Sean Harvatine, a senior at Milton High School, is this year's Janesville Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award winner. Sean is recognized as a Good Citizen because he demonstrates the qualities of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism in his home, school, and community. Sean received a scholarship award and was recognized at the Janesville Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution award ceremony on February 11, 2018. Congrats to Sean!
I wanted to share with you a Facebook group I created for our Janesville Chapter DAR members. This is a closed group so only our chapter members can join, and those not in the group cannot see posts made in the group. If you are on Facebook, find the group at the link below and request to join; I'll get you added. Thought this might help us stay connected outside of meetings and provide an informal forum for Q&A and general sharing. -Lisa Lucas, Webmaster
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DARJanesville/ Members enjoyed a mid-summer social get-together on Sunday, July 2 at Northleaf Winery in Milton. Two DAR teams competed in trivia and enjoyed delicious wine. One of our teams even won third place and a $10 gift certificate to the winery. Way to go! Stay tuned for more social outings later this summer.
The Janesville Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Wisconsin Society Colonial Dames 17th Century have combined forces to remember and honor those buried at the Rock County Health Care Center Cemetery, a.k.a. Rock County Poor Farm Cemetery #2, a “potter’s field,” located beside Sportsman’s Park at 3411 N. US Highway 51 in Janesville.
This simple field surrounded by beautiful pine trees and, rather incongruously, large residential homes, can easily be overlooked. However, it is the final resting place for 276 former Rock County residents. The field saw burials between 1894 and 1962. Most individuals buried here were either residents of the poor farm or patients at the Rock County [Tuberculosis] Sanitarium, or the Insane Asylum. Each burial plot is marked with a small concrete marker and a number. Sadly, the names of those buried are not listed on the plots or anywhere on the premises. However, through research conducted by members of the DAR and Colonial Dames, these names were recovered from the Charles Tallman Archives & Research Center. After recovering these names, DAR and Colonial Dames members began collecting hundreds of silk flowers this spring, bundled them into small bouquets, and then wired them to painted stakes that were placed at each plot on May 21. Each bouquet includes a waterproof placard with the name of the individual buried there, their date of birth and death (when known), and a small epitaph. Through hours of research and bouquet preparation volunteered by DAR and Colonial Dames members, these “forgotten individuals” become known to the world again and their memories are honored. Due to winter weather, these bouquets are only permitted to be placed in the summer months; bouquets are removed by DAR and Colonial Dames members later in the summer and stored over the winter. However, the DAR and Colonial Dames are considering how to make these installations more permanent with, perhaps, the addition of signage that would include the names and corresponding plot numbers of those buried there. This could be very useful, especially for people visiting the field to locate ancestors. Be sure to stop by Rock County Health Care Center Cemetery this summer to view the sea of beautiful bouquets and to spend a few moments remembering those buried there. Thank you to the DAR and Colonial Dames for their hard work in bringing this project to fruition. Click on any of the photos below for a larger view. Outgoing Chapter Regent Nancy Zolidis (left) hands over the gavel to incoming Chapter Regent Leah Burrows at the April Janesville DAR meeting on April 8.
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