GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY CHAPTER - Gloversville
Organized 1901 Membership 111
General Richard Montgomery of Grassmere, near Rhinebeck, N.Y., was the only delegate, except those from New England, at the Provincial Congress held in New York City in May, 1775. In the expedition against Canada, General Montgomery was second in command under General Philip Schuyler. Because of the latter's illness the entire responsibility devolved upon General Montgomery. In the attack on Quebec, he was killed by the first and only shot of the British Artillery.
The chapter was organized in November, 1901, with forty-three charter members. The first officers were:
Regent - Mrs. Elizabeth Roberts Churchill
First Vice Regent - Mrs. Eliza E. Clark McNab
Second Vice Regent - Mrs. Florence Peake Ross
Third Vice Regent - Mrs. Maud Johnson Dillon
Recording Secretary - Mrs. Gertrude Carnrick Wright
Treasurer - Miss Alice Peake
Registrar - Mrs. Emma McNab Burton
Historian - Miss Elizabeth StewartThe following June 11, 1902, the charter was presented to the chapter by Mrs. Charles H. Terry, then State Vice Regent. About two hundred members and guests were present, among whom were Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, one of the three founders of the National Society. The gavel was made from wood obtained from a British Man-of-War named the "Somerset."
The By-Laws were soon adopted and year books published with subjects on literature, history and art. Chapter meetings are held the third Friday in the month, beginning in September. The February meetings are marked by celebrations of the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln. There is a pleasant interchange of social meetings with the neighboring chapters. Each year delegates have attended Continental Congress and the State Conferences.
In 1909, beautiful and substantial gates to the old Kingsboro Cemetery were given to the Kingsboro Church, with appropriate ceremonies, including an address by the late Mrs. Donald McLean. This cemetery is the oldest in this section. The graves of Revolutionary soldiers buried there were marked and the entire plot is beautifully kept by the care and at the expense of the chapter.
Beginning in 1910, the chapter has each Memorial Day given a dinner to the Veterans of the Civil War. In November, 1910, the New York State Conference was held in the city attended by about three hundred visitors and delegates. When Gloversville celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary as a city, the chapter gave $10.00 towards it and members helped to dress the children who formed a living flag; the chapter also raised $250.00 toward the monument erected to the memory of the soldiers and sailors of all wars who belonged to this section.
Prizes have been given to the High and Grammar schools, also to pupils of Americanization schools. "The Spirit of '76" a fine bas relief was given to the Y. M. C. A., and a picture of Betsy Ross to the Y. W. C. A.
Flags have been presented to the Children's Playground, The Getman Home, The Columbia School, the Congregational Church and others; a thousand flag codes have been distributed.
A worthy granddaughter of a Revolutionary soldier was made happy by the gift from the chapter of an invalid's chair in which she was several times able to be taken to her church service. Committees on relics have a fine collection in the Public Library and at Johnson Hall, the only Baronial mansion in the State situated in this county, Fulton.
Subscriptions have been made to Tamasseee and Berry Schools. The Daughters marched in a body in the preparedness parade before the war. One member collected $100 for war work; $106 was given for the National Society Loan; $100 in Liberty Bonds is held by the chapter; $411 was raised by a tag sale and sent to the Belgian Fund, and $53 was given to the Tilloly Fund.
This chapter did their full quota of Red Cross work which cannot be estimated, as they were called to work in units which depended on their location in the city. One member, Mrs. George H. Steele, acted as a social worker in New Jersey Camps during the war, later going to France with the Y. M. C. A. On July 4, 1919, she placed a wreath on LaFayette's grave in Picpus Cemetery, Paris, bearing a card "From General Richard Montgomery Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Gloversville, N.Y." She has also completed courses in Social Service, preparatory to working in Government Hospitals for ex-service men, or with our Merchant Marine in foreign countries.
The past year the chapter responded to the call of the National Society for sixty cents per capita, for the Manual for Immigrants; for the Memorial Fountain at Plymouth; for the painting for the Museum in Paris, France, and for the Guernsey Scholarship at the International College. The chapter contributed toward the gift for Schuyler Mansion, Albany; $50 was given toward the New York State Building at Tamassee in memory of Mrs. Anna Marshall Bellows.
The War Service records were completed, giving a list of twenty men and one woman who served during America's participation in the Great War. The General Richard Montgomery Chapter has the honor of an officer on the National Board.
Mrs. Frank Burton,
Auditor
Source: History of New York State Conference Daughters of the American Revolution, Its Officers and Chapters with National Officers from New York and Roster of Real Daughters. Compiled by (Mrs. Frederick) Florence Skidmore Brown Menges, State Historian, and Mrs. Charles White Nash, State Regent. 1923.
Contributed by Hamilton County Coordinator Lisa Slaski and typed by the Herkimer/Montgomery Counties Coordinator Martha S. Magill. A copy of the book they appear in is available for viewing at the main branch of the Orange County Library System, Orlando, FL.
DAR Year Book 1909-10
DAR Year Book 1916-17
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