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PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES IX THE UNITED STATES. 



The chairman of the committee having this 

 monument in charge is Howland Pell. The 

 officers of the general society are as follow : Gov- 

 ernor-General, Frederic J. de Peyster; Deputy 

 Governor-Generals, representing the State so- 

 cieties, Charles II. Murray (New York), James 

 Mifflin (Pennsylvania), Joseph L. Brent (Mary- 

 land), William F. Draper (Massachusetts), Wil- 

 liam Hainmersly (Connecticut), Francis A. Roe 

 (District of Columbia), Malcolm Macdonald (New 

 Jersey), Henry 0. Kent (New Hampshire), Ed- 

 ward A. Chittenden (Vermont), Henry Cadle 

 (Missouri), and Joseph L. Lombard (Illinois); 

 Secretary General, Howland Pell. It publishes 

 an " Annual Register of Officers and Members 

 of the Society of Colonial Wars" (New York, 

 1894), and the State societies have issued various 

 historical monographs. The colors of the Colo- 

 nial Wars are red and white. Its badge, No. 4, 

 and rosette, No. 4a, are shown in the plate. 



Sous of the American Revolution. This 

 society has for its objects 



To perpetuate the memory of the men who, by their 

 services or sacrifices during the War of the American 

 Kevolution, achieved the independence of the Ameri- 

 can people ; to unite and promote fellowship among 1 

 their descendants ; to inspire them and the commu- 

 nity at large with a more profound reverence for the 

 principles of the Government founded by our fore- 

 fathers ; to encourage historical research in relation 

 to the American Revolution ; to acquire and preserve 

 the records of the individual services of the patriots 

 of the war, as well as documents, relics, and land- 

 marks; to mark the scenes of the revolution by ap- 

 propriate memorials; to celebrate the anniversaries 

 of the prominent events of the war; to foster true 

 patriotism ; to maintain and extend the institutions of 

 American freedom ; and to carry out the purposes ex- 

 pressed in the preamble to the Constitution of our 

 country and the injunctions of Washington in Iris 

 farewell address to the American people. 



It was formed as the Sons of Revolutionary 

 Sires, at a meeting held in San Francisco, Cal., 

 on Oct. 22, 1875. Early in 1889 several coequal 

 State societies were organized in other States, 

 which met by delegates in New York city on 

 April 30, 1889, and organized the National So- 

 ciety, Sons of the American Revolution, the 

 State societies then changing their names to 

 that adopted by the National Society. It admits 

 to membership 



Any man who, being of the age of twenty-one years 

 or over, and a citizen of good repute in the commu- 

 nity, is the lineal descendant of an ancestor who was 

 at all times unfailing in his loyalty to and rendered 

 actual service in the cause of American independence, 

 either as an officer, soldier, seaman, marine, militia- 

 man, or minutenian, in the armed forces of the Con- 

 tinental <'ongre>s, or M!' any one of the several colonies 

 or States ; or as a signer of the Declaration of Inde- 

 pendence ; or as a member of a committee of safety or 

 correspondence; or as a member of any continental, 

 provincial, or colonial congress or legislature ; or as a 

 civil officer either of one of the colonies or States or 

 of the National Government : OT as a n-co<rni/cd pa- 

 triot who performed actual service by overt acts of 

 resistance to the authority of Great Britain. 



There are :}() State societies. ;is follow: Cali- 

 fornia (1875), Connecticut (1889), Vermont (iss) )% 

 Kentucky (1HS!>), Massachusetts (1SSO). Mary- 

 land (1889), Ohio (INS!)). Missouri (1889), New 

 Hampshire (1HH!)). New Jersey (1889), Minnesota 

 (1HH!>), Delaware (1889), Illinois (1890), Indiana 

 (1890), Michigan (1890), Rhode Island (1890), 



Arkansas (1890), New York (1890), Wisconsin 

 (1890), District of Columbia (1890), Nebraska 

 (1890), Virginia (1890), West Virginia (1890), 

 Maine (1891), Oregon and Washington (1891), 

 Kansas (1892), Louisiana (1892), Iowa (1893), 

 Pennsylvania (1893), and Montana (1894). In- 

 cluded within certain of these State societies are 

 local chapters, especially in the larger States. 

 The State societies and chapters have a member- 

 ship of over 5,000 persons, or " compatriots," as 

 they are officially designated. 



In the accomplishment of its objects the vari- 

 ous State societies of this organization have 

 celebrated anniversaries of important historic-ill 

 events by organizing on such dates and by hold- 

 ing their special meetings on others. Thus, the 

 Massachusetts society organized on April 19, in 

 commemoration of the battles of Lexington and 

 Concord, while the Minnesota society celebrated 

 the anniversary of the battle of Trenton, on Dec. 

 26. More than 100 anniversaries of important 

 events in the War of the Revolution have been 

 celebrated. This society originated and organ- 

 ized the annual popular observance of June 14 

 as Flag Day, the anniversary of the adoption of 

 the Stars and Stripes as the national standard. 

 It has secured from Congress a law providing 

 for the collection and indexing of the records of 

 service in the American Revolution now in the 

 executive departments in Washington, and it 

 has obtained the use of a fireproof room in the 

 Smithsonian Institution for the deposit of rec- 

 ords and documents of the Revolution. Many of 

 the State societies have begun the collection of 

 books for historical libraries. The National So- 

 ciety has offered gold and silver medals to the 

 principal colleges of the United States for an 

 annual competition of essays on the subject of 

 ' The Principles of the American Revolution." 

 State societies use the bronze medal from the 

 same die for schools. Under the auspices of the 

 National Society there has been published " The 

 Century Book for Young Americans," by El- 

 bridge S. Brooks. 



In Massachusetts the society has adopted a 

 bronze marker for the graves of Revolutionary 

 heroes, of handsome design, representing a min- 

 uteman, with the letters on the front, S. A. R. 

 Soldier American Revolution and the date 

 1775. One of these markers was placed on the 

 grave of Lafayette in Paris, with suitable cere- 

 monies, on Oct. 19, 1894, the date of the anni- 

 versary of the surrender of Yorktown, by Nathan 

 Appleton. In Baltimore the Maryland society 

 marked the site of Old Congress Hall with a 

 bronze tablet ; and in Providence the Rhode 

 Island society placed a bronze tablet on the 

 Market building where the British taxed tea 

 was burned in 1775. Other memorials marking 

 sites of historical interest have been dedicated 

 under the auspices of different State societies. 

 In Connecticut the society has secured the pre- 

 servation, as a permanent historical monument, 

 of the headquarters of Jonathan Trumlmll (Un- 

 cle Jonathan) ; and in New York, on Flag Day, 

 the society laid the foundation stone of a monu- 

 ment to commemorate the spot in Dobb's Ferry 

 where Wasnington and Rochambeau planned the 

 Yorktown campaign ; also, by the action taken 

 by the New York society, the City Hall was 

 preserved from demolition. The officers of the 



