Local chapter of Sons of American Revolution back at work promoting patriotism, community involvement
Jul. 3—Color guard units of Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), dressed in their 18th century-style military uniforms and garb, are a frequent sight at patriotic events in Hunt County and across the country.
However, while the color guard appearances are easily the most visible aspect of SAR, the group also works to recognize the efforts of youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America and Junior ROTC programs, as well as police, firefighters, other first responders, and military veterans.
In the case of Greenville's Ambassador Fletcher Warren Chapter of SAR, the chapter was actually inactive for several years due to dwindling membership. Local appearances were made by members of other nearby chapters who served as interim representatives of the Greenville chapter. But last year, those members made a concerted effort to recruit in Greenville, and the chapter was officially reinstated in January of this year.
"We both promote patriotism and recognize members of various youth organizations, law enforcement and history teachers, so it helps if our chapters are made up of people from the communities they serve, so they know who needs to be recognized," said Bill Hurst of Bonham, who served as registrar for the Greenville chapter while it worked at reinstatement.
As registrar, Hurst helped applicants with genealogical research, because SAR members must be able to trace their lineage back to an individual who supported the American Revolution in some way.
"I applied in June, but the lineage tracing process took a few months and I was admitted in October," said Jim Owsley, who was elected as the Ambassador Fletcher Warren Chapter's first president since reinstatement.
In addition to serving as president of the chapter, Owsley—who is an adjunct history professor at both Grayson College and Paris Junior College—has also become a registrar himself.
"I was already into genealogy and history, so I ended up becoming a registrar, too. We currently have 13 members in our chapter and have four more in the application and family tracing process," Owsley said.
During his application process, Owsley discovered an ancestor from northern New York who served on Lake Champlain in military operations in which Benedict Arnold was a major commander.
With genealogy being a key interest among its ranks, members of SAR often enjoy sharing interesting details about their ancestors.
"This is kind of embarrassing, because of how it sounds, but I've been able to trace my lineage to an ancestor who was a second cousin to George Washington, and they played together as children," Hurst said. "His name was Colonel William Washington, and he fought in the Battle of Trenton, then was sent south with his cavalry unit. There's actually a painting showing him sword fighting with the British officer Banastre Tarleton [at the Battle of Cowpens]."
"Another one of my ancestors, named Charlie Clark, was 80 years old when he let soldiers spend the night in his house after the Battle of Trenton," Hurst continued. "He actually died that night, when he was tending the fire to keep them warm and fell into the fire. There are so many different ways that people became patriots during the revolution."
Since being reinstated, Greenville's chapter of SAR has worked to promote patriotism and recognize members of the community in a variety of ways.
For example, in March they presented medals to five Vietnam War veterans. Also in May they presented heroism awards to Leslie Portillo and Wendy Lopez, whose swift action at seeing a young girl walking along I-30 led to the arrest and eventual conviction of the girl's adoptive parents, Jeffery and Barbara Barrett, for child trafficking.
Members of the group have also shared their love of history with the community by participating in events such as the Elks Lodge's Flag Day ceremony last month.
Marking the recent reinstatement of their chapter, Owsley and his fellow members will ride in Monday's Park Street Independence Day Parade in Greenville, which is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
