National Society United States Daughters of 1812

Membership Information

The National Society of the United States Daughters of the 1812 was founded 1892
by Flora Adams Darling (Incorporated 1901).

MOTTO
"Liberty, Fraternity and Unity"

The National Society United State Daughters of 1812 was organized on January 8, 1892 on the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. The society requires lineal descent from an ancestor who rendered military, naval or civil service between the close of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 and the close of the War of 1812 in 1815, Military service may be in any one of sixteen recognized engagements between those dates.

OUR COLORS: Blue and Gray

OUR FLOWER: The White Carnation

INSIGNIA

The insignia of the Society is a single star resting upon an anchor encircled with a narrow gold bank - the Star of Hope upon the Anchor of Faith within the circle of Friendship. The insignia is suspended from the blue and gray ribbon one and one-half inches wide. The blue represents the color worn by the Navy during the War of 1812 and the gray represents the color worn by the Army. Previous to this war army goods had been brought from England. When the war prevented the importation of such goods, they had to manufactured in America. Some error in the dyeing process produced the bluish gray of our colors, the same gray which is now worn by the cadets at West Point.

ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP

Admission to membership in the National Society is by invitation after an affirmative vote by the chapter or state society. Applicants shall have the endorsement of two members in good standing to whom the applicant is personally known.

Membership is available to women age eighteen and over who can offer satisfactory proof that they are lineal descendants of an ancestor who, during the period of 1784-1815 inclusive, rendered civil, military, or naval service to our country, rendered material aid to the U.S. Army or Navy, or who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Junior membership is available to girls and boys from birth through age 21. Young women between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five are known as Flora Adams Darling Daughters in honor of the Society's first president.

Service may be, but not limited to the following:

a. Those who signed the Oath of Allegiance or the Loyalty Test.
b. All state, county and town officials and also jurors.
c. A member of the Continental or Federal Congress, or a member of a State Assembly or Legislature of one of the first eighteen states.
d. A delegate to the convention which framed The Constitution of the United States.
e. A member of a State Convention which ratified The Constitution of the United States.
f. An elector of one of the first four Presidents of the United States.
g. A legislative, executive or judicial officer of the United States of America, including such appointive officers as Treaty Commissioners, Territorial Officers, etc.

Military or Naval Service in any of the following insurrections or wars:

1. Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, 1784-1787. (A local disturbance between settlers from Connecticut and Pennsylvania in said valley.)
2. Shay’s Rebellion, Massachusetts, 1786-1787. (Local, grew out of burdensome taxation. Confined to and suppressed by militia of the State of Massachusetts.)
3. Wars with Indians, 1784-1815.
4. Whiskey Insurrection, Pennsylvania, 1794. (Local, arose in consequence of certain taxes on domestic spirits. Suppressed by the authority of the United States.)
5. War with France (Undeclared), 1798-1800. (Naval, carried on by the United States through its Navy and privateers.)
6. Sabine Expedition, Louisiana, 1806.
7. Attack of British warship Leopard upon the United States frigate Chesapeake. (Disturbance growing out of attack of the British warship Leopard on the American frigate Chesapeake, as the result of the British claim to the right to search. The attack occurred at sea off Hampton Roads, Virginia. The militia was called out by the authority of the President.)
8. Embargo troubles, - Lake Champlain, 1808.
9. Engagement between United States frigate President and the British ship Little Belt. (An engagement on the Atlantic, off the southern coast of the United States, resulting from the British claim of right to search.)
10. Expedition against Lafitte Pirates, 1814. (Local, conducted by the authority of the United States.).
11. Wars with the Barbary Powers, 1801-5 and 1815. (Conducted by the authority of the United States through its Navy on the northern coast of Africa.)
12. War with Great Britain, 1812-1815. (General, covering nearly the entire territory of the United States, especially the seaboard.)
13. The Creek War, 4 October 1814 to 24 January 1815. (Local, but conducted by the authority of the United States.)
14. Lafitte Aides to General Andrew Jackson.
15. Local or state militia service, 1784-1815, or giving material aid to the Army and Navy.
16. Member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-6. (Military exploring expedition to find land route to the Pacific Ocean.)