Sun City DAR hosts Constitution Day luncheon

The Sun City National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Agua Fria Chapter hosted its Constitution Day Luncheon Sept. 19 at the Sun City Country Club.

Guests from Arizona NSDAR chapters and the West Valley Sons of the American Revolution Saguaro Chapter attended the event, which celebrated the 239th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.

This year’s program featured six DAR Ladies of Liberty portraying women Patriots who served the thirteen colonies’ cause toward Independence.

Daughter Tish Alicki portrayed Margaret Cochran Corbin. She joined the camp followers who traveled with the Continental Army to be with her husband, Patriot John Corbin. He was killed, and she took his place firing the cannon at the 1776 Battle of Fort Washington. She was injured, which left her with a paralyzed arm. She was the first woman to receive a military pension.

Agua Fria Chapter Registrar Cindy Miers portrayed NSDAR Proven Patriot Nancy Ann Morgan Hart. She was the mother of eight children and the wife of Patriot Benjamin Hart, who resisted the British Loyalists, also known as Tories. Disguising herself as being on the side of the British, she became a spy, which contributed to the American victory at the Battle of Kettle Creek. She is also known for killing and capturing British soldiers.

Agua Fria Chapter Secretary portrayed NSDAR Proven Patriot Mercy Otis Warren, wife of Patriot James Warren. She was a political writer who used the power of the pen by publishing poems, plays, essays, and pamphlets supporting Independence. She corresponded with many political leaders. After the war ended, she wrote the book “History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution.”

Arizona State Registrar Terri Clarke portrayed NSDAR Proven Patriot Mercy Raymond Bedford. Mercy was the 3rd great-granddaughter of Mayflower Pilgrim Peter Brown, who was also a signer of the Mayflower Compact. She was bred with the blessings of liberty and freedom. Mercy’s husband, Jonas, was a British Loyalist and left his wife and ten children to fight with the British military. After losing their home, her oldest son, Raymond Bedford, and she began supplying goods to General Washington’s Continental Line. Both are recognized as NSDAR Proven Patriots. Terri Clark actually descends from Mercy Bedford and is her female NSDAR Patriot.

Agua Fria Chapter Debbie Schneider portrayed Polly Cooper, who was an Oneida Indian who helped a group of Oneida and Seneca men carry bushels of corn and supplies 250 miles through snow to the starving Continental Army soldiers at Valley Forge. She taught the soldiers how to make a nutritional soup and became General Washington’s cook. Cooper is depicted in a bronze statue, “Allies in War, Partners in Peace,” which is displayed at the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution.

Agua Fria Chapter Vice Regent Mary Hart portrayed Anna Smith Strong, who was the wife of Patriot Selah Strong. They owned a tavern on British-occupied Long Island. Anna was part of the Culper Spy Ring for George Washington. She relayed signals to other spies through hanging various items on her clothesline.

Visit the Agua Fria Chapter website at aguafria.arizonadar.org.