Wisconsin Society DAR: History

History of the Wisconsin Society DAR

The Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in 1892 by Ellen M. Hayes Peck (James Sydney). She served as the first State Regent for a ten-year period, from 1892 to 1902.

Two years after the organization of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution on October 11, 1890, Ellen M. Hayes Peck of Milwaukee was elected Regent for Wisconsin February 20, 1892, and immediately set about what then seemed to be an insurmountable task of organizing chapters in Wisconsin.

It was most difficult to interest eligible or prospective members in tracing their ancestry and doing the necessary research for membership in the National Society. However, after much frustration and discouragement, Mrs. Peck finally succeeded in organizing a chapter in her home in Milwaukee, February 14, 1893, with ten members present. This chapter was known as the Milwaukee Chapter and for a time was the only chapter in Wisconsin. Members included names from other Wisconsin cities and localities throughout the state. Later, when chapters were organized in different town and cities, some of the members of the original chapter became regents and officers of chapters organized in their localities. All their efforts were not successful in establishing new chapters. The records of the Organizing Secretary General show many organizing regents appointed but resigned during Mrs. Peck's ten-year term.

By the end of 1896, chapters had been approved at Janesville, Kenosha, Beloit, and La Crosse and meetings of representatives of these chapters were held in Mrs. Peck's home. These casual meetings were termed "conferences" by Mrs. Peck. There were discussions as to how to extend the state work, but there were no records kept and there was no definite organization of officers and committees. The earliest state secretary's minute book of 1902 has this statement in regard to records, dates, and early history: "We are dependent upon the memory of some of our early members of which Mrs. Thomas H. Brown, the second state regent, is one."

Then, by 1902, in addition to the chapters previously mentioned, chapters had been organized in Oshkosh, Stevens Point, Reedsburg. Portage, Fort Atkinson, Racine, Fond du Lac, Waukesha, Madison, Lake Mills, and Waupun, making sixteen in all.

It was at this time that Mrs. Peck asked to be relieved of her office. She had served the state society since 1892. As one of her duties, it may be added, during her term of office, she had represented the Wisconsin Society in Paris when the Lafayette Monument was unveiled and dedicated. As a reward for her ten years of untiring devotion to establishing the Daughters of the American Revolution in Wisconsin she was made a Life Member of the society. Ellen Hayes Peck passed away July 17, 1909, and is buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.

The WSDAR Ladies of Yesterday and Today - State Regents

*Mrs. Ellen Peck

1892-1902

*Mrs. Alice Brown

1902-1907

*Mrs. Frances Feathers

1907-1911

*Mrs. Mattie Van Ostran

1911-1915

*Mrs. Julia Hume

1915-1919

*Mrs. Clara Hartman

1919-1922

*Mrs. Martha Parker

1922-1924

*Mrs. Nellie Hess

1924-1928

*Mrs. J. R. Trottman

1928-1931

*Mrs. Margaret Branson

1931-1934

*Mrs. Genevieve Averill

1934-1937

*Mrs. Helen Stuart

1937-1939

*Mrs. F. J. Wheeler

1939-1942

*Mrs. Ardelia Koch

1942-1946

*Miss Margaret Goodwin

1946-1948

*Mrs. Helen Barker

1948-1950

*Mrs. Mary Hale

1950-1953

*Mrs. Florence Harris, Sr.

1953-1956

*Mrs. Martha Hayward

1956-1959

*Mrs. Nola Frick

1959-1962

*Mrs. Elizabeth Barker

1962-1965

*Mrs. Hattie LaMack

1965-1968

*Mrs. J. S. McCray

1968-1971

Mrs. E. E. Janikowsky

1971-1974

* Mrs. D. W. Pierce

1974-1977

* Mrs. Roland Wernecke

1977-1880

* Mrs. Fred W. Bush

1980-1983

Mrs. Ivan M. Niedling

1983-1986

Dr. Marilynn R. Baxter

1986-1989

Mrs. Orville W. Roberts

1989-1992

Mrs. Kenneth Baumgartner

1992-1995

Miss Mary Howden

1995-1997

Mrs. Sarah Hogoboom

1997-1999

Mrs. Carol Orth

1999-2001

Mrs. Beverly West

2001-2003

Mrs. Ruth Anderson

2003-2005

Mrs. Alice Cramer Byrnes

2005-2007

Mrs. Julie Stuhlmacher 2007-2009

Ms. Sherron Pamela Miller 2009-2011

* Deceased