Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1889 — the hundredth anniversary of George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States — a gathering of descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers came together up in New York. Their purpose was plain and their pride was deep: form a society, keep the memory of that founding generation alive.

They called it the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution. Now, that kind of thing has a way of spreading. Seven years later, the inspiration reached Texas.

On December 8, 1896, a group of Texans walked into the Tremont Hotel right here in Galveston — this very site — and got to work. They organized the Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution that day, and when it came time to elect a president, they chose a man who knew something about presiding over serious business: Ira Hobart Evans, a former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. The year after that founding meeting, 1897, the Texas society was admitted into the national society — and that original Galveston group?

They became the state's first chapter. Galveston No. 1. Carries a certain ring to it, don't it.

Since the late 1920s, more than thirty chapters have taken root across the state, all of them carrying forward those same patriotic, educational, and historical objectives the founders set down in that hotel room more than a century ago. The Tremont Hotel is long gone. But Galveston No. 1 — that's still on the books.

What the marker says

In 1889, during the Centennial of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States, a group of Revolutionary War soldiers' descendants gathered in New York to form a society to promote awareness of the Revolutionary War period. Named the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, the organization inspired the formation of a state society in Texas in 1896. Meeting at the Tremont hotel, which formerly stood at this site, a group of Texans organized the Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution on December 8, 1896, electing as president former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Ira Hobart Evans (1844-1922). The Texas society was admitted into the national society in 1897, and the founding group became the state's first chapter, Galveston No. 1. Since the late 1920s, over thirty chapters have been established across the state. Texas society chapters have been active in promoting awareness of the Revolutionary War period through the pursuit of patriotic, educational, and historical objectives.