Upcoming Meetings and Events
April 10 , 2009 - Annual Meeting at Verillo's in Portland
Click ,here for a printable Request for nominations for the April, 2010 elections.
Please donate to the Haiti Relief Fund. Click ,here for instructions.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOVEMBER 14TH. 2009
MEETING OF THE MAINE SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1. The Annual Meeting in Portland will be on April 10, 2010.
2. Nominations for the 2010 elections are requested.
Our recently revised Constitution and Bylaws provide for the opportunity for all Members to vote at our Annual Meeting. A ballot will be sent to all members. If a member is attending the meeting, he can vote in person. If he is not able to be present, he can send in his absentee ballot to the Chairman of the Nominating Committee.
3. The Nominating Committee was appointed by the State President after the SAR meeting. There are:
Court Dwyer (First Vice President)
Lance Weddell (Second Vice President)
Jonathan Higgins (Councilor)
W. Dayton Salisbury (State President)
The Committee met and unanimously selected W. Dayton Salisbury as Chairman.
4. Our Speaker, Ralph Stanley, is a well known wooden boat builder, genealogist with over 70,000 entries in his research, musician and speaker. His topic was "The Sea Battle at Machias."
5. Ralph Stanley was given the Silver Good Citizenship Medal. His wife helped pin him.
6. David Getchell was not present at the 2008 Annual Meeting when he was awarded the state of Maine Presidents Medal, GW Libertas et Patria, for honoring George Washington and all Patriots of the American Revolution.
The medal was presented to him at the Nov. 14th. 2009 meeting in Augusta.
7. An "In Memorial Service" was conducted to honor four deceased members:
Harold O. Griffith
Rev. Geoffrey W. Lennan (2-17-09)
Victor Veazie
George Alvan Ricker (10-31-09)
Lance Weddell was the Chaplain. He was assisted by Eileen Branch and three other ladies who were attending. Each lady presented a white carnation and placed it in a central vase in honor of the person named.
Let us remember all of our deceased SAR members. Please notify the President when you learn of the death of a member. We thank Stephen Trent Seames in Bethel for telling us of the lose of G.A. Ricker.
8. There was an Induction Ceremony for a new member, Burton Weatherbee Pease. His wife helped place the SAR rosette on his lapel.
9. Information provided to the President about the cemetery sites of the Patriot Ancestors of members was given to David Getchell for the Web site.
Data provided by Rev. Robert Cole to Eric Hansom for typing, will be placed on the Web site as soon as made available to David Getchell or Edmund Branch.
10. Edmund Branch was offering bread and a reprint of the First Naval Battle of the American Revolution at Machias Bay , June 12, 1775 for donations to the Color Guard.
11. The Treasurer and Secretary have purchased a Flash Drive to preserve data about the Maine Society.
12. It was decided, by vote, that the Domain name for the SAR Web site be paid for the next nine years. We already have $300.00 set aside for other expenses.
13. Charlie McGillicuddy has provided an inventory of all medals and certificates in our possession. He was organized them and placed the material in a type of portable filing case.
14. Wreaths across America in December. If you are interested, contact Charlie McGillicuddy or go on the Web site for "Wreaths Across America."
15. Our treasurer, Court Dwyer, recently sent out the dues notice for 2010. The format included a new membership card. Please pay your dues and enjoy your new official membership card.
16. The wives of our members are a valued part of our membership. We thank Mrs. Eileen Branch and the other wives who helped with hosting the meeting. Your prayers are requested for Mrs. Arlene Bartlett who was not able to attend due to sickness.
W. Dayton Salisbury
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WELCOME!
Welcome to the website and welcome to our
organization. I hope that our presence on the website has been or will be of
some benefit to all of you. We are open to applications for membership. See the
section on membership for some suggestions on how to get started. Anyone who has
started an application is considered to be a candidate and is welcome at our
general membership meetings. If you have specific knowledge of soldiers from
Maine who served in the American Revolution, please
write to me. If you have thoughts of activities that the organization might
pursue or how we might improve what we are already doing, please
get in touch with me. Don't be shy! -
W. Dayton Salisbury
The Maine Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution (MESSAR) is the state affiliate for the National
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR). It was organized in
Portland in 1891. The preliminary meeting was held February 21; a proposed
Constitution and By-Laws were presented for consideration February 28, and were
adopted March 14. The election of officers followed March 28.
 Any
man shall be eligible for membership in the Maine Society Sons of the American
Revolution who: Being of the age of eighteen years or over
and a citizen of good repute in the community, is the lineal descendant of an
ancestor who was at all times unfailing in loyalty to and rendered active
service in, the cause of American independence, either as an: officer, soldier,
seaman, marine, militiaman or Minuteman, in the armed forces of the Continental
Congress, or of any one of the several Colonies or States; or as a Signer of the
Declaration of Independence, or as a member of a Committee of Safety or
Correspondence; or as a member of any Continental, Provincial, or Colonial
Congress or Legislature; or as a recognized patriot who performed actual service
by overt acts of resistance to the authority of Great Britain.
The memorial above was
placed at Valley Forge by the Maine Sons of the American Revolution in the early
part of the 20th century.
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Maine In 1776-
At the time of the American Revolution,
Maine, not a State until 1820, was part of Massachusetts. Because of Maine's
remoteness from the authorities in Boston and the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia, the inhabitants received little military support despite the
proximity of the British across the border in Canada and constant pressure from
the Royal Navy along the coast. Apart from Benedict Arnold's ill-fated
expedition to Quebec through the wilderness of western Maine, most military
action took place up and down the vulnerable coast. |
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Help Is Needed
From MESSAR Members
Your MESSAR Webmaster, Bryan, is working to build the
largest online database of
Revolutionary War Soldiers buried in
Maine. In order to do this, we need your help. Please scout your local
cemeteries and historical societies to learn the location of a Revolutionary War
grave in Maine. When you find the grave, take a picture of it, document it's
location, and then e-mail the photo to the webmaster so we can add it to the
database.
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Colour Guard News
Visit the Colour Guard website (http://mysite.verizon.net/cemcgill/index.htm) for information on the Colour Guard, how to join, and upcoming events.
Visit the website.
 Knox's
Artillery
Colonel Knox's Artillery Regiment, Inc. is a group of living
history interpreters who participate in battle demonstrations for the public on
historic sites as well as in cities & towns along the East Coast of the United
States & Canada. Visit their website.
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