From left, top row, Patti Ludlow, Bettie Purcell, Sally Michaud, Teresa Rimer- regent of Chief John Ross Chapter. Second row, Jody Clevenger; Elsie Owens, Judge David Campbell American Indians Committee chairman. Front row, Phyllis Carter, Linda Triplett, Jan Perry - regent of Judge David Campbell Chapter, Luanne Dewitt - Tennessee State chairman of the American Indians Committee, and Jerry Hill - president, Board of the Chattanooga Audubon Acres Association.
The members of the Judge David Campbell Chapter DAR conducted a Commemoration Ceremony to remember and memorialize the start of the Trail of Tears 175 years ago. This event is in conjunction with several Tennessee and Georgia DAR chapters who are placing remembrance ribbons at several local historic sites along the region’s section of the Trail of Tears.
The chapter placed the ribbon on Spring Frog Cabin at Audubon Acres which is named for the Cherokee Chief Spring Frog who lived in this area before the Cherokee removal. The cabin was built in the mid 1700s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It is estimated that several thousand Native American people died in camps or along the 1,200 mile trail from June 1838 to March of 1839. The members of the Judge David Campbell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, place these ribbons at this historic site in commemoration of one of America’s greatest tragedies.
The Judge David Campbell Chapter was organized in May 1915 and is one of five local Chattanooga DAR chapters. Any woman interested in finding out more about how to become involved in our local DAR organizations can email judgedavidcampbell@tndar.org or visit www.tndar.org/~davidcampbell/.