Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865

The Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865 national organization was organized on Memorial Day, May 30, 1885 in Massillon, Ohio, and was incorporated in Ohio on December 12, 1885. The Athens chapter of this society was referred to as "Tent #100" under the direction of Mrs. John Ellis Wool.

From the guide to the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865, Athens chapter records, 1930-1965, (Ohio University)

The Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (DUV) was representative of the late nineteenth-century organizations founded to honor veterans of the war and speak on their behalf. The first such organization on the national level was probably the Grand Army of the Republic, which Benjamin F. Stephenson founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois. By the 1880s, the families and descendents of union war veterans formed their own organizations. They created the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in 1881 and organized several women's auxiliaries, including the Women's Relief Corps and the Ladies Aid Society, both founded in 1883. In 1885, the women's auxiliaries met in Massillon, Ohio to form their own autonomous organization, the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, devoted to preserving the memory of the union cause and aiding union veterans and their survivors. In the opinion of one of its local officers, the DUV needed to participate actively in public affairs in order to "spread widely the teaching of patriotism that in peace or war there shall be no stain on the flag our fathers saved." The DUV had a three-tiered structure: a national organization, "departments" at the state level, and "tents" at the local level. The Illinois Department was founded in 1895, with Julia Croft Philips and Alice L. Ingram Hansen as the first two presidents. In 1912, members of the Illinois Department founded the Logan Home, later known as the Maywood Home for Soldiers' Widows, with Della Hinshaw as the first president. Through the 1970s, the home provided a space "for the maintenance, nursing and care of aged and infirm widows, of Union Veterans of the Civil War, descendants thereof, and widows of veterans of all other wars fought in the defense of the United States of America." The Maywood Home appears to have shut down by the 1980s. The Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War continues in existence today. The organization has 20 departments and over 40 tents and purports to be "the only Civil War lineal descent women's organization genealogically based on lineal descent."

From the description of Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War collection, 1911-1980. (University of Illinois-Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 61146439

A patriotic order, founded in alliance with the Grand Army of the Republic on Memorial Day, May 30, 1885, in Massillon, Ohio. All members are required to be direct lineal descendants of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, or marines who served in the Union forces in the Civil War from 1861-1865.

The order was founded by Harriet Knapp, Bertha Martin, Frank Merwin, Eva Merwin and Olive Howald. The constitution and bylaws were written in the fall of 1885. It was incorporated with the help of then U.S. representative from Ohio, Major William McKinley, on December 12, 1885. The original name, National Alliance, Daughters of Union Veterans, was changed to Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865 at the national convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan, September, 1925.

From the description of Records, 1912-1988. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 31023762