Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

July 4th, 2026 will mark America’s 250th birthday. In the years leading up to the celebration, Daughters of the American Revolution chapters throughout the United States have been challenged by the National Society to adopt some type of historical preservation project that can be completed before the celebration. 

The local William Taylor chapter of DAR has adopted a project to raise funds to preserve an historical volume in the courthouses of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Brunswick and Nottoway. This project is also being completed in memory of the chapter’s last surviving charter member, Alice Rudd Roby, who recently passed away. 

Recently, Sue Maglin, the chair of the Virginia State DAR Historical Preservation Committee, traveled from Fredericksburg to Lunenburg to meet with Circuit Court Clerk, Gordon Erby and several William Taylor Chapter members to choose a volume for preservation. The volume selected in Lunenburg is Court Order Book 9. This record book contains the order appointing chapter namesake and Revolutionary War patriot William Taylor to be the clerk of the court of Lunenburg County. 

It is believed that Mr. Taylor served longer than any other clerk of the court. 

Many charter members of the chapter and numerous current members can trace their ancestry to Mr. Taylor, including Mrs. Roby. 

DAR has three main goals – education, preservation and patriotism. Once historical documents and buildings are gone, they are lost to us forever. DAR hopes to locate and help to preserve as many items as possible to connect us to our past and guide us to a better future.