Chapter History
The Southampton Colony Chapter, NSDAR, began at a meeting of 27 women on Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1921. The chapter was formally organized in March 1922, with 48 charter members. The hymn "Hail to the Flag" was sung. Dedicated to the founders and Patriots of America, the song's words and music were written by George Rogers Howell, a Southampton historian and genealogist, who served as New York state librarian and archivist for nearly 30 years in Albany, New York. Mrs. E. P. White, Chapter Regent, presided at the meeting and luncheon which was held in the dining room of the Presbyterian Church, the oldest established Presbyterian congregation in the United States.
In 1925, a completely furnished house was donated to the chapter by Pauline Morton Sabin. It was built in 1721 and is one of the oldest houses in Southampton. This house served as the chapter house until it was sold in 1997. |
History of the Town FlagSouthampton Town, the oldest English settlement in New York State, was founded in 1640. Two hundred eighty-nine years later (1929), the Southampton Colony Chapter, NSDAR, recommended to the town board the adoption of an official flag. The chapter submitted a design. It consisted of three vertical bars, the two outer bars of colonial blue, and a center bar of colonial buff. The seal of the town is centered on the colonial buff bar. This was resolved by the town board to accept this design, but the flag was never produced.
Years later, the Town Historian, Robert Keene, uncovered the old town board resolution and asked that action be taken and funds be allocated to put the design into production. On Patriots Day, April 19, 1983, the town agreed. In September of 1983, a copy of the new flag and a proclamation was presented to Chapter Regent Gerrodette MacWhinnie. Many chapter members were in attendance for the presentation in recognition of the chapter's historical role in the creation of the town's first official flag. |
Town of Southampton SealThe official town seal on the flag is representative of the following: the legend of the first English settlement in the state of New York makes up the border and the man in the center represents the Puritan stock that settled the town. In the left and right of the background is depicted the rock at Conscience Point (the landing site) and the small ship that brought the first settlers. The rays emanating from the horizon represent the first rising of the sun over New York state.
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The DAR Museum's New York Period Room
In 1995, following the restoration of the New York period room at the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C., Gerrodette and Morgan MacWhinnie donated several items. Mrs. MacWhinnie was then serving as chapter regent of the Southampton Colony Chapter, NSDAR.
A pair of brass urn-top fireplace andirons, fabricated in NYC circa 1779-1810, a pair of 18th-century brass jamb hooks, a federal wire fender, and an 18th-century mahogany side chair were all presented in memory of Mrs. MacWhinnie's grandmother, Irene Peet Gerrodette. A dedication service was held at DAR Memorial Continental Hall during Continental Congress with the President General, officers of the New York State Organization, and members of the MacWhinnie family present. Gerrodette MacWhinnie honorably served two terms as New York State Chairman, DAR Museum. As a state chairman, it was Mrs. MacWhinnie's wish to underwrite the cost of printing new postcards of the New York period room as her state project. Working with museum staff, this was accomplished. The new postcards became available in 1999. |