October proclaimed Colonial History Month
Oct. 15—THOMASVILLE- Thomasville Mayor, Jay Flowers, presented a proclamation to the John Lee of Nansemond Chapter, National Society Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century, designating October as Colonial Heritage Month in the City of Thomasville. Citizens are encouraged to observe October as a means of reinforcing the priceless legacy that was inherited from the nation's ancestors who braved the treacherous, icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean to settle the thirteen original colonies, Georgia being the last of the original colonies.
The National Society Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century has a current membership of approximately 11,000 and a total of over 45,000 ladies have joined the Society since its founding in 1915. Today the Georgia Society, founded in 1931, has about 700 members in 21 chapters.
To become a member of the society, a woman, 18 years of age or older, must prove lineal descent from an ancestor who aided in the settling of one of the original thirteen colonies before 1701.
Some of the main objectives of the Society are to establish chairs of historical research in institutions of higher learning, to commemorate heroic deeds of the nation's ancestors, to preserve records and mark historic sites, to promote colonial research on any level, to aid in the education of youth, to establish a library specializing in the 17th Century colonial era, to award scholarships to college-bound students majoring in history and to recognize outstanding teachers of American History.
The best place to begin searching for one's colonial ancestors is the Thomasville Genealogical Library, located on the Forbes Campus of Thomas University, 1501 Millpond Road, Thomasville, Ga. The telephone number is 229-226-9640. To quote Rosemary Lee Henderson, founder of the John Lee of Nansemond Chapter, "Everyone has at least one colonial ancestor."
The library is an excellent repository for historical materials including the 13 original colonies, other states, county histories, family histories, and other genealogical information to help trace individual's lineage. The library's collections include over 10,000 volumes, on-line access to Ancestry.com (library edition), Fold 3 (military records), newspaper archives, Georgia's Virtual Vault and many other resources. The use of the library and all its treasures are free to be used by the public.
