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    Rachel was a woman of quick wit and courage.  She survived the threat of Indian hostilities as a child and she survived various enemy raids of her home and eventually the occupation of her plantation by the enemy during the Revolutionary War.  Highly intelligent, well educated, prudent, kind, respected and trustworthy are words that fittingly describe her, but above all these praiseworthy attributes, Rachel was a woman of faith in Jesus Christ.  She believed everything God said in the Bible and she put her knowledge of it to work through her prayers and actions.
      David Caldwell lived to be a little over 99 years before he died peacefully.  Rachel
outlived her husband by about one year.  As her family gathered around her bedside, she
asked one son to give her a glass of water, which she drank.  Then she asked another son to
say a prayer for her.  Following the prayer, Rachel looked upward, raised her hands toward
heaven, closed her eyes, clasped her hands over her chest and took her last breath of air.
    Admission to membership in the NSDAR is either by invitation through a Chapter in your State Organization or Units Overseas. No Chapter may discriminate against an applicant on the basis of race or creed.
    When the Revolutionary War moved to the South, David spoke out in strong support of the Patriot cause against a tyran and Cornwallis put a price of 200 pounds on his head which caused David to go into hiding.  While David was in hiding, Rachel took responsibility for the management of their plantation and the care of their children.  Upon several occasions, she was harassed by Tories who tried to trick her into revealing her husband's whereabouts.  They succeeded one time, whereupon Rachel, with her Bible in hand, prayed the night through for her husband's safety.  When they were reunited, Rachel asked David how he managed to escape the Tories' detection.  David said he had three dreams in succession, each one warning him of imminent danger.  After awaking from the third dream, he picked up his belongings and fled to a different location undetected.
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    The Rachel Caldwell Chapter, NSDAR was formed in 1935 and named after Rachel Caldwell.  
     Rachel was born in 1742 to Jane and Alexander Craighead.  Rachel considered herself blessed beyond expression for being born into a family of three generations of Scot-Irish Presbyterian Preachers:  her great grandfather, Rev. Robert Craighead, and her grandfather, Rev. Thomas Craighead, were educated in Scotland at a fine university.  Alexander believed in educating women as well as men, for women exhibited considerable influence in the lives of their children. Thus, he saw to it that Rachel not only was reared in a deeply religious manner, but also received a solid education. Rachel was most likely home-schooled for she lived with her family on the frontier most of her growing up years.
CHAPTER and MEMBERSHIP
Information
Greensboro, North Carolina
    Any woman is eligible for membership who is no less than eighteen years of age and can prove lineal, blood line descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence. She must provide documentation for each statement of birth, marriage, and death.
We welcome new members!
    With over 100 members, the Chapter is involved in nearly all of the activities and individuals in the Chapter are extremely active in support of our American History Essay Contest, DAR Good Citizens, DAR Schools and DAR Approved Schools, DAR Scholarships, awarding of DAR ROTC Medals.
     The Chapter sponsors the Bugler Gilles Society, Children of the American Revolution, whose members are very active at the local, state and national level.
CHAPTER HISTORY
    While Rachel was developing into a young woman, living on the frontier, learning from her mother how to care for a large family and observing what life requires of a preacher and his family, David had completed his apprenticeship as a house carpenter, received the call of God to prepare himself as a Presbyterian Minister, attended the College of New Jersey, (now Princeton University,) and completed the educational requirements for ordination. 
"Log College"
    At the age of 40, David Caldwell headed down the Great Wagon Road to Guilford County as a missionary to two churches that requested his service-Alamance Presbyterian Church and Buffalo Presbyterian Church.  (Both churches are strong and active today.)  The year was 1765.  He acquired 550 acres of land from the Nottingham Colony in Guilford County.  Farming would be the manner in which he would provide for himself and his family-to-be.  Then he made his way on horseback to Mecklenburg to pay a call to the Craigheads. Rachel was 24 years old at that time.
    David asked for Rachel's hand in marriage, and within a year, 1766, they were married. A year later, David began his Log College, as there was no college in the area.  He enrolled 50 students a year, on the average, and Rachel was instrumental in assisting him as a person the students respected, a person in whom they confided, and a woman who would pray for their concerns.  Over the years, David Caldwell, with Rachel's assistance, graduated several hundred ministers, five governors of five different states, and numerous other individuals of various occupations.
    Rachel took on considerable family responsibilities.  Of the thirteen children she bore, four died in infancy, and three became mentally ill in their young adult years.  Of the nine children who lived beyond infancy, Rachel had eight sons and one daughter.  Her daughter, Patsy, was the first child to show signs of mental illness.
    Prior to the Battle at Guilford Courthouse, Lord Cornwallis and his soldiers took over her house and removed Rachel  and her children to a nearby smokehouse.  On the day of the battle, Rachel and several other women from the Buffalo Presbyterian Church met at the home of Robert Rankin where they remained in prayer the better part of the day.  While standing in the doorway, she witnessed the burning of her husband's library holdings, all of his books, all of his sermons, all of his log college exercises, all of their business and correspondence papers, even their family Bible which contained their family records.Although the Continental soldiers eventually retreated from the field taking everything of value with them, the cost of the battle in terms of dead and wounded was so great on behalf of the British forces that it was the turning point of the war. 
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