Emily Louisa Gerry
Emily Louisa Gerry (1802-1894) was the First Regent of the Mary Clap Wooster Chapter, NSDAR, and a true Daughter of the American Revolution. Miss Emily was the daughter of the Honorable Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Massachusetts, and for two years Vice-President of the United States under James Madison in 1813. For several years before her death, she enjoyed the distinction of being the only surviving child of a "signer." Her name and personality brought prestige to our newly formed chapter that still abides.
The Mary Clap Wooster Chapter, NSDAR, is the only chapter worldwide to have had a Real Daughter as a regent.
Emily Louisa Gerry (1802 - 1894)
Emily Louisa Gerry Gravestone
Real Daughters
A Real Daughter is a woman who was a member of the DAR and was the biological daughter of a Revolutionary War Patriot or soldier, recognized as such by the Daughters of the American Revolution. When the DAR was founded in 1890, over a century after the war ended, it was remarkable that direct children of any Patriot were still alive. These Real Daughters were a direct, living link to the founding of the United States and its fight for independence.
In addition to Regent Emily Louisa Gerry, the Mary Clap Wooster Chapter, NSDAR, had two other Real Daughters as members. Sisters Phebe Kimberly Castle and Lucretia Kimberly were daughters of Patriot Ezra Kimberly. Ezra Kimberly was born in 1764 and, although young at the time of the American Revolution, his service was principally as a substitute in the defense of New Haven at the time of Tryon’s attack in 1779.
Real Daughter Phebe Kimberly Castle