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On August 1, 1967, a group of local women, along with several state officers met at a
local restaurant for lunch and to discuss the formation of a Chapter of the Daughters of
the American Revolution in Garrett County. At that time, Garrett was the only county
in Maryland that did not have a DAR Chapter. Youghiogheny
Glades Chapter, NSDAR was organized on December 7, 1967, with Mrs. Ruth Calderwood as the
founding Regent. Mrs. Calderwood had been a member of DAR for 25 years. She
had joined the E. Pluribus Unum Chapter, Washington, DC in October 1942.
The Chapter has remained active throughout the years, as the members
have participated in many activities and events, including dedication of grave markers and
sites of Revolutionary soldiers. The first large-scale undertaking was the copying
of all the cemeteries in Garrett County. To raise funds to publish the cemetery
information, each Chapter member made a quilt block of a scene in Garrett County and the
blocks were joined making a large quilt. It took several years to locate the
cemeteries and to copy all the stones. Maryland's Garrett County Graves, a 475-page
book was published in 1987. The Chapter is indebted to Alice Arnett Proudfoot and
Martha Wood Kahl for their dedication and perseverance for bringing this project to
fruition.
In June 2004, Maryland's Garrett County Graves, Volume II was
published. The copying of the cemeteries began by picking up where Volume I ended
and continuing to the present. Additional new-found cemeteries are included along
with cemeteries in Pennsylvania and West Virginia near the Garrett County border.
A member of the Chapter transcribed the 1880 Garrett County Census
(the first census after Garrett became a separate county in 1872) from the old handwritten
records. The 1890 Garrett County Military Census and the 1910 Garrett County Census
were also transcribed from the handwritten records. The Chapter published all three
transcriptions in book form.
Presently, the Chapter has two surviving charter members. For
more information concerning the Chapter activities or publications, contact our Regent. |
