NSDAR meeting puts the spotlight on notable women 

By JoAnn R. Walter —

Members of the Beulah Patterson Brown Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) gathered for a special tea on April 13 at the First Presbyterian Union Church, located in Owego, N.Y. 

Guest speaker at the occasion was Tioga County Historian Emma Sedore. 

The NSDAR is a non-profit volunteer women’s service organization dating back to 1890. Members of the Chapter, organized in 1917, meet regularly throughout the year, take on several activities that benefit their communities, and participate in local events as well as far-reaching projects. For example, they raise funds for female veterans living in a home in Balston Spa, N.Y., and send cards to veterans at the N.Y.S. Veterans Home at Oxford. 

A lineage-based membership service organization, NSDAR members are directly descended from a person involved in supporting the American Revolution.

According to the “Historical Gazetteer of Tioga County, N.Y. 1785-1888,” Beulah came to Tioga County from Massachusetts in February 1796 with three of her five sons. Her husband, Rev. War Capt. Abraham Brown, passed away in 1777 from smallpox.

Beulah took residence in Newark Valley and became one of the constituent members of the first church there. Two of her sons settled in Berkshire, two in Newark Valley, and one in Owego.

The Gazetteer states that Beulah “Was a woman of good mental powers, with a kind heart and benevolent disposition.” She rests in the Brown’s Settlement Cemetery in Berkshire, N.Y.  

Lessons from Beulah continue today, as well as lessons from another inspirational and notable woman, Belva Lockwood.

Sedore made a presentation to NSDAR members about the life and legacy of Lockwood.

Sedore, and in the role as Tioga County Historian for over 23 years, has worked diligently to preserve the county’s history. She is also a published author.  

Lockwood, born in 1830, was a wife, mother, educator, suffragist, lawyer, politician, and life-long pacifist, and in her lifetime proved that women could do more if given the opportunity.

Sedore noted that Belva was actually one of the most famous women in America during her time.

A teacher at just 14, Lockwood married at age 18 and had a daughter. Widowed at 23, Belva returned to college, although frowned upon by many.

Later, Lockwood was principal at a school in Lockport, N.Y., and while there became friends with the famed Susan B. Anthony. It was Anthony who encouraged Belva to educate her female students about successes beyond marriage and motherhood.  

In 1863, Lockwood assumed the role of Principal at a Female Seminary located on Front Street in Owego for two years. Taking the cue from Anthony, Sedore said that Belva inspired confidence in her students by teaching them public speaking, taking them on boat rides in the river, and showing them how to sew bandages and shirts for war soldiers.

Next for Belva was a move to Washington, D.C., where she took on a teaching job, remarried, and had a son. Lockwood’s second husband encouraged her to study law, and helped Belva set up her own law office after she passed the Bar.  

Lockwood lobbied Congress for five years to pass an anti-discrimination bill to allow women lawyers to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Belva became the first woman in March of 1879 to argue before the Supreme Court.

Sedore remarked, “What Belva did was a good thing for other women,” and added that Lockwood’s success opened the “law” door for African American men as well.

Lockwood became the first woman to run for U.S. President in 1884. She garnered some 4,000 votes versus Grover Cleveland. Keep in mind, though, women could not vote yet. The public ridiculed Belva during her second run for president in 1888 versus Benjamin Harrison. Interestingly, Sedore said she did not collect any votes from Tioga County, N.Y.

Unfortunately, Sedore explained, Belva’s presidential aspirations dampened the spirit amongst the suffragists, and particularly Anthony who claimed that Belva was using the suffragist movement for self-promotion.    

In 1909, Belva, then 79, returned to Owego for Old Home Week where she gave a speech at the Tioga Theater. Lockwood passed away in 1917 and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Since then, Lockwood has been recognized on a U.S. Stamp, had a WWII Merchant Marine Ship named after her, and was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y., among other reputable honors.

The NSDAR is actively looking for new members. Local member Karen Messersmith explained that her journey in identifying her lineage was a bit easier since her family previously established it. Other members shared that they have been part of the chapter for just a few years, or as long as 25 years or more.

To learn about the application process, visit www.dar.org. Locally, you can contact Registrar Arlene Niemeyer for help gathering ancestral history. She can be reached at (607) 798-0499, or by email to dar.arlene721@earthlink.net.