Jean Nicolet Chapter
Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution
De Pere - Green Bay
Jean Nicolet Chapter
Wisconsin Society Daughters
of the American Revolution
De Pere - Green Bay
Jean Nicolet Chapter History
The spring of 2006 marked the 100th
anniversary of the organization of the Jean Nicolet Chapter, of the Wisconsin
Society Daughters of the American Revolution, in De Pere. Over the years, almost
400 Jean Nicolet Chapter members from the area have traced their
lineage back to men and women who fought for the freedom we enjoy today.
The history of the Jean Nicolet Chapter dates back almost another decade. In
1896, Mrs. Frances Lawton Dunham, great granddaughter of Revolutionary War
surgeon Dr William Lawton, started the ball rolling to organize a local chapter
in De Pere.
In the fall of 1896, Mrs. Dunham was appointed by the State Regent as the Regent
of a prospective group in De Pere, which allowed her to begin holding meetings
for the potential 50 to 60 eligible women in the area.
As reported in the September 10, 1896, issue of the Brown County Democrat,
“the
object of the society is to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and
women who achieved American Independence, by the acquisition and protection of
historical spots, and the erection of monuments; by the encouragement of
historical research in relation to the revolution, and the publications of its
results; by the preservation of documents and relics; and the records of the
individual services of Revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and by the promotion
of celebrations of all patriotic anniversaries.”
Then and now a woman is eligible for membership who is eighteen years of age,
and who is descended from a man or woman who with unfailing loyalty, rendered
material aid to the cause of Independence during the Revolutionary War.
At the preliminary meeting, Mrs. Dunham would have discussed that a formal
chapter could be created after twelve women were able to establish their lineage
with the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Several De Pere women were members of
the national organization, but De Pere still lacked the required twelve members
to form a local Chapter.
In 1896, three area women were already members of the National Society, including
Mrs. Francis Lawton Dunham, Ermina Elizabeth Newton Leonard, and her mother, Betsey
Leonard Newton, daughter of Revolutionary War soldier Ziba Leonard.
As the women of the area prepared their lineage paperwork, they continued to
hold periodic meetings where historical articles were read and relics shared.
At a meeting in November of 1896, relic exhibits included a sampler belonging to
Desire Dingley, a salt cellar belonging to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s mother, and
a piece of an old sermon preached by Cotton Mather in the Old South Church in
Boston.
Mrs. Lawton Dunham was confirmed as regent of the local chapter in January of
1897.
It was another ten years before twelve women proved their lineage through birth,
marriage, and death records. The Jean Nicolet Chapter was organized in May of
1906 and the official Charter was issued on October 24, 1906.
Source: Jean Nicolet Chapter Centennial - A Century of DAR Service 1906 - 2006, Compiled by E. Virginia Hunt and Mary Kay Milquet
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Email: JeanNicoletDAR@gmail.com