Existing comment:
The site of Chamberlin's
where The General Society Sons of the Revolution was organized April 19, 1890
Sons of the Revolution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sons of the Revolution is a hereditary society which was founded in 1876 and educates the public about the American Revolution. The General Society Sons of the Revolution headquarters is a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation located at Williamsburg, Virginia. The Society is governed by a board of managers, an executive committee, officers, standing committees and their members, and staff. The General Society includes 28 State Societies and chapters in the United States, as well as Europe.
It describes its purpose as:
To perpetuate the memory of the men, who in the military, naval and civil service of the Colonies and of the Continental Congress by their acts or counsel, achieved the Independence of the Country, and to further the proper celebration of the anniversaries of the birthday of Washington, and of prominent events connected with the War of the Revolution; to collect and secure for preservation the rolls, records, and other documents relating to that period; to inspire the members of the Society with the patriotic spirit of the forefathers; to promote the feeling of friendship among them.
Sons of the Revolution should not be confused with Sons of the American Revolution, a separate organization which was founded on April 30, 1889, by the New Jersey businessman William Osborn McDowell. ...
History
Founding
Sons of the Revolution was founded on February 22, 1876, at New York City, primarily by leading members of The Society of the Cincinnati and the businessman John Austin Stevens. He disagreed with Society of the Cincinnati requirements limiting membership to the eldest male descendants based on the rules of primogeniture. Stevens held a preliminary meeting on December 18, 1875, at the New-York Historical Society at New York. At a second meeting held in January 1876, the first constitution was adopted and a flier which invited members was published.
After a few years of little activity, an elaborate "turtle feast" was held on December 4, 1883, in the Long Room of historic Fraunces Tavern. The banquet was to commemorate the centennial of General George Washington's farewell there to his officers. The 1883 dinner helped recruit 40 new members, and the group was reorganized as the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York Inc. In the early years after the reorganization, Society of the Cincinnati President-General Hamilton Fish gave much support and encouragement to the New York Society. In his obituary, he described Sons members as, "Younger brothers of the Cincinnati".
Formation of state societies
Besides residents of New York City, many gentlemen from nearby states with business or other ties in New York City had, from the beginning, been either members or prospective members of the Society. The possibility that some of them might eventually form societies in their own states had been recognized in the Society Constitution. The growth in the number of members by 1888 made this a more promising likelihood. The first of the new State Societies, the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution was organized on April 3, 1888. This was accomplished chiefly through the efforts of John W. Jordan, later librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Josiah Granville Leach.
The creation of a new State Society in Pennsylvania started a debate over the Society Constitution. Of primary concern was who would charter or create new State Societies. The Pennsylvania Society was created by members; independent of the New York Society. On March 11, 1889, The Sons of the Revolution in the District of Columbia was chartered by the New York Society. This debate was resolved by the creation of the General Society and a new Constitution on April 18, 1890. The General Society charters new societies but, "The State Societies shall regulate all matters respecting their own affairs".
General society formation
Recognizing that members from states other than New York might form state societies in their states, the group's officers amended its constitution in 1884 to provide that state societies may organize as "auxiliary branches." Consequently, the Pennsylvania society was formed in 1888, and the District of Columbia society was formed in 1889.
The General Society constitution was proposed on February 12, 1890, in Philadelphia and adopted on March 8, 1890, in New York. Members of the three state societies held a meeting on April 19, 1890, in Washington to inaugurate the General Society. In the next few years, several more state societies were formed and the General Society developed a more national character. ...
Many notable celebrities and public leaders in the United States have been members of the Sons of the Revolution.
They include the following persons:
Presidents of the United States
* George W. Bush of Texas
* George H. W. Bush of Texas
* Gerald Ford of Michigan
* Dwight D. Eisenhower of Kansas
* Harry S. Truman of Missouri
* Herbert Hoover of Iowa
* Theodore Roosevelt of New York
* Benjamin Harrison of Ohio
United States Senators
* U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
* U.S. Sen. and Governor Morgan Bulkeley of Connecticut
* U.S. Sen. Cornelius Cole of California
* U.S. Sen. Frank Putnam Flint of California
* U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona
* U.S. Sen. Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania
* U.S. Sen. Lawrence Tyson of Tennessee
United States Representatives
* U.S. Rep. Franklin Bartlett of New York
* U.S. Rep. Perry Belmont of New York
* U.S. Rep. Charles E. Bennett of Florida
* U.S. Rep. Thornton G. Berry Jr. of West Virginia
* U.S. Rep. Chester C. Bolton of Ohio
* U.S. Rep. Edmund N. Carpenter of Pennsylvania
* U.S. Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina
* U.S. Rep. William H. Douglas of New York
* U.S. Rep. Charles I. Faddis of Pennsylvania
* U.S. Rep. E. Hart Fenn of Connecticut
* U.S. Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr. of California
* U.S. Rep. Benjamin F. James of Pennsylvania
* U.S. Rep. Jefferson M. Levy of New York
* U.S. Rep. George B. McClellan Jr. of New York
* U.S. Rep. Cornelius A. Pugsley of New York
* U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California
* U.S. Rep. Jacob van Vechten Olcott of New York
Ambassadors
* U.S. Ambassador Larz Anderson of Massachusetts
* U.S. Ambassador S.G.W. Benjamin of New York
* U.S. Ambassador Lewis Einstein of New York
* U.S. Ambassador Charles S. Francis of New York
* U.S. Ambassador Hampson Gary of Texas
* U.S. Ambassador George A. Gordon of New York
* U.S. Ambassador Franklin Mott Gunther of the District of Columbia
* U.S. Ambassador John Langeloth Loeb Jr. of New York
* U.S. Ambassador J. William Middendorf of Rhode Island
* U.S. Ambassador Richard C. Patterson Jr. of New York
* U.S. Ambassador Phelps Phelps of Germany
* U.S. Ambassador Charles H. Sherrill of New York
Other government officials
* Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield of California
* Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock
* Secretary of War John W. Weeks of Massachusetts
* Governor of Maryland John Lee Carroll
* Governor of West Virginia Arch A. Moore, Jr.
* Governor of New Mexico Territory LeBaron Bradford Prince
* Panama Canal Zone Gov. Chester Harding of the District of Columbia
* Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles H. Darling of Vermont
* Attorney for the Southern District of New York William Hayward of New York
* Attorney for the District of Connecticut Francis H. Parker of Connecticut
* Civil Service Commission Member William Gorham Rice of New York
* Mayor of New York George B. McClellan Jr.
* Los Angeles City Council member George P. McLain
* Consul Charles H. Delavan of New York
* Consul Augustin W. Ferrin of New York
* Consul Thomas H. Norton of New York
* Consul James R. Parsons Jr. of New York
* Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Judge J. Edward Lumbard of New York
* Federal Trade Commission Chairman Robert E. Freer of Ohio
* Solicitor General James M. Beck of Pennsylvania
* U.S. Treasurer Daniel Nash Morgan of Connecticut
Military and naval officers
* Admiral of the Navy George Dewey, USN of Vermont
* Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Charles C. Krulak, USMC of California
* Commandant of the Marine Corps Col. Charles Grymes McCawley, USMA of the District of Columbia
* Quartermaster General of the Army Charles G. Sawtelle, USA of the District of Columbia
* Vice Admiral Howard Fithian Kingman, USN of California
* Maj. Gen. William Denison Whipple, USA of New York
* Brig. Gen. and Medal of Honor recipient Richard Napoleon Batchelder, USA of the District of Columbia
* Brig. Gen. Morris Cooper Foote of New York
* Brig. Gen. Royal T. Frank, USA
* Brig. Gen. Green Clay Goodloe, USMC of the District of Columbia
* Brig. Gen. Lyman W.V. Kennon, USA of Rhode Island
* Brig. Gen. Charles L. McCawley, USMC of the District of Columbia
* Brig. Gen. Samuel Mills, USV
* Brig. Gen. and Medal of Honor recipient Edmund Rice, USA of Massachusetts
* Brig. Gen. and Academy Award-winning motion-picture actor James Stewart, USAFR of California
* Brevet Maj. Gen. Nicholas Longworth Anderson, USA
* Brevet Maj. Gen Harrison Gray Otis, USA of California
* Brevet Brig. Gen. DeLancey Floyd-Jones, USA of New York
* Chaplain (Colonel) Michael A. Milton, USA-R of North Carolina
* Col. Charles Greenlief Ayers, USA of New York
* Col. J. Fulmer Bright, USA of Virginia
* Col. Bibb Graves, USA of Alabama
* Col. Lawrence D. Tyson, USA of Tennessee
* Col. Stephen Edward Huskey, USA of Texas
* Maj. Asa Bird Gardiner, USA of New York
* Maj. Pierre Christie Stevens, USA of the District of Columbia
* Brevet Maj. James Edward Carpenter, USA of Pennsylvania
* Lt. Orlando Henderson Petty, USN, Medal of Honor recipient of Pennsylvania
Distinguished citizens
* Historian, author, genealogist and heraldist Henry L. P. Beckwith
* American author and screenwriter James Warner Bellah of California
* Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway President Samuel T. Bledsoe of California
* Motion-picture actor Richard Dix of California
* 1932 Summer Olympics President William May Garland of California
* Studebaker Corporation President Paul G. Hoffman of California
* Railroad executive Henry E. Huntington of California
* Bank of America founder Orra E. Monnette of California
* Geologist and explorer Raphael Pumpelly of Rhode Island
* Businessman Frederick H. Rindge of California
* Motion-picture Director W. S. Van Dyke of California
* Science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein of Missouri |