Blackwater Chapter History

The Blackwater Chapter was organized October 26, 1933, by Mrs. L. H. (Pearle) Mott of Davis, West Virginia, who had become a member at large in October 1932. Mrs. Mott accompanied her husband, a member of the state legislature, to meetings in Charleston where she met the wife of the State Treasurer, Mrs. W.S. Johnson, in the summer of 1932.  Mrs. Johnson was the State Chairman of Membership Committee of the DAR.  She asked Mrs. Mott if she was eligible to become a member, and as a result, Mrs. Mott joined as a member at large and immediately became interested in establishing a chapter in Tucker County.

Blackwater Chapter Founders - L-R:  Lelita Hilliard, Pear Mott, Ella Rightmire, Ruth Ward, Pauline Harris, Atha Felton, Hubert Ward, Martha Benberger, and Louis Banberge

She learned of two members in the county: Mrs. Ella Nash Ward and Mrs. Lucille Roberts, both of Hembleton.  Mrs. Ward belonged to the Elizabeth Cummins Jackson Chapter of Grafton.  Mrs. Roberts was a member of a chapter in Pennsylvania.  These two became willing helpers in establishing a Tucker County Chapter through the Wheeling, West Virginia Chapter.

Mrs. Mott was appointed Organizing Regent with the task of finding members to form a chapter in Tucker County.  On October 26, 1933, the Chapter was organized at a dinner meeting held at the home of Mrs. Mott in Davis, West Virginia, with the State Regent, Mrs. Paul O. Reymann of Wheeling, in attendance.  This chapter was to be the first in Tucker County and the 38th in the state of West Virginia.

The name "Blackwater River" is the only stream of river wholly within the bounds of Tucker County with its source at the top of Cooper's Knob.  From Cooper's Knob it flows into Canaan Valley, through the Valley to the Blackwater Falls, and down the canyon where it joins Shaver's Fork at Parsons, thus forming the Cheat River. 

 

L-R:  Lelite Hilliard, Flora Phillips, Martha Bomberger, Anna Jenkins, Janet Felton, Ruth Ward, Pearl Mott, Atha Felton, and Lula Lacber

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Blackwater Chapter Contact : Sue Silk, Recording Secretary, [email protected]
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