History of the Texas Society

The Texas Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists became a reality early in 1930. the twenty-seventh state to enter the ranks of membership of the National Society.

Mrs. Gross Robert Scruggs of Dallas, an experienced officer in other patriotic societies, accepted the National Society’s invitation and agreed to serve as Organizing Regent for Texas. The small group of ladies who served as her fellow officers during the organizational period included three sectional vice regents, Mrs. Charles Burton Jones of Greenville for North Texas, Mrs. Wilbourn S. Gibbs of Huntsville for East Texas, and Mrs. Ike Barton McFarland of Houston for South Texas. Other officers, all of whom were Dallas residents, were Mrs. Wilber S. Shaw, Recording Secretary; Mrs. Charles Couch Holt, Corresponding Secretary; Mrs. Margaret Scruggs Carruth, Registrar; and Mrs. Robert William Foat, Treasurer. An interesting addition to the list of officers during that first year was Mrs. Paul T. Sanderson of Trinity, who filled the position of Color Bearer. The 1930 National Yearbook listed Texas as one of seven “States Organizing,” and Mrs. Scruggs and her companion officers were included in the enumeration of state societies, but no list of Texas members appeared in the publication.

The strength of guiding Spirit and the depth of vision of these earliest members may best be recaptured by the following excerpts from the first Texas report which appeared in the 1931 National Yearbook:

 

On the 29th day of March, 1930. the Texas Chapter of the Daughters of the American Colonists was organized at the home of Mrs. Gross R Scruggs (Dallas), Organizing Regent for the State, 29 ladies being present at luncheon, invited by Mrs. Scruggs.

This was a most enthusiastic and interesting meeting, all of the ladies present being interested in preserving the traditions of our country, and most of them having held office in other patriotic societies. After officers of the Organization were appointed by the Regent, and its plans and purposes explained, many of the future policies of the local Chapter were decided upon, in order that they might be incorporated in the Bylaws.

While the DAC goes back to Colonial days for its foundations, this Chapter hopes to be as alert, practical, and   efficient as the youth of today, in its activities. So it was voted that an invitation be extended by the Chapter to all daughters of charter members, and that the fact of extending invitations to our young friends be stressed.

The Regent entertained the Chapter at a second meeting in her home in November, at which time plans were outlined for local activities, and the report of the Committee on Bylaws was approved, and a Nominating Committee for the spring election was appointed.

A meeting for the election of officers was held at the Dallas Woman’s Club, on February 27, 1931, at which most of our local (Dallas) members were present, and some from other Texas towns. We have 23 qualified and accepted members, and several names pending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source:

 

Crews, D’Anne McAdams, comp and ed. Daughters of the American Colonists in Texas—a History of the Texas Society 1930-1979. Huntsville, Texas: n.p., 1979.

 

 

Texas Society Organized:  March 29, 1930

 

 

 

 

“Crown Jewels of the Texas Society”

 

 

Original letters relating to the organization of the Texas Society have found their way back to the Lone Star State after more than seventy years. They were State Organizing Regent, Mrs. Gross Robert (Marian) Scruggs to National President, Mrs. Livingston L. (Lillian) Hunter. The letters were among the papers of Mrs. Hunter whose grandchildren very generously donated them to the Society, who in turn forwarded them to Texas.

The eight letters, typed and handwritten, are dated as follows: January 20 and March 15, 1929; February 1, March 1, 19 and 30, 1930; two letters are undated, one possibly written the latter part of 1928, the other probably during the 1929-1930 period.

Mrs. Scruggs and Mrs. Hunter seemingly were not personally acquainted for on March 15, 1929, she, Mrs. Scruggs, wrote “I do hope I will have the pleasure of meeting you.” However they probably knew of each other as Mrs. Scruggs was already a member of the Daughters of the American Colonists (as were twelve other ladies from Texas), and she held office in other lineage societies at the national level.

It would be understatement to say Mrs. Scruggs was energetic in the Federation of Garden Clubs. Her activity extended from the local to the national Federation. It was she who organized the Texas Federation of Garden Clubs. A respected horticulturist, Mrs. Scruggs wrote that her backyard had at least “hundreds of different Iris” (undated letter). She traveled extensively to flower shows in various states which conflicted with National DAC meetings which she acknowledged with regret. Nevertheless Mrs. Hunter recognized that Mrs. Scruggs was an excellent choice to organize a Texas Society. But because of her Garden Club commitments, Mrs. Scruggs was reluctant to accept “the very high honor conferred upon me . . . to become [the] organizing officer in Texas” (March 15, 1929).

Obviously things worked out because a year later Mrs. Scruggs wrote several letters to Mrs. Hunter and detailing her organizing work. In the letter of March 1, 1930, Mrs. Scruggs named ladies already members of the Society, those for whom papers had been submitted, and another list of ladies who had accepted the invitation to join but had not sent in their papers. Several letters contained questions of procedures and regulations as exemplified when she wrote: “When and how can we who are members of the Chapters in other States get our transfers to Texas? The sensible thing is that one can’t be transferred to an organization until it comes into existence” (February 9, 1930).  Six weeks later a “tentative set up of Officers” was mailed as well as “ten sets of ancestry papers” and her plan to “call a meeting for the 28th of April at the latest” (March 19, 1930).

 

The crown jewel of letters is dated March 30, 1930, when Mrs. Scruggs wrote:

 

My dear Mrs. Hunter,

 

At last my promise has been fulfilled, for on Saturday March 29th the Texas Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists was organized here in my home. Sixteen of the twenty nine persons who accepted the invitation to become Charter members were present.

 

Thus the Texas Society of Daughters of the American Colonists was organized. Of the twenty nine ladies who accepted the invitation, twenty one became charter members representing nine cities. The State Society met three times a year, February, June, and November in different locations with an average attendance of approximately fifteen. This was about three-fourths of the membership and remarkable considering the era, and that they traveled an average of two hundred miles.

In 1958 with a membership of 283, State Regent, Mrs. Mason Briscoe, announced that at the State Assembly members voted to organize the state into four regional chapters. The Texas Society met for the last time as a State Society on February 25-26, 1959, with National President Mrs. William Maurice Carrigan in attendance (Crews 9).

From the original twenty one charter members, fittingly, the State now has twenty one chapters and approximately 700 members.

 

 

Sources:

 

Crews, D’Anne McAdams, comp and ed. Daughters of the American Colonists in Texas—a History of the Texas Society 1930-1979. Huntsville, Texas: n.p., 1979.

Scruggs, Mrs. Gross Robert. Letters to Mrs. Livingston L. Hunter. 20 January and 15 March 1929; 1 February, 1 March, 19 March, 30 March 1930; two letters are undated. Unpublished. (Copies in possession of Mrs. Joe Malak, Jr., P. O. Box 37, New Waverly, Texas 77358.)

 

 

As appeared in the Colonial Courier on September 15, 2003

 

Submitted by

Mrs. Joe Malak, Jr.

State Historian

 

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