Johnson named President General

Atlanta native Ora Jane Johnson was installed as President General of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) on May 18, 2025, at the organization’s annual convention in Odessa, Texas. Having previously served the DRT as President Elect, Recording Secretary, Parliamentarian, and District Ill Representative, Ms. Johnson is entering her ninth year on the DRT’s Board of Management, after serving 12 years as chapter officer of the Collin McKinney Chapter in Plano.

Ms. Johnson has chosen “Moving the Daughters Forward” as the guiding theme of her DRT administration with the motto “Together we do Great Things” being her leadership mantra. Each President General of the DRT has a designated project and she has committed her term to improving and enhancing DRT efficiency and effectiveness in operations with emphasis on member and chapter recognition, communications, continuity of operations and long range planning as DRT, and the entire state, prepare for the biggest party the Great State of Texas has ever known - the Bicentennial of the Republic of Texas in 2036.

To that end, she encourages Cass County residents to learn and celebrate the history of our beautiful northeast comer of Texas. Our area was a major entrance route into Spanish Texas with Trammels Trace making its way from the border all the way into Nacogdoches and connecting to all points beyond.

Ms. Johnson is a 7th, generation native Texan and grew up in the Smyrna community outside Atlanta on land which was granted to the Johnson family in 1870. Born in Wichita Falls, she is the only child of \\/IM/II veteran Staff Sergeant Parker Johnson and Daisy Coombs Johnson. Her father was a cattleman and farmer and she credits hauling hay and tending cattle, not to mention many summers in the hot Texas sun in the watermelon patch with instilling her desire to go to college and get a job where there was air conditioning.

She graduated as valedictorian from Atlanta High School, where she played clarinet in the Rabbit band and her proudest achievements were being a majorette and winning the science award, in that order. She graduated from East Texas State University with a BS in Chemistry and Math and there, too, she was on the majorette line.

At the age of 21, she found a job as a computer programmer at E-Systems in Garland so she could make enough money to go back to school for her master’s degree. Life intervened and 36 years later she retired from that job, although the company is now a division of Raytheon.

At work she has progressed from entry level programmer through several levels of software engineering and programming management. Along the way, she received a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Dallas. Her last job was as Program Engineer, responsible for all engineering aspects, including cost, schedule and technical, on a $216 million dollar program, managing a multi-discipline team of 80 engineers in 4 states. Her job took her around the world ten times, literally, and allowed her to work on multiple projects which benefited the country. An avid genealogist, she has proven 175 lineage papers on 68 direct ancestors and is now a member of 36 lineage organizations. She has served at the national level as Second Vice-President National of the United States Daughters of 1812, Corresponding Secretary National of the National Society Descendants of American Farmers, Parliamentarian General of the Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars, Recording Secretary General of the Order of Steel Magnolias, and Historian of the Sons and Daughters of Virgina Founding Fathers.

Since retirement in 2014, her involvement in lineage societies has consumed most of her time. Hobbies, when free time does occur, include weightlifting, cross-stitch, needlepoint, Pokemon Go, and collecting vintage Barbie dolls.

Although Atlanta will always be her home, she now resides in Richardson, Texas. An only child, she is fortunate to have loving cousins she counts, together with their children and grandchildren, as her immediate family. When asked to describe herself, she says she is just a small-town girl from East Texas, who has done all right living in Big-D.

Founded in 1891, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas is the oldest patriotic women’s organization in Texas and one of the oldest in the nation. The mission of the 700-plus Daughters is to perpetuate the memory and spirit of those who achieved and maintained the independence of Texas. Membership in the DRT is open to women 16 years and older who can trace their lineage to an ancestor in Texas between 1820 - Feb 18, 1846.

People wishing to pursue their Texas roots may contact the Daughters at DRTlnfo.org or email the lineage research committee at Research@DRTlnfor.org.

The James Bowie Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Texarkana Chapter, hosted a Workshop for District Three in Texarkana, August 15th and 16th for their yearly meeting. Approximately 63 Daughters were present and two historians of the area spoke. The District 3 Representative, Denise Cervantes, welcomed all to the meeting while James Bowie ORT President, Donna Stotts, introduced President General, Ora Jane Johnson and attending members of the Board of Management. President Johnson is a ih generation native Texan and grew up in the Smyrna Community outside Atlanta, Texas on land which was granted to the Johnson family 11870.

She graduated as Valedictorian from Atlanta High School, where she played clarinet in the Rabbit band, and her proudest achievements were being a majorette and winning the science award, in that order. She graduated from East Texas State University with a BS in Chemistry and Math, and there, too, she was on the majorette line. Later she received a Masters Degree in Compueter Science from the University of Texas, Dallas.