Founder of NSDFPA
EUGENIA WASHINGTON
Eugenia Scholay Washington (June 27, 1838 – November 30, 1900) was an American historian, civil servant, and a founder of the lineage societies, Daughters of the American Revolution and Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America.
Washington was born in 1838 near Charles Town, Virginia, in present-day West Virginia. She was the daughter of William Temple Washington, through whom she was a great-grandniece of George Washington, first President of the United States, and a grandniece of Dolley Payne Todd Madison. Following her family's relocation to Stafford County, she and her family witnessed the Battle of Fredericksburg first hand during the American Civil War.
Due to her family's limited financial resources after the war and her father's illness, Washington accepted a position as a clerk within the United States Post Office Department in Washington, D.C., to support her family. There, Washington was one of the four co-founders of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (with Mary Desha, Mary Smith Lockwood, and Ellen Hardin Walworth). Washington had reportedly been inspired by her experiences during the American Civil War to found an organization for preserving the shared heritage of women from the North and South of the United States. Washington was the DAR's first Registrar General, and was made "number one" on the "grand roll" of the society's membership. In 1898, Washington founded another lineage society, the National Society of Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America, with the broader goal of preserving the history of the American colonial era.
While visiting a relative in Louisiana around 1870, Washington attended a Roman Catholic mission. She later converted to Roman Catholicism from her Episcopal faith, after which she became a prominent lecturer of the Catholic faith. Washington never married, and she died in 1900. Washington was interred beside her mother at the Moncure family burial ground of her sister's estate, "Glencairne," in Falmouth, Virginia.
THE BEGINNINGS OF NSDFPA
Washington founded another lineage society, the National Society of Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America, in June 1898.[8][13] Washington established this organization with the broader goals of preserving the history of the American colonial era (like The Colonial Dames of America and The National Society of Colonial Dames of America), as well as encouraging appreciation of American history and fostering patriotism.[13] Washington disliked the "bickering" within the DAR, and to ensure a more "congenial" society that "remained small and cordial", she required that the new organization members also be direct descendants of "a colonist who arrived in America between May 13, 1607 and May 13, 1687" as well as qualify for the DAR.[13] Washington chose the deadline date of May 13, 1687 (broader than the Mayflower Society), so that she would be eligible for membership in the society. While Washington intended for the organization not to grow beyond 300 members, membership in the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America grew to 2,800 by the mid-1980s.[13]
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Washington was born in 1838 near Charles Town, Virginia, in present-day West Virginia. She was the daughter of William Temple Washington, through whom she was a great-grandniece of George Washington, first President of the United States, and a grandniece of Dolley Payne Todd Madison. Following her family's relocation to Stafford County, she and her family witnessed the Battle of Fredericksburg first hand during the American Civil War.
Due to her family's limited financial resources after the war and her father's illness, Washington accepted a position as a clerk within the United States Post Office Department in Washington, D.C., to support her family. There, Washington was one of the four co-founders of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (with Mary Desha, Mary Smith Lockwood, and Ellen Hardin Walworth). Washington had reportedly been inspired by her experiences during the American Civil War to found an organization for preserving the shared heritage of women from the North and South of the United States. Washington was the DAR's first Registrar General, and was made "number one" on the "grand roll" of the society's membership. In 1898, Washington founded another lineage society, the National Society of Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America, with the broader goal of preserving the history of the American colonial era.
While visiting a relative in Louisiana around 1870, Washington attended a Roman Catholic mission. She later converted to Roman Catholicism from her Episcopal faith, after which she became a prominent lecturer of the Catholic faith. Washington never married, and she died in 1900. Washington was interred beside her mother at the Moncure family burial ground of her sister's estate, "Glencairne," in Falmouth, Virginia.
THE BEGINNINGS OF NSDFPA
Washington founded another lineage society, the National Society of Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America, in June 1898.[8][13] Washington established this organization with the broader goals of preserving the history of the American colonial era (like The Colonial Dames of America and The National Society of Colonial Dames of America), as well as encouraging appreciation of American history and fostering patriotism.[13] Washington disliked the "bickering" within the DAR, and to ensure a more "congenial" society that "remained small and cordial", she required that the new organization members also be direct descendants of "a colonist who arrived in America between May 13, 1607 and May 13, 1687" as well as qualify for the DAR.[13] Washington chose the deadline date of May 13, 1687 (broader than the Mayflower Society), so that she would be eligible for membership in the society. While Washington intended for the organization not to grow beyond 300 members, membership in the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America grew to 2,800 by the mid-1980s.[13]
CONTENT PROVIDED BY WIKIPEDIA