Thursday, February 2, 2017

Patriots

A few years ago my
daughter, who is a director of a museum 
in south Florida,
became interested in genealogy.
I've always had an interest too,
hoping to learn a little more 
of my family history.

With the previous work
from a cousin, and, of course, the internet, 
we discovered,
with much excitement, several direct
connections to Revolutionary War patriots.

This led me to do some
research into becoming a member 
of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution.
I saw this as a way to volunteer with a group
of women who were also interested in history, patriotism,
citizenship, genealogy, and contributing to service projects
in my community.  

Then came the hard part.
Finding the correct documentation
to link me to my patriot,
Simeon Wheelock of 
Uxbridge, Massachusetts,
my 5th Great Grandfather.

Simeon was a blacksmith and
had been a soldier in the French and Indian War
in 1760.
He married a young woman from
the same town, Deborah Thayer in 1763.
By the time the war started they had 5 children. 

 This is Simeon and Deborah's house
built circa 1765, which now serves as the
DAR headquarters for the 
Deborah Wheelock Chapter.

 Simeon along with his father,
Col. Silas Wheelock and his 4 brothers,
 answered the alarm of April 19, 1775
 and fought at the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Skipping ahead many generation to me
I now find myself a member of the
Friday's Council Tree Chapter of
the DAR, in Windsor, Colorado.
The chapter was named after Chief Friday

 of the northern Arapaho tribe who lived
in this area.

One of the activities that I quickly
became involved with 
was making quilts for the VA hospital
in Cheyenne, WY.
These quilts are called
Final Salute Quilts.
They are given to a vet who enters
 hospice to use on their bed
and are then used to cover the body
as the veteran is given a
 final salute by their fellow vets.
The family is given the quilt.

Here is one of the quilts that
we recently made.

 48" x 96"

It truly is a group effort.
Once it is quilted
it will respectfully be passed on to a soldier
to honor them for serving
 our country
and risking their lives to
protect our freedoms.

A big thank you to all our patriots.

Until Next Time-
Kyle







26 comments:

  1. How exciting that you were able to trace your ancestors back so far. And now that you are a DAR member. The quilt is such a good way to honor a person who has served our country. I know about the quilts for wounded soldiers but not this program.

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  2. Very interesting story & beautiful quilt.

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  3. Fascinating! How wonderful to find you have ties to founders of our country, the ones who fought for our nation. I'm glad you got involved with the quiltmaking, what a beautiful quilt and a heartwarming endeavor. Kudos!

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  4. A beautiful quilt top for a very special and wonderful cause!
    Always fascinating to learn of a families history.
    Especially when traced back to our earliest American settlers.

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  5. The quilt is beautiful Kyle !
    Like you, I began the genealogy of my family 25 years ago and it's very interesting (and touching) to discover all these women and men .... In France, we can find some informations by internet of course and in each departement, we have a big building (the departmental archives) where we can work all the day and take some pics about the documents.

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  6. What a wonderful post! That is so exciting to find a connection like that--and their home is still standing!
    That is a stunning quilt, BTW.

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  7. I love this! What a wonderful way to honor our veterans and their families.

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  8. How wonderful to learn about your family from so long ago and so special that the house is still there!
    Your quilts for vets is a great way to say thank you to these brave men and woman who fight for the freedom for so many in this world!

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  9. Good Morning Kyle, your post almost brought me to tears. How wonderful that you are finding out all of this information about your family history. I love what you and the ladies in your chapter are doing for the veteran's. They need to be remembered and held in high esteem. I'm so inspired . . . God Bless America!
    Connie :)

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  10. What a wonderful story. And, your "Final Salute" quilt is breathtaking. What a superb thing to do.

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  11. Congratulations on finding and learning about your family and welcome to the DAR (I am also a daughter). Quilts of Valor for veterans is a wonderful cause.

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  12. Hello! It's really an excellent story! You must be very proud about this . Have a great weekend ;)

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  13. Wow Kyle - those are special quilts you are making!

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  14. Wonderful post, Kyle! Loved reading about your patriot ancestor and seeing the house he lived in. Congratulations on your DAR membership and becoming involved in such a worthwhile project. The Final Salute Quilt is a moving and beautiful tribute to a veteran entering hospice care.

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  15. What a beautiful quilt, and a wonderful program! I imagine these quilts are quite an emotional thing to receive. I think they must be a great comfort. A heartwarming post, thanks Kyle!

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  16. When my family got involved in our geneology it was so much fun, and so interesting! Love that you found the house, etc. It's exciting! :)

    As to your membership and that quilt and what they are for ; what a wonderful program. The quilt is gorgeous.

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  17. Wouldn't it be fun to visit that old family homestead sometime. That QOV is stunning, have not seen that design before.

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  18. How fascinating to find out all that family history and to have such a strong connection to your country's early beginnings. Those quilts must bring great comfort to their recipients - a wonderful idea.

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  19. Kyle - Sounds like you have quite the interesting family history! And so fun that your DAR group has taken on such a wonderful cause. I've heard of Quilts of Valor, but not Final Salute Quilts - awesome idea. I love this RWB quilt you shared - the red ombre really gives it depth - very beautiful!

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  20. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful story!

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  21. How interesting to be able to find out so much about your family's history. And how wonderful that it's led you to join in an interesting group. The recently made quilt is so striking and will no doubt be treasured for the special quilt that it is.

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  22. So exciting to find out about your ancestors. And their home is still there, amazing! Such a wonderful program and a beautiful quilt.

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  23. How amazing for you that the home is still standing and looks to be in fantastic shape! That is a very interesting story and I'm glad you shared it. The quilt is stunning and what a worthy cause indeed!

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