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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; Members of the Shawnee Fort Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution were given an educational lecture on local history on Saturday.</p><p>The Plymouth-based group gathered at Misericordia University where the president of the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society, Tony Brooks, showed a slide show of portraits of people from the Wyoming Valley&#8217;s past who left a great impact on the area.</p><p>&#8220;I would show a portrait of a person and describe who they were, what they did, where they came from, what they were doing and talk about the art in the portrait as well as who painted it,&#8221; said Brooks. &#8220;I&#8217;m using it as a vehicle to explain local history.&#8221;</p><p>Brooks talked about people such as Charles Miner, a valley native who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Col. Charles Dorrance, who was the first president of the Luzerne County Agricultural Society when it formed in 1858, to name a few.</p><p>Brooks said he does history lectures at schools, scout groups, church groups, neighborhood associations and other groups.</p><p>He believes the importance of the lecture is to help people get more appreciation for the area.</p><p>&#8220;I think if people truly understand their local history it makes them more proud of the area today,&#8221; Brooks said. &#8220;Obviously if I&#8217;m talking to the Daughters of the American Revolution, they get that.&#8221;</p><p>The DAR is all about history, and to be a member one must have documented proof that they had an ancestor contribute in some way to the American Revolution, according to Vice Region Kathleen Smith.</p><p>The group was formed in 2009 after Smith noticed a large attendance at a workshop she hosted.</p><p>&#8220;I was doing genealogy and I was at the time the state lineage research chairman,&#8221; she said.&#8221; I did a workshop in Plymouth and realized we had over 20 people attend, then I realized there&#8217;s no chapter on the West Side. Never has been. It was a big draw, and you can&#8217;t get much more local history than Plymouth.&#8221;</p><p>There are currently 62 members of the DAR.</p><p>Smith herself said she had two ancestors from the American Revolution &#8212; Capt. Samuel Auchmuty, who fought in the war, and Daniel St. Clair, a drum major and non-commissioned officer commanding the drummers of a regimental band, as well as Auchmuty&#8217;s son-in-law.</p><p>The DAR focuses on preserving local history and have done activities such as raising funds for historical houses, cemeteries and even honored Brooks with a DAR Founders Medal for Patriotism.</p><p>The group meets the third Saturday of every month at the Plymouth Municipal building, 162 W. Shawnee Avenue.</p><p>The lecture that Brooks provided for the group was not the first time he worked with the DAR, nor will it be the last.</p><p>&#8220;Our next project together is the restoration of the Col. Zebulon Butler&#8217;s grave site at Hollenback Cemetery,&#8221; said Brooks. &#8220;We have to raise the money, but it&#8217;s a project for the fall. That&#8217;s in conjunction with the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society, the Hollenback Cemetery Association and the DAR. So there&#8217;s three groups working on that.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Tony Brooks presented a program talking about the history of Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley through portraits of the forefathers and their families at Misericordia University in Dallas on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_portraits01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tony Brooks presented a program talking about the history of Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley through portraits of the forefathers and their families at Misericordia University in Dallas on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_portraits02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tony Brooks talks with members of the audience after Brooks presented a program on the history of Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley through portraits at Misericordia University in Dallas on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_portraits02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Tony Brooks talks with members of the audience after Brooks presented a program on the history of Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley through portraits at Misericordia University in Dallas on Saturday. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Shawnee Fort Chapter DAR receives presentation on local history</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jimmy Fisher</p><p>jfisher@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jimmy Fisher at 570-704-3972 or on Twitter @SD_JimmyFisher</p></shirttailMeta></div>