Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/506

Rh cleverly and thoroughly organized of all the states. After serving as regent she was unanimously elected one of the vice-presidents-general of the National Society.

Mrs. Davis is a native of Wisconsin. She removed from that state to Washington, D. C, and joined the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1896, being indorsed by and entering through the Columbia Chapter of the District of Columbia. Mrs. Davis has served the chapter as historian, treasurer, vice-regent and regent, and represented it in the Continental Congress as delegate or regent from 1897 until she was elected to fill out the unexpired term of Mrs. D. K. Shute, resigning the office of regent to become treasurer-general. At the Fourteenth Continental Congress she was called upon to succeed herself. No other candidate being brought forward, she was declared the unanimous choice of the congress. Mrs. Davis is of English descent in three lines of ancestors. She also had the honor of receiving and reporting the two largest contributions to the Memorial Continental Hall, that to the Fourteenth Congress being in cash and pledges and amounting to $37,660.32 and that to the Fifteenth Congress being in cash and pledges amounting to $35,654.60.

Mrs. John C. Ames—Minerva Ross Ames—state regent for Illinois, 1909-1910, is a native Illinoisan. Her father, John Ross, of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, whose antecedents were the same as George Ross, the "signer," and her mother, Elizabeth Hunter Ross, of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, came to Illinois about 1850.

Mrs. Ames comes of patriotic stock, tracing her ancestry back to Revolutionary soldiers both through her father's and mother's line. Her great-grandfather, Lieutenant Hunter (on her mother's side), was a Revolutionary hero. She is also eligible to the Daughters of 1812. Her only brother gave his life for his country in the Civil War. She has perpetuated the patriotic and military spirit by giving a son for service in the Spanish-American War.

Mrs. Ames became a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution many years ago, and has always taken an active part in promoting the welfare of the organization and the patriotic principles for which it stands. During her temporary residence in Chicago she served the Chicago Chapter as its recording secretary and first vice-regent.

Mrs. Ames is possessed of a love and loyalty for the order, a fervent patriotic spirit, a pleasing personality and great executive ability and extended acquaintance throughout the state. She was a member of a "State Park Commission" appointed by Governor Deneen to investigate and report to the legislature several sites suitable for state parks, which resulted in an appropriation by the legislature of funds for buying the historic spot, "Starved Rock," and several hundred acres surrounding it as a state park. She was one of the founders of the oldest and most active literary clubs in her city and has served