Preserving the past: Daughters of the American Revolution dedicate monuments as a gift for the future

Daughters of the American Revolution’s  State Regent Beatrice Carolyn Nutt speaks during the dedication of a memorial stone, bottom left, commemorating America’s sequicentennial anniversary in 2026.

Daughters of the American Revolution’s State Regent Beatrice Carolyn Nutt speaks during the dedication of a memorial stone, bottom left, commemorating America’s sequicentennial anniversary in 2026. STAFF PHOTO/SAMUEL GELINAS

The graves of Mr. and Mrs. William White, showing the impact made by Betty Allen DAR members who cleaned patriots’ stones in anticipation for celebrations this past Saturday.

The graves of Mr. and Mrs. William White, showing the impact made by Betty Allen DAR members who cleaned patriots’ stones in anticipation for celebrations this past Saturday. STAFF PHOTO/SAMUEL GELINAS

By SAMUEL GELINAS

Staff Writer

Published: 10-07-2024 4:33 PM

Modified: 10-07-2024 4:53 PM


GOSHEN — It wasn’t long ago that the memorial ellipse within the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) State Park — the oval-shaped area that honors people and historical events related to the American Revolution — was falling apart and in dire need of some attention.

“We found out that the walls were crumbling and the flagpole was falling down and the trees weren’t going to make it,” said Beatrice Carolyn Nutt, speaking to about 125 people Saturday at a daylong event at the park that included, among other things, a dedication to mark the completion of the ellipse’s official rehabilitation.

“As conservators of this forest for almost a hundred years, it was important to do this for the future ... for the next hundred years and beyond,” Nutt, state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, told the crowd that had gathered around the new natural cut memorial stone at the center of the ellipse.

The stone “commemorates the men and women who achieved American Independence,” according to the inscription on its bronze plaque, which continues: “These Patriots, believing in the noble cause of liberty, fought valiantly to found a new nation.”

“May this marker make effective the voice of the brave patriots who envisioned a free nation,” Nutt said during the dedication of the stone, which was erected in anticipation of America’s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, with 130 memorial bricks laid into the ground and circling the larger stone as part of the space’s renovation. The work was completed by C.E. Roberts Jr. and Sons Construction Inc. of Williamsburg.

The dedication took place in conjunction with the nearly 100-year anniversary of when the Daughters of the American Revolution donated the 1,020-acre property in Goshen to the state in 1929. In addition to the renovated ellipse, the DAR dedicated various other recent projects, including installation of 50 benches throughout the park and refurbishment of the Goshen Center Cemetery.

The new memorial benches, purchased by about 50 people, came about during the time that Holly Blair served as state regent of the park from 2016 to 2019 (she is now an honorary state regent). Blair said she “wanted to do something up here at the forest that would keep on giving” — which turned out to be the gift of rest.

She told Robert Kabat and Janice Martin, supervisor and assistant supervisor of the DAR, that she didn’t want to buy TV sets, raincoats or lawnmowers. The two leaders suggested installation of benches along trails. Blair remembered them telling her that, “If you get tired on a walk, you gotta sit on the ground.”

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That sparked the idea to start a fund to pay for the benches. Initially expecting to sell 10 benches, including her own, Blair drew applause when she noted that 47 benches had been purchased as part of the MDAR State Regent Project.

The project “fits in with historic preservation, because the benches contain patriots’ names,” she noted. Other benches feature chapter names. Some were donated in honor of individuals, and several bricks and benches are also engraved with the names of past Daughters.

The benches are made of recycled plastic bottles.

“That’s where the conservation part comes in,” said Blair, who then highlighted their durability, saying that despite many of the benches being 5 years old, they have not yet blackened or stained under the elements in the forest.

Goshen Center Cemetery

One of the final stops for the day took place down the street from the DAR forest at the Goshen Center Cemetery, where participants were able to share the latest information retrieved by Northampton’s Betty Allen DAR Chapter.

Like all members of the DAR, Donna Helm is a direct descendant of American Revolutionary patriots, with two grandfathers buried in the cemetery. As 2nd Vice Regent of the Betty Allen chapter, she, with other members, has dedicated the past year to genealogical research and upkeep of graves within the cemetery in anticipation for Saturday’s dedications.

Helm explained that the patriots referred to are not necessarily soldiers or combative figures. Some may have given food or shelter to American soldiers — acts that had been treasonous and radical, yet brave and instrumental in the founding of the country.

There are soldiers buried there too, such as Phineas Manning and David Stearns, two of 38 identified patriots in the cemetery. Helm was unsure if any of the patriots in the cemetery who died in the conflict.

A sketch was available highlighting the graves of patriots and Goshen founders, some of whom were both. She said most of the town’s founders had been from the eastern Massachusetts who moved west after receiving land grants.

“This was a big frontier,” she said, with Goshen founders settling next to already established Northampton, and breaking off from the town of Chesterfield to form Goshen in 1781.

For the upkeep of the graves themselves, Helm with other Betty Allen Chapter members used the same product used to clean national monuments, D/2 Biological Solution, and placed flags beside their stones.

Impacts of the upkeep are best shown between the stones of a couple: William White of Dudley and his “relict” (widow) Marcy, who rest side by side. The improvement is night and day. His memorial, which has been cleaned due to his status of captain in the 2nd Hampshire Regiment of the Massachusetts Militia, stands pearly and reflects the sun — its inscription reading bold and clear — while his wife’s is dull, grayed and mossy.

The restoration project in the Center Cemetery is part of a broader initiative of the local Betty Allen DAR chapter to locate and refurbish all the graves of all American Revolutionary patriots in Hampshire County, and the national organization’s missions of promoting education, patriotism, and historic preservation.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.