Such was their leader's glorious aim, No prouder heritage we boast, True brotherhood of man! Above the path where conquest treads, Or lust for gold betrayed, Beyond her age, write Calvert's name His noblest monument, the State The land of Calvert's choice! ISABELLA BROWN CLAYTON, Peggy Stewart Tea Party Chapter, Annapolis, Maryland. May 5, 1905. THE COUNCIL OAK. During the American Revolution, of 1776, there stood in the Valley of Catawba, on the Quaker Meadow farm, west of Morgantown, North Carolina, an oak tree; and it must have been then, one of unusual size and beauty, as it stood in the fertile valley apart from the thickly wooded hills, and its appearance was so inviting, as to attract the attention of some American officers while camping near by. This king of the forest was destined to become famous, and be numbered among the historical trees. In the autumn of 1780, about the last of September, under the branches of this oak, met Campbell, Cleveland, Shelby, Sevier, Winston, and the McDowells; and for the purpose of holding a council of war, before meeting Ferguson at King's Mountain, and engaging in battle; the battle that turned the tide for American Independence. After this meeting under its boughs, the grand old tree was christened, "The Council Oak." At that time it was owned by the McDowell's of Quaker Meadow and lived and flourished through five generations of that name. However it was stricken by lightning in 1900. In 1903, a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in Morganton, with a membership of sixteen. The name, "Council Oak," was suggested for the chapter and readily agreed upon. The first work the chapter engaged in was that of buying the tree and converting it into souvenirs. We hope, that before a great while, the Daughters can beautify the spot on which the "Council Oak" stood and make it a creditable historic spot. The Daughters who compose the Council Oak Chapter, are nearly all descended from the heroes of King's Mountain or the signers of the National or Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. MARGARET E. MCDOWELL. REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS This department is intended for hitherto unpublished or practically inaccessible records of patriots of the War of American Independence, which records may be helpful to those desiring admission to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and to the registrars of chapters. Such data will be gladly received by the editor of this magazine. Herewith are given the inscriptions cut upon the monument recently erected by Martha's Vineyard Chapter, Edgarton, Massachusetts, to those who served in the Revolutionary war and died away from home. Much time and patient study of pay rolls and records were required to determine beyond question the fate of those brave men. A little record of deaths, kept by the Rev. Samuel Kingsbury and the Rev. Joseph Thaxter, was of great service in the work of identification. This patriotic and valuable work of the chapter will be of service to many who look back to the island as their ancestral home. A thousand glorious actions that might claim And troops of heroes undistinguished die.-Addison. REAL DAUGHTERS MRS. TAFT, MRS. MORSE, MRS. RANDALL, MRS. JOHNSON, of THE COLONEL TIMOTHY BIGELOW CHAPTER, WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. In the May number, 1902, will be found the picture of Mrs. Harriet Sprague (Elkins) Cady, of Westborough, Massachusetts, with a short sketch of her early life, and in the March number, 1904, that of Mrs. Joanna White Beaman Fletcher, of Worcester, Massachusetts, both "Real Daughters" of the American Revolution. Mrs. Cady was a member of the Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter, of Worcester, Massachusetts, while Mrs. Fletcher is a member of the Old South Chapter, of Boston, and an honorary member of the Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter. Four more "Real Daughters" are counted among the members of this chapter, Mrs. Alice E. Taft, of Spencer, Massachusetts; Mrs. Elizabeth Brown Morse, of Westborough, Massachusetts; Mrs. Ann Rebecca Randall, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and Mrs. Almira Peirce Johnson, of Milford, Massachusetts. Mrs. Alice E. Taft, of Spencer, Massachusetts, is the widow of Israel Taft, and daughter of Dr. Samuel and Esther (Nichols) Frink, of Rutland, Massachusetts. She was born May 31st, 1817, and became a member of the Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter, December 30th, 1901. Her father, Dr. Samuel Frink, was born March 4th, 1763, and entered the army in 1777, enlisting August 15th as a private in Captain Joseph Eaton's company, Colonel Samuel Johnson's regiment; discharged November 30th, he enlisted again July 15th, 1780 in Captain Jonathan Ayers' company, Colonel Nathaniel Wade's (Essex county) regiment, serving this time until October |