 
The National Society
Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR
or DAR) is a non-profit, non-political,
volunteer women's service organization.
The Lawrence Van Hook Chapter is named for Revolutionary War officer Captain James “Lawrence” Van Hook, who is buried in Jackson County’s Andrew Cemetery in Andrew, Iowa. Van Hook was the first known Revolutionary War Patriot buried in Jackson County (since then, three additional Patriots' graves have been found and marked with government issued gravestones).
On November 1, 1969, fifteen women met with the goal of organizing a DAR chapter in Maquoketa, Iowa. The ladies were advised to pick three names for their new chapter. Their first three choices were 1) Lawrence Van Hook, 2) Bear Creek, 3) Jackson County.
With the exception of Lucy Sunleaf and Marjorie Clemens, all of the members were new to DAR, and sent in applications which were verified and approved between Fall 1969 - Spring 1970.
Lawrence Van Hook Chapter, was chartered on April 18, 1970 and held its first meeting as an organized chapter on May 23, 1970.
The charter members were:
Agnes Hutson Evans (d. December 3, 1971)
Cordelia “Pearl” Clark Earles (d. June 27, 1974)
Dorothy Blake (d. January 24, 1978)
Eleanor Woods (d. March 30, 1986)
Alene Easterly (d. October 26, 1986)
Bertha Nims (d. September 16, 1989)
Laura “Mildred” Nims (d. January 12, 1991)
Weotha Hinz (d. October 4, 1996)
Myrtle Saunders Watters (d. February 15, 2005)
Lucille Remley Sunleaf (d. September 5, 2010)
Norma Zirbel DeHoet (d. January 1, 2013)
Wilma “Peg” Saunders Harder (d. January 22, 2015)
Mary “Helen” Merriam Stewart (d. February 5, 2020)
Majorie Saunders Clemens (d. July 23, 2021)
Anne Merriam Wischmeier (d. March 13, 2023)
Over the years, membership numbers have waxed and waned. For most of its existence, membership has been less than 20 women. After more aggressive membership recruiting, as well as through the addition of members from the disbanded Clinton Chapter (disbanded 1998) and Julien Dubuque Chapter (disbanded Oct 2018), our members now number in the mid-30s.
James Lawrence Van Hook 1755-1854
Captain James
“Lawrence” Van Hook was born in 1755 in Freehold, New Jersey. Van Hook joined the New Jersey Militia and was named a First Lieutenant after serving for only 9 days. He was promoted to Captain while serving in the 1st Battalion of the New Jersey Militia.
He married Elizabeth Reeves around 1796 and they had 17 children. Eleven years after Elizabeth’s death, he married Judith Julia Grace. They had seven children. After the war, Van Hook practiced medicine in New Jersey. In 1845 the State of New Jersey awarded Van Hook a pension of $50.00 to be paid split between two payments a year. In 1848, Van Hook moved to New Diggings, Wisconsin. In 1850, the family moved to rural Andrew in Jackson County, Iowa.
He died in 1854.
A marker was placed on Captain Van Hook's
grave by the [disbanded] Addie Merrill Lee Chapter in
1960; that marker went missing. A new marker was dedicated on October 21,
2023 by the Lawrence Van Hook Chapter,
NSDAR.
Jackson County Courthouse, 1848 - 1861
From 1835-1873 two Jackson County towns, Andrew and Bellevue,
had on ongoing dispute as to
where the county seat should be
located. The
courthouse moved between the two towns
several times until finally settling in
Maquoketa in 1873 where the county seat remains
today.
The two-story, brick, Greek Revival structure was built in 1845 by Dohaney and Jones. A belfry tower existed atop the portico; it was removed in 1955. In its early years, this building served as not only
the courthouse, but also the town hall, public
school, and Masonic Lodge. In 1861, the county seat returned to Andrew and the old courthouse became the permanent site of the Bellevue Public School. Today, it is the oldest operating school in the state.
The site was
marked by the Lawrence Van Hook Chapter,
NSDAR on April 27, 1979. It will be rededicated on May 18, 2024.
The building is located in Bellevue,
Jackson County, Iowa. The DAR marker is on the
front of the Elementary School building on
the corner of State and Third Street.
LaMotte
Railroad Depot, 1911-1936
In 2016, the Lawrence Van
Hook Chapter, NSDAR, applied for an NSDAR
Special Projects Grant to benefit the
Jackson County Iowa Historical Society. The
NSDAR awarded a $10,000 grant for the
historic preservation of the narrow-gauge
railroad depot from LaMotte, Iowa. The depot
was moved by flatbed truck to the grounds of
the Jackson County Historical Society in
Maquoketa, Iowa. The depot was in service
from 1911 to 1936, for the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, a branch
line of the Milwaukee Road Railroad.
A DAR plaque was attached to the side of the building. The marker was dedicated during the NE District DAR Fall Meeting October 2017.
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