The 2022 speaker series of the Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution begins on Zoom and in person on March 21 at 2:30 pm. New Lebanon Town Historian Elizabeth Sheffer-Winig and Chapter Historian Doris Krohn Harrington will discuss a cooperative project begun last summer that will honor and restore the graves of Revolutionary War veterans buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens.
Working together on the project are the Hendrick Hudson Chapter; the board of the Cemetery of the Evergreens; former town historian Sharon Moon, who also will speak briefly on the 21st; the Floyd Carlton American Legion post; and the Town of New Lebanon.
The Cemetery of the Evergreens is famous as the final resting place of Samuel Tilden, top vote-getter in the disputed presidential election of 1876. But forgotten and invisible atop an overgrown hill not far from Tilden’s magnificent sarcophagus have lain the headstones of early settlers of the town, including nearly three dozen Revolutionary War soldiers. About a decade ago, Sharon Moon started poking around in that oldest section. Fascinated by what she found, she started clearing the overgrown, poison-ivy-infested hilltop, identifying burials and researching the lives they represented.
That forgotten tract had been known as Cypress Hill.
The March 21st talk, part of the Chapter’s Speaker Series, will discuss the cemetery project, which has been named Restoring History: Revolutionary War Veterans in New Lebanon’s Cemetery of the Evergreens.
Speaker Elizabeth Sheffer-Winig, MA, who is New Lebanon Town Historian and also a Hendrick Hudson Chapter member, holds degrees in history, education, and political science. She worked as a secondary-school teacher in the New Lebanon Central School District and an Assistant in Educational Services for NYSUT, the state teachers’ union. Sheffer-Winig was born and raised in Hudson, but now, as a New Lebanon resident, serves not only as town historian but as senior warden for the Church of Our Saviour in Lebanon Springs.
Speaker Doris Krohn Harrington, MS, the Chapter’s Historian, is a seventh-generation NY State resident. Her Revolutionary War Patriot Squire Allen moved to Hudson after the Revolution. During the Civil War, her family relocated to New York City, which is where she was born and raised. Her paternal grandmother challenged her to find their family’s connection to the Revolution. Harrington is connected to the Civil War, too, and one of those ancestors is buried in The Cemetery of the Evergreens. With a master’s in work physiology, Harrington’s career has been in sports medicine. She now resides in Staatsburg.
The talk will be presented in person at 113 Warren Street and also will be broadcast on Zoom. To participate on Zoom, register here. Doors will open for in-person attendees at 2:15pm.
The Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the DAR was chartered in 1896. A nonpartisan organization welcoming eligible women without regard to race, creed, or religion, it includes 130 members who trace their lineage back to a patriot in the American Revolution–whether serving as soldier, shopkeeper, or seamstress. In accordance with the National Society DAR, members work to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the women and men who achieved American independence, to promote the development of an enlightened public opinion, and to foster patriotic citizenship.
The chapter owns and maintains its meeting house, the Historic Robert Jenkins House, at 113 Warren Street in Hudson. The chapter and the chapter house can be accessed at hudson-dar.org, facebook.com/HudsonDAR, hendrickhudsonchapterdar@gmail.com, and (518) 828-9764.
Hendrick Hudson Chapter, NSDAR 