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On March 5, 1918, the Buena Vista
Chapter was organized in Storm Lake, Iowa. The chapter was
chartered July 19, 1918 and had 18 members. The original officers
were Louise Thatcher Harrison (Mrs. Albert E.), Organizing Regent
and Regent; Lucile Thompson Spooner (Mrs. John E.), Vice Regent;
Miss Alice E. Wilcox, Recording Secretary; Miss Edith Cooke,
Corresponding Secretary; Helen McMakin (Mrs. S. P.), Treasurer; Ione
Underwood Kerlin (Mrs. William W.), Registrar; and Miss Grace
Clemons, Historian.
Two REAL granddaughters became
members. Lucy Robinson, granddaughter of Thomas Treat, and
Lodisa
Allen Stanton, granddaughter of Abel Allin held that distinction.
One of the early undertakings of
the Chapter was a Colonial Fete. All were prepared to perform
dances of the Colonial period, play games of that time, and dress
accordingly. A flu epidemic postponed the Fete to spring, but the
tickets sold for $1 each. 300 tickets were sold and the net money
was divided evenly between the Red Cross and the French Orphan’s
Fund.
The first Old Settler’s Party
was held in the winter of 1920. All the pioneers and their families
were invited to a gathering to share stories about their treks to
Buena Vista County and to bring some of the treasures they still
had. This continued for many years with as few as 20 or as many as
50 attending each year. A commemorative plaque to these settlers
was placed on the shore of Storm Lake in 1930 at “the most beautiful
spot in the county”. The boulder of gray granite holding a bronze
shield still stands as a memorial to these pioneers. The plaque
reads "1856-1926, Dedicated to the Early Settlers of Buena
Vista County by the Buena Vista Chapter, Daughters of the American
Revolution”.
Our Chapter at Work
The Buena Vista Chapter abstracted all the names in the wills 1880-1900 in Buena Vista County. These names were then alphabetized and cross referenced in three volumes titled "Abstracts of Wills of Buena Vista County, Iowa 1880-1900" . This was done because the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire in Washington DC and the names were lost. These volumes were submitted to the Buena Vista Genealogical Library, the Iowa Genealogical Society Library, the Iowa Historical Society Library and the National Daughters of the America Revolution Library.
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