Local groups, called Tents, are named for Army Nurses or any loyal woman who served in the Civil War, whose patriotic deeds during the years 1861 – 1865 have been recorded. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Hill was born in New Vienna, Clinton County, Ohio on March 23, 1844, where she became a teacher at the young age of 15. Hill became a nurse with the Medical Department of United States Volunteers during the Civil War, enlisting on October 15, 1863, completing her service at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, where she was discharged on July 1, 1865. Elizabeth married Ira Dillon Mills, a Civil War veteran, on March 11, 1869. Ira and Elizabeth spent the next several years in Missouri, moving to Orange County, California sometime after 1880. In 1888, Elizabeth was elected president of the local Orange County Women's Christian Temperance Union. Elizabeth Hill Mills, who died on January 31, 1927 at the age of 82, is interred at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California.
OUR HISTORY
"KEEP GREEN THE MEMORY"
The Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861 – 1865, was organized on May 30, 1885 by Olive Howard, Harriet Knapp, Eva Merwin, Frank Merwin, and Bertha Martin and held the first meeting on June 3, 1885 at the home of Eva Merwin, 419 First Street, SE Massillon, Ohio.
The group was incorporated December 12, 1885 in Masssillon, Ohio and the signers of the Original Articles of Incorporation were Minnie F. King, Bertha M. Martin, Olive F. Howard, Eva Merwin, and Any Merrill.
Our original name was National Alliance Daughters of Veterans and we were endorsed by the Grand Army of the Republic at the 34th Annual Encampment held in Chicago, Illinois in 1900.
During our 35th National Encampment, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925, our name was changed to Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Our name was later changed during our 54th National Encampment, held in Des Moines, Iowa in 1944 to Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861 – 1865.
Our Federal Charter was granted by Public Law 99-172 on December 9, 1985.
Elizabeth Hill Mills Tent 88, Orange County, California, Department of California-Nevada, was instituted on August 26, 2006 in Orange, California with an initial membership of 19 Charter Members. Tent 88 serves eligible women who reside in or near Orange County, California.