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