Marlborough
Towne Chapter, NSDAR, was organized on October 15, 1966, by Mrs.
Robert Bowie Ghiselin Sasscer, in the town of Upper
Marlboro, Maryland.
Marlborough
Towne
History
Two and one-half centuries ago, on the
twenty-eighth day of March, 1721, the Justices of Prince George’s
County, according to the directions of the act of
assembly,”…adjourned Themselves from Charles Town to MARLBOROUGH
Towne…there to meet at three o’clock in the afternoon…” at
the new courthouse. Charles
Town, now gone, had served as the county seat since April 23, 1696,
when Prince George’s County was organized. During the ensuing years, Marlborough
Towne, now listed by the
Post Office as Upper Marlboro, was destined to witness events as the
seat of county government.
The 1706 Act of
the Assembly, which established the town as an official port, stated
that it was to be located on the Western Branch at a place known as
“Colonel Beall’s Landing.”
The legislation also provided that eleven commissioners were
to purchase the land and have it surveyed into 100 lots of one acre
each, leaving space for a church and market place.
The 1707 plat may now be seen at the Maryland Historical
Society in Baltimore. The
name of the town was chosen to honor the Duke of Marlborough, hero
of the Battle of Blenheim.
In 1756, while
George Washington was a young Colonel in the Virginia Militia, he
first visited Marlborough. On
his way to the First Continental Congress, he lodged here August 31,
1774, and again on May 4, 1775, while on his way to the Second
Continental Congress. Washington’s last visit to Marlborough was in 1793 while he
was serving as the first President of the United States.
During the
Revolutionary War, and again in 1813, extant state records show that
Maryland public records and papers were moved to Upper Marlborough
from Annapolis for safekeeping.
Daniel Carroll
was born in Marlborough. He
was a member of the Continental Congress, signed the Articles of
Confederation, was a delegate to the convention that framed our
federal Constitution, and served in the first Congress of the United
States. Daniel Carroll
was the brother of the Reverend John Carroll. Archbishop Carroll was chosen by
the second Continental Congress to accompany Carroll of Carrollton
on a mission to solicit the cooperation of Canada during the War of
Independence.
In
1814, Francis Scott Key, while attempting to obtain the release of
Dr. William Beanes, a prominent resident of Upper Marlborough, was
detained in Baltimore Harbor during the bombardment of Fort McHenry. On this occasion, Key wrote the words to our National Anthem.
Dr. Beanes served on the committee of Prince Georgians to
carry into effect the resolutions adopted by the First Continental
Congress. He was a
surgeon in the general hospital at Philadelphia during the
Revolutionary War. His
tomb is near the site of his home in Upper Marlboro.
The tomb was marked by Marlborough Towne Chapter, NSDAR, in
1971.
Past Chapter Regents
1966-1968 |
Mrs. Robert Bowie Ghiselin Sasscer |
1968-1970
|
Mrs.
William D. Harmon |
1970-1972
|
Mrs.
James Dewey O'Brien |
1972-1974
|
Mrs.
Charles E. Cook |
1974-1976
|
Mrs.
John A. Shallcross
|
1976-1978
|
Miss
Mary Elizabeth Kerby |
1978-1980
|
Mrs.
James A. McCafferty |
1980-1982
|
Mrs.
William Desmond Walker, Jr. |
1982-1984
|
Mrs.
William Forbes Daniels |
1984-1986
|
Mrs.
William P. Brose |
1986-1990
|
Mrs.
Thomas Salimeno, Jr. |
1990-1992
|
Dr.
Kathleen Haas Miller |
1992-1997
|
Mrs.
William Desmond Walker, Jr. |
1997-2000
|
Mrs.
William P. Brose |
2000-2002 |
Mrs. Hugh D. Blocker, Sr. |
2002-2004 |
Mrs.
Ambrose G. Murphy III |
Membership
Our
chapter welcomes
new members and guests. Women interested in joining
our chapter should email Membership
- please use
DAR Membership as a subject line and include your name,
address, and telephone number. Refer to Eligibility
for membership details. For chapter information,
email Regent: Mrs. James
Arnold Borer (Lucy).
Links
Webmaster:
nerowolf
Revised: October 6, 2004