We Are Saddened by the Passing of Our Dear Miss Helen Taylor

Services for Helen Taylor will be held on Saturday, September 10th at 2:30 PM at New Hope Presbyterian Church located at 800 Cherrytree Road, Winnabow. Visitation is from 1:00-2:15. If you would like to make a contribution in Helen's name please make it to the Cemetery Fund at New Hope Presbyterian Church.

Linda Rivenbark

President

PICTURES FROM THE 1812 MEETING HELD IN RALEIGH, NC

left to right: 1812 Chapter Members Carol Weiss, Carol Jutte, Jackie Craft,
Susan DeGroote, Lisa Pomeranz, Nora Hickam, Linda Rivenbark, Pat Gooding,
Martha Blacher, Mary "Kitsy" Lackey, Dale Spencer

The 1812 gang is all here!

1812 State President, Elaine Baldasare (right)
1812 Commissioner Charles Gause Chapter President, Linda Rivenbark (left)

Beautiful Table Arrangements

DAUGHTERS OF 1812 PARTNER WITH COLONIAL DAMES XVII

United Daughters of 1812, Commissioner Charles Gause Chapter and Colonial Dames of the XVII Century,
Lord Craven Chapter will gather for a joint meeting on September 17, 2016 on a Black Water Adventure
Cruise!  Please join us for an exciting 2 hour tour from downtown Wilmington up the Northeast Cape Fear River.
The boat holds 49 passengers and we hope to fill the boat! Bring your husband or friend for an 
informative and fun trip on the river.  The cost is
$30.00 per person. Information on time, 
 gathering place, parking, etc. will be posted later.
Hope you can join us!  Please send your check to:
Pat Elsaesser, her address can be found in your
1812 handbook.

U.S.D. 1812 AND DAMES OF THE COURT OF HONOR MEETING

TOGETHER TOWARDS TOMORROW

The beautiful "Curry House" where our June 4th meeting was held.
Owners are chapter member  Linda Rivenbark and
her husband, Morris Rivenbark

  Linda Rivenbark invited members to her beautiful home for our meeting and provided a delicious lunch of fried chicken, potato salad, deviled eggs, biscuits, two different cold, refreshing salads, Key Lime pie and Sweet Tea pie topped off with good southern Sweet Tea and Pink Lemonade! Before we began eating, Linda told us the story of how she and her husband acquired the Curry House and, guess what?  IT'S HAUNTED!

L~R: Guest Cecile, Phyllis Wilson, Nora Hickham
& Pat Elsaesser have lunch in a beautiful dining room

     Our June 4th meeting saw a new slate of officers for the upcoming 2016-2018 term.  1812 State President Elaine Baldasare honored our chapter by installing our new officers.

State President 1812 Elaine Baldasare installing
 new officers for 2016-2018

L~R: President Linda Rivenbark; Treasurer Martha Blacher; Recording Secretary Jackie Craft; Registrar Cindy Sellers and Historian, Pat Tucker.  Our new officers for 2016-2018.

L~R: Outgoing Chapter President, Betsy Hamer; 1812 State

President Elaine Baldasare; Incoming Chapter President, Linda Rivenbark

                            

Betsy Hamer receiving her
 past president pin presented by
Linda Rivenbark

Nora Hickam, Guest Speaker

Door Prize Winners
Pat Gooding & MayTu

   

REMEMBER TO "REMEMBER THEM" ON MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 30, 2016

The cannons boomed once more in 1812, when American patriots met the armies of Great Britain, this time officially on US soil.  Visit the grave sites of 1812 Patriots buried at St. James Parish in Wilmington where five soldiers of the Battle of 1812 were laid to rest and approximately 150 Continental Soldiers.
Visit the Wilmington National Cemetery and participate in their Memorial Day service as they remember the soldiers that gave their lives for our country in other wars, both foreign and domestic. So, on Memorial Day, observe the day with remembrance of all US veterans that gave the full measure of devotion that fought for their country. The easiest way to show your appreciation is to fly your flag, not just on Memorial Day, but every day of the year.

St. James Parish Cemetery in Wilmington, NC

Member Dale Spencer placing flowers on her father's grave site
for Memorial Weekend. He was a veteran of the US Coast Guard

My father, Chief William Howard Coleman, Jr. US Coast Guard
A Lockwood's Folly, Brunswick County, NC native,
His Brunswick County Roots go all the way back to the American Revolution.
 His 3x Great Grandfather, my 1812 ancestor, Peter Stanaland of 
Brunswick County, NC served in the Brunswick County
Militia during the War of 1812

OUTSTANDING PRESENTATION BY MR. JIM GREATHOUSE HISTORIC INTERPRETER

The North Carolina Built Jeffersonian Gunboats

Sunday, March 13th, Daughters of 1812 members Kitsy Lackey and Dale Spencer attended a presentation in Whiteville, NC at the invitation of the NC Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 794 in Columbus County, NC.  It was a true learning experience for us, as Kitsy and I did not know that Smithville ( present day Southport) built such beautiful, rugged boats.  Mr. Greathouse was indeed very knowledgeable about this subject and kept his audience's attention!

The Alligator

Gunboat 166 (U.S. Schooner Alligator)


Gunboat 166 was built by Amos Perry near Wilmington, North Carolina around the town of Smithville (Southport).  Perry's naval contract, issued in March of 1808, was for the construction of three sloop rigged 60' gunboats.  They were to be numbered 166, 167, and 168.  The superintendent of construction was Navy Agent General Benjamin Smith.  Mr. Perry built Gunboat 166 with a schooner rig instead of the planned sloop rigging.  He also provided the ship with two 6 pounder cannons instead of the single 24 or 32 pounder cannon called for in the contract.  Rated at 80 tons, with a length of 60' between perpendiculars, a beam of 16'6", and depth of hold of 6'6", the gunboat received her crew of forty sailors and marines.  By the time she was completed and launched on 1 April 1809, the fear of war with Great Britain had subsided and the gunboat was placed in ordinary at Wilmington two months later.

As war clouds again appeared on the horizon, Gunboat 166 was reactivated in the fall of 1811.  After being refitted and manned she began patrolling the North Carolina coast.  Soon after the declaration of war, she was transferred to South Carolina waters.  Near the end of 1812 or early 1813, Gunboat 166 was renamed, Alligator.  It was during this period that the Alligator also received two additional cannons. Over the next couple of years she would increase her armament to eight 12 pounder carronades.
The Alligator soon faced a far worse enemy than the British.  On 1 July 1814, while patrolling Port Royal Sound, she capsized during a heavy storm.  Twenty-three officers and men of the ship were lost.   Bassett, now a lieutenant, was one of the few survivors.  Plans were quickly put into place to raise the Alligator.  After being raised and refitted the schooner resumed her patrol duties; but, Lieutenant Bassett was no longer in command.  Soon after the sinking he became ill and died in September.  The remaining months of the war were once again filled with the monotonous cruising along the coast between Charleston and Beaufort.  In the late spring of 1815, she completed her last cruise.  On 12 June 1815, she was decommissioned and sold.  The naval career of the Alligator was over.

L-R: Member Kitsy Lackey, Mr. Jim Greathouse, Member Dale Spencer

Source: Jim Greathouse, Park Ranger Historian Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum