Not Your Mother’s DAR….or is it?

What a busy few days I have had! Mom and Dad stopped by to visit us on their way after spending a week in Colorado with my brother and his family. We had a nice visit catching up on what is new with the family and the ‘who is doing what’ news from back home. I managed to sneak in a few little tidbits about family history and this time I think I actually saw a little ‘spark’ of interest! I did, however, push it a bit far….their eyes began to glaze over when I started talking about Mom’s ‘2^nd cousin 3x removed’ being Morris Harvey, great grandson of James Jarrett. I find this little tidbit of information exciting news but, alas, I had gone too far and lost them. I tried to reel them back in with more info but to no avail… I’d lost them. For those who may not know, the University of Charleston used to be called ‘Morris Harvey’ after the man (Mom’s 2^nd cousin 3x removed) who donated a ton of money to the college. Many people around Charleston still refer to UC as Morris Harvey.

Brief History of the University of Charleston

UC was founded in 1888 by the Southern Methodist church in Barboursville, WV and named Barboursville Seminary. In 1901 the name was changed to Morris Harvey College in honor of a ‘prominent donor’.  The college relocated to Charleston sometime during the Great Depression to take advantage of the larger city. When the Methodist church North and South merged Morris Harvey disaffiliated itself from the church and became independent in 1942. Construction began on the current location along the Kanawha River in 1947 to accommodate the growth of the college. December 13, 1979 the name of the college was changed from Morris Harvey to the University of Charleston.

Pictures of Morris and Rosa Harvey can be found on the UC website.

Seems I have once again wondered a bit off topic! 

So, as I was saying.... 

We had a nice time catching up and then on Saturday I took Mom along with me to my DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) meeting. We had a nice afternoon and the best part…she wants to become a member, YEAH!  I’m pretty excited. Even though Mom lives in WV she can join the Nathan Edison chapter in KS. As Mom put it, “I’m not much of a joiner” so joining a chapter 16 hours away gives her an excuse not to attend all the meetings, haha, that's my mom! I know that the DAR has a reputation of being highfalutin and only for the snooty and big-feeling. That may have been true in the past but it is not true today. We do not wear white gloves and hats to meetings. We do not sip tea and eat little sandwiches!  We are not your mother’s DAR!

My Known Patriots:

Patrick Board (my DAR Patriot)

James McDade

Samuel Rae (Ray)

Bland Ballard

Henry Flesher

Abednego Hodges

Edward Richards

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