The Particular Laws State Societies of the Cincinnati ON THE SUBJECT OP Admission to Membership. Collated by the Secretary-General The General Society of Cincinnati. Triennial General Meeting, Boston, Mass.. May 17, 1893. The Particular Laws OF THE State Societies of the Cincinnati ON THE SUBJECT OF Admission to Membership. Collated by the Secretary-General FOR The General Society of Cincinnati. Triennial General Meeting, Boston, Mass., May 17, j 893. ./ 52. '«2 Society of the Cincinnati IN THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. Extract from its By-Laws and Regulations as Amended 4TH July, 1S90. BY-LAWS. * * * * * * * ******* VI. Every person who may be desirious of becoming a member of the Society, and who shall come within the terms of the original general institution, shall make his application to the Standing Committee in writing ; who shall advise thereon, and report their opinion to the Society ; but no one shall be per- mitted to be a candidate under the age of twenty-one years. VII. Each person who shall be admitted a member in right of succession to a deceased member, or who shall become a member by virtue of any rule now existing or which may here- after be established, shall make and subscribe the following decla- ration, in the presence of the Society : I, , having been admitted a member of the Society of the Cincinnati within the State of Massachusetts, as the true successor of , late a member of this Society, and my deceased (father or brother, as the case may be) do solemnly promise and engage that I will duly conform to all the regula- tions established from time to time for the government of said Society, as far as they shall have for their basis the principles of the original institution. In testimony whereof, I hereto subscribe my name, and pledge my sacred honor. VIII. * * * * * IX. Any person making application to become a member of the Society, in conformity with the the Rule recommended at the Triennial Meeting of the General Society of the Cincinnati, held at Baltimore, in May, 1854, and adopted by this Society at their annual meeting in July following, may be admitted, upon subscribing the usual declaration and upon condition of the payment of the sum of seven hundred ($700.00) dollars to the Treasurer of the Society, as a contribution to the permanent fund, and shall thereby be entitled to all the rights and privi- leges of an original member. X. The succession and admission to membership of this Society shall descend to the heir male, unless, for satisfactory reasons, another be chosen ; in which case the membership shall extend to the life only of the person so elected, and, at his decease, the then existing heir male of the original member shall be the person first to be considered in a new election. XI. In case the person so admitted is in active service in the Army or Navy of the United States, and is unable to attend the regular meeting of the Society next following his admission, he may make and subscribe the declaration before a notary public, or justice of peace, and transmit the same to the Secretary to be affixed to the record book of the Society. XII. A failure on the part of any eligible person to apply for admission within a reasonable time after being informed of the existence of his claim, may be interpreted as a waiver thereof. XIII. Since a waiver can, in any case, be regarded only as the renunciation of a claim, not as the transfer of a right, none can be recognized which would impair the subsequent elegibility of a minor. XIV. Priority of claim through descendants through a female line shall be construed according to the same rules which govern priority in the male line; namely those of primo-geniture accord- ing to the common law, so far as applicable. RULES REGARDING HONORARY MEMBERS. / 'oted — That in the election of honorary members, it is dis- tinctly understood by the Society, that such election does not confer the right of an original member, or give an honorary mem- ber any title to any portion of the funds, nor are they entitled to vote, or eligible to any office. Voted — That the admission of honorary members of the Cin- cinnati, for life only, shall be confined to those who shall be emi- nent lineal descendants or representatives of those who were distinguished by high military or civil virtues and services in the Revolutionary War. Voted — That no person be admitted an honorary member of the Society except upon the recommendation of the Standing Committee. Society of the Cincinnati STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. Extract from its By-Laws as adopted 4TH July, i 791, and SUBSEQUENTLY AMENDED. BY-LAWS : # * -X- * -X- * * # # -X- -St * -X- # XV. All applications for admission to membership in the Society shall be addressed by the applicant in writing to and ex- amined by the " Standing Committee," the applicant stating clearly and fully his claim. The committee shall examine the same, and after demanding such proof as it thinks proper, shall advise thereon and report its opinion in writing to the Society; none, however, but males of the age of twenty-one and upwards shall be admitted to membership. XVI. No person shall be admitted a member of the Society (whatever maybe his relationship to an original or other member of the Cincinnati) unless he be of good moral character and repu- tation, and be, in the language of the "General Institution," by the Society "judged worthy of becoming its supporter and member." XVII. Original members of the Cincinnati under the "Gen- eral Institution," capable of transmitting hereditary membership, are defined to be those duly qualified officers of the American and French Armies, under His Excellency, General George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, and of the American and French Navies who subscribed the "General Institution" under the provisions 7 therein contained, either while with these armies or navies in the year 1783, or within six months after the final disbandment of the American Army on the twentieth day of June, in the year seven- teen hundred and eighty-four, extraordinary cases excepted, and including as eligible for services during the American War of Independence, between the nineteenth clay of April, in the year seventeen hundred and seventy-five, and the third day of Decem- ber, in the year seventeen hundred and eighty-three. First — The Commissioned Officers of the regular American Army who resigned with honor after three years' service in the capacity of Commissioned Officers. Where, however, all or a portion of such three years' service was performed as a Commissioned Officer in the Rhode Island " Brigade of State Troops," specially and exceptionally raised for considerable periods of service and taken on the Con- tinental Establishment, such portion of service is construed as intended to be embraced in the designated period.* Second — The Commissioned Officers of the Regular Continental Army who were deranged by the resolutions of Congress upon the several reforms of the army. Third — The Commissioned Officers of the regular Continental Army who continued in service to the end of the war.f Fourth — The eldest male posterity, or in the failure thereof, the collateral descendants respectively, of such Commissioned Offi- cers of the American Army or Navy as died in the service. XVIII. The admission of "hereditary" members shall be confined to the eldest male posterity of original members of this Society, and in failure thereof the collateral branches who may be judged worthy of becoming its supporters and members ; and in like manner to the male descendants (including collateral branches) of such Commissioned Officers of the regular Continental Army or Navy as may have been entitled, under the definition in the pre- ceding Rule XVII, to admission, but who failed to avail them- *This rule was adopted in the Rhode Island Society as early as 4th of July, 1786, in conformity with the opinion expressed by the General Society on the 13th of May, 1784. tOfficially declared to be on 19th of April, 1783, per General Orders, dated Army Headquarters, Newburgh, 18th of April, 1783. Final evacuation of Atlantic posts, on the 3d of December, 1783, when Governor's Island, New York Harbor, was formally relinquished. s selves thereof within the time prescribed by the "General Insti- tution;" and in like manner t<> the male collateral descendant of any regular Continental Officer who died in the service without leaving direct issue: Provided, however, that when there shall be no descendants in the direct male line, and there shall be male descendants of the officer through a female line, the Society shall determine which of such male descendants deriving inheritance through intervening female descendants, shall be admitted to he- reditary membership as the representative of his propositus: And, Provided, further, that when admission is claimed in the first instance in right of the services of a Continental Officer who never became a member, such officer must have been credited to the Continental contingent of this State or of one whose Society is extinct, or the applicant himself must be domiciled in Rhode Island. Persons entitled to hereditary membership in State Societies of the Cincinnati which may have been dissolved, may be ad- mitted into this Society at any " annual " meeting upon such terms as to contribution to the Society's " permanent fund," and otherwise as it may from time to time, by resolution, think proper to prescribe. Such admission, however, shall only be by ballot, and one negative vote shall exclude. In like manner any one domiciled in Rhode Island who may be hereditarily entitled to membership in another State Society, may be admitted into this Society on said terms, with consent of said State Society, provided his place in such Society has not been filled or he excluded for cause. XIX. In case of the declination or waiver of a person, upon whom devolves the succession, to accept hereditary mem- bership or his omission, on reasonable notice, to avail himself of it, or in case of resolution of the Society to exclude him for un- worthiness, it may determine which, if any, of the other de- scendants of the original member in the elder male line according to priority of claim shall succeed to the representation : Provided however, if the next heir male of the person regularly entitled to succession be a minor, the eligibility to membership being vested in him, the use thereoi shall remain in abeyance until such dis- ability cease, preference always being given to his claim. The Society may however exclude him for any of the foregoing reasons or under unusual circumstances. XX. Only one person at a time shall be competent to suc- ceed to hereditary membership on the decease of an actual member, or in right of a Commissioned Officer of the regular Continental Army or Navy who may have been entitled to original member- ship, and no person, (other than actual hereditary members in existing State Societies of the Cincinnati,) shall be admitted to membership, either hereditary or honorary, except at an " annual " meeting and then only by ballot. One negative vote shall be sufficient to exclude any such candidate. XXI. Any actual, hereditary member in any other State Society of the Cincinnati who shall remove into and become domi- ciled in the State of Rhode Island may, on his application for transfer, be received into this Society as an actual member by a majority vote, at either a special or " annual meeting, provided the transfer is acceptable to his own State Society and provided he shall pay into the " permanent fund " of this Society the same sum as may be, at the time, required from applicants admit- ted to hereditary membership from extinct State Societies. Members in other State Societies shall always be privileged to attend and shall be welcomed at the meetings of this Society and noted as present, and be entitled to participate in all its delibera- tions and assemblages but not to vote as to or enjoy relief from its permanent fund. XXII. The admission of honorary members of the Cincinnati, for life only, shall be confined : First — To those who shall be eminent lineal descendants or repre- sentatives of those who were distinguished by high military or civil virtues and services in the cause of American Inde- pendence during the Revolutionary War. 10 Second — To the lineal descendants or representatives of such former honorary members of the Cincinnati as may be eminent for their abilities and patriotism, and who shall be domiciled in the State of Rhode Island : Provided, always, that the num- ber of honorary members shall not exceed a ratio of one to four of the actual hereditary members of this Society and provided further that no person shall be admitted an honorary' member except upon recommendation of the " Standing Com- mittee." By resolution of this Society, the Contribution to the permanent fund required from the proper descendant of a qualified Revolutionary officer who was not an original member, is fixed at five hundred dollars. Society of the Cincinnati STATE OF NEW YORK. Extract from its By-Laws as Adopted, 4TH July, 1890. BY-LAWS : # * * * * * * * ******* ******* IX. Every person desirous of becoming a member of the Society, shall make application, in writing, to the Standing Com- mittee, setting forth distinctly and clearly his claim to be admitted. The Committee shall advise thereon, and may demand any proof which they may deem requisite in support of such claim, and any testimonial with respect to the character and standing of the ap- licant, and they shall report, in writing, the facts of the case together with their opinion to the Society. No person shall be admitted as a member unless he shall be twenty-one years of age, nor unless his claim and application for admission shall have been before the Standing Committee prior to the day of the meeting on which he may be voted for as a member. Section 1. No person shall be admitted a member of the Society (whatever may be his relation to an original or other member of the Society) unless he be of good moral character and reputation, and be (in the language of the original Institution) "judged worthy of becoming its supporter and member." Section 2. Eligibility to membership in succession, devolving upon a minor, shall be deemed vested in such minor, but the use thereof shall remain in abeyance until the disability cease or be removed. I 2 Section 3. Lineal succession to membership shall be, according to the rules of inheritance at the common law " the eldest male posterity, (of the Original Member) and in failure thereof the col- lateral branches who may be judged worthy of becoming its sup- porters and members." In cases of representation or succession through females, the eldest branch shall be preferred to the younger. The Officer of the Army or Navy of the Revolution, who was an Original Member, shall be deemed and taken as the "propositus" from whom succession shall be derived. Section 4. The eldest male descendant, of full age, of any Original Member of any of the State Societies which have been dissolved, and also the eldest male descendant if residing in the State of New York, of any Original Member of any State Society, may be admitted into this Society (if judged worthy) upon the payment into the Treasury of a sum equal to one month's pay of the Original Member from whom the applicant claims descent, in the Continental Service according to the rank of such Original Member, at the time he signed the roll of the Society of which he was a member, together with legal interest thereon computed from the Society's organization to the time of such admission, provided that such sum shall in no case be less than five hundred dollars, unless by special order of this Society. Section 5. No person shall be elected a member of this Society whose ancestor adhered to, or took protection from the Enemy during the war of the Revolution. X. No person shall be elected a member of the Society, except at an Annual Meeting, and no person shall be elected an Honorary Member without having been proposed at the immedi- ately preceding Annual Meeting, and an entry of the fact being made upon the minutes, and recommended by the Standing Com- mittee. Society of the Cincinnati IN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY. RULES For the Admission of Members. i. Where there are descendants of an Original Member in the male line, the right of membership belongs to the heir of the eldest line ; but where the male line is extinct, the Society may determine which of the female line shall have the representation ; and where there are no lineal descendants of an Original Member, a descendant of a brother or sister of the original member may succeed to the representation. Upon the death of a member, if the person upon whom devolves the succession, being of full age, shall fail to apply for his membership within two years, he shall be notified by the Secretary at his last known place of residence (a copy of this rule accompanying such notification,) and if within a year thereafter he declines or omits to make said application, the right of succession may, at the option of the Society, be offered to his next heir male ; and if he also declines or omits to avail himself of the offer within a year, the Society may determine which, if any, of the other descendants of the Original Member shall succeed to the representation: Provided, however, If the next heir male of the person regularly entitled to succession be a minor, the eligibility to membership being vested in him, this rule^ shall remain in abeyance until such disability cease. 2. Hereafter all officers of the army or navy of the Revolution, whose records are unsullied, shall be entitled to representation in this State Society; but such representation shall be upon the con- ditions that each applicant furnish satisfactory evidence of his 14 good character and moral worth and shall pay into the treasury of the Society the sum of five hundred dollars. 3. In determining the succession of such members as shall make application for admission under the preceding (2d) rule, the same ruling will apply as in the case of representation of original members. 4. Any person claiming membership shall make written appli- cation to the Standing Committee at or before a, regular annual meeting, stating clearly his claim. The Committee shall examine the same, and after demanding such proof as they think proper in its support, shall report to the Society their opinion in writing. The Society always reserving to itself the right to reject and pass over any application where it is deemed best for its interests to do so, whether for unworthiness on the part of the applicant or other cause. 5. No elections for members shall be held except at regular annual meetings. Honorary members, or those applying under the provisions of the second rule above, shall be proposed at an annual meeting previous to that at which they are to be balloted for. All elections shall be by ballot, and five negative votes shall be considered as a rejection of any candidate. 6. None but males of full age shall be admitted to member- ship, but eligibility to membership in succession devolving upon a minor, shall be deemed vested in such minor, and the use thereof shall remain in abeyance until the disability cease or be removed as provided for in the first rule. Society of the Cincinnati STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. Extract from its By-Laws as Adopted 4TH July, iSgi. APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP. XIII. All applications for admission to membership in the Society shall be addressed to the Standing Committee, but every application shall lie over, to be examined at a future meeting of the Committee, which meeting shall have been prior to the day on which the applicant may be voted for as a member. The Committee shall report the result of said examination to the Society at its next Stated Meeting, and two-thirds of the members present shall be necessary to an election. ADMISSION OF MEMBERS. XIV. Section i. No person shall be admitted as a member unless he shall be twenty-one years of age. Section 2. No person shall be admitted a member of the Society (whatever may be his relation to an original or other member of the Society), unless he be of good moral character and reputation, and be (in the language of the original Institution) by the Society " judged worthy of becoming its supporter and member." Section 3. No application for membership in any right, whether as a successor upon the death of a present member, or upon a new application, shall be brought before or considered by the Standing Committee, unless accompanied by the sworn statement of the person seeking membership of the truth of such applica- tion and of all the facts therein contained. 1 6 MEMBERS BY TRANSFER. XV. Section i. This Society will not receive into member- ship by transfer any member of any State Society unless his application is accompanied by an affidavit that he is a member of right within the stipulations of the Original Institution of the Order. Sect ion 2. lie must submit to the Standing Committee the rules under which members are admitted unto the State Society of which he is a member, stating under which rule he has been admitted, and a certificate from the Secretary of said State Society that he is a member in good standing. HONORARY MEMBERS. XVI. Section i. Every candidate for honorary membership shall be proposed by two members, and, in the election of honorary members, the votes of four-fifths of the members present shall be necessary to an election : Provided, always, that the number in this State " does not exceed a ratio of one to four of the officers or their descendants." And provided, all such proposals for mem- bership shall be considered and approved at any previous meeting of the Standing Committee. Section 2. No person is now or shall hereafter be considered an honorary member of this Society unless he shall within two years after notification of his election have signified to the Society his acceptance of membership. And that a copy of this section be transmitted with the notification of election of any honorary member. Section 3. No person shall be elected an honorary member without having been openly proposed as such, at the preceding Annual Meeting, and a note of the fact being made upon the minutes. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE ADMISSION OR MEMBERS "As Shown bv the Minutes of the Society" to July 4, 1891, and Published by Order of the Society for the Use of its Members. Only persons representing (as set forth in the Institution) Original Members of the Society, or Officers of the Continental Line who died in the Sevice, are eligible.* Each Original Member can have but one representative. Each Original Member should be represented ; therefore where the right to represent several Original Members would otherwise merge in one person, the Society prefers to keep these rights sepa- rate, and to admit a distinct representative in each right, where it can be done in accordance with the Institution. Where an Original Member failed to contribute to the Treasury of the Society as directed by the Institution, his representative, when admitted to membership, must make good the amount due by the Original Member, together with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum from the time the original contribution was due to the date of the representative's admission to the Society, or pay a sum of money to be named by the Society. Members of other State Societies of the Cincinnati seeking to associate themselves, by transfer, with the State Society of * On January 27, 1886, a Committee of this Society reported that there was no derogation to the rights of the descendants of Original Members by granting the privilege of admission to the proper lineal descendants or representatives of officers who might have been Original Members but who omitted to become so. The report was adopted and also a rule submitted by the Committee declaring that the proper lineal or collateral descendants of all Officers of the Army of the Pennsylvania Line or Navy of the Revolution shall be entitled to admission '"upon due application and furnishing satisfactory evidence of the right to membership of his ancestor, of pedigree, and of good character and moral worth and payment of five hundred dollars into the treasury of the Society." This rule was rescinded July 4, 1891. IS Pennsylvania, are required to bring themselves within the inter- pretation of the Institution as set set forth in these principles. When a resident of Pennsylvania desires to be admitted to the Mate Society of Pennsylvania to represent an Original Member of another State Society, he must first be admitted to such State Society and then transferred. Society of the Cincinnati IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND Rules for the Admission of Members Adopted I. Every application for membership must be in writing, and signed by the applicant, and must be presented by a member of this State Society, who shall sign his name thereto as the proposer of the applicant. II. The application shall state applicant's profession or calling, his place of residence, his descent from the revolutionary officer whom he claims to represent, and the name and rank of that officer. III. No person shall be eligible for membership who is under twenty-one years of age, or who cannot give to the Society satis- factory proof that he is a gentleman of honor and good repute in all respects, worthy of becoming one of its supporters and members. IV. The persons eligible for membership in this Society are : All of the male posterity of a revolutionary officer who was, or was entitled to be, an Original Member of the Maryland State Society of the Cincinnati, ©r-TvaSs^jnjejnbeF-in— good -standing- Of any State Society now extinct- ; and in failure of such male pos- terity any of the collateral branches ; provided that there shall never be elected more than one member of the Society at one time representing the same revolutionary officer; provided further that the status of members elected previous to the passage of this amended rule, and of the propositus whom they represent, be in no wise affected thereby. V. Subject always to the provisions of Article 3, the follow- ing preferences shall be observed in considering applications : 1. Direct descendants shall be preferred to collaterals. 2. Among direct descendants the male line is to be preferred to the female line. \.mong collaterals the nearest in blood to the propositus. 4. Among applicants equally entitled in other respects the older shall be preferred to the younger. VI. The Society reserves to itself the right to reject any application, whether from a direct descendant or collat- eral, whenever it may deem it for its interest to do so. VII. Every application shall be presented at a meeting and referred to the Committee on Admissions to be reported and voted upon at a subsequent meeting, and no applicant shall be elected at the meeting when his application is first presented. VIII. Every election of a candidate for admission shall be by ballot. Two black balls in ten or a less number than ten, and an adverse vote of one-fifth of the whole vote cast in a larger number than ten, shall exclude the candidate. Every member is bound in honor not to disclose outside of the Society whether he or any other member voted for or against the candidate. IX. A member elected as the representative, whether direct or collateral, of an Original Member, who qualified as such by contributing one month's pay to the Maryland State Society of the Cincinnati, shall pay an admission fee of thirty dollars, and a member elected as the representative of an officer who was not an Original Member, or did not so qualify, shall pay an admission fee of one hundred dollars. And every member shall purchase from the Secretary a Diploma or Certificate of Membership, and pay for the same the sum ol seven dollars. X. Any member who has not qualified by payment of admission fee and for diploma within one year after notice of his election, shall be deemed to have forfeited his election. XI. Subject to Rule 3. — Any member of any existing State Society of the Cincinnati may be transferred to this Society by making an application in writing, accompanied by a certificate from the Secretary of his own State Society that he is a member thereof in "ood standing. Society of the Cincinnati IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. Extract from its By-Laws as Adopted 5111 July, 1886. BY-LAWS. * * * * * # * * * * * * * # XVII. All lineal male descendants, through the males of such persons as now are, have been, or may hereafter become members of this Society, and the eldest lineal male descendant through the eldest male line of officers of the Continental Army, shall be eligible as members of this Society. No per- son, however, shall be admitted to membership unless he be a resident of this State, except he reside in a State where there is no State Society, and claim through an officer of the South Carolina line, or through an officer of the line of a State in which no State Society exists. Provided that hereafter no person shall be admitted a member in right of an officer whose ancestor was never a member of the Cincinnati, except on the payment of fifty dollars if his claim be through an officer of the South Carolina line ; and of one hundred dollars of his claim be based upon his representation of an officer of any other line. And provided further that whenever there shall be no lineal descendants through the males, the eldest lineal descendant through the eldest daughter having descendants shall be entitled in preference over collateral branches, and whenever there shall be no lineal descendants, the eldest lineal descend- ant through the eldest collateral male branch, shall be entitled. XVIII. No persons shall be elected a member of the Society except by ballot at a regular meeting, by a majority of at least three-fourths of the members present; no person shall be balloted for who has not been proposed at a pre- vious regular general meeting of the Society, and the most sacred regard to secrecy shall be observed by the members on the occasion, that if the candidate should prove unsuccess- ful, the knowledge of his misfortune shall never transpire.