On-line Virginia Bulletin Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution __________________________________________________________________ 2013-14 Volume XXXVII No. 4 VASSAR Honors St. George Tucker The Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.), the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.), and the Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.) conducted a joint ceremony to dedicate a grave marker honoring St. George Tucker on Saturday, November 2, 2013, at the Cabell Family Cemetery at Edgewood, Wingina, Virginia. VASSAR President Kent S. Webber presided, and Virginia DAR President Virginia Sebastian Storage and Virginia C.A.R. President Chas Leiss gave remarks as well. Over 70 people were in attendance, including two descendants of St. George Tucker. The event also commemorated a restoration of the grave site, which was funded by the VASSAR Knight/Patty Memorial Trust Fund. Several bricks had come loose over the years, endangering the full-length slab and its Latin inscription. St. George Tucker was born into a prominent family on Bermuda on July 10, 1752, but came to Williamsburg, Vir- ginia, as a young man to pursue a career in the law. As the tensions between the colonies and Great Britain rose, he and his brother, Dr. Thomas Tudor Tucker of Charleston, South Carolina, separately informed patriot leaders that the - continued on page 5 Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution 2013-2014 Officers Kent S. Webber President 9405 Delancey Drive, Vienna, VA 22182-3410 [email protected] (703) 938-8141 William A. Broadus, Jr. 1st Vice President 10133 Brandon Way, Manassas, VA 20109 [email protected] (703) 361-2665 Reverdy E. Wright, PhD 2nd Vice President 705 Circle Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060-3207 [email protected] (540) 961-2452 Edward W. Truslow 3rd Vice President 110 Moray Firth, Williamsburg, VA 23188 [email protected] (757) 565-2460 Frederick N. Elofson Treasurer 21 Paula Maria Drive, Newport News, VA 23606 [email protected] (757) 596-6825 R. Wayne Rouse Secretary/Asst. Treasurer 71 Hope Springs Lane, Stafford, VA 22554 [email protected] (540) 659-5258 A Message From Ye Not So Ol’ Editor Michael Elston Chancellor Andy S. Doss PO Box 336, Lorton, VA 22199-0336 [email protected] (703) 680-0866 Jack Sweeney Registrar Greetings compatriots! 6485 Topsails Ln, Springfield, VA 22150-7836 [email protected] (703) 921-1132 Normally, I have been reserving this space for the State president or a sub- Howell Sassar Chaplain stitute writer. However, this year I 11944 Artery Ln., Fairfax, VA 22030-6710 [email protected] wanted to end the 2013 Virginia Bulle- (703) 631-0466 tin Volume with a message from the Larry G. Aaron, D. Min. Historian Editor: yours truly. In case you don’t 185 Martindale Drive, Danville, VA 24541-4515 [email protected] know, I am also the VASSAR web- (343) 770-3258 master, and 2013 marked the biggest White M. Wallenborn M.D. Surgeon General revamp to the VASSAR website in 700 Rugby Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903-1627 [email protected] many, many years. I want to write (434) 293-6779 some about what went on, what Henry P. “Phil” Williams III, PhD Trustee changed, and how that benefits you. 841 W. Leigh Drive , Charlottesville, VA 22901-7748 The site took over 6 months to plan (434) 977-1949 and develop, and another month of Kent Webber Alternate Trustee testing. With Wayne Rouse’s assis- Robert Carr Asst. Secretary tance, we worked very hard to make 8718 Bradgate Court, Alexandria, VA 22308-2308 [email protected] the site almost 100% database driven, (703) 780-3066 which basically means that it feeds off James Mobley Asst. Registrar of the very same database that VAS- 3409 15th St. North, Arlington, VA 22201 [email protected] SAR uses to keep member information (202) 465-6680 updated. That doesn’t mean that when Wayne changes something that the change shows up immediately. To en- The on-line Virginia Bulletin is published quarterly by the Virginia Society, Sons of the sure our data is accurate, it requires a American Revolution. Editor: Andrew “Andy” Doss. Chapters wishing to report on their few important steps. When he changes activities, should send their reports to the Editor. Any items to be published on the website something in the member database, he should also be sent to the address above—email is preferred. Editor/Webmaster reserves passes the data to me, and then I have the right to decide what to publish. to copy that information to the VAS- Many different people contribute photos, but it is hard to find space to credit everyone, please know from the bottom of my heart that your photos are TRULY appreciated! SAR web server. We do updates in Continued on page 3 2 - continued from page 2 batches, so even though you may have requested, say, an email address change to Wayne, for maximum efficiency we wait till we have several member information changes made before initiating a site-wide refresh. Once that happens, the all of Wayne’s changes magically cascade across the entire website. Well, it’s not magic, but you get the picture. As a result of the revamped look and feel of the website, we have seen more than DOUBLE the amount of monthly visi- tors to the site. Most of these visitors want to see our Event calendar, or our chapter listing page. Oh, and speaking of the event calendar, I have to thank Matt Hogendobler for taking care of the initial 2013 calendar load. He spent many hours on that, and it was a big help. Another reason that more visitors are landing on our website is because we have a nice companion Facebook page. Lance Lyngar has graciously kept this updated in his spare time. Many thanks to him as well. Other than that, I have kept trying to learn the ropes on getting the VASSAR Bulletin ready at the end of each quarter. Phil Williams has been a tremendous help during the past year with providing quarterly updates and articles. Also, Bob Vogler is lending his historical expertise as a content writer for the bulletin, and this has really improved the value of the content for the Bulletin. I expect 2014 to be another year of growth for the website. I need another volunteer to update the calendar for 2014, so and I am currently seeking volunteers to take that over for me. We will slowly add new things, such as landing pages for our two NSSAR recognized events, VASSAR member information update form, and some other ideas floating around. As always, I appreciate all of your advice and remarks on how to the communications staff handles things. Best regards, Andy Doss FORT ROBERT HILL - BY BOB VOGLER In 1743, pioneer Robert Hill moved his family from Pennsylvania to what is now Rocky Mount (Franklin County), VA. Once settling, he built a stone block house which served as a stockade for protection from marauding Indians and one son was killed by Indians in close proximity to the new family home. Two of the surviving Hill sons served as soldiers in the War for Independence, and; while Robert died in 1777, his wife, Violet, provided food for soldiers and feed for military impressed animals during the war. (l-r) Gary Hollandsworth, Bob Vogler, Dennis Fritts, Mike Bass The rock fort is preserved as a Franklin County Historic Site and it is located on the grounds of the Christian Heritage Academy. The Franklin County Historical Society and the Old Carolina Road Chapter – DAR hold a patriotic program on the grounds each year. Members of the Fincastle Resolu- tions and Colonel George Waller Chapters have participated as color guards. 3 RICHARD HENRY LEE SPECIAL NEWS The Richard Henry Lee chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution met on December 16, 2013 at Westminster – Canterbury near Irvington. The chapter donated the money to fund full scholarships for Joey Rudolph and Paul Stone of Lancaster High School to attend programs at the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge. Mr. Rudolph, a junior at the high school was presented a $500 scholarship to attend a three day student conference. Mr. Stone, who teaches US History at Lancaster High School, was awarded a $1400 scholarship to attend a five day semi- nar for high school teachers. The Freedoms Foundation, located near the Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania, is dedicated to helping students, teachers, and citizens gain a greater awareness and appreciation of the principles of a free and democratic society. In particular the Foundation’s mission is to ensure the American people understand the unique principles – as expressed in the Dec- laration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights – upon which the nation was founded, and to appre- ciate the enduring relevance of these principles. On behalf of the SAR the scholarships were presented by Clark War- ing, president of the Mary Ball Washington chapter of the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge. The SAR chapter President, Dick Fickling, stated “This support is an example of the SAR’s community involvement, supporting students and teachers in a way that reinforces their understanding of what our founding fathers envisioned”. MODEL OF GEORGE WALLER HOME - BY BOB VOGLER The Martinsville-Henry County Historical Society has on display at it Heritage Center & Museum a scale model of the home Colonel George Waller, the namesake of the Martinsville area SAR chapter. George Waller and his wife, Anne Winston Waller estab- lished their plantation at “Waller's Ford” on the Smith River about 1770. The home's fields were used as a muster ground and drill field during the American War for Independence and a shed was added behind the house to store ammunition for the Henry County Militia.