A total of 100,904 letters were collected by June 18 and were mailed out to U.S. military personnel overseas before July 4. The original goal was 10,000, but patriots all across the nation kept sending bags of letters until that massive total was reached.
The Jonathan Dayton Chapter, based in Kettering, composed 50 letters, and the Jonathan Wright Chapter, based in Springboro, composed 25 letters. Jill Stoutenborough, Stephanie Smith and Betsie Goad of the Jonathan Dayton Chapter were planning to attend the 125th national conference for National Society DAR’s National Society. They wanted to get involved in this patriotic show of support and transport their chapter’s letters to Washington, D.C.
“In June, we met at the Christian Waldschmidt House, which the Ohio Society DAR owns. Stephanie, Jill and Betsie all brought cards for those who hadn’t written a personal note to a soldier yet, as well as a list of names,” said Kathleen Lauri-Lewis, Jonathan Dayton DAR regent who currently lives in Springfield. “Each card was personally addressed to one service member.”
Lauri-Lewis’ great aunt Esta researched the family’s background and found out they were related to Henry McDaniel, who served as a private for Virginia. Since then, the family has traced its lineage to nine more patriots.
“My niece, Libby Lewis, joined the Jonathan Dayton Chapter in February 2015, making her the fifth generation of my family to belong to this chapter,” said Lauri-Lewis, who took over the regent title just recently from her mother, Kathleen Lauri, who has the same name as her daughter.
They are also both associate members of the Lagonda Chapter in Springfield. The Jonathan Dayton Chapter of the NSDAR was begun in 1896, and one of its first tasks was helping to organize Dayton’s 100-year anniversary.
Lynda Walker, a member of the Jonathan Wright Chapter based in Springboro, was also a delegate to the national conference, also called the Continental Congress. She took her chapter’s letters to Washington, D.C., in June. Her family’s lineage traces back to Jonathan Hanby, a captain from Virginia. Her sister, Joyce Wright, did the initial research, and they’ve found four additional patriots in their family.
“It was a great learning experience, to see the inner workings of the Continental Congress,” said Walker, who took part in writing additional letters to veterans at the conference. “I met wonderful people, heard many guest speakers, and attended two luncheons, one about American Indians and the other about the preservation of Jefferson’s homestead.”
The Jonathan Wright Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was organized on Dec. 2, 2000. The name Jonathan Wright honors the founder of Springboro.
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