That was an interesting one, he thought. The Daughters of Colonial
Americans had about reached the point of diminishing returns in their
battle over the claims of Rose Carswell Elder, a descendant of a Negro
freedman named William Elder who had lived in Boston in 1776 and
fought on the side of the Colonies during the Revolution. One more
splinter group, Malone thought, and there’d be as many splinters as
members. Rose Carswell Elder was pressing her claim for membership,
and the ladies were replying by throwing crockery and hard words at
each other.
Then there was the Legion of American War Veterans. The headline on
this one read: