The Marietta Chapter formed in October 2005, with the assistance of the District and State Officers, Ewing Chapter SAR (Meigs and Athens County, Ohio); Captain James Neil Chapter SAR (Parkersburg, West Virginia); Marietta Chapter DAR (Marietta, Ohio); Nabby Lee Ames Chapter DAR (Athens, Ohio); and the tremendous help from our first President, Roy Fluharty. Fluharty is Past President of the Richard Montgomery Chapter SAR (Dayton, Ohio).
As a veteran and historian, Compatriot Kenneth Riley saw the lack of action by the men of Washington County to honor their abundant Revolutionary War ancestry as something that needed remedied. Compatriot Riley therefore is to be commended for initiating contacts with the SAR and DAR to help organize and charter this new chapter in Ohio’s Pioneer City.
Marietta Chapter Officers 2024
Doug Pettit, President
Jean Yost, 1st Vice President
Tony Durm, 2nd Vice President
Doug Pettit, Secretary
Michael Farnsworth, Treasurer
Michael Farnsworth, Registrar
Scott Britton, Historian
Bobby Fitzgerald, Sergeant-At-Arms
Marietta Chapter Committee Chairmen 2024
Color Guard - Bobby Fitzgerald
Eagle Scout - Tony Durm
Program - Jean Yost, Tony Durm, Scott Britton
Veterans - Doug Pettit
Website - Doug Pettit, email: pettitr at ohio.edu
Marietta
Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, is the site of the first organized settlement and Capital of the Northwest Territory. After the Revolutionary War, many New England officers and enlisted men formed the Ohio Company and left their homes for life on the frontier. Landing in Marietta on 7 April 1788, a group of 48 patriots led by General Rufus Putnam, started the western expansion of the United States. Over the next several years, a great many soldiers and sailors and/or their families came to live here in a county named for their leader, General George Washington. These men who had fought for their country’s independence in the American Revolution had lobbied with the new
Congress for land as payment for their service. One result of the efforts of these men was the creation of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 which established territories North of the Ohio River to Canada and East of the Mississippi River, abolished slavery (Article VI) and served as the model for the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution. The Northwest Ordinance was unanimously passed on 13 July 1787 as one of the first significant pieces of legislation passed by the Continental Congress after the war. On 17 September 1787, almost 2 months to the day of the passing of the Northwest Ordinance, Congress slightly modified that Ordinance and adopted it as our US Constitution.In the heart of Marietta is Mound Cemetery, the final resting place for many of our Patriots. Inscribed on a marker in front of the Mound, “It has been told that more Revolutionary Officers are buried in this County than in any Region of the United States.”
The total numbers of officers and enlisted men of the Revolutionary War who lived in Washington County is unknown, but throughout the years the question of who these Patriots were has been extensively studied. In the spring of 2007, our Marietta Chapter SAR voted to research and prepare all needed documentation to publish a series of books to cover these local Revolutionary War Patriots, as well as Patriots with connections to Washington County. Some of these might include: soldiers of the 1st American Regiment who constructed or served at Fort Harmar (now part of Marietta) which opened the Northwest Territory for settlement; Governor Arthur St. Clair and officials in the First Capitol of the Northwest Territory at Marietta; early Patriot settlers who passed through this area; or a
Patriot who is recognized by the descendant members of the Marietta Chapters of SAR, DAR and CAR. Our goal is to present a learning guide and tribute to these Patriots, many of which have connections to present-day families.