DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

YANTACAW CHAPTER

ELSIE WYCKOFF HALLOWELL

OCTOBER 11, 1890, The National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution was formally organized at the home of Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood of Washington, D.C. with eighteen women becoming members. Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison, wife of the President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, consented to accept the position of the society’s first President General.

New Jersey’s first chapter was organized by Mrs. David A. Dupue in Newark on April 15, 1891 and was the second chapter to be formed in the country after the National Society.

THE OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY ARE:

To perpetuate the memory and the spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence; to promote the development of an enlightened public opinion; and to foster patriotic citizenship; these are the objects of our Society, Daughters of the American Revolution.

It was first known as New Jersey Chapter and later changed to Nova Caesarea. The first New Jersey State Regent was Mrs. William W. Shippen.

The setting for the Organization Meeting held on Monday, January 25, 1960, of the Yantacaw Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution was in Nutley’s oldest home that was built in 1702 and is now owned by the Woman’s Club of Nutley. It is located only a few feet from the Yantacaw River for which the Chapter takes its name.

The Indians would follow this little river down from the mountains and settle on the fields where the Yantacaw met with the Passaic River to hold an annual tribal feast and dancing to give thanks to their Gods of Plenty for a good harvest and hunting. After three or four days of thanksgiving they would continue down the Passaic River in their canoes to the sea where they fished for their winter supply of seafood.

The Yantacaw Chapter was organized by Mrs. Britton R. Hallowell who had been appointed by the D.A.R. National Board in Washington, D.C. on January 30, 1959. An Organizing Regent has one year to form her Chapter with not less than twelve members. There were eighteen organizing members when the Organization Meeting took place. All of the State Officers were honored guests along with many others representing other societies.

Mrs. George C. Skillman, State Regent installed the following officers:

Regent-Mrs. Britton R. Hallowell; Vice Regent-Mrs. Anson Barber; Chaplain-Mrs. John Rosengren; Recording Secretary-Mrs. Robert Drummond; Corresponding Secretary-Mrs. Cornelius Schenck; Treasurer-Mrs. Simon L. Portofee; Registrar-Mrs. Floyd Haring; Historian and Librarian-Miss Ida Cone.

The State Regent presented the new Chapter with a beautiful set of silk flags - a 50 star American flag and a National Soicety D.A.R. flag. At the close of the meeting a tea followed.

The State D.A.R. has a Spring Conference every year in March and is usually held in the New Jersey State House.

The National Society holds its Continental Congress in Washington, D.C. the third week of April. The Society has its own buildings that take in a whole block in Washington at 1776 D. Street N.W. Included in these buildings is a Museum that is opened to the public; Constitution Hall is one of the largest halls in the country; Continental Hall, which is the library, is considered one of the best genealogical libraries in the country; and the Administration building.

The Daughters also own and operate two schools for mountain children. One is in Alabama and the other in South Carolina; the schools serve over a hundred square miles.

The Yantacaw Chapter plans to give a scholarship to one of these schools and as we grow we plan to do more. We also plan to help with the American Indians by contributing to their scholarship fund.

An applicant for the D.A.R. must be eighteen years of age or over. She must be a lineal descendant of an ancestor who assisted in the achievement of the American Independence.

Yantacaw is only a new Chapter with a lot to look forward to. It is not a year old as yet and has increased its membership from the original eighteen to twenty-five.