Courtesy photo Organizing members of the Charlotte Parkhurst Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution welcome prospective members to the newly created organization covering the El Dorado Hills/Folsom area. Left to right are: Stephanie Ratzburg, LouAnn Civiletti, Becky Zsoka, Doris Adams, State Corresponding Secretary Emily Boling, California State Regent Susan Broderick, Ernestine Bolduc, Kimm Richwine, Bobbi Bennett, Organizing Regent Carol Ann Nolan, District Director Ida Ruth Johnson, Edwina Leca, Toni Como, Sue Mackin and Afton Tuveson.
EL DORADO HILLS, CALIF – Do you have a Revolutionary War patriot in your family? Would you like to find out if you do? A newly formed Daughters of the American Revolution chapter serving El Dorado Hills/Folsom and surrounding communities could help you open the door to your past.
Members of the new chapter will be available to help research family trees and hopefully find a Revolutionary War patriot. While DAR is a lineage society, and each member a direct ancestor of a Revolutionary War patriot, DAR is not just about researching family history. Preserving U.S. history, conserving historical sites, educating children about the Constitution and awarding scholarships, maintaining veterans’ gravesites and honoring and supporting those who serve the country, both in the military and as first responders, are just some of the ways members of the DAR chapters support their communities.
Searching for a name for the new chapter, DAR members turned to the pages of the wild, wild West. Before the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad over Donner Pass in 1868, the only transportation through the Sierra Nevada was by stagecoach driven by skilled and fearless men. One of the most famous drivers, or whips, was Charley Parkhurst who came west from New England in 1852 seeking his fortune in the Gold Rush and drove stages from Carson City to Placerville and Sacramento to Santa Cruz. Charley opened his own stage station in Soquel. He died on Dec. 29, 1879, at the age of 67.
Except … “he” was a “she.”
The obituary published in the Sacramento Daily Bee a few days after death revealed that when friends came to prepare his body for burial, they discovered “Charley Parkhurst was unmistakably a well-developed woman!”
Her real name was Charlotte Parkhurst, born in New Lebanon, N.H., in 1812. She ran away from an orphanage at the age of 15 and soon discovered that life in the working world was easier for men. She successfully disguised herself for the rest of her life.
There’s one more twist to her story: Dressed as a man, she cast her first vote in a national election in 1868, becoming the first woman to vote in the United States, 52 years before Congress passed the 19th Amendment giving American women the right to vote. Her name, Charlotte Parkhurst, was the perfect choice for the new chapter’s name.
If you have an interest in learning more about the Charlotte Parkhurst chapter of DAR and honoring and preserving the legacy of potential revolutionary ancestors in your family, promoting historic preservation, education and patriotic endeavors contact Carol Ann Nolan at canolandar@att.net or Stephanie Ratzburg at sratzburg@me.com.
Content retrieved from: https://www.villagelife.com/news/national-society-daughters-of-american-revolution-forms-new-chapter/.