The Oldest Chapter in Washington StateThe National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890. Just four years later, a group of women formed the Mary Ball Chapter in Tacoma, Washington on June 22, 1984.
“This little band of patriotic women, in the far northwest corner of these United States, remembered that the Mother of Washington had once borne another name in the days of her girlhood. So this Chapter of DAR in the State of Washington had the honored privilege of taking the name… “Mary Ball” and the Chapter, like the Mother of Washington of sterling worth, has even been foremost in the good works of patriotism and charity… a worthy model and guide for the chapters following.” From the 1924 WSSDAR History & Registrar, p.28. Mary Ball Chapter Charter Members:
Clara Ball Jacobs, Martha Gallup Griggs, Mary Shelby Stallcup, Evelyn G. Cutter Sherman, Fanny Taylor Hale, Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster, Georgiana Stevens Gowey, Jessie Cavender Gribble, Jane Clarke Harvey, Julia A. Randolph Hardenbergh, Elizabeth Brooke Lawson Lehman, Nellie Levering Turner Allyn, and Mildred Fuller Wallace. |
In 1894, Mrs. Griggs organized Washington State’s first DAR chapter, Mary Ball in Tacoma. She went on to serve as Washington State DAR Regent under DAR President Generals, Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson & Mrs. Daniel Manning from 1897‐1900. During her regency in Daughters in Washington State supported the Red Cross and the Emergency Relief Fund. Washington Daugthers raised funds for the National DAR Hospital Corps and in support of the purchase of a hospital ship tender to give care and support wounded soldiers during the Spanish-American War.
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Today our Mary Ball Chapter is comprised of members of all ages and from many different backgrounds. We have members born and raised in Tacoma and many others who have adopted the Pacific Northwest as their home. We have members who work outside the home, professionals in many fields, students, homemakers, young mothers, active duty service members, veterans, military family members, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and retirees.
Mary Ball WashingtonMary Ball was born in 1706 in Virginia. In 1731, at age 23, she married Augustine Washington and became stepmother to his three children. Her first child, George, was born in 1732. By the age of 33, Mary had relocated twice with her husband and the family and now had six children under the age of eight. Mary became widowed at 38, and she never remarried. She died in 1789, just before her son was inaugurated as the first President of the United States.
A monument marking her grave in Fredericksburg, Virginia was ordered by the newly formed National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 1891. The Mary Washington Monument, which echoes the design of the Washington Monument, was dedicated May 10, 1894, before an audience that included President Grover Cleveland and President General Letitia G. Stevenson. "My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her." -George Washington
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