The following is a transcript of an article written by a historian of the Williamson County Historic Society in commemoration of Old Glory’s seventy-fifth anniversary.
“Our heartiest congratulations and best wishes are extended to Old Glory chapter DAR on their 75th anniversary celebration in October of 1972.
“The National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in Washington in 1890 with Mrs. Benjamin Harrison as the first Regent. Composed of women eligible for membership through ancestors who had rendered material aid to the cause of American Independence, its objectives are many, but historical, educational, and patriotic interest lead them all.
“In October of 1897, seven years after the inception of the national organization, the Franklin chapter was organized in the home of Miss Susie Gentry in West End. Maplehurst, or Lyndenhurst is it was variously called, was the birthplace of every patriotic organization in Franklin with the exception of the UDC. The Edward Swanson Chapter USD of 1812 and later the Thomas Hart Benton Chapter of the same order were both commenced in the historic Gentry home.
“It was indeed a notable occasion when twenty prospective members assembled that fall day seventy-five years ago to discuss chartering a local chapter of the DAR. Miss Gentry, organizer and twice its Regent, her mother, Mrs. Martha Jones Gentry, and Miss Mary Lou Reese were the only accepted members at that time. Accepted that day as charter members were the following prominent Franklin ladies: Miss Susie Gentry, Mrs. Martha Jones Gentry, Miss Mary Lou Reese, Mrs. Betty Whitaker Thomas, Mrs. Loulie Cochrane Perkins (later Mrs. Gordon), Mrs. Jenny Kendrick Collins, Miss Martha Pearl Wall, Mrs. Estelle Mosley Bostitck, Mrs. Leighla Perkins Cochrane, Miss Hattie McGavock Cowan, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Bradley Fentress, Mrs. Ophelia Wood House, Mrs. Lucy Henderson Horton, Mrs. Ann Eliza Bradley Winstead and Mrs. Megan Bostitck Beckwith. Officers for the first term were Miss Gentry, Regent; Miss Wall, Vice-Regent; Mrs. Horton, Secretary; Mrs. Perkins, Registrar; Miss Reese, Treasurer; Mrs. Bostitck, Historian.
“Two years previous to this event, on June 14th, 1895, the first Flag Day in Tennessee was brilliantly and appropriately celebrated in the Gentry home, one month after it had been declared a National Memorial. At this organizing meeting of the DAR, naturally the thought was of the flag, each guest [relating] some historic event and family tradition incident to the year in which the Stars and Stripes was adopted as a flag of the Union. The suggestion presented by Miss Gentry that the new chapter honor the noble banner with the name Old Glory was gladly accepted.
“In 1936 in a letter to Mrs. Warren Hollingshead, Miss Gentry, explaining the significance of the name, wrote, ‘I want you and The National Society DAR to know why I, as organizing Regent of Old Glory, gave it such a name. When John Paul Jones had his famous fight with the Seraphis, the flag staff was struck and the flag was heading downward to the sea when a heroic, gallant sailor made a plunch for it, saying, ‘Old Glory shall never be lowered on land or sea’ and rescued it. Most people so confuse history that they think it was named for William Driver’s Federal Flag that he carried around the world and hoisted in the War Between the States. It was my mother’s family of Jones that John Paul had lived with and liked enough to take the name, Willie Jones. His brother was Allen Jones.’
“Together with the first celebration of Flag Day, the organization of the previously mentioned patriotic societies and other significant meetings, the Gentry home was the scene on December 19th, 1902, of another important event in American and English history. On that date, December 19th, 1606, under charter, the London company of England sent out her first convoy of men and provisions. The ships landed on the bend of the James River, then named for the reigning sovereign. A year later, a permanent settlement was made by these pilgrims at Jamestown, Virginia from whence came many of the chapter members’ Colonial and Revolutionary ancestors.
In September of 1902, Colonel John Spry Park of the United States Army, whose boyhood home was in Franklin, presented Old Glory Chapter with the flag that had flown from the mast of one of Admiral Dewey’s vessels at the Battle of Manila. The flag was not one captured by Admiral Dewey but was our own Old Glory, the national emblem of Stars and Stripes. It was accepted by the Regent, Miss Gentry, and remained for many years a trophy of the chapter which bears its name.
“From a small nucleus of patriotic women in Franklin, Old Glory Chapter has gained in membership over the years until it numbers 81 ladies with Mrs. Brent Cook as its present Regent. It conscientiously meets all the obligations laid down by the official Board in Washington, and the monthly meetings are well attended with interesting and informative programs consistently presented.
“No discussion of Old Glory Chapter DAR could be held without a closer look at the life and background of its founder. Born in 1860 in Bedford County Tennessee, Miss Susie Gentry was the daughter of Dr. Watson Meredith Gentry and his wife, the former Martha Jones.
“Dr. Gentry was born in 1831 near Stockett’s Church now known as Harpeth Presbyterian Church on Hillsboro Road in Williamson County. The son of Theophilus Lacey Gentry and his first wife, Rebecca Sappington, Dr. Gentry came from a long line of doctors and fighting patriots on both sides of his family with some records dating back to Sussex and Surry Counties in England where the Gentrys were public officers under Edward II and Edward III in 1327 and 1377. They entered land in New Kent County, Virginia, in 1684, and gradually spread throughout Virginia, North Carolina, and into Tennessee. Their military record is a notable one. There were nineteen Gentry Revolutionary soldiers, seventeen in the War of 1812, four in the Seminole War, two in the Texas War with Mexico, five in the Mexican War, forty-two in the Confederate service, and nineteen on the Federal side. These are known to have served; there is no way to be sure of others as no family history is ever complete.
“The Sappingtons were also prominent in early American history. Dr. Mark Brown Sappington, Nashville’s first physician in 1785, was a Revolutionary soldier from Havre de Grace, Maryland, as was his brother, Francis. Dr. Sappington’s son, Dr. John Sappington, was Franklin’s first physician from 1799 until 1807 when he moved to Missouri where he became famous for his efforts to combat malaria. Dr. Gentry’s grandfather, Thomas Sappington, married Elizabeth Stockett who traced her ancestors back to Queen Elizabeth I’s household and were friends of Lord Baltimore in Maryland. The Stocketts were adherents of Charles II and lost their property while participating in the political upheavals incident to those dangerous times.
“In 1858 Dr. Gentry married Martha Ridley Jones a noted beauty and belle whose father, Dr. John Ridley Jones of Shelbyville, was held as a political prisoner by the federal authorities during the War Between the States. she had four brothers; Redding, John, Thomas and Alfred; in the Confederate service. Dr Gentry himself was Surgeon of the 17th Tennessee Regiment and was later Surgeon-in-Chief of hospitals in Montgomery, Alabama, rendering faithful and efficient service to the wounded in every position he held.
“Through her distinguished ancestry Miss Susie was eligible for membership in any patriotic order in America. From her parents she inherited a deep and abiding love for the South which was a dominant feature in her long life. In addition to being organizing Regent of Old Glory Chapter DAR, Miss Susie and her mother were charter members of Franklin Chapter No.14, United daughters of the Confederacy, their papers being signed by the founder, Mrs. Caroline M. Goodlet. Mrs. [Martha] Gentry served at the first Corresponding Secretary of the Franklin chapter while Miss Susie was the first Recording Secretary of the local chapter and first Registrar of the Tennessee division. The first donations given to the Sam Davis monuments in Nashville and Pulaski were Miss Susie’s gifts.
“During her affiliation with patriotic organizations, she handled literally thousands of application papers and helped preserve records that are beyond price. Her own personal papers are in the manuscript section of the Tennessee Archives. Miss Susie assisted in marking many local sites of historic interest and was instrumental in locating many graves of Revolutionary soldiers scattered throughout Williamson County.
“All these activities were in addition to her work in the Presbyterian Church and the care of her home where she continued to reside after the deaths of her parents. The house, torn down around 1966 to make way for the Colony Apartments, was beautifully furnished with fine antiques that were always much admired by the many visitors who called on her there.
“Miss Susie died full of years and honors in 1944. She rests in Mount Hope Cemetery with Dr. and Mrs. Gentry and a little sister who died in the long ago at the age of three. A DAR marker was recently placed at Miss Susie’s Grave by Old Glory Chapter NSDAR whose members, recalling the long years of service and invaluable contributions to their organization, also secured perpetual care for the Gentry lot.
“The Williamson County Historical Society salutes Old Glory Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in celebration of their Diamond Jubilee. We commend it for its meritorious past and wish for it an equally rewarding future.”
The above article was contributed by Mrs. Joe Bowman