Old Pendleton District Genealogical Society

03/02/2023

Dutch Fork Genealogical Society
Saturday, April 15, 2023 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Dutch Fork Chapter w, SCGS, Inc., will hold its annual reunion, at St. Jacobs Lutheran Church, 40 Columbia Ave, Chapin SC
Our day includes your turn to talk, swap, shop and browse the book tables, plus interesting topics from our guest speakers.
Our speakers are:
Morning Speaker: Joe Long, “Burning Bridges, February 1865”
Summery; The vastly outnumbered Confederates defending Columbia against Sherman’s advance, relied on natural obstacles to slow him down- particularly streams and rivers. Bridges including the Congaree Creek, Saluda, and Broad River Bridges became a major strategic objective. Using firsthand account by participants, Joe will discuss the defense and capture or destruction of crucial bridges before the sack of Columbia.
Afternoon Speaker is Kenneth Robinson, “Hessians in the Fork”
Who were they and what did they do?
Our lunch will be catered by Shealy’s Barbecue of Leesville, SC.
Pre-Registration fee will be $18.00 Per person. Registration at the door will be $20.00, $5.00 participant without meal.
We must receive you reservation by April 2 in order to have an accurate lunch count for Shealy’s. For more information or last-minute reservations, please contact Carroll Derrick at 803-920-8928 or email [email protected] If you would like to donate a door prize, please bring it with you to the reunion.
Pease detach the below form and mail it along with your registration fee to:
Dutch Fork Chapter, SCGS, Inc., P.O Box 481, Chapin SC, 29036-04081
……..……………………………………………….….cut along this line……………………………………………………………………..
Dutch Fork Chapter Genealogical Reunion 2022
Please return this registration form with your payment, make checks payable to Dutch Fork Chapter , SCGS or include all of this information on a Pay Pal payment.
Name ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Spouse/Guest
Address _________________________________________________________ City________________________ State_____________
Zip Code_____________________ Phone_____________________________ Email ___________________________________________
________ # of persons attending the reunion with meal @ ___________ each
________ # of persons attending the reunion without a meal @ ___________ each
_______ # of vendor tables if needed, no charge for one.
_____________________________________________ Total enclosed $__________________

01/09/2023

INVITATION
The Greenville Genealogy Society would like to invite you to their January meeting for a very special program.

Sunday January 15th at 3 pm
Rolling Green Village
1 Hoke Smith Blvd.
Greenville, SC 29615

Our program will be presented by Girl Scout Troop 1967 and their leader Tracey Graham. She was recently highlighted on TV station WYFF. Without giving too much away, I think everyone will be very interested in what they are doing. Their project is to research and identify the unmarked graves of former slaves buried in a local churchyard with the ultimate goal of finding their descendants. They have become junior genealogists in the process, and they will share their journey with us.

Please plan on joining us (and feel free to bring a friend) to support these girls in what they are doing for the community and those who have gone before them.

12/09/2022

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/429288161447

10/29/2022

about Cemetery Island? When Lake Hartwell and the Lake Project got underway in 1955, there were people and towns displaced by the efforts. During the construction, the Harris family refused to have the remains of their loved ones moved inland. If you paddle southeast from Oconee Point Campground, you'll reach Cemetery Island in no time. Once you arrive, just look for the highest point and start walking. Before you visit, you should know the OTHER name for Cemetery Island... is Ghost Island. 👻 Do you dare to visit the 50 or so graves that remain at the top of the hill? ⚰️

Learn more about cemetery island at https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/cemetery-island-lake-hartwell-sc/

10/28/2022

October is Archive Month! The Archives and History foundation was created, in part, to raise $2 million to move the archives to a new building with dedicated temperature and humidity control for its records. The building on Parklane Road was completed in 1998 along with an opening ceremony. Attached is a page from the SCDAH’s newsletter detailing the event.

09/20/2022

ATTN: The South Carolina Genealogical Society Annual Meeting
Saturday, October 22, 2022
1:15 p.m.
*****************
South Carolina Department of Archiver & History
8301 Parklane Rd., Columbia, S.C

www.scgen.org
NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED

S

Welcome to SCGen.org Membership Cemetery Project Workshop Welcome to the OFFICIAL web page of the South Carolina Genealogical Society! We are here to provide you with helpful information on the SCGS, as well as provide you with links to information on our individual chapters, other genealogical web....

05/10/2022

INVITATION: The Greenville Chapter would love to have you come and join us on the 15th!

MAY MEETING OF THE GREENVILLE CHAPTER
Sunday May 15th at 3 pm
Rolling Green Village
1 Hoke Smith Blvd.
Greenville, SC 29615

Please join us as we celebrate 50 years of the Greenville Genealogy Society!

We will celebrate by having a SHOW & TELL.
Please bring an artifact, document, picture, etc. that highlights at least one of your ancestors. Feel free to bring several items for 1 or more of your ancestors.

Vanessa Cole will be sharing her master list (everyone will receive a copy) of what she calls her “ABCs of Family History.”

04/16/2022

If you're available on the 24th, we'd love to have you join us!

03/10/2022

03/10/2022

Hope you will try to attend.

11/10/2021

You are cordially invited to the Grand Re-opening and Dedication of the 1700's Burdine Lodge on Saturday, November 13, at 1 pm at the Hagood Mill Historic Site. As documented in his journals, it was in this log house that Bishop Francis Asbury stayed and preached as he journeyed to establish the early Methodist societies in this region. Now restored by the South Carolina United Methodist Church Conference Historical Society, the Hagood Mill Foundation, and the Pickens County Historical Society, the Burdine Lodge stands as a living element of the church's early story, Join us to celebrate this important part of Methodist history. The Hagood Mill Historic Site is located at 138 Hagood Mill Road, Pickens, S.C. 29671 and can be reached at 864.898.2936 for additional information.

09/24/2021

via David Morris‎/South Carolina Genealogy Network: Annabel Staats of Missouri Genealogy originally posted this. She states: "This was posted on an Illinois genealogical web-site as a help to decipher old handwriting . . . ."
She thought it might be helpful - I think it certainly could be. Notice the Century headings at the top. You can open the chart and then right click to save it for reference.

09/21/2021

Having the monthly meeting tonight at 7pm at the Central Clemson Library on Highway 93 in Central. The speaker will be Vanessa Cole. She will be speaking on Jamestown. Hope to see you there.

08/20/2021

You can solve your toughest genealogy problem! Most genealogists just keep researching, skipping five other essential (and simple) steps. Get this free Roadmap to stay on the path towards your Brick Wall Solution.

06/24/2021

2018 Soap Stone Church

06/12/2021

On 12 June 1766 Lord Charles Greville Montagu arrived in Charleston to begin his term as Governor of South Carolina. As his relationship with the colony’s elected officials deteriorated, in 1772 the Governor called the Commons House to meet in Beaufort (see the attached journal page) in the hopes of gaining an advantage over patriots residing in Charleston.

06/12/2021

It's going to be a beautiful weekend. And, did you know that the home of John C. Calhoun – Vice President of the US is in our backyard?

Located on the campus of Clemson University, the John C. Calhoun house contains a rich history of the beginnings of Clemson University.

04/14/2021

HISTORY HAPPENINGS
with Vanessa

HOW GREENVILLE INDUSTRIES
SUPPORTED THE CIVIL WAR

GOWER, COX & MARKLEY COACH FACTORY
In 1835, the Gower and Cox Wagon and Carriage factory was established. By 1857, Gower, Cox, and Markley had completed a 3 ½ story combination blacksmith shop and carriage showroom. The factory employed about 80 workmen, both slave and free, and it was the largest coach factory south of the Potomac by 1859. Factory products were sold as far away as Virginia, Kentucky and Texas. William Gregg, a Southern industrialization advocate, praised the factory in 1860 saying that “no finer or better carriages, buggies, and wagons can be purchased anywhere than in Greenville, S.C.” When the war began in April 1861 and local men were mustered into Confederate service, Thomas C. Gower, left the factory in the hands of his wife and daughter. The factory was then converted to wartime production, furnishing the Confederate army with ambulance wagons and ammunition caissons. Today the factory houses Larkin’s on the River restaurant.

BATESVILLE MILL
Batesville is considered the first true textile plant in Greenville County. It was enlarged several times over the years and by 1840 it was producing $72,000 worth of cotton goods. During the war, the mill was operating 6 days a week, 5 of those days were devoted to making shirting for the Confederacy and 1 day for the general public. Also, during the war, Batesville yarn was hauled up to the NC mountains and traded from the back of a wagon for produce and other goods which were then distributed to employees.

THE STATE WORKS
A state armory had initially been located at the statehouse grounds in Columbia, but it was decided that that location was not satisfactory. In the spring of 1862, Vardry McBee donated 20 acres of land as a site to manufacture arms that would be called the “State Works.” It would become the primary source of the state’s munitions. The land was in a good location, not far from downtown Greenville, bordering the Greenville and Columbia RR tracks.

Officials in Columbia were focused on keeping South Carolina safe, so the rifles, ammunition and bayonets produced here were not to be in the main Confederate supply line. The Works was complete by October 1st and included an office, 2 machine shops (one just for repairing old guns), 2 blacksmith shops, 2 foundries (iron and brass) a carpenter shop, a pattern shop, 2 large storerooms, a corncrib, a smokehouse and a stable and fodder room for horses and mules. It was powered by 5 coal-powered steam engines.

Initially, more than 100 locals, black and white, enslaved and free worked there. Later others arrived from all over the South. One employee was a gun maker named George Morse, a distant relative to Samuel Morse the inventor of the telegraph. George Morse had been working at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal at the start of the war and held 5 patents on a breech-loading rifle he had been working on. After the Arsenal was captured by the Virginia militia, he briefly went to an armory in Nashville and then on to another in Atlanta. While he was working in Atlanta, he produced prototypes of his innovative rifle. By April 1863, he and his machinery had arrived in Greenville. The Works produced about 1,400 carbines, some were sent to Columbia and others went to state troops. When Sherman’s troops came through Columbia in February 1865, at least one Morse carbine was commandeered by a federal soldier and then taken north.

After the fall of Chattanooga, the Works was not successful. Although coal was available in the beginning of the war, as time went on it was too expensive to transport by rail from the mines in Tennessee having to go through Atlanta and Columbia before reaching Greenville. In the winter of 1863 supplies became almost impossible to obtain unless shipments of coal could get through the blockade. The government of South Carolina offered to sell it to the Confederate Government, however, officials in Richmond saw the financial issues of maintaining it and declined. In November 1864, it was announced that the armory would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, however, nothing came of that and George Morse convinced the government to allow them to continue operations. Even though there was not enough coal for power, the Works kept turning out refurbished rifles, a few carbines, pots and plows well into 1865.

By the time Stoneman’s Raid took place in May 1865, the Works had been closed and all of the remaining guns had been hidden in a well. After the war, the US Government claimed that the property as theirs. However, the government of South Carolina proved that the Works was owned completely by the state. Hoping to recoup something, the state auctioned off everything and removed the buildings from the site in late 1866. One building was left which became the Allen School, a school for African American children.

In March 2014, one of the 200 Morse carbines built at the Works was purchased by a collector from South Carolina at an auction in Indiana. It sold for $18,000, but after the additional fees were added, the actual cost was closer to $20,000.

04/07/2021

HISTORY’S HAPPENINGS
with Vanessa

(Sorry I missed last week!)

CIVIL WAR GREENVILLE
This month marks the 160th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Although Greenville was far removed from military action, there is a Civil War history here. Greenville became a refuge for residents from the low country fleeing federal troops and the district (aka county) provided approximately 2000 soldiers to the Confederate Army. Other local Civil War history includes:
• a ladies’ aid association who created a hospital
• farms, factories and mills providing supplies
• a skirmish on a high ridge in town.

I’ll cover them all this month.

As a recap, slavery did exist in Greenville, but compared to the rest of the state, it was on a smaller scale. However, by 1860 between 1/4 to 1/3 of the population was enslaved. Many do not realize it, but politically Greenville was staunchly Unionist.

The Compromise of 1850 (which would admit California to the Union as a free state) brought the slavery issue to a head. The secessionists in SC began calling for the state to withdraw from the Union if it passed. However, some well-known local names supported the Compromise; they included Waddy Thompson, Benjamin Perry, James Pettigru Boyce and Joel Poinsett. Benjamin Perry stated: “I love the Union and am not willing to give it up—and still hope that there is still good sense enough, North and South, to preserve it.”

It is very important to note that although these me were Unionists and wanted to preserve the Union, they were not abolitionists. It was hoped that the institution of slavery would remain without war. Benjamin Perry stated: “Southern people will defend the institution of African slavery at all hazards, to the last extremity. But the radical secessionists would weaken and destroy the institution of slavery and involve the country in civil war and ruinous taxation.”

Throughout 1860, both secessionists and Unionists spoke out. When news of Abraham Lincoln’s election reached SC, the state legislature called for a Secessionist Convention. In December 1860 they met in Columbia and the Ordinance of Secession was approved. Although he was against secession, once it was official, he embraced it and rallied residents in the upstate in favor of the Confederate cause.

Perry wrote, “I have been trying for the last 30 years to save the State of the horrors of disunion.”

James Pettigru Boyce, stated, “I believe I see in all of this the end of slavery. I believe we are cutting its throat.”

Both men were correct.

After 4 long years of war, freedom had finally come for the enslaved.

03/25/2021

HISTORY HAPPENINGS
with Vanessa

SARAH WORD
Laurens County

Sarah Word was a beautiful, young, refined, educated, charming young woman living in Laurensville in the 1820s. During this time there were 8 tailors in town. One such tailor had come to town in 1824 and not only was he a fine tailor, he was an expert quilter who offered quilting lesson to the ladies in town.

Sarah was one of the ladies who took lessons and the 2 of them worked on her quilt together. He had artistic skills and assisted her in the designs of fruits and flowers, teaching her how to sew them as drawn and then stuff them.

As they worked on the quilt, they fell in love, vowing to marry. As the quilt was nearly finished, they decided to quilt their initials into opposite corners of the quilt. However, only she put her initials in because she did not think it was proper for him to place his initials in until after they were married.

Sarah’s father had died, so the young tailor approached Sarah’s mother to ask for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, when he did, she verbally unloaded on him stating that he was nothing but a poor, uneducated tailor…a worthless vagabond…he would never amount to anything…and he was absolutely NOT good enough for her daughter!

Both were broken hearted. Knowing that they would have to see each other almost daily and not wanting to create more pain for either of them, he left town shortly after, never to return. Eventually, they both ended up marrying others.

The quilt still survives with her initials in that one corner and the other remaining empty. It has been analyzed by experts and shows that most definitely 2 sets of hands had worked on it—one very skilled and the other not.

As for the tailor, he actually did make a name for himself…he became the 17th President of the United States, Andrew Johnson.

03/17/2021

HISTORY HAPPENINGS
with Vanessa

MARY MUSGROVE
Laurens Co., SC

Mary Musgrove was the daughter of Edward Musgrove who owned and operated a grist mill at a ford on the Enoree River, near present day Clinton, SC. It was the perfect location for his mill since many crossed the river there. In 1780, the Revolutionary War was going strong and here in the upstate it was about a 50/50 split of who supported who. Families, friends and neighbors were torn apart as some supported the British (referred to as Loyalists or Tories) and others supported independence (Patriots).

Edward Musgrove was a Loyalist and he often let the militia camp on his property, use the ford to cross the river and provide them with grain. However, his daughter, Mary was a Patriot supporter of independence.

On August 19, 1780, a group of about 200 Patriots planned to stage a surprise attack on the approximately 200 Loyalists who were camped at Musgrove’s mill, controlling both the ford and the grain supply.

While planning their attack, they received word from a local farmer that there were not 200 Loyalists at Musgrove’s mill…they had been reinforced and now numbered 500, 200 of which were British Provincials from Ninety-Six. To further complicate the situation, a Loyalist scout had discovered them and now they were going to be forced to fight…outnumbered 200 to 500.

Up on a ridge overlooking the road, the Patriots built a breastwork by chopping down trees and piling up underbrush. Behind it, they waited. About 20 Patriots had begun engaging the enemy, leading them toward the breastwork. When they spotted the Patriot line, the British opened fire well before they were in range. The Loyalists used muskets, which are not very accurate but can be loaded and fired 3 times a minute and can do much damage when a line of men shoot them at the same time. However, they were too far from the breastwork to do much damage.

The Patriots used rifles which have accurate aim, however, they can only be loaded and fired 2 times a minute. Also, bayonets cannot be used on rifles. The Patriots held their fire until the enemy was within killing range. They opened fire with a devastating effect. Still, the British marched on and getting closer, fixed their bayonets. But…the Patriots had a reserve: the “Over Mountain Men.” They were mostly men from Tennessee, but some were from North Carolina and they were fearless. They rushed into the battle on horseback shrieking Indian war cries. The Loyalists began to go down and when all but one of their officers was dead or wounded, they broke ranks and ran. The Patriots came out from behind the breastwork yelling and shooting the Loyalists from behind. The entire battle was over in about an hour.

When the dust settled and the tally was taken, the Loyalists had 60 killed, 90 wounded and 70 captured. On the Patriot side, 4 killed and 12 wounded.

It was a much-needed morale booster for the Patriots!

Now, as for Mary Musgrove…

In August of 1780, Mary was 25 years old. Although, we don’t have any documents to verify the stories about Mary, oral history tells us that she was aiding the Patriot cause in more ways than one, including gathering information and passing messages. Another story that involves Mary is how she worked as a spy and risked her life to help a Patriot leader known as “Horseshoe Robinson.” Known as “Horseshoe” because he was a blacksmith, the story is that Mary hid him in a cave not too far from a waterfall that bears his name today, Horseshoe Falls. Whether she did or not, we’ll never know, but this story was included in a novel written in 1835 by John P. Kennedy called Horse-Shoe Robinson.

During the Revolutionary War, women were left at home alone while their husbands and fathers were off fighting. They suffered disease, food shortages and sometimes fell victim to the enemy. Some took an active part in the war effort by acting as spies, messengers, scouts and even disguising themselves as soldiers. Whether the stories of Mary Musgrove are true or not, she is an example of how women aided the cause in our fight for independence!

03/15/2021

Herbert Dupree Hendricks

photo
Herbert Dupree Hendricks

Dob 03-18-1933

Dod 02-27-2021

Survived by his children Kathryn Schrock, Steven Hendricks, Vicki Hendricks, Johnny Hendricks, Helen Hendricks-Howard. Also survived by his grandchildren Jennifer Schrock, Jamie Short, Elizabeth Linnabary, Miranda Hendricks, Elyse Hendricks; and his great-grandchildren Aaron Chandler, Madison Chandler, Juno Hunt. He was a Navy Veteran, Clemson graduate Top of his class of 1959. Retired 40 years with NASA as Aerospace Technologist/Physicist at Langley Airforce base in Hampton Va. Coached, Supported and Donated to youth sports for decades He collected, donated info and materials to the Genealogy Society in South Carolina and many other colleges and libraries, especially with Up Country and Pickens County. Loved and missed.

To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in Anderson Independent-Mail from Mar. 15 to Mar. 16, 2021.

03/12/2021

It is with a sad heart that I have to tell you that Herb Hendrix a member of our society passed away.

03/10/2021

HISTORY HAPPENINGS
with Vanessa

JULIA MOOD PETERKIN
Laurens Co., SC

Julia Mood was born on Halloween 1880 in Laurens County. She was born with a caul (part of the fetal membrane) over her face and the Gullah midwife said it was a prophecy that she would be blessed with the gift of a 2nd sight.

Before Julia had reached the age of 2, her mother died of tuberculosis. Feeling unable to care for a baby, her father sent her to live with his parents nearby. They were strict, cold and unloving. At one time, Julia said the following in regard to her upbringing:

“I never had a mother, just a picture on the mantel and so when birthdays came, instead of having presents and cakes with candles, nobody thought of it at all but me and Mammy. Mammy didn’t know what day her birthday came on, so we picked one close to mine. These days were just ours.”

Julia went to Converse College where she was far more interested in drama and music than academics but stayed an extra year to earn her master’s degree. At not quite 20 years old, she set off to be a teacher in a one-room school in Fort Motte.

Arriving at the train station, she was picked up by a young planter, heir to Lang Syne Plantation. Upon returning home he remarked to his mother that this young teacher had hideous red hair and was the ugliest thing he’d ever seen. He married her a year later!

Julia was now the “mistress” of a 1500-acre plantation and was unprepared for her new world; she had been raised in a town with very few black residents. Now she was in a self-contained world consisting of her small family and hundreds of black workers, all who lived at plantation.

But…she’d been blessed with the gift of 2nd site and Mammy.

Julia noticed that although they were not slaves, as slavery had been over for many years, not much had changed for them since the Civil War. She realized something as well: before the war, black people were money; now they needed money, but they couldn’t read, write or count; what were they to do but what they always had? She observed them forcing the fields to grow good crops that provided for her food, clothing and pleasures.

And she wrote about them, inspired by their everyday life.

She took a correspondence course in writing and upon hearing that Carl Sandberg was in Charleston, she invited him to her home to read her collection of short stories. He was intrigued, paid her a visit and encouraged her to write and get published, which she did.

She published a number of books and readers were surprised to find that she was white due to her insight.

In 1928, she wrote Scarlet Sister Mary and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1929 for it. She was the first southern writer to win it for fiction.

Although white southerners found her offensive and considered her a traitor to her race, WEB DuBois said:

“She is a southern white woman, but she has the eye and ear to see beauty and know truth.”

She died 1961 and is buried in Calhoun.

You can read more about Julia Mood Peterkin Here:
https://www.pulitzer.org/article/two-unlikely-heroines-modern-fiction

Julia Mood Peterkin’s books are available on Amazon.

03/03/2021

HISTORY HAPPENINGS
with Vanessa

FROM LAURENS COUNTY TO MT. VERNON:
ANN PAMELA CUNNINGHAM
Laurens County, SC

Ann Pamela Cunningham was born in 1816 at Rosemont Plantation in Waterloo, SC. She was educated, refined and loved to ride horses. When she was in her late teen years, she was thrown from a horse and suffered a severe spinal injury which left her in constant pain, crippled and for the most part, bed-ridden. She sought the help of a physician in Philadelphia and was taken there frequently by her mother. Her mother would leave her there and then return to get her when the treatments were completed.

In 1853, her mother had left her in Philadelphia and was returning to South Carolina. Part of her return journey on this particular tip was by steamboat out of Washington, DC down the Potomac River. As they passed Mount Vernon, home and burial place of our first president, George Washington, the bell tolled in his honor. Mrs. Cunningham saw the horrible condition the estate was in and wrote to Ann to tell her:

“I was painfully distressed at the ruin and desolation of the home of Washington, and the thought passed through my mind: Why was it that the women of his country did not try to keep it in repair, if the men could not do it? It does seem such a blot on our country!”

Ann wrote back to her mother and simply said: “I will do it!”

When she returned to South Carolina, she formed a small local group of local ladies, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association (MVLA), to begin raising money to cover the purchase price of Mount Vernon. The ladies had $200 that first evening, but that was a far cry from the $200,000 purchase price that was needed. However, ladies from other parts of the state wanted to join the group to help raise the funds. Then the MVLA membership grew to include ladies from other southern states and then spread to the north. In no time, ladies from every state had joined the MVLA.

Contacting the present owner of Mount Vernon, John Augustine Washington III (great-great nephew of George Washington), Ann Pamela Cunningham explained what she wanted to do. However, Mr. Washington was adamant about who he would sell Mount Vernon to; it had to be purchased by either the state of Virginia or the federal government. Neither wanted it.

John A. Washington also scoffed at the idea of women raising that kind of money, saying that they would never be able to do such a thing. I think it is safe to say that a man should never say that a woman or women will never be able to do something once they have put their mind to it! Ann persisted in contacting John Augustine Washington III until he finally gave in.

In 1858, just 5 years after she had stated to her mother that she would do it, the MVLA made a down payment of $18,000 to John A. Washington. The remaining balance of $182,000 was to be paid in 4 installments of $45,500 on Washington’s birthday (February 22) for the next 4 years, 1859-1862.

On February 22, 1859, the first installment was paid. Restoration of Mount Vernon began even though John Augustine Washington and his family had not yet moved out. When February 22, 1860 came around, the MVLA did not have the $45,500 installment…they had the entire remaining balance of $136,500! Mount Vernon was theirs.

Ann Pamela Cunningham never married and inherited Rosemont after her parents died. As her health declined, she gave up leading the MVLA in 1874. She died the following year in 1875.

The MVLA continues to preserve Mount Vernon as non-profit organization.

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association was the first national historic preservation organization and is the oldest women's patriotic society in the United States. Its pioneering efforts in the field of preservation set an important precedent and have served as a model for many.

“...we need not have anything to do with politics - ought not to have - no sectional divisions should affect our position - we must bide the storm, and then the officers would meet and pledge themselves to continue in harmony to carry out the purposes for which we are a chartered body, and show to the world that we at least had profited by the warning counsels of Washington.”

~Ann Pamela Cunningham, 1861

(All photos from mountvernon(.)org)