Company D, 6th Texas Infantry, Christmas Wreaths 2010
 


Captain Edward Salmon Rugeley
Namesake of
E. S. Rugeley Chapter 542  more

  


Elizabeth Tabitha Elmore Rugeley
(Wife of Dr. Henry Lowdnes Rugeley)
Founding President
E. S. Rugeley Chapter 542  more



 


E. S. Rugeley Chapter No. 542
United Daughters of the Confederacy

Written by Nantie Pier Lee

The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an organization of women who have dedicated themselves to the preservation of their heritage and the principles of the Old South, with its honor and integrity, and to perpetuate the genealogies of the gallant men in gray. Organized September 10, 1894, at Nashville, Tennessee, with Caroline C. Goodlett as founder, the objectives of the club are historical, benevolent, educational, and patriotic. The cotton boll is the organization's symbol.

The E. S. Rugeley Chapter 542 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was chartered on December 28, 1901. In February, 1902, the chapter had 47 members. Elizabeth Tabitha Elmore (Mrs. H. L.) Rugeley was the first president and she retained that office for 21 years until her death in 1923.

The chapter was named in honor of Captain Edward Salmon Rugeley, who was the commanding officer of the Matagorda Company, the "Caney Rifles," during the War Between the States.

In 1913 the chapter erected the monument to the Confederate soldiers from Matagorda County, which is still standing on the courthouse square. Some 3000 persons attended this glorious occasion, as the veterans paraded around the square. When the new courthouse was completed in 1966, this monument was moved to the plaza of the new building.

In 1931, a memorial marker was erected in historic Matagorda Cemetery. It is a memorial to the 22 young southern heroes under Captain E. S. Rugeley's command, who drowned or froze to death defending Matagorda on the night of December 31, 1863 . One of the more recent achievements of the chapter was the discovery of Captain Rugeley's original letter concerning this incident. Photocopies of this letter were obtained from the National Archives and placed in area colleges and schools and in the Matagorda County Museum.

The old ledger listing the original members of this UDC chapter states, "Admission - 10 cents; Annual dues - 70 cents!" The chapter has scrapbooks from 1901 through current years and ledgers beginning in 1902. The scrapbooks contain records of many social events organized for the benefit of the "boys of 1861" and other activities honoring county Confederate veterans. The scrapbooks and other artifacts are housed at the Matagorda County Museum in Bay City, Texas.

In 1968 the chapter members discovered and marked two unknown Confederate soldier's graves with the Southern Cross of Honor. The soldier became ill and died while camped in Matagorda County and were buried by their comrades.

The Chapter's membership had slipped to five and in 1987 it was reactivated and presently has 21 members and one associate member.    more
 

 

CHAPTER MOTTO, COLORS  FLOWER


Motto: "Bless be the tie that binds."

Colors: Red, White & Blue

Flower: Cape Jasmine

 

 

 


In Honor of our Confederate Ancestors
 

 

Ware Benge

Co. I, 10th Texas Infantry

John Chism

Cos. C & H, 2nd Mississippi State Cavalry

Leonard Chism

Co. H, 2nd Mississippi State Cavalry

Robert Chism

Co. H, 2nd Regiment Mississippi State Cavalry

William Bradford Chism

Co. B, 1st Regiment Mississippi Infantry Patton's

John Martin Cooper

Co. H, 1st Louisiana Cavalry

August Duffy

Co. D, 6th Texas Infantry

James Wiley Early

Co. D, 25th Alabama Infantry

John Edward Early

Co. D, 25th Alabama Infantry

Reuben Early

Co. D, 25th Alabama Infantry

William Henry Earley/Early

Co. A, 10th Alabama Infantry

William Taylor Gainer

Co. G, 8th Texas Infantry, Terry's Texas Rangers

Zachariah Gibbs

Co. D, 39th Mississippi Infantry

Dr. Asa Wesley Griggs

33rd Alabama Regiment

Isaac Newton Hood

Co. K, 15th Arkansas Infantry

Thomas J. Kuykendall

Co. D, Col. R. R. Garland's Texas Infantry

Joseph Ledwik/Ledwig

Co. K, 2nd Texas Infantry

Charner James McCollum

 

John Henry Moore, Jr.

Co. B, 2nd Texas Infantry

John Henry Moore, Sr.

Co. F, 8th Texas Cavalry, Terry's Texas Rangers

Marcus DeLafayette Rowe

Co. E, 20th Georgia Infantry

Edward Salmon Rugeley

Co. D, 35th Texas Cavalry (Brown's)

Jacob Seeders

Co. B, 77th Regt. Virginia Militia

Thomas Jefferson Strickland

Co. B, 37th Alabama Infantry

Gilford Dudley Tarkington

Co. C, 30th Arkansas Infantry

George W. Thrash

Co. B, 60th Georgia Infantry

James Jefferson Thrash

Co. E, 41st Georgia Infantry

John Joseph Thrash

Militia Co., District 697 Georgia Infantry, "Joe Brown's Pets"

William Lumpkin Thrash

Co. K, 55th Georgia Infantry

Isaac S. Tindal

Co. E, 19th Alabama Infantry

John B. Tindal

Co. B, 9th Battalion Georgia Artillery

Matthew Alexander Tindal

Co. D, 15th Virginia Infantry

John Wesley Touchton, Sr.

Co. C, 10th Georgia?

Hollingsworth Vandiver

Co. E, 19th Alabama Infantry

Johnston Vandiver

Co. E, 19th Alabama Infantry

Whitfield Anthony Vandiver

Co. E, 19th Alabama Infantry

Edward Harvey Watkins

Co. H, 17th Mississippi Infantry

John Hobson Williams

Co. E, 20th Georgia Infantry

Philip Yeamans, Sr.

Served on Confederate Gunboat John F. Carr Texas Navy

 


 


 

 

Clipart courtesy of
 Savage Goodner Camp 1513

 

*Links on this site to outside web sites does not imply endorsement, approval or concurrence by the United Daughters of the Confederacy on any level.
 


"The name 'United Daughters of the Confederacy' is a registered trademark of the General Organization and may not be used outside the Organization without the express written consent of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The official UDC insignia is a registered trademark of the General Organization and may not be used without the express written consent of the President General."
 

 

Copyright 2005 - Present by
E. S Rugeley Chapter 542 United Daughters of the Confederacy
All rights reserved
Created
Feb. 1, 2005		 Updated
Aug. 12, 2019

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