Sons of the American Revolution
Chapter President: Carl Hill Treasurer: Carl Hill
Vice President: Don Burns Registrar: Carl Hill and Mike Green - interim
Metals & Awards: Dr. Robert Graves Secretary: ` Steve Barber
Veteran's Outreach: TBN Youth Award: TBN
Publicity Chair: TBN
Alexander Hodge Chapter No. 49
Minutes
January 30, 2024
The members of the Alexander Hodge #49, Sons of the American Revolution, gathered at Spring Creek Barbeque located at 4895 Highway 6, Missouri City, TX.
In the private meeting room, Carl Hill called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. with an Invocation given by Phil Whitley followed by pledges to the United States flag, to the Texas flag and to the SAR flag.
19-Attending Chapter Members: Carl Hill (President & Treasure), Steven Barber (Secretary), Don Rollins (Sgt. of Arms), Phil Whitley (Chaplain), Jim G. Penny (Web Master), Mike Green (Newsletter), Rick Giuffre, Dennis Giuffre, Matt Barber, John Lucey, Scott Hutchinson, Kevin Buford, John Placette, Don Burns, Christopher Owens, Randal Hankla, Bob Walzel, Jason Barnes and Allen Bogard.
1-Attending New Prospective Chapter SAR Members: Skip Griffin
3-Honorary Guest: Sam Massey-State of Texas SAR President, Richard L. Zdunkewicz, District 7 Vice President and -Flem Rogers Tonight’s Guest Speaker
12 Other Guests: Mrs. Bernice Mistriot, Mrs. Sharon Rollins, Mrs. Sherri Burns Mrs. Cheryl Buford, Mrs.Carolyn Krysl Hutchison, Mrs. Sandy Hutchinson, Ms. Eron Tynes, Mrs. Jo Ann Placette, Mrs. Kathern Owens, Mrs. Randa Owens Williams, Mrs. Catherine Massey and Mrs. Sandra Barber
Recognitions: Don Burns, Jason Barnes, Scott Hutchinson and John Placette were sworn into the Alexander Hodge Chapter N0. 49, this evening. All gentlemen were awarded their certificate of SAR Membership by Sam Massey, Texas SAR President and Carl Hill, President of Alexander Hodge Chapter #49.
State SAR Presidents Report: Sam Massey and his wife Catherine attended this month Chapter meeting. President Massey presented events coming up for the State Convention and the 250th Anniversary of the SAR organization in 2026.
President Massey presented the effort to build a Texas State SAR Monument in the State Cemetery in Austin, TX. In recognition of this 250 th Anniversary. This $60,000.00 Project has a GOFUNDME setup on the State Website for information and donations. $47,00.00 has been pledged to date. Our District VP. Mr. Richard Zdunkewicz is the Chairman for this fund raiser and can answer question on this important project and can take donations.
President Massey also announced there will be several new programs on Education on the American Revolution associated with the 2026 Patriots Program for the 250 th Anniversary. Keep an eye out for these programs in the SAR magazine and the State SAR webpage.
Treasury Report: Carl Hill presented the Treasures Report. The Chapter’s Treasury has a balance of $9,136.87.
Monies were spent on procuring the 2026 Flag and stand for the 250th Anniversary of the SAR organization.
It was recognized that Mrs. Betrice Mistriot made a generation donation to the Alexander Hodge Chapter #49 in remembrance of her husband Mr. Shelby Mistriot,
Registrar’s Report: 2023 ended with the Alexander Hodge Chapter #49 adding 12 new sworn in members. We also had 3 additional people transfer into the Chapter from other SAR Chapters in State orout of State, with one member that transferred out of State to another SAR Chapter.
This position is still being completed as a committee by Carl Hill and Michael Green. Any member thathas a gift or interest in learning more about research into genealogy contact Carl Hill.
Web Site and Newsletter Report:
Web page for more information. (http://www.hodgesar.org) Jim Penny continues his research into Virgina Continental Uniforms worn during the Revolutionary War. This Chapter has 31 members that trace their heritage back to Virginia.
Mike Green is stepping down as Newsletter Editor. Anybody interested in contributing some time to the Chapters business and communicating what is happening monthly in the Chapter contact Mike Green.
Chapter Meeting Speaker: Mr. Flem Rodgers
Mr. Rodgers presentation was a review of the types of rifles used in the American Revolution by British and American troop. Four different brands of rifles were displayed for inspection by all.
The most common rifle used at the time of the revolutionary war was the British “Brown Bess” musket.
This smooth bore rifle had limited accuracy of about 80 to 100 yards. The advantage of this weapon was it easy to reload and fire at a rate of reloading and firing four times per minute by an experienced soldier.
This was the most common weapon used by both British and American soldiers. The ideal battle practice using this Musket was having several rows of soldier’s line up (20 in a line and three lines) with each line firing their weapons separately while the other lines reloaded in preparation to fire again. The idea was to produce massive and continuous volley of firing at close range.
There were various versions of the smooth bore musket used in the American Revolutionary war that were imported from various European countries. The Prussian soldiers bought their own version in supporting the British side of the war. However, muskets were imported from Spain and France. The Franch “Charleville” musket is an example of one of these imported muskets.
These smooth bore muskets could be loaded with a single ball or with multiple balls of shot, but there was very little accuracy beyond 80 yards. These were designed as weapons of war as wars were fought in the 17th and 18th century.
German and Swiss immigrants into America who were blacksmiths and gunsmiths, started designing a rifle that was more accurate. These have been called the Pennsylvania, or Kentucky long rifles. Most of these can be lumped into the category of the American Long Rifle. These were not designed for war or for the American Revolution, but more for hunting. The long rifle also evolved with various improvements along the way. Originally these were large caliber rifles of 0.45 to .60 caliber. Along the way, the rifle was designed with longer barrels and with grooved barrels to improve accuracy. Lower calibers of 0.40 to 0.45 calibers were introduced to make the rifle lighter to use.
The American Long Rifle was much more accurate up to 200 yards. Great for killing deer in the woods, or as a sniper rifle to pickoff enemy soldiers from a distance. However, this rifle was difficult to load and fire.
It took a well experienced and trained rifleman to effectively operate the weapon. This introduce another method of warfare, guerrilla warfare.
In the American Revolutionary Army 10 Rifle Companies were formed to fight the British army. The groups of rifle men consisted of roughly about 100 men each equipped with the American Long Riffle.
One of the more famous of these groups that were assigned to George Washington’s army was Danial Morgan Rifle Corp.
Closing Remarks:
President reported the next Alexander Hodge No.49-chapter meeting will be held March 26th , 2024, at the Spring Creek Barbeque restaurant on Highway 6 in Missouri City, TX.
Recessional: The SAR recessional was recited by all present.
Benediction: Closing benediction was given by Phil Whitley, Chaplain.
Prepared by Steven J. Barber, Secretary