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Mrs. Edwin Gardner Weed
(Julia McKinne Foster)
First President of
Florida Division UDC
1896-1900

Mrs. Edwin G. Weed was a member of Martha Reid Chapter, Jacksonville, and the wife of Bishop Weed of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. Bishop Weed had served in the War of 1861-65 in Company T, Seventh Georgia Cavalry Regiment. In 1896, he was Chaplain of R. E. Lee Camp, United Confederate Veterans.

Florida Division
Founded
July 14, 1896


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Answering the Call to Be United in Service

First Florida Chapter

The Florida Division began in Jacksonville with the Chapter that was later known as Martha Reid Chapter. This first Florida Chapter was chartered as Jacksonville Chapter No. 19 by the General Organization UDC while assembled in its Second General Convention in Atlanta on November 7, 1895. Mrs. Clarence Maxwell of Jacksonville made the trip to Atlanta to pick up the new Chapter's charter. In January 1897, the Chapter's name was changed to Martha Reid Chapter No. 19 to honor the memory of Mrs. Mary Martha Reid, the beloved matron of Florida Hospital, a wartime hospital established in Richmond by Dr. Thomas M. Palmer and other Floridians. Mrs. Reid nursed Florida soldiers throughout the War Between the States and, in the conflict, lost her only surviving son in the Battle of the Wilderness.

The origin of this first Florida Chapter goes back two years before the founding of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Nashville. All 32 charter members of Jacksonville Chapter No. 19 were former members of the Confederate Home Association, a women's group founded in 1892 to establish a home for "aged and disabled" Confederate soldiers and sailors. When the call came from Nashville, stating that all Southern women in Confederate memorial and auxiliary societies should "have one name and wear one badge," the Confederate Home Association made an application for a charter. It was disbanded, and UDC Chapter No. 19 was chartered in November 1895.

First Division Convention

Florida now had its first Chapter, but a state needed to have three or more Chapters to form a Division. Members of Jacksonville Chapter, under leader­ship of their first president, Mrs. Theodore Hartridge, through correspondence with Mrs. Anna Davenport Raines of Savannah and other contacts within the state, exerted their influence on the founding of UDC Chapters in other Florida cities. So successful were their efforts; within a few months, five Chapters were chartered and ready to answer the call sent out by Mrs. Hartridge for a meeting to organize a Florida Division.

This historic meeting was held in the Board of Trade Building in Jacksonville on July 14, 1896. Most of the members of Jacksonville Chapter No. 19 attended. The five charter Chapters of the new division were:

  • Jacksonville (Martha Reid) Chapter No. 19
  • Lake City (Stonewall) Chapter No. 47
  • Ocala (J.J. Dickison) Chapter No. 56
  • Brooksville Chapter No. 71
  • Palatka (Patton Anderson) Chapter No. 76

Today, the Florida Division is still united in carrying out the Organization's objects - Historical, Educational, Benevolent, Memorial, and Patriotic.

Disclaimer: The presence of links to outside websites does not imply endorsement, approval, or concurrence by the United Daughters of the Confederacy® on any level. The name "United Daughters of the Confederacy" is a registered trademark of the General Organization and may not be used outside the Organization without the express written consent of the United Daughters of the Confederacy®. The official UDC insignia is a registered trademark of the General Organization and may not be used without the express written consent of the President General.

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 Last updated 9 Apr 2024