President Robin Ramsey welcomed attendees. Hostess Margaret Evelyn Biggs prepared a delicious holiday meal for her guests. Everyone in attendance participated in an interactive program where each shared a personal story of their favorite Christmas memories.
Gifts and needed supplies were collected for the Veterans Hospital in Murfreesboro. Before the conclusion of the luncheon, members participated in the singing of “Dixie Land,” the official song of the UDC.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy was organized in Nashville on Sept. 10, 1894, by founders Caroline Meriwether Goodlett of Nashville and Anna Davenport Raines of Georgia, making it the oldest patriotic organization in our country.
On April 15, 1905, Mrs. J. H. Hardwick invited a number of women to her home to consider organizing the Cleveland Chapter of the UDC. After choosing a motto, club colors and a flower, they organized and became the Jefferson Davis Chapter No. 900. Members pondered a projected monument two years before it was successfully erected in 1911.
The UDC had marshaled more than $3,000 for an impressive granite shaft surmounted by a solitary soldier. That monument is located at Broad and Ocoee streets at the intersection of Eighth Street. As part of the Civil War Sesquicentennial (150th) Commemoration events, Jefferson Davis Chapter No. 900 will hold a rededication ceremony of the monument on June 11, its 100th anniversary.
The objectives of the UDC are historical, educational, benevolent, memorial and patriotic. It collects and preserves the material necessary for a history of the War Between the States and protects, preserved and marks the places made historic by Confederate valor. The organization assists descendants of worthy Confederates in securing a proper education and honors the memory of those who fell in the service of the Confederate States of America.
Membership is open to women no less than 16 years of age who are blood descendents — lineal or collateral — of men and women who served honorably in the Army, Navy, or Civil Service of the Confederate States of America, or gave material aid to the cause. The Jefferson Davis Chapter No 900 members are available and willing to help with finding your ancestor who served in the War Between the States, and can also assist in applying for membership for those who may be interested in joining.
The next meeting for Jefferson Davis Chapter No. 900 UDC was set for Feb. 12 at the home of member Marilyn Kinne on Weeks Drive.
For more information contact Robin Ramsey, president or Marian Presswood, vice president, at 338-1005.
