The George Clinton Chapter, NSDAR met at the Clinton County History Center with members bringing items for the Chillicothe VA.
The meeting was called to order by Regent Leslie Holmes who shared accounts of the laying to rest of the Unknown Soldier in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
This year marked the 100th anniversary of the tomb. Of the 2,079 unidentified soldiers from World War I a single soldier, a private in the American Army was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. His identity is unknown, as is his final field of battle, his unit, company, regiment or brigade all unknown as this one soldier is representing all of the unknown causalities of battle.
Bonny Kanyuck reported that a winner had been named in the American History Essay Contest and the local winner’s essay had been forwarded to the district contest. Frances Sharp reported that the first ever Patriots of the American Revolution DAR High School Essay Contest had a winner and her essay had also been forwarded to the next level of competition. Winners of these contests will be honored at the March 2022 meeting.
In the Conservation Minute members learned about the comeback of wild turkeys in Ohio. By 1904 they had become extinct in the state but with conservation measures from landowners and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources wild turkeys are now back in Ohio.
Carol Darnell shared about Pushmataha, the Indian General in the Indian Minute. Also shared with the chapter was the proclamation from Wilmington Mayor John Stanforth for Native American Heritage Month which is the month of November. The proclamation is on display in the Genealogy Library of the Clinton County History Center.
The Patriot Profile for this month was of Benjamin Fuller, who was born in New York but ended his life in Clinton County. He was captured at Fort Ann in October of 1780 and held prisoner by the British for two years. Benjamin’s granddaughter Amy Fuller Hale was a charter member of the George Clinton Chapter and her sister and daughter later became members of the chapter.
Linda Barkey presented the program “History of Chocolate in the 18th Century in North America”. This was not only an informative program but a tasty one, too.
The Dutch became the masters of chocolate processing in the 17th and 18th centuries as chocolate had become the drink of the privileged in Europe. In the American colonies, chocolate was a popular drink especially after the chocolate had been combined with sugar.
After the Tea Act made drinking tea politically incorrect and expensive, the colonists began drinking more coffee and chocolate, making drinking chocolate a patriotic act.
