Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-16


preceded her were national women in the
sense that they had held high social posi-
ton because OF the official connections OF
their husbands. The list of distinguished
women began with Mrs. Caroline Scott Har-
rison. who was elected member of the So
ciety one day and elected its president-gen-
eral the next. She was elected October II,
1890, served two years and died October %,
1872
The national administration changed In
March. 1888, and Mrs. Letitii Green Stew
enson. wife of the Vice President of the
United States, was elected president general.
holding the Office three terms. Mrs John
w Foster, wife Of the former Secretary OF
the interior, was elected president general
and served until 1893, when Mrs. Daniel
Manning. wife of the former of Secretary of
the Treasury was elected and served until
1900. when Mrs. Charles WARREN Fairbanks.
wife of United States Senator Fairbanks,
was elected president general and served
two terms of two years each. Mrs. Mclean
had been a candidate for the high office
for several years. and the opposition to her
election was plainly stated to be because
she could not bring to the office the hfgn
national prestige which the d. A r. felt
was necessary to the very traditions OF
their society.
A Chapter Regent.
Mrs Mclean was "only a chapter regent,
but the chapter was the great New York
chapter body of nearly 500 women, and
nearly as large as the Continental Congress
of the D. A. R. at the time Mrs. Mclean
began to aspire to become the national
leader. Mrs. Mclean had been regent OF
the New York chapter for ten years, and
previously had been secretary OF the chap-
ter, the only offices she ever held in the
D. A r. She had never served upon ma
tional committee even.
Mrs. Mclean has half a yard or so of an
cestral bars on her revolutionary ribbon
IT, IL .Jgatiy bod
citizens, both men and women. She was
born In Prospect Hall, Frederick Md,
the city made famous by Whittiers poem,
Barbara Fritchie' The ancestral hall is
big, beautiful old place, of colonial ar
chitecture and 1t Is only a few years since
Mrs. Richie, mother of Mrs. Mclean, died
She also had been prominent in ID. A. X
matters ever since the organization of the
society. Judge John Richie. father of
Mrs. Mclean, served in Congress, and was
subsequently elevated to the bench of the
court of appeals of Maryland He was an
orator of renown, and Mrs. Mclean seems
to have inherited this attribute of her
father.
Mrs. McLean's grandfather was Judge
William P. Maulsby, and her grandmother,
Emily Nelson, for whom she was named
was sthe daughter of Gen. Roger Nelson
who was a boy of sixteen IN college when
the Declaration of Independence was
signed. He ran away and Joined the revo-
lutionary forces. He rose in rank to brig
the field of battle He was left for dead
on the battlefield of Cowpens and British
officer In passing his body wantonly struck
his hand with the fiat of his saber break
ing the bones of every finger To his dying
day, which occurred many years later, Gen.
Nelson carried a stiffened hand He be-
came a member of Congress- and later was
made justice of the supreme court of the
state.
Dates Back of Revolution.
Mrs. McLeans ancestry began back of
the revolutionary period, however. Judges
Lynn and Beattie, two of those twelve
judges known as The Twelve Immortals.'
who first signed protest against the Brit
ish stamp act In 1865, ten years before the
battle of Lexington, have In Mrs. Mclean
a descendant, who is not unworthy of the
illustrious example of fearlessness of spirit
set by them. Lieut.. James Lakeland was
also ancestor of Mrs Mclean, and
Deputy Governor Burgess of colonial
Maryland history.
Mrs Mclean was educated at what was
then known as Frederick Female School
and now known the Woman's College.
She was graduated at the age of fourtee.,
receiving a. diploma which is one of her
proud possessions today. She continued her
studies in history, music and the languages
until her marriage. in 1883, to Mr.. Donald
Mclean of New York. man of a like lon
line of revolutionary ancestors with herself
and n brilliant lawyer in New York city.
Mrs. Mclean is a charter member of the
d. A. r.. and from the time of connecun"
herself with it has been one of its bright
particular stars. for her capacity for hard
effective work is unlimited. She is deeply
interested in patriotic education, believing
that without knowledge of the sublime I'M
selfishness of the revolutionary heroes and
herones of this country, no child nor new
conner to our shores can fully comprehend
or imbibe the highest spirit of our national
life.
Mrs Mclean has made a practical study
of parliamentary law, and in the long years
of battling for chapter rights on the moor
Of the Continental Congress and in her own
big chapter has become a finished expert in
thrust and parry with parliamentary tao
tics.
Mrs. Charlotte Emerson Main.