The History of the George Washington Chapter
Members of the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (VASSAR) living in the Alexandria area first met as a group on February 16, 1940. At the VASSAR annual meeting in Williamsburg six days later, on George Washington’s birthday, the group was given a charter as the General George Washington Chapter. Meetings were held regularly for several years in Alexandria, a city closely identified with the life of General Washington.
The first officers of the General George Washington Chapter were Lester A. Washburn (president), Raymond H. Julian (secretary-treasurer), the Rev. Edward Randolph Welles (chaplain), and Raymond H. Douglas (historian). This first George Washington chapter was dissolved in 1951.
On April 2, 1954, VASSAR chartered the current chapter as The George Washington Chapter. The fourteen charter members of our chapter were J.C. Herbert Bryant; S. Cooper Dawson, Jr.; James M. Duncan, Jr.; James M. Duncan III; Robert V.H. Duncan; John H. Marion; Thomas Moncure; Francis W. Null; Fitzhugh L.R. Opie; Walter E. Sanford, Sr.; Walter E. Sanford, Jr.; Charles C. Smoot, Jr.; Thomas A. Sommers, Jr.; and Braxton H. Tabb, Jr. The chapter has grown over the years and it now has over 200 members.
In March 1976, the chapter adopted its first written Constitution and Bylaws. The chapter has won numerous awards from VASSAR and the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR) over the years. Most recently, VASSAR presented three significant awards to the chapter at its annual meeting in February 2009: the Donald W. Baldwin Award (for most new members), the Chapter Excellence Award and the Best Very Large Chapter Award.
For over 55 years, The George Washington Chapter has sponsored and participated in a wide variety of activities designed to perpetuate the ideals of our Revolutionary War era partiots. For example, one of the traditional highlights of each year is the Independence Day wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of General Washington on the Mt. Vernon Estate. Chapter members parade across the green in front of the Mansion, the chapter president gives a patriotic address to the assembled crowd and members lay flowers at the foot of General Washington’s final resting place. Other annual chapter events include, but are not limited to, marching in the Alexandria George Washington Birthday Day and National Memorial Day Parades, participating in the annual naturalized citizen ceremony at Mt. Vernon, and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary soldier in Old Town Alexandria.
Past Presidents of the George Washington Chapter
1955 – Robert V.H. Duncan *
1956 – Fitzhugh L.R. Opie
1957 – S. Cooper Dawson, Jr.
1958 – Henry A. Schauffler
1959 – Braxton H. Tabb, Jr. *
1960 – Dwight M. Agnew
1961 – Bruce C. Gunnell *
1962 – James M. Thomson
1963 – Donald W. Baldwin *
1964 – Caldwell N. Dugan
1965 – Wilfred J. Smith
1966 – Sidney S. King, Jr.
1967 – Braxton H. Tabb, Jr. *
1968 – Benjamin S. Jones
1969 – Joseph S. Coulter
1970 – Seymour R. Young
1971 – Jerome L. Loomis
1972 – Donald B. Wilson
1973 – Wesley H. Schmidt, Sr.
1974 – James L. Mayer *
1975 – Donald L. Miller
1976 – George S. Knight *
1977 – Frank L. Calkins
1978 – William E. Young
1980 – Moses M. Gibson III
1981 – W.D. Crittenberger, Jr.
1982 – William J. Millard, Jr.
1983 – Lockwood Richard Doty II
1984 – Richard G. Sauner *
1985 – W. Edward Dakin
1986 – Lorance Dix Lisle *
1987 – William A. Pearce
1988 – Carlos J. Ricketson *
1989 – Richard W. Scott, Jr.
1990 – Peter W. Pedrotti
1991 – William H. Trotter, Sr.
1992 – R. Thomas Purkins
1993 – William T. Dutton
1994 – Donald F. Reynolds *
1995-96 – Robert A. Crawley, Jr.
1997-98 – Michael J.L. Greene
1999-2000 – Louis A. Beach
2001-02 – Charles D. McGuire
2003-04 – Richard P. Kusserow
2005-06 – C. Russell H. Shearer
2007-08 – Wm. Kenan Torrans
2009 – David M. Walker