Evening star., 1902-02-15

badge Of aristocracy; but l fancy you will
find that pride of ancestry il not the
ignoble sentiment that dominates the snob-
bish seeker after tarnished glory. Our
pride in ancestry is the natural outgrowth
of the inherited patriotic spirit that comes
down to us from long line Of men who In
the trenches. behind the guns, on the ships
fought the fight that gave us nation and
q flag. If that be aristocracy, then We are
aristocrats. But we have good company,
for who are SO proud today as the sons
and daughters of those whose fathers faced
the guns at Missionary Ridge. charged up
San Juan Hill. or fought with Dewey in
Manila bay or Funston at Calocoan? We
are all proud that we are American citi
zens and the pride that we take in ances-
try is simply the patriotic desire to throw
upon posterity the light of past glorious
achievements.
Betterment of Conditions.
.sOur love Of ancestry" continued Mrs.
Fairbanks, has led us to do much for the
betterment Of conditions In our own time.
We do not stop at gathering relics OF day
long past. nor at marking neglected graves
or revolutionary battlefields. We are study
ing history ourselves, and we are teaching
our children a broader comprehension of
the history Of their own country. Members
Of the Daughters Of the American Revolu-
ton have WED with each other In research.
resulting In the bringing to the light Of
day valuable letters, diaries and manu-
scripts that have lain dust-covered for
century or more. their value unknown. We
have established chairs Of history, we have
made patriotic teaching one Of the tenets
of our faith. We want our children to
know what the flag Is and what 1t stands
for. We want them to love the institutions
that 1t fosters and protects. We have
founded local libraries, and established
prize system in many of our public schools
to encourage study Of American history.
We have built club house In Manila for
the use Of the soldiers-our boys. remember
who are fighting in the Philippines, and
have stocked Its library with good books.
We have paid for lecturers In colleges on
American history.
an several of the large cities we have
regular courses in American history in the
slums, where foreigners are addressed in
their mother tongue on patriotic principles
looking after the little foreign waits in
overcrowded cities. and gathering them
into schools where they, too, are taught the
first principles Of a free government, and
hard to arouse sentiment against the desc
Grafton OF the flag; we have located and
marked many long forgotten revolutionary
graves, and We have cared for many Of the
'reap' daughters of revolutionary sires
who would else have been subjects Of pau
per charity. Again I say that In this kind
ly forty Thousand other members Of the
Daughters of the American Revolution
1t Is quite generally believed that the So
ciety Of the Daughters OF the American
whom 1t would hustle nightly to prove the
lineage that leads back to the war of the
revolution, but the matter Is a very simple
rc :'provins ing up" A very few FAN to Prove w any ~
such ancestry, but attempts at fraud would
very soon be detected.
The "Real" Daughters.
That the war for independence is not
so far away Is proved by the fact that the
society has had upon Its rolls about 500
real daughters Of revolutionary soldiers.
Only about 300 of these are living today.
Mrs Laura Wentworth Fowler Of Massa-
chusetts, who has been 1aboring for years
to get Congress to pension these surviv-
ing daughters. said recently that 116 OF
these are between the ages Of ninety and
100 years. and twenty-five are over 100
years of age. Eighty-six Of these daught-
ers live in Massachusetts,. Six OF them have
been regents of chapters. Some of the
daughters had fathers who did very unique
Susan E. p. r. Hyman. regent Of Fort
Worth Chapter. Texas. is daughter of the
Colonel w. Polk. who commanded the reg
iment which removed the liberty bell from
approach of the British, and concealed 1t
under the floor OF the Zion Reformed
Church until ITS. when it was returned
has just passed away, Mrs. Eunice Russ
Ames Davis of Dedlam, Massachusetts.
was the Oldest woman abolitionist In the
United states ana the only surviving mem
ber Of the Boston wonan's antt-slavery
board. She lived to be 1O1. Miss Susan
Riviere Hetgel historian general. reports
that twenty-six real daughters have died
during the past year. They are: Mrs.
Charlotte L. "A. Hawkins. Vermont: Mrs.
Asenath N. Burnett. New York: Mrs. Sal
lie D. Newman. New York: Mrs. Louise
Hoar Harris, New Hampshfre; Mrs. Abbey
Barney. Rhode Island: Mrs. Mary Ann
Washington, Georgia: Mrs. Eliza A. Lee
Pennsy1vania: Mrs. Mary J. Robbins. Con-
necticut; Miss Juliana Howe Ewell, Hin