Recording Secretary General Introduction

Peggy Troxell, Recording Secretary General

July 30, 2019

It is such an honor to serve on the VanBuren Administration as the Recording Secretary General. I look forward to working with these amazing women as we guide our Society to Rise and Shine for America!

DAR has been such a blessing in my life. After living my whole life in Ohio, my husband’s company and our family relocated to North Carolina, where we didn’t know a soul or have any connections. I decided to join the local Garden Club and very quickly made good friends with Henrietta Auman. She asked me if I knew what DAR was and if I thought I might have a Patriot ancestor. She invited me to visit the Davie Poplar Chapter. One visit was enough to sell me. I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of this vibrant, active group of ladies. I immediately planned a trip to Washington, Georgia, from where my family comes, to find a Patriot.

I walked into the town’s little library, where I found three books written about my Patriot, John Ogletree. Henrietta helped to fill out the Application and off it went to Washington, D.C., only to be sent right back with a “Have Written” letter. I asked a friend and SAR member, Nat Clark who came to our Hillsborough Library every Monday to do research, if he could help me. He immediately found the proof for my Georgia ancestor.

During the Revolutionary War, John had rented a farm in Caswell County, North Carolina, and served as Captain of the Patrollers, so his service was in North Carolina and not Georgia. I live in Orange County, but Caswell is the next county to the north. I suddenly felt a connection to North Carolina and since have found more lineal ties to the Old North State and my adopted home town of Hillsborough. My seventh great grandfather, Lawrence Bankston, was appointed in 1752 by the North Carolina General Assembly to serve on the first vestry of St. Matthew’s Parrish in Hillsborough, my home church, where I, too, have served on the vestry. As my house was a tavern before the Revolutionary War, I am sure that as a Magistrate, he visited the William Courtney Yellow House many times. What a feeling to know that your ancestor was probably sitting in your living room at one time.

I have had the honor of serving as Chapter Regent, State Recording Secretary, State Vice Regent and as the State Regent of North Carolina. Serving the North Carolina Daughters was the most wonderful experience, as it was so heartwarming to see their love and devotion to DAR.

I am the immediate past National Chair of the DAR School Committee, a committee to which I feel strongly connected. Being a Pediatric nurse, the well-being and health of children has always been very important to me. All children deserve a safe and loving home environment in which to grow up. I am proud of the way that DAR members all across the nation support the DAR Schools and children in need.

As a Registered Nurse, I worked in many different phases of hospital and clinical nursing. My favorite was Labor and Delivery and Pediatrics. I retired as Head Nurse from Chapel Hill Pediatrics.

I look forward to serving in my new role as Recording Secretary General, as this position is the custodian of the legal record of the proceedings of the National Society. These include the minutes and rulings of the Executive Committee; the minutes and rulings of the National Board of Management; and the minutes of the Continental Congress, which are published in the NSDAR Annual Proceedings. I have recently coordinated the content of the 2019 National Information Packet and the Chapter Master Report. Through these two important reports, chapter regents and members can glean information to help plan the work of the chapter for the upcoming year.

I am so appreciative of this opportunity to serve and to give back to a Society that has meant so much to me. It has brought me wonderful friendships, opportunities to serve others and deepened my love for God, home and country. Please join me as we Rise and Shine for America!

Read the other Executive Introduction blog posts

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