Rev War Officers Start Society of the Cincinnati
Qualifying Ancestors to Belong to Nation’s Oldest Patriotic Society
Jul 3, 2009 Rosemary E. Bachelor
The Society of the Cincinnati was founded to sustain war-time friendships and to preserve the memory of the war’s officers’ fight to provide freedom and liberty for Americans. Members are eligible descendants of commissioned officers of the Continental army and navy, and the French army and navy, who served in the American Revolution.
There are 14 constituent societies--one for each of the 13 colonies and one based on the service of French officers. Applicants join the society their officer ancestor would have belonged to. The society is named after a Roman general.
New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati
New Hampshire’s Maj. Gen. John Sullivan called for an organizational meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati on Nov. 18, 1783. In addition to his war service, he had been the New Hampshire delegate to the Continental Congress and became the third and fifth governor of New Hampshire. They met at the Folsom Tavern.
The Folsom Tavern
The Folsom Tavern was built ca. 1775 by Colonel Samuel Folsom, brother of General Nathaniel Folsom. The tavern faced the town square. President George Washington, making a tour of the new nation in 1789, had breakfast at the tavern. He was one of the founding members of the Society of the Cincinnati.
In the intervening years it has had many owners, been used for varying purposes and been moved more than once. It is currently on Water Street in Exeter and between 2004 and 2007 underwent extensive renovation of both its exterior and interior. It is now owned and occupied by the American Independence Museum.
Qualifying Ancestors
Descendants of the following Revolutionary War officers qualify for Society of the Cincinnati membership in the New Hampshire chapter, no matter where they live.
A-B: George Aldrich, David Allen, Oliver Bacon, Isaac Baldwin, Robert Barnett, Oliver Barrett, Samuel Beach, Zachariah Beale, Frederick Mordaunt Bell, William Mordaunt Bell, Thomas Blake, James Blanchard, Joseph Bradford, Samuel Bradford, Richard Brown, Gideon Brownson, George Burnham, Jeremiah Burroughs, Benjamin Burton.
C-F: Jesse Carr, Hubbard Carter, Jonathan Cass, Thomas Challis, Abiel Chandler, Joseph Chandler, Dudley Leavit Chase, Enoch Chase, Joseph Cilley, Daniel Clap, Elijah Clayes, Patrick Cogan, Andrew Colburn, Noah Cooke Jr., James Crombie, Henry Dearborn, John Dennett, Moody Dustin, Moses Dustin, Joseph Easterbrooks, William Ellis, Jonathan Emerson, Joseph Facey, Joseph Fay, Nathaniel Folsom, Samuel Folsom, David Forsyth, George Pepperell Frost.
G-L: Jeremiah Gilman, Nathaniel Gilman, Nicholas Gilman, James Gould, James Gray, Ebenezer Green, Ezra Green, Nathan Hale, William Adrian Hawkins, Micah Hoyt, Benjamin Hopkins, Wait Hopkins, Ivory Hovey, Joseph Huntoon, Nathaniel Hutchins, William Hutchins, Benjamin Kimball, Joseph Lawrence, Nathaniel Leavitt, Samuel Leeman.
M-S: Lemuel B. Mason, John Moor, Simon Morrill, Nathaniel McCauley, David McGregor, James McClure, Josiah Meloon, James Norris, Moses Page, Edward Parsons, Francis Payne, Jonathan Poole, Joseph Potter, James Reed, Bradley Richards, Jeremiah Richards, Caleb Robinson, Noah Robinson, Samuel Safford, Simon Sartwell, Gee Saxton, Alexandria (?) Scammell, William Scott, Asa Senter, George Sexton, Edward Sherburne, Aaron Smith, Isaac Smith, Thomas Simpson, Benjamin Stone, John Sullivan.
T-W: James Taggart, Joseph M. Thomas, Joshua Thompson, Benjamin Titcomb. William Twombley, Jason Wait, Seth Warner, Nathan Weare, Richard Weare, James Wedgewood, Benjamin Whitcomb, Peletiah Whittemore, Obadiah Williams and Luke Woodbury.
Sources:
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. CVI, April, 1952, Boston, MA; Society of the Cincinnati website.
General John Sullivan
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Folsom Tavern, Exeter, NH
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