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"General Marion Chapter was
organized June 3, 1907. Mrs. Mabel Greydene-Smith was the
organizing regent. The chapter number is 760, the seventh chapter
to be organized in Colorado. The charter members were: Ruth
Lewis, Wilma Durkee, Ada Wright Arthur, Ethel Scott Thomas, Jean
Blair Whipple, Estelle Beach Davis, Abbie Bowlby Galley, Jessie
Anne Peabody, Hattie Averill Thomas, Helen Weaver Wilson, Mabel
Greydene-Smith, Selina Bowlby Biggs, Elizabeth Bowlby Smith.
The first officers were: Mabel Greydene-Smith (Mrs.),
regent; Selina Bowlby Biggs (Mrs. Clinton), vice regent; Hattie
Averill Thomas (Mrs.), recording secretary; Wilma Durkee (Mrs.
Charles G.), treasurer; Ethel Scott Thomas (Mrs.), historian.
Canon City’s DAR chapter chose a name
not closely associated
with Colorado History. The name was suggested by Mrs. John
Campbell, state regent, as a preliminary meeting in January,
1907. General Francis Marion (1732-1795) was a courageous
general, a famous strategist of the Revolutionary War. He was
known as “The Swamp Fox” because of his skill in retreating –
Indian fashion – to swamps and forests after quick, effective
raids on the British Forces. The name honors a devoted patriot
who fought to make America free.
In 1910, the Colorado State Conference was entertained in
Canon City, and again in 1920. Miss Ruth Lewis was state
registrar when Mrs. Maria Bleeker Wheaton was state regent. She
was a charter member, and is still a member of this chapter. Mrs.
Clyde Dawson served the State Conference as recording secretary in
1912, and later Mrs. W. T. Little held the same state office.
Mrs. W. C. Thomas headed a state committee in 1923-1925."
Excerpt taken from
"DAR in Colorado 1894 -1953" printed by the Colorado State
Society. 
Brigadier General Francis
Marion is inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame for his
distinguished service as a Ranger leader during both the French
and Indian War and the American Revolution.
During the French and Indian War, he fought against
hostile Cherokee Indians, who were making raids on frontier
settlements in South Carolina. He and his men adopted many tactics
used by the Indians and used them to their advantage.
In
the American Revolution, Brigadier General Marion directed
Ranger-type operations against the British throughout the southern
colonies. Marion's men conducted raids on British encampments and
ambushes on their supply lines.
The South Carolinians once captured a British
prisoner of war camp freeing 150 Colonial survivors of the Battle
of Camden. It was during this time that Brigadier General Marion
earned the nickname the "Swamp Fox" because of his ability to use
the cover and concealment of the swamps to strike British and
Loyalist forces at will. The operations conducted by Francis
Marion were key in preventing the British from securing the
southern colonies.
Brigadier General Marion brought great credit upon
himself, the state of South Carolina and the United States Army.
His actions and outstanding service to the United States of
America truly exemplify what it means to be a Ranger.
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