On the evening of February 15th, 1986 at the Ramada Inn in
Brunswick, Georgia, the Marshes of Glynn Chapter of the Sons of the American
Revolution was formally installed. SAR President General Benjamin H. Morris
presented the Charter to Joseph Denison Elder, President of the new chapter.
Charter members, in addition to President Elder were Robert B. Arnold, Robert
D. Clark, J. Wesley Cox (Vice-President), Richard K. DeLany (Historian), Cherry
L. Emerson, Frederick R. Freyer, Edwin H. Ginn (Registrar), Paul Paulk, Jr.
(Marshall), Lance W. Rabb (Secretary), and Rodman E. Scott (Treasurer). Honored
guests included James R. Westlake, GASSAR President, and John W. Loud, National
SAR Trustee.
The formation of the Marshes of Glynn Chapter had taken many
months and involved people from several organizations. One person was
Christopher White, an active member of the Brunswick Chapter of the Children of
the American Revolution and also First Vice- President of the Georgia Society
of the CAR. Several members of the Brunswick Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution were instrumental in helping to form the Marshes of Glynn
Chapter, especially Mrs. Rodman Scott, Mrs. Wesley Cox, Mrs. Artiss deVolt
Zacharias and Mrs. Charlotte deVolt Elder, wife of President Elder. Mrs. Elder,
a professional genealogist, was invaluable in helping potential applicants
obtain their necessary documentation.
Lt.Col. Robert M. Zacharias, at the age of 100, had become one
of the originial petioning members in 1985. Sadly, he died less than a month
before installation of the Chapter. During 1986, several new members were added
including: Christopher White, James Kammerer, Tait Ratcliffe, Dr. William
Buxton, Harold Johnson, Dr. Hurley Jones, Donald McClain and Michael Cavallon.
Suceeding Joseph Elder, Chapter Presidents have included Wesley
Cox, Donald McClain, Randy Reeves and Jim Kammerer. For several years, Jim
Kammerer maintained a Chapter tradition of presenting JROTC awards to
outstanding students at three local high schools. Recently, David Dukes of
Jesup, the GASSAR Southeastern Region Vice-President, has been a strong
influence on the Marshes of Glynn Chapter through his experience, expertise and
encouragement..
In 2003, the Marshes of Glynn Chapter became more active and
experienced significant growth through admitting new members and transferring
several members from out-of-state SAR Chapters. We were greatly assisted by
publicity generated during the July 2003, visit of the GASSAR Color Guard in
opening a George Washington Exhibit at the Brunswick Library. Our focus is to
research the lives of Patriots who lived in the Coastal Georgia counties of
Glynn, Camden and McIntosh and to formally recognize their burial sites. We are
currently meeting on the third
Tuesday of each month (except during the summer)
in the Parish Hall of
Christ Church, Frederica on St. Simons Island.
This Chapter History was prepared by Edwin H. Ginn, a Marshes of
Glynn Charter Member and Sons of the American Revolution Compatriot since 1944.
