Ella Virginia Houck Holloway Chapter

National Society United States Daughters of 1812

Mechanicsville, Maryland

Maryland State Society

Chapter Info

PRESIDENT
Mollie King

Our chapter meets on the second Thursday in February, May, & November and the third Sunday in August.

Welcome to the
Ella Virginia Houck Holloway Chapter
National Society United States Daughters of 1812

Organized July 2, 1918*

Named Gov. William Smallwood Chapter until May 26, 2010

Our chapter activities include:

Mark graves of War of 1812 Patriots and U.S.D. 1812 members
Serve as docents at the historic Maxwell Hall home at various occasions
Present Charles County History Day Award to a student every year
Award JROTC medals to many Cadets in Calvert, Charles, Prince George’s, and St. Mary’s Counties
Collect new/used postage stamps for Stamps for the Wounded

Our chapter history

Our Chapter was formed on July 2, 1918 as the Governor William Smallwood Chapter. Unfortunately, in the early 2000’s the chapter’s membership started to dissolve, chapter records disappeared, and our chapter nearly folded. Due to the revitalization efforts of then President Sandy Cornish, our chapter thrives today. One order of revitalization business was a chapter name change. Many other area society chapters are also named after Governor William Smallwood (SAR, CAR, etc). The two other Maryland U.S.D. 1812 chapters at that time were named after women. It was only fitting to rechristen ourselves with a better fitting name that kept with the consistency with the other MD chapters. Our name change was approved on May 26, 2010 by then President National Nona Thompson Quinn.

Our past activities include:

Worked with La Plata High School Students in making the video presentation The War of 1812 in Charles County’s Back Yard in 2011
Donated funds to help purchase a portrait of George Washington for T. C. Martin Elementary School in 2012
Laid wreaths in the Patuxent River to commemorate the British invasion at Benedict, MD as featured in March from Benedict Celebration Series – Episode 3 A Proud Community
Participated in various area Bicentennial War of 1812 events in Charles, Prince George’s, and St. Mary’s Counties
Promoted Star-Spangled Banner Day at the Find Your Park: National Park Service Centennial Celebration at Fort Washington Park in 2016

So who was Ella Virginia Houck Holloway?

Ella Virginia Houck Holloway, born next to the Shot Tower in Baltimore in 1862, was instrumental in persuading US. Congressman Charles J. Linthicum to introduce a bill in Congress which would mandate the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem. On 3 March 1931, Congressional Resolution (46 Stat. 1508) was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover. The Baltimore Sun reported that “Mrs. Holloway considered herself an expert on the use and display of the flag and to that end toured the city to see that the flag was not improperly displayed. She did have rather impressive credentials in this department, having served as chairman of the Committee on the Correct Use of the Flag of the United States Daughter of 1812.” The Sun further reported, “She always appeared in public wearing a tall shako (a cylindrical beaver hat with plume) that rose a foot above her head.” she told the Sun in 1937, “The general contours of my hat and the Constitution of the United States must remain unchanged.”

Mrs. Holloway was admitted to the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 on 16 Jan 1903, and served as Maryland State President beginning in 1918. Upon the death of Mrs. Holloway in 1940, a Sun editorial declared, “Mrs. Reuben Ross Holloway, who died yesterday, would have been a noteworthy person in any era.”

War of 1812 Patriots whose descendants have joined as members of the
Ella Virginia Houck Holloway Chapter Maryland State Society United States Daughters of 1812

Landon Allen, VA
Edward Ball, VA
Joshua Barney, MD
William Bedford Barney, MD
Hepburn Smallwood Berry, MD
Samuel Billups, VA
George Bosserman, VA
Zachariah Brewer, VA
Thomas Burgess, MD
John Chapman, VA
Francis Cheatham, VA
Samuel Chase, MD
Daniel Delozier, MD
Andrew Donnally Crow, KY
Thomas Dorsey Clagett, MD

Reuben Clark, VA
Mitchell Clay, VA
John Vincent Cooksey, MD
Charles Dodson, VA
Jonathon Fairfax Dunnington, MD
Jesse Edens, VA
Josiah Freeman, MA
Alexander Gray, MD
John Greathouse, VA
Samuel Hawkins, MD
Stephen Stewart Johns, MD
Hambleton Johnson, MD
Whittington Johnson, MD
Tandy Jones, VA
Edmund Key, MD

Benjamin Mackall III, MD
William McClure, KY
Levin McNamara, MD
Thomas Nathaniel Mudd, MD
Isaac Preston, KY
Samuel Rhodes, VA
Reuben Ross, MD
Edward Rutledge, MD
Willis Rye, MD
Samuel Sherriff, MD
Francis Richard Speake, MD
Jacob Uhler, MD
Larkin Williams, VA
William Woolford, MD