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 Jonas Babcock Chapter, NSDAR, was organized on October
9, 1970,
by Mary Phelps Engstrom. The original eighteen members had
planned to name their chapter for Carrie Adell Strahorn, but National considered her “too modern” to
be honored with a chapter name.
Carrie’s Revolutionary War ancestor, Jonas Babcock, was chosen
instead.
Jonas Babcock was born in Stonington, Connecticut, on May 14, 1764. He first served as a private in the
Revolution when he was fifteen years of age. In all, he served three different terms
in the war, and was discharged as a sergeant in 1784. His father and a brother also
served. He died in Westford, New York, on December
27, 1847,
at the age of 83 years. A marker
was placed on Jonas Babcock’s grave by the Iroquois Chapter, NSDAR, on
July 23, 1988.
Jonas Babcock was a deacon in the Congregational
Church in Westford for 42 years.
He kept a journal which is still in existence. In this he wrote, “May peace forever
remain between the United States and all other powers if
possible. If not, may America subdue them and bring
them peace again.”
Carrie Adell Green, Jonas
Babcock’s great granddaughter, was born in Marengo, Illinois, in
1854. She was educated at the University of Michigan, and studied music in Europe and Boston. In 1877, she married Robert E. Strahorn, a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News
in Denver, and they made their home
in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Her husband was hired by Jay Gould, the
president of the Union Pacific Railroad, to write pamphlets describing
the west, as a way of attracting settlers.
Carrie and her husband traveled throughout the west
from 1877 until 1890. Carrie was
the first white woman to explore extensively the Yellowstone and Glacier National Park
areas, and explored the entire west from Alaska to New Mexico. Following their adventures, they
settled in Boston, but missing the west,
they moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1898. It was in Spokane that she wrote her book, 15,000 Miles by Stage, which was published
by G.P. Putnam & Sons in 1911.
In Spokane, Carrie Strahorn was a member of the Esther Reed Chapter,
NSDAR, through her ancestor, Jonas Babcock. Carrie Strahorn
was a true Daughter of the West and an inspiration to the women of
eastern Washington and the members of the
Jonas Babcock Chapter.
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