Support the Denison Homestead by Donating to a Special Project!

The Denison Society/Denison Homestead utilizes income from membership dues, unrestricted donations, rentals, and interest/dividends from our investment account to fund basic operations.  These funds pay for utilities costs, maintenance of the buildings and grounds, insurance, and a small staff of part time employees.  All program and project expenses must be funded by raising funds either by charging fees, receiving donations, or by obtaining grant monies.  If we can't raise the funds we can't do the program or project.

 We appreciate all the unrestricted donations we receive through the annual appeal and throughout the year as they are a significant part of keeping the Homestead in operation.  We also want our members to be able to choose to support specific projects.  The Homestead has a number of projects, some small and some larger, that require funds to execute.  Below is a list of special projects and their funding status. An explanation of each project follows the chart.

Furniture Restoration

This spring we sent several pieces of furniture to be reupholstered. Below are photos of the sofa from the East Parlor. The top photo show Ann Borodell Denison Gates reading a newspaper while sitting on the sofa. The photo was taken c. 1935. The middle photo shows the same sofa which was reupholstered over 35 years ago in a stunning claret velvet. Over the years, the sofa had faded and started to look tired and worn. The bottom photo shows the sofa now in a light-bluish teal fabric. The color really brightens up the room!

Denison DNA Assessment

The Genealogy Working Group has been engage in a project to trace the matrilineal descendants of both of Captain George Denison’s (1620-1694) wives. They have currently traced the descent of both Bridget Thompson and Ann Borodell into the 7th generation. Once the Genealogy Working Group arrives at a significant number of currently living persons, the next logical step would be for the group to select several living descendants of both Bridget and Ann and arrange to test their DNA. The DNA test would include testing their mitochondrial DNA.

The Genealogy Working Group will select three matrilineal descendants of Bridget Thompson and three from Ann Borodell for testing. The group would also select four direct male descendants of Captain George Denison for DNA analysis which would include Y-dna testing.