Colonel John Haslet fought bravely under the command of General George Washington with less than one hundred men at the Battle of Trenton on Christmas Day in 1776. He was killed in the line of duty at Princeton on January 3, 1777. Colonel Haslet’s body was reinterred in its final resting place in the Dover Presbyterian Cemetery on July 3, 1841.
The chapter was named for Colonel John Haslet, a stalwart Whig and commander of a regiment of the Kent County Militia during the Revolution. Colonel Haslet was born in Ireland; he was a Dover, Delaware resident, a Presbyterian minister, and a physician. The first regiment of 800 men under Colonel Haslet took part in the battles of Long Island (August 27, 1776) and White Plains (October 28, 1776).
The first meeting of the Colonel Haslet Chapter, NSDAR, was held at the home of the organizing regent, Elizabeth King Anderson of Dover, Delaware on January 14, 1897.
The Charter Members of the chapter were:
- Elizabeth K. Anderson
- Mary H. Anderson-Beers
- L. Elizabeth Best
- Mary M. Best
- Deborah S. Davis
- Miriam R. Fisher
- Harriett C. Kenney
- Rebecca May
- Frances C. Pennewill
- Emma M. Pennewill
- Maria E. Sypherd
- Mary S. Watkins