DAMES OF THE LOYAL LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES
<PRE>
                                 1899

      At the suggestion of Mrs. Ella Thomas Hapeman of Ottawa, Illinois,
widow of Lt. Col. Douglas Hapeman of the 104th Illinois Volunteers, Mrs. L.
Bruce Shattuck called a meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago on May 11th,
1899 to form an auxiliary to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. There
were 51 charter members and a Committee was formed to draft a constitution
and by-laws. Mrs. Shattuvck, being a leader in club activities in Chicago,
was elected President for the first year and her first regular meeting was
held October 5, 1899. Mrs. Hapeman was elected President in 1900-1901.
      The first state society, Illinois, made eligible for membership only
wives, widows and eldest daughters of original companions of the Military
Order of the Loyal Legion. In later years the rule was changed to admit all
direct lineal descendants and also the wives of Companions of the Loyal
Legion.
      While some original companions of the Loyal Legion did not favor the
formation of an "auxiliary," recognition and affiliation of the Dames was
formally made at the meeting of the Commandery-in-Chief in Boston in 1915
under the chairmanship of General Nelson Appleton Miles who also suggested
that societies be formed in other States besides Illinois.
      The New York State Society was organized at a meeting in the Army &
Navy Club in New York City in February, 1907 with Mrs. Jasper Cairns as
first President. They took part in many patriotic events in New York and
placed the insignia of the Society in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
They also contributed to the tablet placed in the Washington Cathedral in
honor of General Nelson Miles. The New York Society declined during the
years of World War II but rebuilding commenced in 1952 under the aegis of
Miss Grace Doyle of Buffalo. In 1961, the headquarters returned to New York
City.
      Mrs. John A. Logan and Mrs. Mary Logan Tucker, the wife and daughter
of General John A. Logan, organized the District of Columbia Society.
General Logan, as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic in
1868, designated May 30th "for the purpose of strewing flowers or otherwise
decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country
during the late rebellion and whose bodies now lie in almost every city,
village and hamlet churchyard in the land". The D.C. Society restored the
room in which President Lincoln died, in the Peterson house opposite Ford's
Theatre. Among the articles contributed by all of the State societies is the
original pillow used under the President's head as he lay dying.
      The Pennsylvania Society as organized in February, 1909. On June 4th,
1922 they placed a tablet on Grant's cabin in Fairmount Park and planted 54
oak trees around the cabin as memorials to ancestors of members.There are
now 311 beautiful oaks in what is believed to be this country's largest
memorial grove. During the sesqui-Centennial celebration in Philadelphia in
1926, the Pennsylvania Society maintained a booth at the exposition. Each
Memorial Day from 1922 to 1940 they placed a wreath on the site of the old
Civil War Satterlee Hospital. In 1933 they held their first meeting in the
War Library and Museum of the Loyal Legion in Philadelphia and they now have
a room there for which they are trying to obtain articles of the Civil War
which relate to the home and the role of women at that time.
      Through the years the Dames of the Loyal Legion have been active in
donating scholarships, such as that of Lincoln University, and funds for the
completion of the Lincoln Bay at the Washington Cathedral, and engaging in
numerous patriotic activities.

                            O B J E C T I V E S

      To foster the spirit of patriotism.
      To cherish the memory of those men and women whose distinguished
services during the Civil War so largely aided in preserving the integrity
of the government of the United States of America.

       M E M B E R S H I P   R E Q U I R E M E N T S

      Membership is limited to female descendants of Commissioned Officers
who served the Union during the Civil War, and wives of members of The
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

                   Address of the Headquarters

                   Dames of the Loyal Legion
                   of the United States
                   1805 Pine Street
                   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103


Source:  The Hereditary Register of the United States of America
Publisher:  United States Hereditary Register, Inc.-Washington D.C.
Copyright:  1972-1974

Transcribed by Miriam Medina
<a href="/Society/index.html"><font color="red">RETURN to SOCIETY Main</font></a>
<a href="/index.html"><font color="green">RETURN to BROOKLYN MAIN</font></a>


          Researched and Transcribed by Miriam Medina