Clarence Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Clarence, Missouri

The Edward Savage painting, "The Washington Family," displayed in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in the header section of our web site, is indicative of Clarence Chapter's commitment to American history. Our DAR chapter was organized in 1922. Seventeen ladies gathered at the Culver Hotel and their goal was to help preserve the history of our country, state, county, town, and families.

To this day, we are active in our community promoting the National Society DAR ideals of patriotism, education, and historical preservation We lay a wreath at the Shelby County Courthouse each year for Veterans Day. We have sent over ninety books to the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia, Missouri, and we continue to send Christmas cards for the DAR Project Patriot.

Clarence Chapter is very interested in our youth. We encourage them to enter the American History Essay, Christopher Columbus, and Junior Citizens contests. We have had several state and National winners.

Our History Lady visits our local schools dressed in costume. In the past she dressed as Martha Washington and visited the oldest member of our chapter to thank her for what her 4th great-grandfather, Roelof Van Houten had done for General George Washington. While General Washington and his troops were stationed at Hoganscamp, near Patterson, New Jersey, Martha Washington stayed with the Van Houten family. They cooked, sewed, and nursed the troops, which helped raise their spirits. Our History Lady also visited a local school where two of Van Houten's 6th great-grandsons attend.

Clarence Chapter Daughters wrote a column for our weekly paper, The Clarence Courier, for Clarence's celebration of its Sesquicentennial in 2007. The column was entitled "Did You Know. . ." and in it we wrote facts about our town that drew interest and conversation about our town 150 years ago.