Society Heads Want to Chop Off Members

Leland Meitzler and Dick Eastman are keeping on top of the effort by the NYG&B Board of Directors to do away with all those pesky members who refuse to give them unanimous support. Read also Dick Hillenbrand's views on the proposed power grab.

I haven't been a member for a couple of years, so I can only look on in disbelief. And offer this passage from Animal Farm:

Afterwards Squealer was sent round the farm to explain the new arrangement to the others.

"Comrades," he said, "I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labour upon himself. Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"

Does the Marriott Have Queen-Sized Beds?

The Jamestowne Society will be meeting May 12-13 at the Marriott in Williamsburg, Virginia. The question everyone is asking is, will the Queen attend?

[Carole E.] Morck said the Jamestowne Society has asked Queen Elizabeth II to attend their gathering because one of the queen's ancestors, Nicholas Martiau, qualifies her for membership.

Membership in the Order of First Families of Virginia is limited to descendants of those who helped establish Jamestown and the Virginia colony between 1607 and 1624. The group will not entertain requests for membership by anyone not invited into the association, according to the group's listing on The Hereditary Society Community Web site. [Link]

A Civil War Scion

It's not often that the son of a Union veteran becomes a member of the Sons of Union Veterans.

George Williams, 95, is the son of a Union soldier from Kentucky who ran away from home to fight on some of the bloodiest landscapes during the Civil War. He will be installed Monday night as a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

To many, the Civil War is just a historic event in the distant past. To Williams, it's an epic struggle washed in blood. His father, Henry, told him the stories of what it was like to hear the can[n]ons blast, to see the Southern hills littered with dead bodies, and to feel the emotion of neighbor fighting neighbor. [Link]

Sons Older But Smaller Than Daughters

From The (Longview, Tex.) News-Journal:

Group looking for those with revolutionary roots

By JIMMY ISAAC

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Unlike many organizations, Sons of the American Revolution are united by a unique thread – heritage.

"You must be able to trace your ancestry back to someone who served or aided in the Revolutionary War," Texas Society President James Heath of the group's membership criteria.

[snip]

Heath, who also has roots in South Carolina, said the Sons are equivalent to the Daughters of the American Revolution. "We're actually older than the DAR, but they're a lot bigger."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

Sibling rivalry is an ugly thing.

No, Not That One

From The (Glasgow, Scotland) Herald:

Inspiring cry for freedom

JIM WALLACE [Member of the Scottish Parliament] August 05 2005

To mark the Scottish Genealogical Society's 50th anniversary in 2003, the society researched the family trees of Scotland's four party leaders. Tracing my ancestry disclosed that my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was William Wallace. The day after the public handover of the "trees", a tabloid newspaper splashed a Braveheart headline with photographs of myself and Sir William Wallace, otherwise known as Mel Gibson.

What was not really clear to the reader was that my ancestor, William Wallace, was a linen weaver who was born in Tynron near Dumfries in 1752. My press officer thought that in this case a rebuttal line shouldn't be offered.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]