at blood banks as aides and donors. We continue to promote patriotism by honoring and supporting our military and veterans in 2015, we participated in the Veterans' Day program at Orr Auditorium, Westminster College, New Wilmington, by presenting certificates of appreciation to Vietnam War veterans in attendance. We are a commemorative partner with the Vietnam War Commemoration. We also participate in Shenango Valley Veterans Day Parade, Wreaths Across America ceremonies, Armed Forces Day, and Sharon’s Memorial Day Parade.

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Preservation and Patriotism go hand in hand through many activities. We have adopted the maintenance of Veterans Memorial Garden, Sharon, at the triangle created by East State St & Silver St across from Daffin's Candies, where we pick up litter, mulch, weed, and prune the plants. Recently we helped clean up Grove City Memorial Park and cleaned the stone memorial monument there. We’ve donated to the DAR Pathway of the Patriots, located along the Schuylkill River Trail, Philadelphia; in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the USA, 250 trees will be planted along the trail, each to be named in memory of a Revolutionary War Patriot.

We also salvage last year’s flags from veterans’ graves following Memorial Day – we fold and package these with a memorial poem and pass them out at various events.

 

The chapter remains active in the community, securing America’s future through better education for children. Each April we 'present outstanding local high school seniors with the DAR Good Citizens Award during a tea at the Hermitage Historical House. We support the various DAR schools by collecting Box Tops for education that can be exchanged for needed items. One such school is Tamassee DAR School, a non-profit children's home & family help service organization, providing a place of hope, healing & learning for children in need.

 

Pymatuning Chapter, NSDAR, is proud of its past, and looking toward the future with delight and anticipation.

 

 

Chapter Charter Members:

Celeste Spearman Adams, Adeline Runser Alderman, Blanch Alderman Allen, Myrtle La Vere Allen, Etta Marshall Armstrong, Leyla Taylor Richman, Emma Mae Bieber, May Dunham Bird, Mary Laird Bovard, Lizzie McDowell Buchholz, Clara McDowell Carley, Sara Estelle Carnes, Alice Louise Dickson, Ettabelle Bebont Dickson, Ellie Boswick Dittrich, Mary Turner Jonsson, Margaret Ramsey Law, Alice Moore Liddle, Nannie Bowman Madden, Vergie Shilling May, Edith Luse Mitchelltree, Kate Chaney Moore, Wilnetta McCormick, Lena Pearson, Mary Templeton Pearson, Lillian Cricks Peat, Catherine Larimer Bowman Reed, Helen Fleming Reed, Donna Runser, Elizabeth Cunningham Semple.

Chapter Previous Regents:

1920 - 1924 Miss Helen Fleming Reed

1924 - 1925 Mrs. Laird Bovard

1926 - 1928 Mrs. Edith Luse Edeburn

1928 - 1930 Mrs. Nannie Bowman Madden

1930 - 1932 Mrs. Mary Dunham Bird

1932 - 1934 Mrs. Flora Williams Burnett

1934 - 1935 Mrs. Mabel Shaw Wilson

1935 - 1936 Mrs. Cora Yanney Down

1936 - 1938 Mrs. Suzanne Morehouse Skyrm

1938 - 1940 Mrs. Leah Taylor Bachmann

1940 - 1942 Mrs. Emma Mae Bieber

1942 - 1944 Mrs. Edna Hunsberger Infield

1944 - 1946 Mrs. Ruth Steele Atherton

1946 - 1948 Mrs. Marion McIlnay Reed

1948 - 1950 Mrs. Clara Canfield Hamilton

1950 - 1952 Mrs. Marian Dodds Shellenberger

1952 - 1954 Mrs. Corinthia McDowell Currie

1954 - 1956 Mrs. Jennie Logan Gorham

1956 - 1959 Mrs. Margaret Stewart Goldie

1959 - 1962 Mrs. Annabel Spitler Brockway

1962 - 1968 Mrs. Mabel Patterson Stockfisch

1968 - 1968 Mrs. Berlin Wright

1968 - 1974 Mrs. Mabel Patterson Stockfisch

1974 - 1977 Miss Hazel E. Ash

1977 - 1983 Mrs. Margaret Gilkey Hunter

1983 - 1988 Mrs. Elizabeth Brokaw Emerson

1988 - 1995 Mrs. Margaret Gilkey Hunter

1995 - 1998 Mrs. Jean Honsaker Lyons

1998 - 2003 Mrs. Doris King McCormick

2004 - 2008 Mrs. Gayle Horsman Hyde

2008 - 2013 Mrs. Carol Ecklund

2013 - 2016 Connie White

2016 - 2019 Barbara Matejka

2019 - 2022 Barbara Matejka

2022 - 2025 Connie White

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Pymatuning Chapter D.A.R. Find A Grave Virtual Cemetery - Please feel free to link any deceased Pymatuning Chapter DAR Members to this Find A Grave 

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