Valley Virginia Henshaw joined the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1898 and was appointed Organizing Chapter Regent for West Virginia. Soon thereafter, she established the first chapter in West Virginia, the William Henshaw Chapter.
On April 5, 1899, the William Henshaw Chapter was organized in Hedgesville, West Virginia, under the leadership of Miss Vallie Virginia Henshaw. This was a family chapter of fourteen members, ten of whom were great grandchildren of Lieutenant William Henshaw. Lieutenant Henshaw rendered military service in the French and Indian Wars and served during the Revolutionary War.
It was the privilege of Miss Henshaw to carry the first State report to Continental Congress in 1902.
The following chapters were organized by Miss Henshaw: Colonel Charles Lewis, Point Pleasant; Elizabeth Zane, Buckhannon; James Wood, Parkersburg; and Elizabeth Ludington Hagans, Morgantown.
The organization of these chapters in widely separated sections of the State planted the seed for the splendid harvest of succeeding administrations.
The chapter was chartered April 5, 1899, and was named after Valley Virginia's great grandfather, Captain William Henshaw, who lived in Mill Creek, Virginia, a hamlet that is now a part of Bunker Hill, Berkeley County, West Virginia.
William Henshaw served in the American Revolution as a rifleman in Hugh Stephenson's Company of Berkeley County. This company was called to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1775, shortly after the Battle of Concord.
The first State Regent of West Virginia, Mrs.
Eva Hart Goff, of Clarksburg, was appointed in 1893, and she resigned in March
1895, shortly before her death. The nexxt appointment was that of Mrs. Virginia Whiting Faulkner, Martinsburg, who confirmed on June June 6, 1895. She was agina appointed in 1896 - 1897. No organizational work or appointments were made until 1901. Miss Valley Virginia Henshaw was appointed the third State Regent.
Valley Virginia became the first woman to serve as a chapter regent in the state of West Virginia when she was elected to serve as the first regent of the William Henshaw Chapter. She later served two additional terms as regent of her chapter.
Formation of the William Henshaw Chapter gave birth, on the same date, to the West Virginia State Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
In 1901, Valley Virginia took office as state regent. During her term, she helped organize the next four West Virginia chapters:
Colonel Charles Lewis Chapter, 1901
Elizabeth Zane Chapter, 1902
James Wood Chapter, 1903, and the
Elizabeth Ludington Hagans Chapter, 1904
This chapter is now the Elizabeth Ludington Hagans-Colonel John Evans Chapter
Valley Virginia was the daughter of Levi Henshaw and Sarah Ann Snodgrass. She was born in the "Valley of Virginia" on January 23, 1863.
Her birthplace at Mill Creek (now Bunker Hill) became a part of the new state of West Virginia within months after her birth. By 1870, Levi and his family were living in Hedgesville, Berkeley County, West Virginia.
Prominent among the early educators of Berkeley County, Valley Virginia began teaching in the rural schools and later secured a position in the first grade at the grammar school in Hedgesville.
Valley Virginia married Francis C. Berry, a minister, and they lived in Texas for a time. She died at the age of 64 on June 4, 1927, in West Virginia.
She is buried in the Mount Zion Episcopal Churchyard in Hedgesville next to her parents.
A bronze tablet placed by the William Henshaw Chapter records the pioneer contributions that Valley Virginia Henshaw made to the early development of NSDAR.
The content contained herein does not necessarily represent the position of the NSDAR.
​Hyperlinks to other sites are not the responsibility of the NSDAR, the state organizations, or individual DAR chapters.
