Members of the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution partnered with the Holland Land Office Museum on Wednesday to honor veterans from all eras, giving away pins, flags, challenge coins, stickers, and Constitution booklets.
"It's just our way of the DAR to help serve veterans and our mission to thank them for everything they've done for our country," said Robin Ettinger.
Press Release:
Holland Land Office Museum (HLOM), in honor of Constitution Week (September 17 to 23), has scheduled the museum’s monthly trivia game topic on the U.S. Constitution.
The HLOM, with support from the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell Chapter NSDAR, is providing the 1st and 2nd place prizes. The chapter has again contributed information for the Robert Morris display which documents Genesee County's connection to the nation’s founding.
Constitution week began in 1956 at the request of the NSDAR to Congress and was enacted by President Eisenhower. September 17 is always the opening day of Constitution week’s celebrations.
For more information on joining the NSDAR or Constitution Week please go to www.dar.org.
Trivia is set for September 12 at 7 p.m., light refreshments will be served. There is a $5 admission fee that covers the Trivia game.
Press Release:
Robin Laney Ettinger, member of the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell Chapter, NSDAR, received First Place in the DAR New York State Fiber Arts competition: crochet category for the second time.
The 2024 theme was "Stars and Stripes Forever in Our Hearts through the Arts''. She crocheted a red, white, and blue shawl using a "sparkle" yarn in the style of "Crochet Filet," which throughout the rows of the shawl, heart motifs are crocheted using the stitch. The shawl represents Ettinger’s respect for the U.S. flag.
Robin’s crochet shawl was selected to represent the 121 chapters in New York State for the National Society (NSDAR) Heritage Committee Contest. Although she did not place in the national contest, she is pleased with the ultimate winning creations.
Robin learned how to crochet from her mother, a skill handed down to her from her grandmother. She is a member of the Prayer Shawl mission group at Northgate FMC which crochets shawls, face clothes, and scarves for local and world communities.
For more information on the NSDAR or if you are interested in joining, please visit DAR. org
The men from Genesee County who fought in the War of 1812, the Civil War, and the wars of the 20th Century are well represented in the Holland Land Office Museum.
The men who served the cause of freedom starting in 1776 are less well represented, and the HLOM, with the help of the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, hopes to provide visitors to the museum information on those men who fight for liberty and then helped settle Western New York.
On Saturday, DAR members presented Tyler Angora, HLOM curator, with a check for $700 -- a $500 grant from DAR and $200 from the local chapter -- to create a display honoring the patriots who settled present-day Genesee County and immediately contiguous towns.
"There are a lot of people buried here but why did they come here? What did they do to help found our county?" said DAR member Robin Ettinger. "This is what our project is about."
In the past, DAR members identified all the patriots who purchased property from the land office and those names are already listed in a book in the research room. There are also men who acquired land in the county before the Holland Land Office started selling plots.
Western New York was not part of the colonies at the start of the Revolution.
The Senecas did not cede control of Western New York until the Treaty of the Big Tree in 1797. In the treaty, the Senecas agreed to establish residences on reservations in the territory and receive $100,000 (about $1.8 million today) for 3.75 million acres of land.
The Holland Land Company participated in the negotiations after acquiring rights a portion of the territory from Robert Morris in 1792.
Joseph Ellicott started surveying the land in 1798. Two years after Ellicott completed the survey, new settlers were able to buy plots of land in Genesee County (then, all of Western New York).
The project involved creating a slideshow of names and background information on the patriots to display on a flat-screen TV in the War Room.
"Right now, the only Revolutionary War piece that we have is the drum (acquired by a prior, now defunct DAR chapter)," Angora said. "We do talk about it on tours and stuff, but people don't actually get to see the men; they don't get to see their history. Ryan (Duffy, HLOM director) and I don't personally have the time to do that (put the display together). We're running the entire museum. We've wanted to expand this because the rest of the War Room has all the veterans listed except this part."
He said the TV will show a slide show of the men sharing their stories and showing their connections to this county and how they built this county, Angora said.
"We've researched them and we found a lot of men who purchased large plots, multiple plots in certain sections," Angora said. "Once the land office was here, they started flooding into this area to start farming because it was wilderness and it was a good opportunity for those patriots to come and build their lives here."
DAR members concentrate a lot on history and geology because in order to become a member, you must document that you have an ancestor who was either a patriot or supported a patriot at home.
Most of the patriots were farmers, but they were also mill owners, tavern owners, and shopkeepers.
"There's a lot of farmers and they just came out this way and had to have that tenacity to -- especially the women -- to say let's go out there and build log cabin. So the whole focus is what these guys did, who they were in the war, and they came out here and settled our area."
A college professor told Deborah Wood, when she was working on her senior thesis, something that she has carried throughout her career: "It only takes one person at a time to get the stories told and the will to do so."
As the special collections librarian, helping people tell their stories has been a big part of her job, and that's one reason the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell Chapter of the Daughters of The American Revolution honored her as A Woman in American History on Monday.
For a woman to become a member of DAR, she must produce a genealogy that demonstrates an ancestor who assisted in the Revolutionary War effort.
"When I left teaching to pursue librarianship, I thought that part of my professional life was over, but in late 2021, the idea of history by the hearth was born in support of the library's mission, the local history collection, and by telling the people's stories of the journey through the Genesee Country region from a local and national perspective," Wood said. "When I was approached to collaborate with the DAR, to tell the stories of Deputy Husbands, women who provided direct support to the revolutionary patriots, and those that kept the home fires burning, I never blinked an eye."
Wood has a BA in history and a MA in history and public history from Brockport State College, and a MA in information and library science from the University at Buffalo.
At Richmond, she's organized many history lectures and discussions as well as conducted classes on genealogy.
The award recognizes women who have contributed or made a difference in their communities and who are or have been intellectual, educational, social, religious, political and significant or cultural innovators.
Robin Ettinger, NY vice-chair of the prospective member database, said the more than one million DAR members nationwide have been through genealogy research, looking for documents that connect them to a Revolutionary War patriot.
"Today, we have a large amount of information at our fingertips through the internet through the web," Ettinger said. "But a large percentage of the documents that we use and our members use are actually housed in churches, historical societies and local libraries."
Ettinger noted that the Richmond Memorial Library has received growing attention under Wood's guidance, and DAR members have noticed its dedication to genealogical research.
"Under her stewardship of the local history collection, she has made this library an excellent place to be in a person's family history research," Ettinger said. "Her mission of genealogy at the library helps her assist the researcher in discovering their story."
She said anybody with something to learn about genealogy would benefit from Wood's guidance.
"I recommend that if you are a new genealogist or if you just need a refresher course, you look her up when she's holding her genealogy workshops," Ettinger said. "Then, she can introduce you to all the tools available to research genealogy."
Wood said the award recognizes not merely her own efforts but all who support history in the library.
"I'm indebted to many -- our board of trustees, our present and past library directors and their support of the local history, the genealogy collection, History by the Hearth and Genealogy at the Library, where our collective memory lives, our stories are told, and our patrons discover the stories of their revolutionary ancestors in Genesee County," she said.
Press Release:
Members of the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell DAR Chapter have continued their holiday tradition of honoring residents of the Batavia VA. Cindy M. Baker, Center for Development and Civic Engagement Specialist, met with Robin Laney Ettinger and Pam Ware to accept this year’s gifts of TOPS gift cards, flatware, and snacks.
Press Release:
On Wednesday, Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell NSDAR chapter and the Holland Land Office Museum (HLOM) are collaborating on a special event to honor our Genesee County veterans and Vietnam War-era veterans.
All veterans plus 1 guest will have their entrance fees waived and will receive a small goodie bag; Vietnam War-era veterans, who have not yet been acknowledged by the Vietnam 50 Commemorative Committee, will also receive the DAR Certificate and an eagle pin.
Any military personnel, with an honorable discharge, who served during the Vietnam War era is eligible for the Award Certificate and eagle pin. Please pre-register your name and service for your Certificate. If you are unable to attend, please let us know by November 30 so we can arrange another time & date. Robin Laney Ettinger, a member of the NSDAR chapter, has created a limited-time email address for inquires – r.j.laney1@gmail.com.
Press Release:
Robin Laney Ettinger, member of the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell Chapter, NSDAR, received First Place in the DAR New York State Fiber Arts: crochet category.
Robin approached the contest with the concept of teaching the "Pony Express" to preschool-aged children. The crocheted pony named "Delivery" has arms that can be manipulated to hug or carry around while the rider and pony deliver letters.
Delivery has a little cowboy tie and a nice satchel to carry the mail over the rugged trail from stop to stop. The satchel contains a map of the route, the Pony Express Oath, and laminated letters with Pony Express era stamp. The letters can be written or drawn on with crayons or dry erase markers.
Delivery can be used with mail delivery play and also as a prop when reading age-appropriate books such as "Ride Cody Ride" or "Dora the Explorer's - Pony Express".
Robin’s Delivery was then selected to represent New York State 121 chapters in the National Society (NSDAR) Heritage Committee Contest. The 2023 theme was "Educating the Next Generation on Our Historic American Trails."
Robin, who learned how to crochet from her mother, started creating animals 6 years ago. As a multimedia artist, she is planning her project for the 2024 contest, "Stars and Stripes forever in Our Hearts through the Arts."
If you would like more information on the NSDAR please visit the website www.dar.org.
Press Release:
The Anna Ingalsbe Lovell chapter of the NSDAR is pleased to provide Patriotic material in celebration of Constitution Week September 17-23.
Each bag includes color informative posters, a laminated copy of the Pledge of Allegiance in American Sign language, Braille, and a copy in tri-fold format, DAR membership information, pocket-size copies of the U.S. Constitution, and a packet of bookmarker “Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America”.
Ryan Duffy, Director of the HLOM, is collaborating with the Anna Ingalsbe Lovell Chapter NSDAR to promote the US Constitution and its connection to the founding documents: Financier Robert Morris.
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