In early June, 2023, Captain Johnston Blakeley Chapter Daughters each remembered their War of 1812 patriots at a tea party and ceremony in Raleigh, NC. As part of the chapter’s 25th-anniversary celebration, Daughters Kimberly Froeschner and her daughter, Penelope, dressed in period attire, role-played the widow of Captain Johnston Blakeley, Jane Ann, and his young daughter, Udney Maria. And in those roles, they each placed a carnation in a vase on the “Remembrance Table” and said his name out loud. More than 20 Daughters followed them each announcing their patriot’s name and service, filling the vase with more flowers. Prior to the ceremony, Daughters were treated to a video highlighting the chapter’s past 25 years, tea, and tasty desserts prepared by chapter members along with a remembrance of Captain Johnston, Jane Ann, and Udney Maria Blakeley’s lives. The chapter chose a tea party to celebrate its 25 years because the State of North Carolina gifted Blakeley’s daughter with an elaborate tea service instead of a sword. Most thought it to be much more appropriate for a young lady. The afternoon culminated with an invitation to mark the home of Dr. Calvin Jones, another North Carolina hero in the War of 1812, in the Spring of 2024 in Wake Forest, NC.
Information and photo were provided by Mary Ann Loss, a member of Captain Johnston Blakeley 1812 Chapter.
