U. S. Lineage Societies for Men
Line of Descent Must Be Documented
Aug 26, 2008 Rosemary E. Bachelor
Baronial Order of the Magna Charta requires descent from one of the 25 Sureties responsible for holding King John to terms of the Great Charter he signed in 1215 at Runnemede Meadow. Descendants of the following non-Surety supporters in sympathy with the Magna Charta are also candidates for membership in the Order: William III d'Aubigny, Hubert de Burgh, Alan of Galloway, William Marshall, Sr. and William IV de Warenne.
General Society of Colonial Wars membership is open to descendants of military officers of colonial wars between May 13, 1607 and April 19, 1775, or from civilian governmental office holders in any of the colonies during the same period.
Military Order of the Stars and Bars is open to descendants of the members of the Confederate government and officers’ corps.
Military Society of the War of 1812 members are male descendants of commissioned officers, aides de camp, and commanding officers of private armed vessels of the United States who served in the War of 1812.
Order of the Founders and Patriots of America members must be lineally descended in the paternal line of either parent from an ancestor who settled in any of the colonies between May 13, 1607 and May 13, 1687 and has in the same line an ancestor who supported the American Revolution between 1775-1783.
Society of the Cincinnati members descend from an officer of the line who joined the Society of the Cincinnati in his own right, or from an officer of the line who died prior to that society’s first meeting in 1784; by special consent, a person may join on descent from an officer who was eligible, but did not join.
St. Andrew’s Society (branches in New York State, Philadelphia and Washington, DC); membership criteria is men of Scottish birth or ancestry.
St. David’s Society membership eligibility is based upon Welsh descent. Guidelines for each society may vary.
Sons of the American Revolution members must have traced their ancestry back to an ancestor who supported the cause of American independence during the years 1774-1783.
Sons of Colonial New England members must prove lineal descent from a person born prior to July 4, 1776, in any of the present six New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Sons of Confederate Veterans membership is open to all male descendants of any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate armed forces.
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War must be male descendants of a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War whose ancestors have not borne arms against the United States government.
Sovereign Colonial Society of Americans of Royal Descent requires lineal descent from a king. The society includes the descendants of all the royal houses, both medieval and modern.
Information is also available on lineage societies for women only, for men and women and for lineage societies on the state level.
For additional societies, consult Robert R. Davenport’s Heredity Society Blue Book in your local library or the nearest library with a genealogy section. It gives mailing addresses and other information for 147 lineage organizations
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