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| Christy Norris, President Carol Chapuis Canales, Afton Norris Kinkaid and re-enactor Ruth Verbunt |
The February meeting of the Cherokee Chapter, Daughters of 1812, met in Raleigh
at the State University Club. Special guest was State President Carol Chapuis
Canales from Sunset Beach who brought greetings to the members from the State
Society. Attending with the State President were her daughter Christy Norris
and granddaughter Afton Norris
Kinkaid, both from Raleigh.
It
was announced that plans are in the works for two grave markings for the 1812
ancestors of chapter president Jane Thomas and member Paula Weller as this
year’s project for the celebration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.
Jefferson, South Carolina, is the location of the grave of Michael Miller, Mrs.
Thomas’s ancestor who fought in the war. Mrs. Weller’s ancestor is Dolly Graves
Kivett , who was the daughter of a participant in the war and is
buried in Randolph County. The second part of the project included donations to
the Star Spangled Banner Flag House and Fort McHenry, both of which are located
in Baltimore Maryland.
A
special invitation to visit the Greensboro Historical Museum any time between
March 26th and June 16th to see the exhibit “Draped In
Legend: A Velvet Dress, A Carriage Trunk, And A First Lady” was issued by Jane
Thomas. Members were reminded that the chapter had made a monetary donation to
the museum for the restoration of the trunk and that this will be the final
time Dolley Madison’s red velvet dress will ever be displayed. The dress has
just returned to the museum from Washington, DC, where it had been on loan to
the Smithsonian.
The highlight of the meeting was talented 1812 re-enactor Ruth Verbunt from Oak
Ridge, who kept the audience spellbound with her power point presentation of
her escapades as a participant in many 1812 Bicentennial celebrations around
the state and country, bemoaning the fact that rarely were women included in
the parades. Dressed in the costume of the period she looked as if she had
stepped out of a Jane Austen novel. Ruth and her husband Frans founded The
Regency Assembly of North Carolina and she shared her secrets about making
period costumes and hats. Ruth urged all members to continue keeping this
important era in our nation’s history alive even after these three years of
celebrating the War of 1812’s Bicentennial. Her program also included details
of the Jane Austen Society of North America.
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| Members of the Cherokee 1812 Chapter with re-enactor Ruth Berbunt in the blue dress. President Jane Thomas in the yellow and black, second from left. |
