Mrs. Gabrielle Maupin Bielenstein, the daughter of William Gabriel Maupin and Florence Mary Brayley, was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. She met and married her husband, Johan Henrik August "Hans" Bielenstein, in Canberra, Australia, where they lived for a number of years. Upon Dr. Bielenstein's appointment to a chair at Columbia University, the Bielensteins moved to New York City, where they reside today. Dr. and Mrs. Bielenstein have two daughters: Danielle Erika Mary and Andrea Johanna Gabrielle Bielenstein.

Mrs. Bielenstein was educated at a series of small private schools, including Holton-Arms in Washington, D.C. She took her B.A. at Sweet Briar College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mrs. Bielenstein completed her M.A. on a Fullbright Scholarship at the University of Melbourne.

Mrs. Bielenstein spends her summers in Portsmouth, Virginia at her family home, while Dr. Bielenstein summers in Sweden. During the summers, Mr. Bielenstein devotes her time as a guide, detailing the rich Tidewater history of the Portsmouth area.

Memberships

• National Gavel Society

• Order of the First Families of Virginia 1607-1624/5

• Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192 (3rd Vice President General)

• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America

• Order of Colonial Lords of the Manors in America

• Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Colonial Governors (former Governor General)

• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (former Chaplain)

• Daughters of the Cincinnati (former President General)

• National Society Colonial Dames of America (former Historian; former Corresponding Secretary)

• Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (former 2nd Vice President General; former Chaplain and Secretary General)

• Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons & Daughters of the Kings of Britain

• National Society of the Washington Family Descendants

• Jamestowne Society

• National Society Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede (Registrar General)

• Presidential Families of America (Board Member)

• Huguenot Society of America (former Secretary General)

• Huguenot Society of South Carolina

• Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia

• National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (Board Member)

• Order of Descendants of Colonial Physicians and Chirurgiens (former Historian General)

• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy (former Board Member)

• National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters l607-l86l (Board Member)

• Sons and Daughters of the Colonial & Antebellum Bench & Bar 1565-1861

• National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars

• Hereditary Order of Descendants of Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution (former Secretary General)

• National Society Descendants of Early Quakers

• Order of Descendants of Ancient Planters

• United Daughters of the Confederacy

• Flagon & Trencher

• Companions of the Conqueror

Chivalric Orders

• The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, (New York Prioriy)

Notes

Mrs. Bielenstein is a member of the Princess Anne Club in Virginia, and the New York Junior League.

Lloyd de Witt Bockstruck, the son of Harry Earl Bockstruck and Olive Elsie Blakenship, was born at Vandalia, Illinois. He graduated cum laude with an B.A. in Biology and History from Greenville College in 1967. Mr. Bockstruck received an M.A. in Modern European History from Southern Illinois University in 1969, and and M.S. in Library Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1973. He received a certificate from the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University, in June 1973.

Mr. Bockstruck was a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of History, Southern Illinois University, 1967-69. He served as a secondary teacher and librarian at Mombasa Baptist High School in Mombasa, Kenya, 1969-71, and a Graduate Assistant in the School of Library Science at the University of Illinois, 1971-73. He joined the Dallas Public Library in 1973. From 1974 to 1991 he served as an instructor in the School of Continuing Education, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. He is the senior ranking faculty member of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University, having joined in 1974. He has been on the faculty of the Genealogical Institute of Mid-America, University of Illinois at Springfield, since 1994. He has authored the genealogical column, "Family Tree," in the Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, since 1991.

Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Delaware

• National Society Americans of Royal Descent

• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America

• Colonial Order of the Acorn

• Baronial Order of the Magna Charta

• The Military Order of the Crusades

• General Society of Colonial Wars (former Deputy Governor General for the Texas Society)

• National Guild of St. Margaret (Genealogist General)

• Jamestowne Society

• Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons & Daughters of the Kings of Britain

• Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (former Registrar General)

• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry (former Genealogist General)

• Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts

• Aztec Club of 1847

• Order of Indian Wars in the United States of America

• General Society of the War of 1812 (former President of the Texas Society)

• General Society Sons of the Revolution (former President of the Texas Society)

• National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (former Librarian General)

• Hereditary Order Descendants Loyalists & Patriots American Revolution

• Order Of Descendants of Colonial Physicians and Chirurgiens

• Sons and Daughters of the Colonial & Antebellum Bench & Bar 1565-1861

• Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

• Order of First Families of North Carolina

• Welcome Society of Pennsylvania

• National Society of Descendants of Early Quakers (National Inquirer)

• Hereditary Order of First Families of Massachusetts

• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (former Historian of the Texas Society)

• National Society of Sons of American Colonists

• National Society Sons of Colonial New England

• National Society of Old Plymouth Colony Descendants (former President of the Texas Society)

• Piscataqua Pioneers

• Colonial Society of Pennsylvania

• Descendants of Founders of New Jersey

• Flagon & Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers

• Descendants of Mexican War Veterans

• Sons of the Republic of Texas (Honorary Member)

• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

• Naval Order of the United States

Notes

Mr. Bockstruck is a member of Phi Alpha Theta; Beta Beta Beta; Phi Kappa Phi; and Beta Phi Mu. He became a Fellow of the National Genealogical Society in 1992. In 1994, Mr. Bockstruck was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research. He received the Filby Prize for Genealogical Librarianship in 1999, and in 2003, he received the Northeast Texas Library Systems Lifetime Achievement Award.

Marguerite du Pont de Villiers-Ortiz, the daughter of Julien de Villiers-Ortiz and Alice Engénie du Pont, was born on July 31, 1907 at "Valmy", Greenville, Delaware. Her education began at the Ogontz School and was completed at the University of Pennsylvania. She first married Forrester Holmes Scott, with whom she had two children: Eve Hermine du Pont Scott, and Zoe Zenger du Pont Scott. Her second marriage was to Harry Clark Boden, IV and their child was Kip Kelso Boden. Mrs. Boden died on July 23, 1977 in Delaware.

Memberships

• Order of the Three Crusades 1096-1192 (former President General)

• National Society Americans of Royal Descent (Honorary President General)

• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America (Honorary President General)

• Order of the Crown in America (former First Vice President General)

• Order of First Families of Virginia 1607-1624 (former Burgess from Delaware)

• National Gavel Society (Founding Vice President; Honorary President)

• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry

• Hereditary Order Descendants of Colonial Governors

• General Society of Mayflower Descendants (former Councilor of the Delaware Society)

• Society of The Ark and The Dove

• Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America

• National Huguenot Society (former Vice President of the Delaware Society)

• Colonial Dames of America, Chapter II

• National Society Dames of the Court of Honor

• National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century

• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (former Advisor to the Museum)

• National Society United States Daughters of 1812

• Dames of the Loyal Legion of the United States

• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy (former member of the Executive Council)

• Netherlands Society of Philadelphia

• Welcome Society of Pennsylvania

• Swedish Colonial Society of Delaware (former Councilor)

• Dutch Colonial Society of Delaware (former President)

• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims

• National Society of New England Women

• National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century

• Society of the Founders of Norwich, Connecticut

• Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford

• National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company

• National Society Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede (former Chaplain)

• National Society of Old Plymouth Colony Descendants

• National Society Daughters of the American Colonists

• Flagon and Trencher

The Hereditary Register of the United States of America, (member of the Editorial Committee, 1972, 1973 and 1974)

Chivalric Orders

• Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Associate Officer)

Notes

As a philanthropist, benefactor, author and leader, Mrs. Boden's gifts to the hereditary community and historic preservation were substantial. She bequeathed Mount Harmon Plantation, her sixteenth century Georgian country estate, to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It was later transferred to Friends of Mount Harmon, which currently oversees its preservation and operation. The plantation began in 1651 as a land grant of 350 acres to Godfrey Harmon by Caecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. The manor house, which has been thoroughly restored, is furnished with American, English, Irish and Scottish antiques dating from the 1760 - 1810 period. The estate, which is located on the Sassafras River in Cecil County, Maryland, is now open to the public.

Mrs. Boden was an Honorary Life Member of the Vineland, New Jersey Historical Society; a trustee of the Delaware Historical Society; a Pilgrim Tercentenary Member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; and a Pennsylvania Patriot of the Historical Foundation of Pennsylvania. She also belonged to The Historical Society of Delaware; Cecil County Historical Society; Kent County Historical Society; The Maryland Historical Society; Cumberland County Historical Society; Huguenot Historical Society of New Paltz, New York; Historical Society of New York County; Virginia Historical Society; The Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Revolutionary War Bi-Centennial Resources Committee for 1976; and Duck Creek Historical Society.

Mrs. Boden also held memberships in The National Genealogical Society; The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania; Society of Architectural Historians; Delaware Society for the Preservation of Antiquities; Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts; National Society of Arts and Letters, Washington Chapter; Kenmore Association; Friends of Winterthur; Friends of the American Museum in Britain; and The National Trust for Historic Preservation. She served as the Honorary Chairman of the British American Society of America and La Foundation Internationale de Delaware. She was also a member of the Executive Council of the Friends of Lafayette and served as Vice President of the Alliance Francaise of Wilmington.

In addition to being a co-founder of the Governor William Bradford Family Compact and a Duzine member of the Le Fevre Family Association, she belonged to a number of family associations including the Doane Family Association; du Bois Family Association; Edward Bates Family Association; and Governor Thomas Dudley Family Association.

Mrs. Boden was also a member of the Mt. Vernon Club of Baltimore, Maryland; Rose Tree Hunt Club of Delaware; Greenville Country Club; Wilmington Country Club; Club of Colonial Dames and The Army Navy Club of Washington, D. C.

Eva Gillete Mingea Brown, the daughter of Wilton Egerton Mingea, Jr., and Ernestine Kahle Mingea, was born in Abingdon, Virginia. Mrs. Brown married the late Thomas Bowers Hynson Brown, Jr. They have two children, Amanda Tilghman (Brown) Megargel and Thomas Bowers Hynson Brown, III. Mrs. Brown was a resident of New York City.

Mrs. Brown attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She served on the National Committee for a Free Europe (parent organization of Radio Free Europe). Mrs. Brown served as the Social Secretary to prominent New York families, for many years.

Memberships

• National Gavel Society

• Daughters of the Cincinnati (former President, 1994-98 and 2002-03)

• National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (former President of the New York Society; Roll of Honor 2002)

Other Notes

Mrs. Brown was recognized by Saint Bartholomew's Church in the City of New York in 2003 for having served fifty years on the Altar Guild. She was a member of the New York Auxiliary of the Blue Ridge School of Virginia since 1956, and served as President, Ball Chairman and on the Board of Trustees. She served on the Board of the American Friends of the Georgian Group and the Committee of Van Cortlandt House Museum.

Mrs. Brown was a member of the Church Club; Friends of Sulgrave Manor; the New York Committee of Stratford Hall; Dumbarton House; Gunston Hall; Mount Guilian Society; Metropolitan Historic Structures; the Historical Society of Washington County Virginia; the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Colonial Williamsburg; the Pilgrims of America and the Monticello Foundation.

Mrs. Brown received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Conference of Patriotic and Historical Societies in 2002.

James Orton Buck, Jr., the son of James Orton Buck and Myra Estelle Wooster Buck was born on July 1, 1913 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts and was a member of AAID. He married Nancy Gulley Foster on April 19, 1947 in New York City. They had one daughter, Mrs. David Maurice Morrison White (Care Bowen Buck). Mr. Buck died in Klamath Falls, Oregon on March 29, 2000.

Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of South Carolina

• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America (former President General; Genealogist General)

• National Society Americans of Royal Descent (former Registrar General)

• Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192 (former Registrar General)

• Baronial Order of Magna Charta (Surety)

• General Society of Colonial Wars (former Secretary and Treasurer of the New York Society; member of New York and New Jersey State Societies)

• Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (former Secretary General)

• Colonial Order of the Acorn

• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry

• Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Colonial Governors (former Governor General; former Registrar General)

• Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the Kings of Britain

• New England Society in the City of New York

• Order of the Founders and Patriots of America

• General Society Sons of the Revolution, New York

• National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, New York Chapter

Authorships

• Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants Volume II (1974)

• Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants Volume III (1978)

• The Hereditary Register of the United States of America, (member of the Editorial Committee, 1972, 1973 and 1974)

Chivalric Orders

• Knight Commander and former Chancellor of the New York Priory

Other Notes

Mr. Buck was a committee member on several genealogical and historical societies, including The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

Peter Arrott Dixon, son of George Peleg Dixon and Eleanor Arrott Gardner, was born in New York City. He is married to Joan Wilson Dixon of Mobile, Alabama. The Dixons have one child, Pamela Arrott Dixon.

In his youth, Mr. Dixon attended the American School in Rio De Janiero, and later attended the University of Maryland. Mr. Dixon served with the United States Army for two years. Currently retired, Mr. Dixon enjoyed a career in the National Security Agency, and served in a variety of U.S. Government positions. He was a member of the Cabinet Committee on Education during the Nixon administration.

Mr. and Mrs. Dixon have been residents of the historic district of Alexandria, Virginia for the past forty-four years.

Membership

• National Gavel Society

• General Society of Colonial Wars (Gentleman of the Council of the District of Columbia Society)

• St. Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C.

• General Society Sons of the Revolution (President of the District of the Columbia Society)

• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (former Chancellor- in-Chief)

• General Society of the War of 1812

• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry

• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy

• Military Order of the Foreign Wars of the United States

• Military Order of the World Wars

• Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Loyalists & Patriots of the American Revolution (Flag Captain)

• National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (former Vice President General)

• National Society, Sons of Colonial New England (Honorary Governor General)

• National Society of Sons of American Colonists (Governor General, two terms)

• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (former Captain General)

• Sons and Daughters of the Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar 1585-1861 (former Treasurer General)

• Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 1636-1647 (Governor General, two terms)

• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (former member of the National Council of Administration)

• The Hereditary Order of the Families of the Presidents and First Ladies of America (founding Secretary General)

• Flagon and Trencher

Chivalric Orders

• The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem , Grand Cross, Priory of St. King Charles the Martyr of Washington, D. C.

Notes

Mr. Dixon is a member of the American Legion.

Linda Lou Tinker was born in Perryville, Tennessee to James Logan Tinker and Jewel Houston Tinker. She was raised in Perryville and Parsons where she learned respect for others, a serious work ethic, and to dream of big things. Linda played basketball and was awarded player of the year in 1958 at Parsons High School. She was a pianist and member of the band where she played trombone. After high school graduation, she attended Florida State University where she majored in Music and Business Administration, earning a Bachelor of Science. She joined the Marching Seminoles Band and traveled the South to perform in football games, bowl games and parades. Linda joined the Sigma Kappa sorority and learned leadership as she became president of her sorority.

During these collegiate years, she met and married Robert (Bob) Watkins. After college they moved to her hometown of Parsons, and she worked with her mother and father as an accountant in the family businesses. She and Bob had four children: April, Robert, John and Greg, which she loved dearly. Her life quickly became centered around her children and their many activities. She participated in PTA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Band Boosters, Quarterback Club, Homeroom Mother, 4-H leader and other school-based groups. Linda loved being a mother more than anything; it was her first and most important calling in life.

Linda was active in her community, taking on leadership roles in various civic clubs, organizations, and political parties. She became a pianist and organist in church and served for many years. Over the years Linda was a member of the Perryville Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, First Methodist Church, and St. Regina Catholic Church.

With a small group of women, Linda joined the Daughters of the American Revolution and formed the Peter Houston Chapter of Decatur County. It was within this organization that she found her second calling in life. She rose through the ranks at the local and state organizations and became Tennessee State Regent in 1992 and served a three-year term. After her term as Regent, she was asked to join the national management team as Registrar General where she served from 1995-1998 overseeing the genealogy and lineage research departments at DAR national headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1998 she was elected as First Vice President General to the National Society DAR and served as head of personnel. Finally, in 2001, Linda was elected as the President General of National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. She moved to Washington, D.C., and led this international organization into a new era.

As President General, Linda restructured and revamped this 120-year old organization to ensure financial stability, provide technology, initiate new public outreach programs, and digitize historic documentation and genealogy records. Her initiatives and actions as President General achieved momentous strides in modernizing the organization and will be held as a major shift in operations for decades to come.

One of her most poignant moments happened on September 11, 2001, when only five months into her term the United States was attacked by terrorists. While New York and Washington, D.C. were under attack, Mrs. Watkins managed to maintain safety for her 150 employees and secure priceless historic artifacts and documents. She was in one of the last groups to evacuate the city, having made certain her people were safe.  After the attack, she worked with the Pentagon to develop Project Patriot, a volunteer program that provided care packages to the men and women heading into battle.

Other notable projects created during her tenure include: The Forgotten Patriots, a program and exhibition honoring the contributions of Blacks and Native Americans in the fight for American Independence. Launch of the American Spirit Magazine which focuses on history, preservation, and education. Creation of a communications department that provides public relations and community outreach highlighting the many programs, scholarships, museum exhibitions, library programs and work of the DAR in communities across the country and around the world.

Memberships

• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Past President General)