Sons of Liberty Chapter is around today because of several other SAR chapters that no longer exist. We are a melting pot of three different chapters. Their heritage is in our Chapter DNA to this day.
In 1876, the Sons of the Revolutionary Sires was founded in San Francisco, California. From that organization grew the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, which was organized on April 30, 1889, the one hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington as our nation’s first president. The National Society was chartered by an Act of the United States Congress on June 9, 1906. The charter was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who was also a member of the Empire State Society, SAR. [1]
The California society adopted a new constitution in conformity with the national society of SAR on October 19, 1891.[2]
On September 4, 1908, Los Angeles Chapter was the first chapter chartered by the California Society SAR.[3]
John Gorham Chandler was a founding member and the first chapter president. Chandler was a retired US Army Brigadier General; he was born in 1830 in Lexington, Massachusetts, the site of one of the first battles of the Revolutionary War. He graduated from West Point Academy in 1853.
He retired in 1894 after 41 years of military service. After 1891 he made his home in Los Angeles.[4] Chandler died in Los Angeles in 1915 but is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery.[5]
Chandler joined the New York Society of SAR in 1891, and was transferred to the California Society in 1908.[6] Chandler served as Los Angeles Chapter SAR President for three terms, 1908, 1909 and 1910.
The Los Angeles Chapter went inactive around 1915, the same year Chandler died. It was reactivated in 1925.[7]
San Fernando Valley Chapter applied for an SAR charter in California in 1981. The application was signed by several Los Angeles Chapter past presidents, including Donald Moran and John Rodman Justice, and also by Glendon Calwell Hall, a past president of CASSAR.[8]
Los Angeles Chapter charter was revoked on April 16, 1995, and the chapter members were assigned to the San Fernando Valley Chapter.[9] On August 17, 1996, the San Fernando Valley Chapter voted to change its name to the Sons of Liberty Chapter. The name Sons of Liberty was selected by a ballot from members, under President James C. McHargue.[10] McHargue, also a US Army veteran, was the first president of Sons of Liberty Chatper, and passed away in 2024.[11]
The newsletter of Los Angeles Chapter was The Liberty Tree. The newsletter of San Fernando Valley Chapter was the Valley Compatriot. The newsletter of Sons of Liberty became The Liberty Tree & Valley Compatriot, Newsletter of the Sons of Liberty Chapter of the SAR, Formerly the San Fernando Valley Chapter. This was later shortened to The Liberty Tree when paper copies were mailed to members. In the digital shuffle, The Liberty Tree was discontinued. The meeting place of Sons of Liberty Chapter in its founding year of 1996 was at the Tam O’Shanter on Saturdays at noon.[12] Saturdays at the Tam continues to this day as a tradition for Sons of Liberty Chapter.
The Pasadena Chapter was chartered on 19 April 1945.[13] On 7 April 2001, the California Society dissolved the Pasadena Chapter, and the members of the Pasadena Chapter were merged with the Sons of Liberty Chapter.[14]
Our heritage with the early beginnings of Los Angeles Chapter is reflected in our chapter seal. The chapter has adopted as its official insignia and seal; an image of George Washington, with SAR and the year 1908 on either side (1908 is the founding year of the original Los Angeles Chapter) with the Latin phrase “Libertas et Patria” meaning “Liberty and Country” below, with Los Angeles at the bottom, encircled by 13 stars denoting the original 13 colonies, with “Sons of Liberty” the Chapter Name above.
notes
[1] “About – National Society Sons of the American Revolution” 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20241008141620/https://www.sar.org/sar-missions-and-goals/ accessed October 2025.
[2] Los Angeles Herald, May 9, 1901.
[3] Los Angeles Chapter Charter, scanned copy obtained from Stephen Renouf via email to Mark Cross, Oct 2025.
[4] Millard, Bailey. History of the San Francisco Bay Region : History and Biography. Chicago : The American Historical Society, 1924. http://archive.org/details/historyofsanfran02mill.
[5] “BG John Gorham Chandler (1830-1915) – Find a Grave, memorial ID 3522820” Accessed May 20, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3522820/john_gorham-chandler.
[6] “U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 – Ancestry.Com.” Accessed May 20, 2025. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2204/records/42749?tid=89458834&pid=46594404518&ssrc=pt.
[7] The Minute Man, Official Bulletin, National Society Sons of the American Revolution, Volume XX, Number 1 (June, 1925), p. 89; scanned copy obtained from Stephen Renouf via email to Mark Cross, Oct 2025.
[8] San Fernando Valley Chapter Charter, scanned copy obtained from Stephen Renouf via email to Mark Cross, Oct 2025.
[9] Email from Stephen Renouf to Mark Cross, Oct 2025; Renouf states, “there were issues with the Los Angeles Chapter, and I voted with the majority at the CASSAR Meeting to revoke the chapter. The members were assigned to the San Fernando Valley Chapter.”
[10] Email from Stephen Renouf to Mark Cross, Oct 2025.
[11] James Charles McHargue obituary, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/james-mchargue-obituary?id=56361328 accessed October 2025.
[12] “The Liberty Tree & Valley Compatriot.” September 1996.
[13] California Compatriot, Vol. IV, No. 2 (March, 1945), p. 2; scanned copy obtained from Stephen Renouf via email to Mark Cross, Oct 2025.
[14] Renouf, Stephen. “Archives,” email, Renouf to Cross, history of Sons of Liberty Chapter, with attachments, 30 April 2025.