Mary Lee Howell is the President of the North Carolina Society of the Children of the American Revolution for the 2016-2017 term. She is 15 years old and has been a C.A.R. member since she was 4 years old.
Mary Lee was elected at the 76th State Conference in March 2016 and was installed on the grounds of Mount Vernon at National Convention in April. Prior to becoming State President, Mary Lee served as a National Chairman, State Vice President, State Historian, and in several chairman positions. She has also served as a Page at several C.A.R. State Conferences and at the North Carolina Society DAR State Conference. Mary Lee is a member of the local Kingston Society C.A.R. and where she served in several chairman and officer positions, including Society President for two years.
Mary Lee a rising junior at Princeton High School in Princeton, North Carolina. In 8th grade she received the Good Citizenship Medal from the Smith-Bryan Chapter, DAR in Smithfield. She has been a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes since 7th grade. As a sophomore she assisted on several FFA community projects and was a member of the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America organization.
Mary Lee has been participating in gymnastics for three years. She competed on the JV level at High School meets for the past two years and just completed her first year of Competition Team gymnastics as a member of Morgan’s Gymnastics Academy.
She loves the North Carolina State University “Wolfpack” and hopes to attend college there.
Mary Lee’s State President’s Project is to support the Governor Richard Caswell Memorial in Kinston, North Carolina. Her theme for the year is Patriots and Public Servants.
He [Richard Caswell] was a model man and a true patriot.” – John Adams
Of the many Patriots and Public Servants during the Revolutionary era, the State President’s Project highlights one very influential and committed man named Richard Caswell.
Caswell’s public service included Clerk of Court, Sheriff, a judge, and election to the North Carolina Assembly where he served for 20 years. During the First Provincial Congress, members elected Caswell as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. John Adams says of Caswell “We always looked to Richard Caswell for North Carolina. He was a model man and true patriot.” He returned for the Second Continental Congress in 1775.
His military career began as a Loyalist, participating in Gov. Tryon’s win at the Battle of Alamance. But Caswell’s support changed and he led Patriot forces to victory on 27 February, 1776 at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. He continued in various military battles throughout the Revolution.
Caswell attended the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Provincial Congresses. He was appointed Chairman of the committee to draw up a state constitution which was adopted in 1776. In 1777 he was elected the state’s first independent governor, a position he held until 1780 and again from 1785-1787.
Although the first attempt in 1788 to ratify the United States Constitution failed, at Caswell’s urging a second Constitutional Convention was scheduled for 16 November 1789 in Fayetteville. During the General Assembly meeting on 3 November Caswell had a stroke and died on November 10. Not long after his death it was made public that he died penniless and in debt.
During his life Caswell supported free public education and various humanitarian causes, promoted trade and industry and refining the court system, and believed in public defense. A monument erected to Caswell in 1881 in Kinston states ” He was called to the head of affairs in No[rth] Ca[rolina] in the darkest hour of the struggle with Great Britain for independence– He gave his services without stint and without compensation.” In 1965 the Historic Sites Section of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources began operating the Governor Richard Caswell Memorial visitor center and museum. Today the Memorial needs updates including exhibit repairs, signage replacement, and interior and exterior design elements. Also, the name and importance of Caswell has been diluted in North Carolina history and it is hoped the State President’s Project will bring his role as a Patriot and Public Servant back to the level of recognition he deserves.
The only museum dedicated to this public servant, the Governor Richard Caswell Memorial is in need of updating. Built in 1965, the goal of the State Project for 2016 is to raise money to replace aging signage, improve the overall exterior appearance, and update interior sections of the Memorial. Also, by promoting the historic site it is hoped attention will be turned to this important figure in North Carolina history. The Memorial building once housed offices for two historic sites. In 2015 the Historic Sites Division opened the new CSS Neuse Civil War Museum and Interpretive Center in downtown Kinston. The physical separation of the two attractions has created challenges.
The brochure for Mary Lee’s year can be found here StatePresidentsProject2016-2017