The Honorable Richard Bender Abell (ne Richard Lon Welch) was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Lon Edward Welch, Jr. and Charlotte Amelia Bender Welch Abell. He was married to Lucia del Carmen Lombana-Cadavid de Abell, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Lombana-Duque and Maria de los Dolores Cadavid-Diaz of Medellin, Colombia. The Abells have three children: David Joseph Abell, Christian Aven Lombana Abell, and Rachel Mercedes Cadavid Abell. Judge Abell was a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia, South America, 1967-1969. He served with the United States Army Infantry, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, First Air Calvary Division in Vietnam, 1969-1971. Judge Abell was awarded the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal for Heroism, Air Medal, and Combat Infantryman Badge. Judge Abell retired from military service for wounds received in combat.

Judge Abell attended The George Washington University where he was graduated with a B.A. in International Affairs, 1966. He completed his Juris Doctor at The George Washington University School of Law, 1974. Judge Abell was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice, 1986-1990. He was also appointed by President Reagan to serve as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Prison Industries, Inc. 1985-1991; as a Commissioner, President's Commission on Agricultural Workers 1988-1993; and as a member of the President's Task Force on Adoption 1987-1988. His wife, Lucia, served in two presidential appointments. Judge Abell served in the Federal Judiciary, United States Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C., until his retirement in November, 2010. He resided in Alexandria, Virginia.

Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland (former Treasurer)

• General Society of Colonial Wars (former Governor of the District of Columbia Society)

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

• Aztec Club of 1847; Military Society of the Mexican War (former President)

• Order of Indian Wars of the United State (Senior Vice Commander)

• National Gavel Society

• Sons of Confederate Veterans (former Camp Commander, Alexandria, Virginia)

• Military Order of the Stars and Bars (former member of the National Executive Council)

• Colonial Order of the Acorn

• Colonial Society of Pennsylvania

• Order of Scions of Colonial Cavaliers 1640-1660 (former Marshall)

• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion

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

• Society of Saint George of Philadelphia

• Military Order of the Purple Heart

• General Society of the War of 1812 (former Color Guard of the Pennsylvania Society)

• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (former Judge Advocate In Chief)

• Huguenot Society of America

• National Huguenot Society

• Welsh Society of Philadelphia

• Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States

• Hereditary Order Descendants Loyalists & Patriots American Revolution (former Chancellor General)

• Order of the First Families of North Carolina

• Society of the Order of the Southern Cross

• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy

• National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution

• National Society of Sons of American Colonists

• National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 (former Vice President General)

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

• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims

• Flagon & Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers

• Order of the Second World War

• Order of the First World War

• Military Order of the World Wars

• International Military Order of the Southern Cross

• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (former Camp Commander)

• Royal Society of Saint George

• Descendants of Sheriffs and Constables of Colonial and Antebellum America

• Society of Boonesborough Descendants

• Continental Society Sons of Indian Wars

• First Families of Georgia

• Point Lookout Prisoner of War Organization

• First Families of Henry County, Georgia

Chivalric Orders

• The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Rank of Knight)

Authorship

• Abell, Richard Bender and Wilmer Lane Smith, Peter Smith of Westmoreland County, Virginia (Died 1741) and Some Descendants Michigan: Bookcrafters, 1996, 394 pp.

• Abell, Richard Bender and Fay Adamson Gecik, Sojourns of a Patriot, The Field and Prison Papers of an Unreconstructed Confederate Tennessee: Southern Heritage Press, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (1998), 255 pages.

• Abell, Richard Bender, The Antecedents and Descendants of Gottlieb Heinrich Shmidheiser and Anna Rebman , privately published (2008). - most recent rendition.

• Abell, Richard Bender, The Antecedents and Descendants of Johannes Martin Schwehm, privately published (2008). - most recent rendition.

Listed In

• The Social List of Washington, D.C.

• The Blue Book of Washington, D.C.

• The Hereditary Society Blue Book

• Marquis Who's Who in The World

• Marquis Who's Who In America

• Marquis Who's Who in American Law

• Marquis Who's Who in the East

• Marquis Who's Who in American Politics

• Marquis Who's Who in Finance and Industry

Notes

Judge Abell was a member of numerous veteran’s groups, masonic associations, and historical and genealogical societies, including The Society of Independent Southern Historians. He was Anglican-Catholic by faith.

Honorary President General Ann Turner Dillon, who has been a DAR member for over 39 years, brings a wealth of experience to the role of President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her extensive service record includes terms as First Vice President General, Registrar General, Colorado State Regent and National Chair of the Chapter Development and Revitalization Commission, among other leadership positions at the national, state and chapter levels.

Mrs. Dillon leads the 126-year-old women’s volunteer service organization with a current membership of 185,000, spread across nearly 3,000 chapters in the United States and abroad. As Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit organization, she also oversees a professional staff of 140 at the Society’s National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Her oversight includes upkeep and preservation of the DAR Headquarters, which consists of three adjoining buildings, two of which are designated National Historic Landmarks, occupying an entire city block near the White House.

“Moving Forward in Service to America,” the theme of the Dillon Administration, expresses both a continued emphasis on meaningful service and a commitment to providing programs and resources that will enable the National Society’s mission, its members and its historic buildings to endure and thrive long into the future. A wide-ranging set of initiatives has been put in place to help achieve these goals, from new classroom resources and membership training opportunities that will provide support and encouragement to teachers and DAR members, to renovation and restoration projects that will transform the public spaces at National Headquarters. DAR members also are challenged to record 19 million hours of volunteer service to honor the 100th anniversary of Congress’ passage of the 19th Amendment.

The decision to make education and training a focus of her Administration underscores Mrs. Dillon’s ultimate goal. She hopes that DAR members will know more about the National Society by the end of her term than they did when it began, and that they will have more confidence in talking about who DAR members are.

“We are a service organization whose members have proven their lineage back to a Revolutionary War ancestor,” said Mrs. Dillon. She wants members to identify with and take pride in the National Society, an organization that that awards millions of dollars in scholarships every year, supports veterans, gives

back to the nation, and preserves priceless historical records and artifacts that help illuminate our nation’s shared past. “There are so many reasons to be part of our organization,” she said.

Mrs. Dillon is the first Colorado Daughter to be elected President General. “Even though the history of our Western states postdates the Revolutionary War, members in those areas still find plenty of opportunity to promote the history of our country,” Mrs. Dillon said. “The men and women who stretched America demonstrated the same independent thinking that created the nation.”

She was also the first woman in her family to join the National Society, beginning a tradition of membership that grew to include her mother, aunt, daughters, granddaughters and cousins. In DAR, she found a sense of belonging, and of doing meaningful work. Over time, as she took on more responsibilities, Mrs. Dillon focused on doing the best job she could while cooperating with other DAR members. She hopes to foster a similar attitude in others through the New Horizons membership training program, aimed at empowering members to take the next step in leadership.

In 1990, Mrs. Dillon became Organizing Regent of the still-thriving Toll Gate Creek Chapter in Aurora, Colo. The experience, which she counts as one of her most rewarding DAR endeavors to date, taught her that leadership is not about one person doing all the work, but rather about building a group that can work together. It’s a philosophy that informed her subsequent leadership positions, which included 12 years of service on the National Board of Management.

Most recently, as First Vice President General from 2013–2016, she oversaw the revision of the DAR Handbook and National Bylaws and provided guidance on matters related to the DAR Headquarters staff as chair of the Human Resources Committee. Mrs. Dillon served as Registrar General from 2001–2004, a time during which the National Society embarked upon an ever-expanding effort to digitize its genealogical and historical records, thus making them more accessible to researchers. As Colorado State Regent from 1995–1997, her State Regent’s Project involved the compilation and publication of an every member index of Colorado DAR members.

When Mrs. Dillon is not immersed in DAR work, she enjoys spending time with her six grandchildren, as well as her husband, Bill, their two daughters and two sons-in-law.

Memberships

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

• National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (former State President)

• Colonial Society Colonial Dames XVII Century

John Frederick Dorman was born in Louisville, Kentucky, 25 July 1928, the only child of John Frederick Dorman and the former Sue Carpenter Miller. His father was the child of German immigrants; his mother was descended from colonists in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania who had migrated to Kentucky at the end of the eighteenth century. It was through this maternal ancestry that Fred developed the interest in Virginia genealogy that defined his career. Fred received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville in 1950. He served from 1951 to 1953 in the United States Army’s Army Security Agency, the successor to the SSA (Signals Security Agency), which conducted military signals intelligence in the Second World War. He then served as assistant archivist at the College of William and Mary from 1953 to 1955, simultaneously earning a M.A. in library science from Emory University in 1955. In the following year he moved to Washington, D.C., and became an independent professional genealogist.

Fred was deeply involved in the leading educational and professional organizations of the genealogical world. He served the National Genealogical Society as its librarian in 1959-1960 and vice president in 1958-59 and 1968-70, and a councilor in the 1950s and again in the 1970s. He was one of the founding board members of the Board for Certification of Genealogists in 1964, and after many years as a trustee, served as its president in 1979-80 and executive director from 1982 to 1996. Fred was only thirty when he was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists in 1958; he was its treasurer from 1959 to 1966 and served as president from 1982 to 1985. He taught for many sessions of the National Institute of Genealogical Research (now Gen-Fed) in Washington, D.C., and the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research at Samford University, Birmingham, Ala.  Beyond these involvements, Fred saw participation and membership in hereditary societies as entirely consistent with the scholarly pursuit of genealogy. He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia, Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of the Revolution, Society of Colonial Wars, General Society of the War of 1812, Jamestowne Society, Descendants of Colonial Governors, and other hereditary societies. He served some of these in a volunteer capacity as a state- or national-level officer; he also served others professionally as the verifying genealogist.

Published

Fred’s first genealogical article was published in Louisville in 1949, while he was still an undergraduate (“Descendants of General Jonathan Clark, Jefferson County, Kentucky, 1750-1811,” Filson Club Historical Quarterly 23 [1949], nos. 1, 2, and 4). This launched a publication career that few, if any, will ever match. Aside from several comprehensive book-length genealogies of colonial Virginia families (Robertson, 1964; Farish, 1967; Preston, 1982; Epes, 1992-1999; Claiborne, 1995; and most recently Slaughter, still unfinished), he published a long list of articles in National Genealogical Society Quarterly, The American Genealogist, and other leading journals. He also published, as editor or co-editor, dozens of volumes of abstracts of Virginia county records and Revolutionary War pension applications. He edited the major reprint sets of Genealogies of Virginia Families from Tyler’s Quarterly, William and Mary Quarterly, and The Magazine of Virginia Genealogy published by Genealogical Publishing Company in the 1980s. In the 1980s, he co-edited the third edition of Adventurers of Purse and Person—the systematic genealogical summary of all Virginia settlers before 1625 who left descendants—and then went on to produce the substantially enlarged fourth edition, in three volumes in 2007. Throughout all this, Fred launched and sustained The Virginia Genealogist, which he published in 200 issues over fifty years from 1957 to 2006.

Other

John Frederick Dorman, CG (Emeritus), FASG, FNGS, FVGS, 73rd Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists.

Thomas Edward Jacks is a native of Huntsville, Alabama and grew up in the nearby town of New Market, where his family settled over 200 years ago.  He is the second son of David Bartley Jacks, III and Barbara Lawhorn Jacks.

Tom attended Auburn University, where he earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and Master of Science (Mechanical Engineering).  He is currently Chief of the Mechanical Engineering Branch at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, MS.  Tom has been recognized for his work in the agency’s rocket propulsion testing programs with numerous awards and commendations, most notably the NASA Silver Snoopy Award and the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal. 

Tom is married to the former Tara Kathleen Turner, a Certified Public Accountant.  Tom and Tara have four children—Collin, David, Clay, and Kate.  They are active members of Christ Episcopal Church in Covington, Louisiana, and make their home in nearby Mandeville, Louisiana. 

Memberships

* Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion
* Military Society of the War of 1812
* General Society of the War of 1812 (President General, 2014-2017)
* Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (Associate)
* General Society Sons of the Revolution
* Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
* National Society Sons of the American Revolution (Vice President General)
* General Society of Colonial Wars
* Order of Washington
* Order of Founders and Patriots of America
* Order of Indian Wars in the United States
* Sons of Confederate Veterans
* National Society of Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Treasurer General)
* Military Order of the Stars and Bars
* National Society Sons of American Colonists (Vice President General)
* Flagon and Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers
* Dutch Colonial Society (Patroon)
* Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution
* Descendants of Washington's Army at Valley Forge
* Descendants of the Founders of New Jersey
* National Society of Sons of Colonial New England
* Hereditary Order of the First Families of Massachusetts
* First Families of Georgia, 1733-1797
* National Order of the Blue and Gray (Chaplain General)
* Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 1636-1647
* Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Bench and Bar 1565-1861 (President General, 2020-2022)
* Presidential Families of America
* Winthrop Society
* National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters (Advisory Council)
* Order of the First Families of Maryland
* Hereditary Order of Families of Presidents and First Ladies of the United States, (Secretary of  Engraving)
* Guild of Colonial Artisans and Tradesmen 1607-1783
* Order of First Families of Connecticut 1633-1662
* Descendants of Sheriffs & Constables of Colonial & Antebellum America (Deputy General)
* Descendants of Early Postmasters 1607–1900
* Order of the First Families of the Alabama Territory, (Vice President General)

Charles Bryan Poland was born in San Diego, California, the eldest of four sons, to Clarence Beauregard Poland III and Margaret Albertine White Poland. Chuck resides in Roanoke, Virginia. He was the widower of Karen Iola Milner Poland whom he married in 1965. His son Carl Bryan Poland lives in Washington, DC. His daughter Jeanette Marie Poland is deceased.

Mr. Poland attended schools in California, Washington, and New York. Mr. Poland was Valedictorian of his class at Leigh High School in San Jose, California, He graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Science, with honor.

Poland was employed by IBM for 30 years, in New York, Maryland, England, France and Japan. He began his career in large systems hardware and software development, and later shifted to technical support and marketing.

Mr. Poland was the Founder and Inaugural President General of two royal orders, Order of Alba, established for lineal descendants of the monarchs of independent Scotland, and Order of the House of Wessex, established for lineal descendants of the old Anglo-Saxon Kings (prior to the Norman Conquest). He was appointed as a Founder and Inaugural Officer of four additional orders.

Memberships

• Baronial Order of Magna Charta

• Clan MacFarlane, Director (Treasurer)

• Descendants of Brian Boru

• Descendants of Early Postmasters 1607-1900

• Descendants of the Templar Knights

• Families of Antebellum Missouri

• First Families of the Alabama Territory

• First Settlers of the Shenandoah Valley

• Flagon and Trencher Society 

• Founders Fellowship

• General Society of Colonial Wars (Membership in the Commonwealth of Virginia)

• General Society of the War of 1812 (Vice President; Former President, Virginia Society)

• Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon (Founder; Inaugural Treasurer)

• Jamestowne Society

• Ligon Family and Kinsmen Association

• Military Order of the Crusades

• Military Order of the Stars & Bars (Commander, Virginia HQ Chapter)

• National Guild of Saint Margaret of Scotland

• National Society Sons and Daughters of Colonial and Antebellum Planters 1607-1861

• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Governor, Virginia Branch; First Deputy Governor, Virginia South Branch)

• National Society of Saints and Sinners

• Order of Alba, Founder (Inaugural President General; Honorary President General)

• Order of American Cousins of the Present and Future Sovereigns of Great Britain

• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry

• Order of Descendants of Ancient Planters

• Order of Indian Wars of the United States

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

• Order of the Descendants of the Justiciars

• Order of the Descendants of El Cid (Founder; Inaugural 1st Lt. Governor)

• Order of the Founders of North America

• Order of the House of Wessex, Founder (Inaugural President General)

• Order of the Kings and Queens in the Holy Lands (Founder; 2nd Lt. Governor)

• Order of the Merovingian Dynasty

• Order of the Monarch of Rheims

• Order of the Norman Conquest

• Order of the Steel Magnolia

• Order of the Sovereigns of Ancient Scandinavia (Founder; Inaugural Treasurer)

• Order of Washington

• Scotch-Irish Society of the USA

• Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

• Society of Descendants of Lady Godiva (Duke, Virginia State Society)

• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy

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

• Sons of Confederate Veterans (28th Virginia Infantry Camp)

• Sons of Spanish American War Veterans

• Sons of the American Revolution (President, Fincastle Resolutions Chapter)

• Society of the Descendants of Washington’s Army at Valley Forge

• Sons of the Revolution, Virginia Society

• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (Former Secretary/Treasurer, Department of the Chesapeake)

• The Descendants of Mexican War Veterans

• The Friends of St. George’s and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter, UK

• The National Gavel Society

• Virginia Genealogical Society

Other Notes

Mr. Poland was an Eagle Scout and Past President of the Glen Condo Homeowners Association.

D. Brenton Simons OBE was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Elwyn Simons and Mary Hoyt Fitch. He attended private schools in Connecticut, South Carolina and Switzerland; graduated from Aiken Preparatory School, Aiken, SC; Hamden Hall Country Day School, Hamden, CT; Bachelor of Science, College of Communication, Boston University; Master’s Degree, School of Education, Boston University.

In the 2023 Special Honours, His Majesty King Charles III appointed Mr. Simons an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for his longtime services to Anglo-American history.

Brenton Simons has changed the face of nonprofit-based genealogy in America and beyond by bringing the best scholarship to millions of users as President and CEO (2005-2024), and President Emeritus and Chief Stewardship Officer (2024-present), of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the founding genealogical society in the world (established 1845). Otherwise known as American Ancestors, it is the anchor location of the long-running PBS television series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. He orchestrated an historic expansion of the institution, now serving almost 450,000 members and millions of online users with 1.4 billion records in 139 countries. See www.AmericanAncestors.org

An award-winning author, he has been widely featured on television, radio, and in print and online media in the United States, United Kingdom, and elsewhere. His most recent book, Boston Beheld, was hailed as “the book Jane Austen might have written had she run into Dickens after his return from his Boston visit of 1842.” 

Society Memberships

• New England Historic Genealogical Society / American Ancestors (President & CEO, 2005-2024; President Emeritus & Chief Stewardship Officer, 2024-present) 

• American Patrons of St. George’s and The Descendants of The Knights of the Order of the Garter (President, 2022-present)

• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion (Knight)

• National Order of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe (Honorary)

• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut

• Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York

• Aztec Club of 1847

• General Society of the War of 1812

• General Society of the Sons of the Revolution

• Huguenot Society of America 

• Holland Society of New York

• General Society of Colonial Wars (MA and FL)

• Colonial Society of Pennsylvania

• Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Colonial Governors

• Order of the Founders and Patriots of America

• General Society of Mayflower Descendants

• Baronial Order of the Magna Charta 

• Order of the Crown in America

• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry

• Welcome Society of Pennsylvania

• National Society of Americans of Royal Descent

• Order of Colonial Cavaliers (Honorary)

• Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America (Honorary)

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

• Son of a Witch (Honorary)

• One Hundred Living Descendants of Blood Royal 

Chivalry, Heraldry, Military, and Freemen

• The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Officer) OBE

• The Venerable Order of Saint John, American Priory (Member)

• International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences (President)

• Armiger, granted by College of Arms (2019) quartered with inherited arms (1588)

• Committee on Heraldry, New England Historic Genealogical Society (1864)

• Gold’s Dragoons, Fairfield, Connecticut (1657)

• Squadron A Association, New York Hussars, New City (1889)

• The Honourable Company of Freemen of the City of London of North America

Awards

• Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence (Saint Nicholas Society)

• Bradford Award (Pilgrim Hall Museum)

• Frances Wister Award (Colonial Dames of America, PA)

• Award of Recognition (Colonial Wars, IL)

• John Adams Medal (Sons of the Revolution, MA)

• History Medal (Daughters of the American Revolution, MA)

• Spirit of 1812 Award (National Society United States Daughters of 1812, MA) 

• Award of Merit (American Association for State and Local History)

Authorships

• Boston Beheld (2008); Witches, Rakes, and Rogues (2005); The Art of Family (co-editor, 2002); The Langhornes of Langhorne Park (1997); and numerous articles, essays, and introductions.

Public Offices

• Vice Chair, Plymouth 400th Anniversary State Commission, by appointment of His Excellency, Charles D. Baker, Governor of Massachusetts, 2019-2022

• Member, State Commission to Review the Seal and Motto of Massachusetts, by appointment of His Excellency, Charles D. Baker, Governor of Massachusetts, 2021-2023. 

Listed In (Publications)

• Who’s Who in America; Social Register (Advisory Committee and Consulting Editor)

Other Notes

Other memberships and offices: The New England Quarterly (former Secretary of the Board of Directors); Plymouth 400 Inc. (former Board of Directors member); The Colonial Society of Massachusetts (former Council member); Massachusetts Historical Society (Fellow); American Antiquarian Society (elected Member); Boston Athenaeum (Proprietor); Somerset Club; Club of Odd Volumes, French Heritage Society (Honorary). Episcopalian.

Sharon Kaufelt Stine was born in Virginia to Richard Henry Kaufelt and Lila Lee Thomas Kaufelt. She has one son, Richard Thomas Stine, and three grandsons. She attended Old Dominion University and has a BS in Secondary Education.

She is currently a part-time administrative aide with the Richmond Virginia Schools. She was previously engaged 29 years as a civil servant for the United States Navy. Her final assignment was as a Logistics Management Specialist serving to equip the United States ships in the Pacific and Atlantis fleets.

Memberships

• Colonial Dames of America

• Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars (Former Continental, Organizing Secretary, Organizing Honorary President, Virginia Society)

• Descendants of Brian Boru

• Founders Fellowship (Founding Advisory Coordinator; Founding Council of Fellows)

• Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon (Founder; President)

• National Guild of St. Margaret of Scotland

• National Society Colonial Dames of the XVII Century (Former Vice President, Richmond, Chapter)

• National Society Colonial Daughters of the 17th Century (Organizing Honorary President, Crown Colony Chapter)

• National Society Daughters of the American Colonists (Past Regent, Virginia Society; Honorary Regent, Rev. Robert Hunt Chapter)

• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (National Society Vice- Chairman, Units Overseas; Honorary Regent, Four Flags and Sasobo, Japan Chapters; Past Regent, Borough of Norfolk Chapter)

• National Society Daughter of Colonial Wars

• National Society of the Dames of the Court of Honor (Former Third Vice President, Virginia Society)

• National Society Descendants of Colonial Mothers (Co-Founder; Inaugural President)

• National Society of the Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Assistant Registrar General; Honorary Governor, Virginia Branch, Organizing Honorary Governor, Virginia South Branch)

• National Society Southern Dames of America (Honorary President, Virginia Society)

• National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (Co-Chairman, Micrographics; Honorary President, Virginia Society; Honorary President, Hampton Roads Chapter)

• Order of Alba

• Order of Descendants of Colonial Cavaliers

• Order of the Descendants of El Cid (Founder Patroness)

• Order of the Descendants of the Justiciars (Co-Founder; Inaugural Chief Justiciar)

• Order of the House of Wessex (Founding Councilor)

• Order of the Kings and Queens in the Holy Lands (Founder; Inaugural Historian)

• Order of the Monarchs of Ancient Scandinavia (Founder; Inaugural Regent)

• Order of the Monarchs of Rheims

• Society of Descendants of Lady Godiva (Co-Founder; Inaugural Second Lady-in-Waiting)

• Sons and Daughters of Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar

• United Daughters of the Confederacy (Past President, Norfolk County Grays, Princess Anne & Culpepper Chapters)

Authorships

• Transcribed 7 volumes of original records for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

• Transcribed 13 volumes of original records of the War of 1812

Other

Sharon lived where duty called in the United States of America, Kentria, Morocco, Chipiona De la Frontera, Rota, Spain, Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii, and Misawa and Saebo Japan. Mrs. Stine volunteered with the United States Navy Relief by creating hand crocheted baby garments and blankets for the newborns of Navy personnel. She has gifted her design of over 50 needle point national sash holders.

Martha Ellen Wright Tozer was born in Ozark, Alabama, to Mr. and Mrs. George Dewey Wright, Jr. She is married to David Knowlton Tozer and they have two children, George Knowlton Tozer and Henderson Wright Tozer.

Mrs. Tozer attended Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 1971 to 1975, where she graduated with a BA Degree in Art History and History. She attended Leysin American College, Leysin, Switzerland 1971, Diploma Program, French Language and History, The Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC 1977 to 1980, with Photography Concentration.

Professionally, in Washington, Ellen was employed by the Corcoran Gallery of Art as Director of Retail Operations, where she directed all operations of the Museum Shop business, including opening two off-site stores for the Corcoran and fourteen satellite stores. In 2009, she was asked to consult for a new museum store startup and oversaw the opening of the Katzen Arts Center at American University. She also traveled throughout the Baltic to consult for Boutique Sales for Princess Cruise Lines. Ellen then joined the staff of Tiffany & Co. as an Operations Professional working with inventory management, merchandising, customer service and business accounting. Of particular interest was working with the one of a kind pieces in the Tiffany Blue Book Collection.

In 2011, Ellen began at the National Geographic Society and is responsible for all aspects of the retail store business, including product development, buying, marketing, staffing and budgeting. She especially enjoys developing community relationships with artists, and traveling to source items from around the world for the business. She continues to enjoy her work at the Society and is an active member of the Museum Store Association and the American Alliance of Museums.

Memberships

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

• National Society of Americans of Royal Descent (First Vice-President)

• Colonial Dames of America (Chapter XXIV Atlanta Chapter)

• The Order of the Crown in America (Maryland Counselor)

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

• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion

• One Hundred Living Descendants of Blood Royal

• Ligon Family and Kinsmen Association

• National Gavel Society

• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Other Memberships

• Museum Store Association

• American Alliance of Museums

Other Notes

Ellen has been involved at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Potomac, Maryland since 1987. She served four terms on the Vestry as Junior and Senior Warden and was a Board member of St. Francis Episcopal Day School. She has chaired the Potomac Country House Tour, the Auction, the Patrons and Friends Committee and the Art Show. She served as Convener for the Lay Committee for a new Associate Rector and a Seminarian. She is on Altar Guild, the Usher team and is a Chalice Bearer.

Jonathan Tufts Woods was born and raised in the Boston area in the seacoast town of Cohasset, Massachusetts.  He is the son of Edward Franklin Woods and Lucia Russell Hedge.  On August17, 1991 he married the former Alice Frances Hamilton Bloomer.  They have two sons – Edward and Andrew.  Jonathan attended Derby Academy, The Fessenden School and The Brooks School.  He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University with a BA in International Business.

Jonathan started his investment career in the Asset Management division of the French Investment Bank, Lazard Frères & Co. in New York City.  After more than a decade, Jonathan moved his business to Merrill Lynch and then on to Smith Barney – which became Morgan Stanley in the midst of the Financial Crisis of 2008.  In the spring of 2015, Jonathan launched “Woods Asset Management, LLC”.  The company is an Independent Financial Services firm committed to world class, unbiased portfolio management for high-net worth investors, institutions and not-for-profit organizations.

After residing in Wilton, CT for 25 years, the Woodses relocated to Charleston, SC in the spring of 2021.  They continue to be warmly welcomed by vast numbers of members of the Hereditary Society Community.  And they are extremely grateful for the warm reception!

Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati (General Society: General Officer in various officer roles 2001-2016; President General 2016-2019, Past President General beginning May 2019)

• Board of Governors of the American Revolution Institute (founding member)

• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Hampshire 

• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, NY Commandery

• Military Society of the War of 1812

• American Independence Museum of Exeter New Hampshire

• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion 

• Plymouth Antiquarian Society