May 2019

President’s Message

Dear Compatriots,

This past month I attended the 144th Annual CASSAR meeting held in Ventura April 26-27 representing our South Coast Chapter.  This was my first exposure to a CASSAR meeting and I came away with a lot of ideas and enthusiasm for promoting patriotism and the SAR mission and goals in our community. 

The SAR Mission is worth restating here:  The Objects of this Society are declared to be patriotic, historical, and educational; to unite and promote fellowship among the descendants of those who sacrificed to achieve the independence of the American people, to inspire them and the community-at-large with a more profound reverence for the principles of the government founded by our forefathers; to foster true patriotism; to maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom.

The various business meetings at the CASSAR conference were very well organized.  The Youth Program Reports and the Committee Reports were the most interesting part of the agenda.  I plan to share with our chapter some ideas that I picked up for enhancing our presence in the South Coast region. 

There was a memorial service and our members that passed away last year, South Coast Chapter Compatriots, Richard Bent and David Hogshead, were remembered and I provided a brief obituary.

Coming up is the NSSAR Annual Congress being held locally in Costa Mesa, July 5-10.  I plan on registering for this event, as well.  It’s a rare opportunity to attend the NSSAR Annual Congress so close to home.  Registration is now open to participate in the Congress and it is open to all SAR members.   Our CASSAR State Society is hosting the event.  They do need volunteers which will come mostly from the Orange Coast SAR Chapter and our South Coast SAR Chapter.  Check out the NSSAR website for more information on this event. 

In patriotism,R. Scott Whitman

Chapter Activities

Our speakers for our March dinner meeting were Dan Goldbacher, Maritime Programs Coordinator and Kristin McGowan, Maritime Coordinator, at the Ocean Institute, Dana Point.  Dan Goldbacher gave us an overview of the mission of the Ocean Institute and Kristin McGowan gave us an overview of one of the classes she teaches concerning the privateers during the Revolutionary War.  Our chapter presented to both Dan and Kristin Certificates of Appreciation.  Dan Goldbacher and Kristin McGowan are shown below:

L to R: Steven Steinberg, Dan Goldbacher, Kristin McGowan, and Scott Whitman

Registrar Leon Smith inducted two new members into our chapter. The two new members are Jeremy Paye and his son Ryan Paye. Their patriot ancestor was Elias Alexander Flenniken who served as a Private in the 4th Company, 4th Battalion, Cumberland, PA from 1781 to 1783. We want to welcome both Jeremy and Ryan to our chapter and hope to see them at our dinner meetings.

L to R: Ryan Paye, Jeremy Paye, and Leon Smith

In addition, Registrar Leon Smith presented to Compatriot William Yost a supplemental certificate for Williams’ patriot ancestor Philip Adams who served as a Private under Captain Joseph Monfort’s Company, 10th Regiment, North Carolina Line from 1778 to 1779 and as a Private under Captain Raiford’s Company, 10th Regiment, North Carolina Line from 1781 to 1782. This is compatriot William Yost’s seventh supplemental certificate.

L to R: William Yost & Leon Smith

Dinner Meeting Program

Tuesday, May 21, 2019, 7:00 PM – Mimi’s Cafe, Lake Forest

Author and lecturer, Doug Westfall, will be returning with his subject “Rancho Lands, All about Orange”.

Douglas Westfall is an author, publisher, and teacher and has published America’s history for a quarter of a century. He continually discovers unread manuscripts and unpublished photography relating to the great stories of America’s history, from which he makes his books.

www.specialbooks.com

The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga – May 10, 1775

The siege and capture of Fort Ticonderoga is considered a pivotal date in the American Revolution. The fort was located on Lake Champlain in northern New York and did not appear a particularly important strategic facility. It did, however, contain a collection of heavy artillery, including cannons, howitzers and mortars, armaments that the Americans had in short supply.

After the battles of Lexington and Concord the British General Thomas Gage in the besieged city of Boston realized that the fort would require fortification and sent a letter to Quebec’s governor with an order to accomplish that. Unfortunately, for the British side, the letter arrived too late on May 19 – Ticonderoga had already been captured by the Patriots.

On May 10 the fort was captured by a combined force of 400 men, led by Col. Benedict Arnold and Col. Ethan Allen, with his Green Mountain Boys. The fort’s small British garrison were overwhelmed by the Americans and no one was killed in the assault.

The fort was held by the Americans throughout the remainder of 1775 and used to stage the unsuccessful invasion of Quebec. In the winter of 1775–1776, Henry Knox directed the transportation of the guns of Ticonderoga to Boston. The guns were placed upon Dorchester Heights overlooking the besieged city and the British ships in the harbor, prompting the British to evacuate their troops and Loyalist supporters from the city in March 1776.

By Mwanner – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6967864

At our April meeting Jim Fosdyck, past CASSAR president, introduced us to the George Washington Endowment Fund.  The fund was established by the Executive Committee in 1993 to create a permanent fund, the income of which would provide annual funding for support of NSSAR unfunded and underfunded committees and special projects. 

The income from the contributions over the years have helped to finance a wide variety of programs and projects across the nation, such as:

  • Historical programs
  • Youth Awards
  • American Revolution studies
  • Cemetery and grave markers
  • Genealogical studies
  • Patriot memorials
  • Brochures for public sites

SAR members and their families can become George Washington Fellows by donating to the fund with payments made over a duration of five years or less.  These donations are 100% tax deductible.

For more information, you can contact Jim Fosdyck or download the GWEF brochure at:

https://members.sar.org/media/uploads/pages/248/qLZ09eK206Ux.pdf

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