United Daughters of

the Confederacy ®

Julia Jackson Chapter History

 

A peacetime version of a "call to arms" addressed to Southerners who were interested in honoring the deceased heroes and making life more endurable for the rapidly dwindling number of Confederate veterans and their families appeared on page 5 of the Fort Worth Register on Sunday, September 19, 1897:

"R. E. Lee Camp No. 158 UCV meets today in the Forty-seventh district courtroom at 4 P.M. The wives, sons and daughters of Confederate veterans are invited to meet with the camp, as steps will be taken to organize a chapter of 'Daughters of the Confederacy.'

By Order of K. M. Van Zandt, Commander W. M. McConnell, Adjutant"

Some of the ladies were regularly meeting with the veterans to serve refreshments and to assist in furnishing the musical and cultural portions of their programs, but they had no formal organization. Major Van Zandt and other leaders of the United Confederate Veterans Camp decided that the time was propitious for a well organized group of women to carry on the work that the veterans felt they were not doing very well, namely caring for the special needs of indigent veterans.

The immediate result of this ingathering of concerned persons, which included seventy ladies, was an invitation sent by the camp adjutant to Mrs. Katie Cabell Currie to meet with the ladies on the following Sunday and organize a chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy. Mrs. Currie had been involved in this rapidly growing movement since shortly after the General Organization, United Daughters of the Confederacy, was founded at Nashville, Tennessee, on September 10, 1894, by Mrs. Caroline Meriwether Goodlet of Tennessee, as Founder, and Mrs. L. H. Raines of Georgia as Co-Founder. For a number of years previous to 1894, unorganized groups of Southern women had felt the call of love and duty as true daughters of the Confederacy and had decorated graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers and sailors on April 26, choosing that date because flowers were plentiful at that season.

Mrs. Currie, president of Chapter 6 in Dallas, was a leader in the founding of the Texas Division UDC in 1905 at the June Reunion of the UCV in Houston. She was elected the first president of the new division at its first convention, held in Victoria on May 25, 1896, though she was unable to be present at the meeting. Mrs. Belle Martin, first vice-president of the Wm. P. Rogers Chapter in Victoria, presided over the convention.

Comrades W. M. Ragland, S. P. Green, K. M. Van Zandt, C. C. Cummings and J. J. Melton were at the depot to welcome Mrs. Currie, who was accompanied by comrades Currie, Watts and Bowers of Dallas. Mrs. Currie was later made an Honorary member of the R. E. Lee Camp 158 UCV.

Minutes No. 1 record the event:

"On Sunday Sept 26th 1897, the wives, daughters, sisters and nieces of the Confederate Veterans at Fort Worth met in the R. E. Lee Camp headquarters for the purpose of organizing a chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy at Fort Worth, Texas. Mrs. Kate Cabell Currie of Dallas, Pres. Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was present and in a very pleasing manner told of the duties of the Daughters and also helped organize the chapter. Mrs. L. J. Clayton was appointed temporary chairman and Mattie Ketchum Melton, Sec'y. After names were enrolled for membership, which were about 75 or 80, the election of permanent officers took place which resulted in the following manner; Mrs. L. J. Clayton Pres., Mrs. S. A. Mabry 1st Vice Pres., Miss Mattie K. Melton Sec'y. The election of Treas. was left over until the next meeting. Mrs. Currie gave the Sec'y the address of the Gen. Sec'y and Treas. of the UDC to whom she must write for Charter and Enrollment, and also an application for enrollment signed by herself (Mrs. Currie) after which the chapter adjourned to meet Tue. Sept. 28th 1897 at 4 o'clock in the room of the R. E. Lee Camp."

"After adjournment, the ladies remained with the dear old veterans and enjoyed very much the reading of a sketch of the battle of Chanselorsville (sic) by Judge Watts of Dallas, after which Judge E. G. Bowers also from our sister city - charmed us with a few short remarks and asked that the R. E. Lee Camp take any action that they deemed necessary for the enforcement of true history in our common schools. He was assured by the Commander of the R. E. Lee Camp that at the next meeting they would take decided action in reference to the matter."

 

From: The History, Members & Patriots of the Julia Jackson Chapter 141 United Daughters of the Confederacy 1897-2000, originally published and copyrighted by Dora Davenport Jones, 1976 as a Chapter Bicentennial Project. Researched and compiled by Dora Davenport Jones (Mrs. Jo Buck), Historian, Julia Jackson Chapter, UDC; Members and Patriots of Julia Jackson Chapter 141 United Daughters of the Confederacy Fort Worth, Texas 1897-1988, compiled by Loraine Ferguson Ward 1990; Supplement #1 Members and Patriots of Julia Jackson Chapter No. 141 United Daughters of the Confederacy Fort Worth, Texas 1998-1992, compiled by Loraine Ferguson Ward, 1992. Reprinted and historic additions included in this edition to update previous publications, as a Millennium Project. Caron Withers Snyder, President 1998-2002