Cooch's Bridge Chapter
2010-2013 Officers
Regent
Geraldine Iva deShong Dorman
First Vice Regent
Deborah DeMott Cannon
Second Vice Regent
Jean Faye George Mulford
Chaplain
Kathryn Anne Bruchmiller Hawley
Recording Secretary
Gladys Marie Dorman King
Corresponding Secretary
Elizabeth Ann Beachell
Treasurer
Barbara Anne Boyd Seningen
Registrar
Melissa Vail Reid Levy
Historian
Dawn Marie Melson Clair
Librarian
Sally Jo Effinger Wright
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ABOUT THE COOCH'S BRIDGE CHAPTER
Pictured Above: (Left) Geraldine deShong Dorman (Mrs. James T. Dorman), Cooch's Bridge Regent with (Right) Deborah DeMott Cannon, First Vice Regent. Missing from photo, Jean George Mulford, Second Vice Regent.
The name Cooch's Bridge was chosen because all the charter members lived near the site of Delaware's only Revolutionary War engagement and one-third of them were members of the Cooch family.
In 1998 the former Captain William McKennan Chapter of Hockessin, Delaware merged with the chapter. The Captain William McKennan Chapter had been founded in 1948 with members from Cooch's Bridge.
Pictured Right: Merry Ann Thompson Wright (Mrs. Lawrence F. Wright), President General, New York
Pictured Above: Marjorie Fouts Frampton (Mrs. Frances B. Frampton) Delaware State Regent, Colonel David Hall Chapter
ABOUT COOCH'S BRIDGE
The only land battle ever fought in the state of Delaware took place on September 3, 1777 during the Revolutionary War at Cooch's Bridge near Newark. This "sharp skirmish" was the first battle of the British campaign to capture Philadelphia, our first capital city.
On August 25, 1777, General Howe's troops began disembarking near Elk Landing, MD after nearly a month at sea coming from New York City. That same day the Continental Army under George Washington entered Delaware and fortified the steep northern bank of Red Clay Creek, thus blocking the most direct route from Elk Landing to Philadelphia.
On the morning of September 3, 1777, a British column of nine thousand men under General Cornwallis advanced toward Cooch's Bridge from Glasgow. About a half-mile south of Cooch's Bridge they were fired upon by Continental troops under General Maxwell which were waiting in ambush. The Americans fell back to a defensive position after a brief exchange. They were forced to retreat two more times until they made a determined stand at Cooch's Bridge and the Cooch home. Finally, the British brought up several light cannon and drove the out-numbered and out-gunned Americans down the road to Christiana.
The British continued two miles further north and occupied the town of Newark to prevent the Americans from attacking the British base at Elk Landing. General Cornwallis used the Cooch home as his headquarters for the next five days. His aide, Captain John Andre, drew a map showing the British units posted around the Cooch house. The officers drank all of Cooch's wine, and the troops burned Cooch's grist mill when they left.
Thomas Cooch, Sr. and his wife and two children emigrated from England to Delaware in 1746. He purchased several hundred acres of land around Iron Hill and built a home and mill next to the bridge over the Christina Creek in 1760. Nine generations of the Cooch family have lived in the ancestral home, which has been modified several times.
Local tradition firmly favors the evidence that the stars and stripes were first flown in battle at Cooch's Bridge. The new flag had been approved by Congress on June 14, 1777 in Philadelphia.
Source (in part): Wikipedia.org