Qualities that Define a Leader
a guest article by Ros Poplar

Mr. Craig Fehrman notes in his book “The Story of John Adams Perilous Transatlantic Voyage” our future President of the United States and Founding Father, John Adams, demonstrated early on the qualities that define a  true leader. In 1778 the Continental Congress asked Adams to go to France to serve as a diplomat for our fledgling Republic.  John Quincy, his ten-year-old son also accompanied him on the voyage – thus two future American presidents made the trip together.

On 13 February Adams and his son boarded the Boston, a 24-gun frigate for a treacherous and frigid winter Atlantic crossing known for its storms and ice flows. Then it was not uncommon for ships to sink at sea with the loss of all hands.  Mother nature can be both beautiful and cruel to those who go down to the sea in ships and a crossing in the Winter is especially treacherous. 

After weathering severe storms  and outrunning a British Man of War, the Boston’s crew spotted another British ship.  After the ship’s Captain asked Adams to go below, the Boston sped towards an armed British merchantman named the Martha. The Martha fired several shots with the cannonballs flying directly over Adam’s head.  In the midst of this John Adams was seen brandishing a musket while  preparing to engage the British. “My dear sir,” the Captain asked, “how came you here?” “I ought to do my share of fighting,” Adams promptly replied. 

The Republic Endures

—— article by Ros Poplar

Next year we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America or our semiquincentennial. On this date 250 years ago our Founding Fathers at great peril to their lives declared their independence from then the most powerful nation of the face of the earth – Great Britain. Many of our Founders would lose their lives, livelihood, and property in the ensuing conflict, but they were willing to risk it all for the cause of liberty.

Our Republic has stood the test of time through numerous armed conflicts, a disastrous civil war that threatened to end our very existence, the Great Depression and yet we continue to this day to persevere serving as Ronald Reagan stated "that shinning city on the hill' that provides the beacon of freedom for those oppressed around the world. Though we may have our flaws there is no other nation of the face of the earth like the great experiment of American democracy that endures to this very day.

Near the end of his second term as president, George Washington published The Address of Gen. Washington to the People of America on His Declining the Presidency of the United States better known subsequently as his “Farewell Address" The address’s most frequently cited passage is a paragraph on the essential place of morality, and particularly of religion, in civic life:

Growing up in rural Maryland in the 1960s, while hunting, I frequently encountered abandoned farms and homesteads due to the encroachment of housing developments brought on by the post-World War II baby boom. Often, their structures were virtual time capsules and contained artifacts left in place by the previous owners.

To the chagrin of my friends, I would frequently spend more time exploring these buildings rather than beating the bushes for a rabbit or covey of quail.

Richard Rankin Appointed as Virginia SAR Risk Manager

(WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - 13 September 2024) —The Virginia SAR Executive Committee has appointed Richard E. Rankin of the George Washington Chapter, Virginia SAR, to the newly created position of Virginia SAR Risk Manager, effective September 14, 2024.

The VASSAR Risk Manager will provide advice to the ExCom, Chapter Presidents and the Color Guard Commander on risk management and insurance issues which may impact the Society’s operational risk profile.

Join Us in Tribute: SAR Hosts Memorial Ceremony for Eight Patriots at St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery

(Wytheville, VA.) —The New River Valley Chapter invite the general public and SAR compatriots to attend the dedication of a memorial marker to honor eight Revolutionary War Patriots interred at St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery. The event will take place on Saturday, October 5 at 10:00 AM.

The ceremony will include a wreath presentation followed by a musket salute by the Virginia SAR Color Guard. This is a unique opportunity to pay tribute to the brave individuals who fought for our nation’s independence. All are welcome to attend this solemn occasion. If you are a descendant of one of the patriots, we encourage you to join us or contact us for more information. Visit the SAR Patriot Research System's (PRS) entry for the cemetery. 

Lewis "Lew" Miller Ewing (1934–2024)
(Colonel James Wood, II Chapter SAR)

Lewis M. “Lew” Ewing, 90, of Winchester, Virginia, died August 7, 2024, at Winchester Medical Center. Lew was born May 8, 1934, in Stephens City, Virginia, son of the late James Earl Ewing, Sr. and Anna Virginia Golladay Ewing.

Virginia SAR Honors Frank Shatz with Silver Good Citizenship Medal

Williamsburg, VA – August 19, 2024 – The Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution (Virginia SAR), with the support of the Williamsburg Chapter SAR, proudly presented the Silver Good Citizenship Medal Award to Mr. Frank Shatz at the College of William and Mary.

The Silver Good Citizenship Medal recognizes outstanding and unusual patriotic achievement and service at the state or regional level. The medal is presented to persons of prominence in areas of government, military service, religion, education, business, or other endeavors. Mr. Frank Shatz was born in Czechoslovakia in 1927. After the German takeover of Czechoslovakia, he was deported to a slave work camp in Romania. He managed to escape and returned to Czechoslovakia, where he became a member of the anti-German resistance. He began a career in journalism after the World War II and immigrated with his wife, Jaroslava, to the United States in 1958. He currently resides in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he writes a weekly column for the Virginia Gazette and is involved with the College of William and Mary.

Charles Leroy Mattocks, Sr. (1940–2024)
(Colonel Fielding Lewis Chapter SAR)

Charles Leroy Mattocks, Sr., 84, of Stafford, Va., died at Mary Washington Hospital, Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Sunday, August 18, of complications from a fall. He was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, on March 26, 1940, to Daniel “LLoy” Raymond Mattocks, Sr. and Helen Dorothy Waid.

[more...]

It may not be unusual for a SAR event to draw 150 attendees; however, it is unique when more than half of the attendees are French. Such was the case at the 241 Anniversary of the Battle of the Virginia Capes Commemoration held on Saturday, September 3, 2022 aboard Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek - Fort Story in Virginia Beach. The event hosted by the Norfolk Chapter honored the French naval forces under command of Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, that defeated the British Royal Navy.

The base, located on Cape Henry, the first landing site of Virginia’s 1607 settlers, hosts a small National Park honoring both the first landing of the Jamestown settlers on Virginia soil and Admiral de Grasse’s victory.

photo are DAR ladies Past Regent Lila Thurman, Beth Henningson, Regent and Joella Barbour at Yeary Cabin

WINCHESTER, VA. Saturday, June 8, 2024 -The Colonel James Wood II Chapter, Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution conducted a 250th Anniversary Commemoration of the Frederick County (Virginia) Resolves held at the Winchester Walking Mall in conjunction with Winchester's Kidzfest. The ceremony honored the memory of the Frederick County men who signed a document condemning the actions of Parliament in closing the port of Boston in May 1774.  They vowed to import no English goods nor export goods to England based on a letter from Paul Revere to the committee of Philadelphia on 21 May 1774. On 8 June 1774, Frederick County patriots gathered in a meeting chaired by Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston, rector of Frederick Parish and chairman of the revolutionary County Committee of Association. The resolves were adopted in Winchester, copied and then adopted by Shenandoah County at a meeting chaired by the Rev. Peter Muhlenberg on 16 June 1774 in Woodstock, Virginia.