Operating Year: January - December 2026

Society Officers

President

Mr. Troy Lee Foxwell

president@dessar.org

1st Vice President

Lt. Col. Larry Edwin Josefowski, USA - Ret

ljosefowski@dessar.org

2nd Vice President

Mr. Chuck Smolka

Secretary

Lt. Col. Larry Edwin Josefowski, USA - Ret

secretary@dessar.org

Treasurer

Mr. Andrew Stephen Bero

Chancellor

Mr. Dennis Lee Schrader, Esq.

State Registrar

Mr. Christopher T. “Chris” Smithson

Chris joined the SAR at age 18 and has been a member since 1998 when he joined the Colonel Aquila Hall Chapter, Maryland Society. Prior to that he was a member of the Children of the American Revolution in the Col. Thomas Hartley Society, Pennsylvania Society. Over the last 28 years he has served as a Chapter President, Secretary, Treasurer and Registrar; State Registrar of the Maryland Society for seven years, the Massachusetts Society for two years and Hawaii Society for four years and State Secretary of the Hawaii Society for three years. In 2023 I served as the State President of the Maryland Society being one of the youngest to serve in this role.

registrar@dessar.org

State Historian

Mr. Michael Ryan Gallagher

Michael is a graduate of Saint Mark's High School and the University of Delaware. Since 2015, he has owned & operated Unravel the Past LLC Genealogical and Historical Research Services. Michael joined the SAR in 2001.

historian@dessar.org

Chaplain

Rev. Dr. John Richard Riley, Ph.D.

Surgeon

OPEN

Director-at-Large

Mr. Peter Kenneth Moller

Director-at-Large

Open

Chapter Presidents:

Major Peter Jaquett Chapter

Mr. Robert Charles Cochran

Bob is a graduate of Salesianum High School and the University of Delaware. He worked for the Gannett Company, owners of The News Journal and Delaware Online, for 32 years. He lives in Wilmington with Lynne, his wife of 52 years, and together they have 2 children and 5 grandchildren. Bob became an SAR member in 2025.

rcochran@dessar.org

Caesar Rodney

Lt. Col. Larry Edwin Josefowski, USA - Ret

ljosefowski@dessar.org

Lewestown

Mr. Chuck T. Smolka

Delaware Continentals

Mr. William A. Greenly

Trustees:

Trustee

Lt. Col. Larry Edwin Josefowski, USA - Ret

ljosefowski@dessar.org

Alternate Trustee

Mr. Dennis Lee Schrader, Esq.

A Brief History of the DESSAR

1886: Even before the national SAR was founded, the man who was to become the Delaware Society's first president was active in honoring the patriots of the American Revolution. On 1886 August 16 Thomas F. Bayard (of Delaware) gave the dedication address for the statue of Revolutionary War General Johann Kalb, which was being installed in front of the court house in Annapolis, Maryland.

1890: On Janauary 29, 1890, fifteen individuals attend an organizational meeting of the Delaware Society of the Sons of the American Revolution at the Clayton House in Wilmington. At the time, the Clayton House, which stood on the northeast corner of 5th & Market in Wilmington, Delaware, was the premier hotel in the city of Wilmington and the State of Delaware. The first motion passed after organization was to hold an annual formal banquet on December 7th, to honor Delaware's ratification of the U.S. Constitution on December 7, 1787. The Honorable Thomas F. Bayard (DESSAR #1), former U.S. Secretary of State, became the first president of the Delware Society. Ratification Day remains the Delaware Society's premier calendar event, with regular attendance by the President General of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

1891: On April 8, 1891, the Delaware General Assembly passed "An Act to Incorporate the Delaware Society of the Sons of the American Revolution" (19 Del. Laws, ch. 446).

1891: Compatriots participated in DESSAR's first public event - the 1891 Memorial Day Parade in Wilmington, Delaware - parading with the Grand Army of the Republic. The Society observed Independence Day by attending religious services at St. John’s Church on Sunday, July 5th, 1891. Society Chaplain, the Rev. T.G. Littell D.D., presided over the services.

More Detailed History of DESSAR in the 20th and 21st Centuries

You can find more detailed information about the history of our society by clicking on the links below"

Registry of Membership 1890 - 2010