Category: Quarterly Meetings

Washingtonburg Chapter Meeting and Elections

Past Chapter President Dale J. J. Leppard with SAR Flag

Washingtonburg Chapter conducted its Quarterly Meeting and Annual Elections August 17th, 2024 at the USAHEC in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Officers elected were President Dr. Jeffry Peter La Marca, 1st Vice President and Chaplain The Most Rev. William Martin Sloane, 2nd Vice President TSgt Eric Nolan “Dutch” DeVries, USAF (Ret.), 3rd Vice President Dr. Steven Pearson Messner, Secretary/Treasurer Steven Scott Burd, Chancellor MAJ James Bryan Oerding, USA (Ret.), Registrar/Genealogist Dale John Joseph Leppard, Sergeant at Arms and Historian Douglas Reginald Cubbison.

Attending were Dale J. J. Leppard, William M. Sloane, William S. Sloane, Charles L. Brackbill, Steven P. Messner, Douglas R. Cubbison, Samuel L. Russell, James B. Oerding, Sandra Oerding, Gregory T. O’Brien, Raymond A. Mowery IV, Todd A. Hockensmith, Jeffry P. La Marca, Douglas H. Reagan, Alexander Rushton. “Dutch” DeVries provided technical support and Steven S. Burd provided reports by proxy.

In addition to the Washington handshake tradition, which is an unbroken line of transmission of a handshake beginning with George Washington through Chapter founder and first Chapter President, John Cecil Fralish, Jr., outgoing Chapter President Dale J. J. Leppard instituted a new tradition of a Chapter sword which will be passed from Chapter President to Chapter President for use as a symbol of office during their incumbency.

Washingtonburg Chapter Joins With Cumberland County Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution to Celebrate Washington’s Birthday

Washingtonburg member and PASSAR District Deputy
COL Samuel Russell, USA (Ret.) (L) receives Galvez Medal

Reestablishing an old tradition dating from the foundation of Washingtonburg Chapter in 1992, the Compatriots joined together with the Ladies of the Cumberland County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to celebrate Washington’s Birthday. The original meeting was postponed due to a severe storm. The rescheduled meeting was held in March 2024 at the Carlisle County Club, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. PASSAR District Deputy and Washingtonburg Compatriot, COL Samuel Russell, USA (Ret.), an author and authority on the Coulon de Villiers family of French Colonial America, gave a presentation on this interesting family, which culminated in the surviving brother moving to Louisiana, where he served under General Galvez and King Carlos III of Spain and the Indies as an ally of George Washington. In recognition of his research into the Coulon family, Washingtonburg Chapter President Dale Leppard presented the Galvez Medal and Certificate to Colonel Russell. Chapter President Leppard was then surprised by Regent Coanne O’Hern of the Cumberland County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with the new Hannah White Arnett Medal. The event was well attended, and included Washingtonburg Compatriot State Representative Perry Stambaugh, PASSAR President Eric Troutman and his wife Stephanie, PASSAR Treasurer and Former PASSAR President Michael Seibert and his wife Maribeth, National Vice Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution Beth Watkins, and many more. The ladies also provided a life-size cutout of George Washington, which provided a perfect backdrop for photographs.

December 17, 2023 Quarterly Meeting & Holiday Dinner

On December 17, 2023, the Washingtonburg Chapter held its first Holiday Dinner at the historic Two-Mile House at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Guests were encouraged to wear period dress!

EPHRAIM BLAINE, WASHINGTONBURG, AND TWO MILE HOUSE.

Ephraim Blaine was born in 1741 in Londonderry in the Kingdom of Ireland. He immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1745 with his parents and settled in Toboyne Township, then in Cumberland but today in Perry County. He was commissioned an Ensign in the Royal American Regiment and served with distinction at Fort Ligonier as commanding Lieutenant during the French and Indian War. After the war he settled in Carlisle and focused on commercial activities in the Indian trade, with mills, etc., until his election as Sheriffof CumberlandCounty. He lived at the house still standing at 4North Hanover Street, next to the First Presbyterian Church where he worshipped. As tensions with the British increased, he was once again commissioned a Lieutenant, this time of a Company of Associators. As a result of the closing of the Port of Boston, the citizens of Carlisle, including Ephraim Blaine, Francis Allison, John Armstrong, Robert Callendar, Jonathan Hoge, and James Wilson, met at the First Presbyterian Church on July 12th, 1774, to denounce the tyranny of the British in what is sometimes called the “Carlisle Declaration of Independence”. As a result, Ephraim Blaine was appointed to a Committee of Correspondence. During this time he was also engaged in diplomatic efforts with the Indians. He went on to serve as Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of Cumberland County Battalions of Militia. He was further appointed County Lieutenant and subsequently Commissary, then Deputy Commissary General of Purchases, and finally Commissary General, by Congress. During the American Revolution Washingtonburg served as the main source of ordnance and commissary supply for the Continental Army during the Mid-Atlantic Campaign. In the late 18th century, Ephraim Blaine owned the property upon which Two Mile House was erected. It is believed that the kitchen and an adjacent section of the dwelling date to the ownership of Ephraim Blaine, but proof remains lacking. The Georgian stone architecture dates to circa 1820 and is currently in the possession of the Cumberland County Historical Society.