DECEMBER 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Cantey Jr., wrote its constitution
and by-laws, adopted at the first
organizational meeting held April 1,
1932.
They agreed that the local chapter
would be named in honor of Major
Van Zandt, who had distinguished
himself as one of Fort Worth’s best
known citizens for more than 50
years. The chapter gave a dinner
at the Woman’s Club on Sept. 17,
1932, for the purpose of receiving the
Charter of the Major K.M. Van Zandt
Chapter 6 of the Texas Society, Sons
of the American Revolution.”
The Texas Society was organized
on Dec. 8, 1896 which coincided
with the formation of the California
State Society and the National
Society, formed in the later 1800s.
Connelley is the current chapter
president and lives in Aledo.
Connelley can trace his lineage
through his mother’s side to the
Rippy family. “Rippy, that went
down through my mother’s side.
Most people that join the SAR want
to identify and track it back to their
grandfather. Once you find one you
normally find you have one, two,
three, four, five and six, ancestors. So,
I’ve actually had three descendants
that fought in the Revolutionary
War from different parts of the
family,” Connelley explained. “He
was captured for a little while. The
British kept the prisoners on ships
off the coast and they didn’t feed
them. They put them on a ship and
they were basically just locked in.
Maybe once a week they would let
them out on the ship, but they were
just stuck out there. So, he [Rippy]
spends a few months on one of these
ships. So, once he was released he
migrated to start his family. They
migrated across the South and came
to Texas. My family came to Texas —
Rippy’s family came here probably in
the 1880s. Then the first part of the
1860s there is a connection really
to Parker County. The Comanches
attacked a lot of people in Parker
County in the 1860s and ‘70s. If you
look at anything and research on that
you’ll find a relative of mine. He was
a distant cousin or uncle and he was
in Western Parker County where the
Comanches attacked. There’s a cabin
in the park in Weatherford. There is a
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