Illinois Society
United States Daughters of 1812
Our Motto
"Liberty, Fraternity and Unity"
 elcome
to the Illinois Society United States
Daughters of 1812. Our national society was organized on
January 8, 1892 on the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans.
Our goals are:
- to promote patriotism;
- to preserve and increase
knowledge of the history of the American people by preserving
documents and treasures;
- to mark historic
locations;
- to record family
histories
and traditions;
- to
celebrate patriotic
anniversaries;
- and to remind
citizens of
the heroic deeds of those who moulded our government between the
close of the American Revolution and the close of the War of
1812.
This is an exciting time to become a member of our society as we
have just finished commemorating the bicentennial of the War of
1812 and interest in our organization is high. Look for us
around the state of Illinois as we mark the graves of patriots,
and participate in other historic events. A brochure with
additional information about our national society is available here.
If you believe in the goals of our society, perhaps you would
like to join us. In order to become a member, you
must be able to prove 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. You can download a
membership worksheet here.
STATE COUNCIL MEETING
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Illini Country Club
Springfield, IL
Special guest President National Dianne Brown Cannestra presented program: Past, Presenat, and Future of N.S.U.S.D.1812
Lunch was chicken asparagus crepes with Illini Signature House Salad with petite Key Lime Tart for dessert
President National (far left) installed the slate of officers for
2024-2027/ They are: President, Anne Sears; Vice President, Leslie
Reynolds-Fowler; Chaplain, Laura Wood; Secretary Margaret Sopp;
Treasurer, Rose Oglesby; Registrar, Linda Baker; Historian/Librarian,
Karen Bendix-Rowland; Curator, Karen Bauer-Reelitz
Officers 2024-2027
Attendees
A visit to Lincoln's tomb
President National Dianne Brown Cannestra and State President Julie
Barnes rub the nose of Abraham Lincoln statue in the Oak Ridge Cemetery
in Springfield.
Members of the Illinois Society U.S. Daughters of 1812 placed a wreathed at the GAR Mound
Memorial Day May 2023. Shown L to R:
Lynda Kerstein, Julie Wood Barnes, Carol Wood
and Mary Barringer
L to R: Anne Sears,Illinois State Society Vice President and John Kinzie Chapter President;
Dr.
Kimberly Nagy, Recording Secretary National; Dianne Brown Cannestra,
President National; and Julie Wood Barnes Illinois State President
at the Open House and Tea during Associate Council in Washington D.C. in April 2023.
During the Memorial Service, Illinois Honorary State President
Kimberly Nagy presents memorial for Marcia Weber, Illinois Society
President 1999-2001.
State President Julie Wood Barnes (left) with President National Dianne Brown Cannestra.
  
  
Awards received by the Illinois Society during Associate Council in Washington DC in April 2023
Top photo: State officers and honorary state presidents at the 2023
Associate Council held at the Illini Country Club in Springfield, Ill.,
on March 4, 2023. Bottom Photo: Attendees at the 2023 Associate Council.
Thanks to Mayor Farley of Salem for presenting a a proclamation for
Star Spangled Banner day. L to R: Julie Wood Barnes, State
President N.S.U.S.D. of 1812, State of Illinois, Nicolas A.
Farley, 56th Mayor of the City of Salem, Illinois and Carol Wood
Kaskaskia Chapter President. Below: Thank you Quincy Mayor Troup for presenting this proclamation.
State President Julie Barnes hosted an information table at the Marion County fair in August 2022.
State President Julie Barnes laid an USD1812 wreath at the GAR Mound,
Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois on Memorial Day, May
30.2022.
Congratulations to Cadet Christina Carter from O'Fallon Township High
School who received the JROTC certificate and medal at ceremonies at
the school's Milburn Campus on April 27, 2022. Presenting the award was
Julie Wood Barnes, State President N.S.U.S.D. of 1812, State of
Illinois and member of Kaskaskia Chapter.
Past State President Leah Beckhoff placed a wreath on Lincoln's tomb
during Lincoln Death Day ceremony in Springfield, Illinois on April 15,
2022.
Three Honorary State Presidents attended the State Council meeting in Springfield on March 5, 2022.
State Board at the State Council meeting on March 5, 2022
Members from all Illinois chapters attended the State Council meeting on March 5, 2022 in Springfield.
Current State President Julie Barnes (center) visited the Sangamon
River Chapter on January 29, 2022. She is shown with chapter members
and Honorary State Presidents Leah Beckhoff (left) and Carole Wylder
(right).
Members from aruond the state attended the wreath-layng ceremony at
G.A.R. Mound at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield on Memorial Day 2021.
L-R: State President Julie Barnes, Marria Blinn, Lynda Kerstein, Anna
Hecox and Mary Barringer.
State President Julie Barnes with wreath.
Members of the Illinois Society came from all over the state to attend the Heritage Weekend in Peoria in fall 2021.
Illinois State President Julie Wood Barnes and Marion County Fair Queen Maggie Telford in July 2021
State President Leah Beckhoff returned to Hill's Fort to attend the
meeting of the Kaskaskia Chapter and while there presented a check for
continued construction of Hill's Fort to Hill's Fort Society president
Eric Reelitz (left) and president of the Illinois Society War of 1812
Robert Ridenour. The money was from the sale of Illinois Society pins.
The president of the Illinois Society of the U.S.
Daughters of 1812
enjoyed an ‘impromptu’ and ‘informal’ meeting with the president of the
Illinois Society of the War of 1812 on September 14th.
Leah Beckhoff, Illinois USD1812 president and Lynda Kerstein, Sangamon
River USD1812 Chapter president, both Springfield, Ill., residents,
journeyed to Greenville, Ill., to experience the Hill’s Fort
Rendezvous. While there they were able to spend some time talking with
Robert Ridenour, president of the Illinois Society of the War of 1812.
This was Beckhoff and Kerstein’s first visit to Hill’s Fort, a
reconstructed fort located on the grounds of the Farm Heritage Museum
off Interstate 70 near Greenville. During the War of 1812, on September
9, 1814, 13 rangers and civilians were bushwhacked by marauding Native
Americans outside the fort; four were killed and three were injured.
Beckhoff said, “Having heard about Hill’s Fort and its history for
several years, I was determined to experience for myself what it would
have been like living in that era – what our ancestors also
encountered.”
The Kaskaskia Chapter, USD1812, along with the Illinois Society of the
War of 1812 and the Illinois War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission placed
a commemorative plaque on the fort palisade during the bicentennial of
the second war for independence.
Members of the Kaskaskia Chapter participated in a dedication
ceremony for a fence surrounding the grave of Captain Benjamin
Godfrey, War of 1812 veteran and founder of Godfrey, Illinois on
October 21, 2018. The chapter donated to the project. The
ceremony was sponsored by the Ninian Edwards Chapter, DAR.
Attending the ceremony was State President Leah Beckhoff.
Honorary State President Lola DeGroff (right) installed the new
officers able to attend. L-R, Leah Beckhoff, State President and
Kathryn Zimmerman,.
Susan McPeters and Kathy Elliott present the program.
Alice Cripe, Dorothy Albert, Virginia Rinehart, Marie Boedecker,
Paul Dorocke, Mr. Elliott
Jone VanWinkle, Betty Ruth Hoellerich, Patricia Hopkins-Price,
Honorary State President Carole Wylder,
Honorary State President Lola DeGroff, Jim DeGroff, Linda
Wasem
Nancy Sheppard, Linda Williams, Christine Henderson
Outgoing State Registrar Joy Upton, speaker Kathy Elliott, and
outgoing State Chaplain Leah Beckhoff
Outgoing State Secretary Kathy Zimmerman, speaker Susan McPeters,
Sangamon River Chapter President Lynda Kerstein
Illinois Society N.S.U.S.D. 1812 held their annual meeting March
24, 2018 in Springfield, Illinois. Sangamon River
Chapter
was the hostess chapter for this year’s meeting.
Unfortunately there were many unable to attend at the last minute
due to
inclement weather; including State President Kimberly Nagy.
The program was “Forgotten Illinois: The Battle of Campbell’s
Island During the War of 1812 and the Monument Commemorating the
Event” by Susan McPeters and Kathy Elliott.
Congratulations to Leah Beckhoff the new state
president.
State President Kim Nagy presides over the 2017 State Council
held at the Grace Lutheran Church in Springfield on March 11th.
Kaskaskia Chapter was the hostess chapter.
Mary Truitt from the Illinois National Road Association of
Illinois presented the program on the National Road.
 
Left - Dale Phillips, Superintendent of the Lincoln Home National
Historic Site, gave an excellent program on the Battle of New
Orleans at the state council meeting on March 28, 2015 in
Springfield, IL. Right - newly installed state officers:: (left
to right) Susan Dove, Chaplain; Kathy Zimmerman, Secretary; Rose
Wilson, Curator; Kathleen Haas, Historian/Librarian; Teri-Ellen
Rogers, Treasurer; Mary Barringer, Vice President; and Dr.
Kimberly Nagy, President. Not present was Joy Upton,
Registrar.
 
State President Lola DeGroff with President National Ginger Apyer
during the National Society of the War f 1812 Triennial meeting
in Baltimore, MD in September 2014. The President National
dedicated the cannon which was purchased by the USD1812 for Fort
McHenry.
 
March 29, 2014 state meeting in Springfield, IL.
(L) State President Lola DeGroff thanks author Eddie Price for
presenting a wonderful program about the soldiers of Kentucky
during the War of 1812. Price is the prize winning author of Widder's Landing.
(R) Julie Worthen, president of the Kaskaskia Chapter, presents a
Spirit of 1812 award to Jim DeGroff.
John Kinzie Chapter President Kim Nagy, State Historian Kathleen
Haas, and State President Lola DeGroff presented a program at the
First Annual Illinois Heritage Weekend in East Peoria, Illinois
on September 28, 2013.
Congratulations to
Charles B. Schweizer who received the Spirit of 1812 award during
the state council held in Bloomington, Illinois on March 2, 2013.
He was nominated by the Kaskaskia Chapter. Behind him is State
President Lola DeGroff and his daughter and son-in-law.
Dolley Madison (aka Barbara Kay)
Honorary State
President
Kathy Haas spoke at the Battle of Fort Dearborn
Commemoration Day at the Chicago History Museum on August 11,
2012
A historical
marker was
dedicated at the grave of Ninian Edwards on June 23, 2012, at Oak
Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Congratulations to
the Sangamon River Chapter who worked hard to make the ceremony a
success.
During the state meeting in Springfield on
March 10, 2011, State President Carole Wylder presented the
Spirit of 1812 Award to William (Bill) Wilson. Mr. Wilson
is an avid scholar of the War of 1812 era. He was the
catalyst in the reconstruction of Hill's Fort in Greenville.
He has authored books on Illinois forts and is a
sought-after speaker about events of that era. Wilson
serves as Chairman of the Illinois War of 1812 Bicentennial
Commission, president of the Hill's Fort Society. He is
a member of the Illinois Society of the War of 1812.
At an event
held at historic Pere Marquette
in Grafton, Illinois on July 24, 2011, Carole Clements
Wylder,
State President, tells those attending about the goals of the
USD1812 in Illinois.
Carole Clements Wylder, State President,
Nona Thompson Quinn, President National
& Jim DeGroff, State Vice President Illinois Society of 1812
at the State Council in
Decatur, March 5, 2011
The
U.S.D. of
1812 Insignia is the property of and is copyrighted by the
National Society of the United States Daughters of 1812.
Authorization must be received by the National
Society.
Web
hyperlinks to non-U.S.D. of 1812 sites are not the responsibility
of the N.S.U.S.D. of 1812, the state societies, or
individual U.S.D. of 1812 chapters
Website
developed by webmaster on September 30, 2010.
Last update April 15, 2024
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