From the Morgue: Allene Groves' rise in the DAR

Allene Rhodes Groves — wife of Ford man Frederic A. Groves and daughter of Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Love Wilson — began her climb to national prominence in the Daughters of the American Revolution in the fall of 1949, when she was nominated to be the regent of the Missouri State Society.

She would go on to become the president general of the DAR in 1956, serving a three-year term.

Published Oct. 24, 1949, in the Southeast Missourian:

Mrs F.A. Groves and Mrs. Beckman proposed D.A.R. state candidates

Highlighting the closing session of the Missouri State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, Saturday afternoon was the official presentation of Mrs. Lois K. McGinnis regent of the Nancy Hunter Chapter (in Cape Girardeau), of Mrs. Frederic A. Groves of Cape Girardedau, as a candidate for office of regent of the Missouri State Society, national society of the DAR, and of Mrs. Robert Lee Beckman, also of Cape Girardeau, as candidate for office of state corresponding secretary. The two candidates will be voted on at the state conference Kansas City March 14-16, 1950.

With Mrs. C.M. McWilliams, Jackson, district director, presiding at the session, members heard individual messages from the state vice president, Miss Inez Wolfe; the state regent, Mrs. William J. Boyd, and the regent of the host society, Mrs. McKinnis.

Another feature of the afternoon program was a tribute by Mrs. S. Hunter of New Madrid, honoring the oldest member of the district, Mrs. Ed Wright, 93, of Portageville, and a member for 38 years.

Mrs. Wright served as assistant editor of the New Madrid Record for 26 years, her husband being editor, after which time they moved to Portageville and bought and edited the Southeast Missourian. Following Mr. Wright’s death in 1941, Mrs. Wright took over editorship of the paper at the age of 89 years, a position she retained until her retirement a few years ago.

The assembly voted to contribute to the National Society’s building fund in honor of Mrs. Wright, and voluntary contributions amounting to $25 will be sent to the national headquarters, Washington, D.C. Preceding the reading of the minutes by Mrs. C.A. Hewes of Poplar Bluff, district secretary, Miss Wolfe, conducted an informal discussion period.

Table decorations for the noon luncheon at Centenary Methodist Church auditorium, headquarters for the all-day meeting, featured baskets of yellow and white chrysanthemums, donated by Mrs. L.F. Pope, Miss Jean Burrough, Mrs. W.E. Walker and Mrs. Walter U. Post. Favors were individual corsages of yellow chrysanthemums, and special guests were presented corsages of white mums.

Serving as pages were Miss Ruth Ann Bauerle and Miss Dorothy Boutin, morning session, and Miss Sally McCall Hunter and Miss Judith Ann Hunter, afternoon session, all daughters of host chapter members.

Special music was provided baby Mrs. James A. Waller, organist, who accompanied Bert Horner and Mrs. Frank Mollehower, vocalists.

At present Mrs. Groves is national vice president of the Middle West section of the Daughters of the American Colonists, an honor bestowed upon only one other Missouri woman.

In addition to these organizations, Mrs. Groves is a member of the national society of Colonial Dames of America, Colonial Dames of the Seventeenth Century, the Huguenot Society of the Founders and Patriots of America, a charter member of the chapter GF of P.E.O. and a member of the River Hills Garden Club.

Mrs. Groves has served the DAR as state registrar, state vice regent and state chairman of membership, and is now state chairman of building promotion and a member of the Arrow-Rock Tavern Board.

Published March 17, 1950, in the Southeast Missourian:

DAR elects two Cape women

KANSAS CITY — Mrs. Frederic A. Groves of Cape Girardeau is the new regent of the Missouri Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

She was named to the post yesterday at the final session of a three-day conference. The outgoing regent is Mrs. William J. Boyd, St. Joseph, who was nominated as a candidate for vice president of the National Society.

Other officers were Mrs. Andre T. Stirrat, St. Louis, vice regent; Mrs. Charles C. Carter, Carthage, chaplain; Mrs. Julian D. Platt, Trenton, recording secretary; Mrs. Robert L. Beckman, Cape Girardeau, corresponding secretary; Mrs Voris R. Norton, New London, registrar; Mrs. Charles Wayne Elsea, Marshall, historian; Mrs. Everett Keith, Columbia, librarian, and Mrs. Enoch W. Gipe, Springfield, treasurer student loan fund.

Groves’ time as president-general of the Daughters wasn’t without controversy. According to her obituary, published in the Southeast Missourian on Aug. 28, 1986: “She served as president-general of the DAR from 1956 until 1959, capturing headlines on several occasions for stands taken on issues of national importance. In a 1957 speech, she declared that ‘Any patriotic and conservative organization will be under fire in these critical times.’ In a 1959 speech, she chided the United Nations for its tendency toward becoming ‘a gigantic, growing, elite bureaucracy…’”

The article goes on to say that during her tenure as DAR president, she traveled extensively, visiting 48 states and also supervising the completion of a 900-page inventory of the DAR museum.

Locally, Groves gifted the Cape Girardeau Public Library with an extensive collection of genealogical material.

Sharon Sanders is the librarian at the Southeast Missourian.