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THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 
 
 CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 
 
 1883. 
 
I783-I883. 
 
 Cl)e iWassatljusctts ^actct]) of tiye Ci'iumnati. 
 
 AS HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED ON THE OCCASION 
 
 THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 
 
 AT BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 July 4, 1883, 
 
 eW 
 
 By SAMUEL C. COBB, 
 
 PRESIDENT. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 1883. 
 
A 
 
 (JTamfarttige : 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON A^'D SON, 
 UNIVKRSITY PRESS. 
 
At the Centennial Dinner of the Massachusetts 
 Society of The Cincinnati, given at Boston Jnly 4, 188-3, 
 on motion of Mr. William H. Savage, seconded hy Mr. 
 Daniel C. Lillie, it was nnanimonsly voted that the 
 Historical Address delivered this day by the President, be 
 printed, and that a cop}^ thereof be sent to each member 
 of the Society. 
 
 Attest : 
 
 DAVID G. IIASKINS, Jr., 
 
 Assistant Secretary . 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Brothers of the Cincinnati : 
 
 " I ^HE pleasant duty devolves upon me of welcoming 
 you, which I do most cordially, to this reunion of 
 the Massachusetts Cincinnati. 
 
 Besides the pleasures that are wont to attend these 
 annual gatherings, it is our privilege to-day to perform 
 a most grateful service, in taking note of the fact that 
 this honored Institution has recently completed the 
 first century of its existence. I am sure you would 
 hardly forgive me, — indeed, I should consider myself 
 to be remiss in the performance of my duty, — if I did 
 not take occasion at this time to glance briefly at some 
 of the facts and incidents connected with the history of 
 this Society. 
 
 There is in our archives a paper in the well-known 
 handwriting of General Henry Knox, with this indorse- 
 ment : " Rough Draft of a Society to be formed by 
 the American Officers, and to be called ' The Cincin- 
 nati.' " It is dated '^ West Point, April 15, 1783." It 
 
8 
 
 covers eight foolscap pages, and exhibits various era- 
 sures and interlineations, but is in substance the same 
 as the present Institution. The discovery of this inter- 
 esting document, the existence of which was long 
 unknown, settled the question which had sometimes 
 been asked as to who was the founder of the 
 Cincinnati ? 
 
 The idea of forming such an organization was at first 
 supposed to have been suggested by Baron Steuben, as 
 stated in Judge Burke's famous pamphlet, entitled 
 " Considerations on the Order or Society of the Cincin- 
 nati ; " but this is shown to be an error by the Baron's 
 letter to Knox of Nov. 11, 1783, in which, referring to 
 Burke's assertion, he says, " He makes me author and 
 grand-master of the Cincinnati ; this is whipping you 
 over my shoulders." ^ Brigadier-General Huntington, 
 of Connecticut, who was one of the committee to con- 
 sider and report upon the original draft of the Institu- 
 tion, probably had a hand in revising and shaping the 
 instrument as finally adopted. 
 
 A glance at the condition of affairs at the close of 
 the Eevolution — a most critical period of our national 
 history — is essential to a proper understanding of the 
 motives and objects of the founders of the Society. 
 
 During the winter of 1782-83, the American forces 
 lay encamped at Newburg, on the banks of the Hud- 
 son. The war was over, and independence secured ; 
 but the country was exhausted, and the outlook any- 
 thing but promising. The army felt that its dissolution 
 was imminent, and that very soon its members Avere to 
 
 ^ Steuben's letter is among the Knox Papers in the library of the New 
 England Historic Genealogical Society. 
 
9 
 
 be dismissed forever from the service of their country, 
 with no other resources than such as chance or their 
 own private means might afford. Congress, no longer 
 the illustrious body that had once riveted the attention 
 of the civilized world, and wielded autocratic power, — 
 Congress was now so destitute of influence as to be 
 wholly unable to provide for the payment of the troops, 
 then largely in arrears ; all it could do was to recom- 
 mend to the different States to permit the money for 
 national purposes to be levied : a recommendation was 
 regarded or not, as the case might be. All this was 
 well understood by the army. The members felt that 
 they would never get their money unless some definite 
 arrangement were made before the organization was 
 disbanded. To add to their irritation, the public prints 
 made strenuous opposition to granting pensions for 
 military services, — an opposition prompted by those 
 prudent patriots w^ho had stayed at home during the 
 war, but who now, when danger was over, fearlessly 
 came to the front. Congress afterward issued certifi- 
 cates for five years' pay, in lieu of the half-pay for life 
 that it had previously granted. These the more needy 
 of the soldiers were obliged to part with at a ruinous 
 discount. Often, on reaching home, the war-worn vet- 
 eran had nothing to show for his long service but his 
 ragged uniform and his honorable. scars. 
 
 Poverty had made sad w^ork among these men. 
 Poorly paid, they had as a general rule been compelled 
 to depend to a greater or less extent upon their own 
 scanty resources. Their wives and daughters (and we 
 should never lose sight of this fact), — the women of 
 the Ptevolution, — had borne a part in the toils and 
 
10 
 
 sacrifices of the long and arduous struggle for inde- 
 pendence with a patient heroism no whit inferior to 
 the more active valor of husbands and brothers. Not 
 only did they encourage and stimulate the men in the 
 performance of patriotic duties, but often, besides dis- 
 charging their own household labors, they did the 
 men's work in the cultivation of the farm. 
 
 " The situation of the officers," writes Washington to 
 Hamilton, March 12, 1784, " I do believe is distressing 
 in the extreme. It is affirmed to me that a large pro- 
 portion of them have no better prospect before them 
 than a jail, if they are turned loose without liquidation 
 of accounts, and an assurance of that justice to which 
 they are so worthily entitled." 
 
 It is not wonderful, therefore, that a spirit of dis- 
 affection pervaded the ranks. An anonymous writer ' 
 gave forcible and eloquent expression to this feeling in 
 a paper distributed throughout the camjD, in which it 
 was proposed that the army should relinquish the ser- 
 vice in a body if the war continued ; or, in case of 
 peace, that they should still retain their arms, in defi- 
 ance of civil authority. This paper produced intense 
 excitement. 
 
 Impressive and critical as was the exigency, how- 
 ever, Washington was fully equal to its requirements. 
 Calling the officers together, he counselled moderation 
 in a dignified and patriotic speech, calmed the general 
 agitation, and restored order and discipline. As he 
 put on his spectacles to read his address he said, " You 
 see, gentlemen, that I have not only grown gray but 
 blind in your service." This incident, simple as it was, 
 
 ^ Major John Aiuistrong. 
 
11 
 
 produced a powerful effect. '' Without this scene," 
 wrote M<ajor Shaw to a friend, " I should never have 
 known to what heights human nature was capable of 
 attaining." ^ 
 
 I well remember hearing the late Rev. David Smith, 
 D. D. (a member of this Society who died in 1862), 
 give a graphic account of a visit that he made to tlie 
 encampment of the Revohitionary army on the Hudson, 
 just before the close of the war. His father, Captain 
 Ebenezer Smith, came home on a short furlough, and 
 David accompanied him on his return to the camp, 
 being at that time scarcely sixteen years of age. 
 
 He reached West Point in time to be an eye-witness 
 of the last review of troops made by the illustrious 
 Commander-in-Chief at that place. The beneficent 
 countenance and majestic presence of General Wash- 
 ington, as he appeared on that occasion, and the steady 
 marching and soldierly bearing of the troops as they 
 passed in review, made an impression upon the boy so 
 vivid and thrilling, that the scene ever afterward, he 
 said, seemed to him to be a present reality, and could 
 never be effaced from his memory. He remained near 
 headquarters till the army was disbanded ; and while 
 there he frequently saw General Washington and his 
 associates-in-arms. 
 
 At last for the army the hour of parting struck. 
 Old comrades who side by side, during all those years, 
 had fought and bled, sometimes pinched by hunger and 
 poverty to the utmost limit of human endurance, were 
 now to separate, not knowing if they ever should meet 
 again on earth, or what fate might have in store for them 
 
 1 Journal of Samuel Shaw, with a memoir by Josiali Quincy, p. 10."). 
 
12 
 
 in the unknown future. It must be remembered that 
 these men thus remanded to the farm or workshop had 
 lost their taste for the arts of peace and their skill in 
 cultivating them, and with their meagre resources they 
 naturally viewed the coming struggle for existence 
 with melancholy forebodings. 
 
 Hear w^iat Judge Burke, the ablest opponent of the 
 Cincinnati Society, says of these men. " It must be 
 remembered," says Burke, " that a series of hardy, gal- 
 lant, and splendid actions, through a fierce and desper- 
 ate conflict, their toils and sufferings, and their patience 
 under them, and, above all, the glorious success which 
 crowned the whole, have rendered the officers of the 
 American Army the most renowned band of men that 
 this day walk on the face of the globe." ^ 
 
 Although these men had secured the independence of 
 their country, they well knew that she was too poor to 
 do anything for them ; and that if they or their chil- 
 dren should thereafter be in need, it must be to their 
 comrades that they would have to look for help. 
 
 This was the situation when Knox, who had long 
 cherished the idea, proposed the formation of the 
 Society of the Cincinnati. 
 
 The desire to possess honorary distinctions has 
 shown itself from the earliest times, and among 
 nations strongly dissimilar ; and to be able to wear 
 them on the person as evidence of valuable service to 
 one's country has always been an honorable object of 
 ambition. The " button " of the Mandarin, the " fleece" 
 of the Spanish grandee, and the " garter " of the Eng- 
 
 ' Considevatioiis on the Order or Society of the Cincinnati. 
 
13 
 
 lish knight are badges of distinction equally prized and 
 coveted. The sentiment which prompts the bestowal 
 of these incentives to exertion lies deep in the founda- 
 tions of our nature. The -recognition of meritorious 
 service has been made use of b}^ every government that 
 could maintain pretensions to civilization ; and to-day 
 these incentives to nobler effort prevail throughout the 
 civilized world. 
 
 On the 10th of May, 1783, a meeting of the gen- 
 eral officers, and of one officer from the line of each 
 regiment, was held at the cantonment of the army to 
 consider the subject of the proposed association. Baron 
 Steuben presided ; and upon the favorable report of 
 a committee consisting of Generals Knox, Hand, and 
 Huntington, and Captain Shaw, three days later, at the 
 headquarters of the brave old Baron (known since as 
 the Yerplanck manor, near Fishkill), the Institution of 
 the Society of the Cincinnati was with great unanimity 
 adopted. 
 
 The leading objects of the Society are thus stated in 
 this instrument : " To perpetuate the remembrance of 
 the achievement of national independence, as well as the 
 mutual friendships which have been formed under the 
 pressure of common danger, and in many instances ce- 
 mented by the blood of the parties, — the officers of the 
 American Army do hereby in the most solemn manner 
 associate, constitute, and combine themselves into one 
 society of friends, to endure as long as they shall en- 
 dure, or any of their eldest male posterity, and, in fail- 
 ure thereof, the collateral branches who may be judged 
 worthy of becoming its supporters or members." 
 
 Though smarting under their country's neglect 
 
14 
 
 these patriotic men did not lose sight of her welfare. 
 In this same instrument they declare it to be " their 
 unalterable determination to promote and cherish 
 between the respective States that union and national 
 honor so essentially necessary to the happiness and the 
 future dignit}" of the American Empire." It is a source 
 of just pride that our Society, originating as it emphati- 
 cally did in merit alone, ghould also have so valid a 
 claim to perpetuity as is contained in this patriotic 
 declaration. In this direction it can still be useful, and 
 the fundamental principles upon which it rests should 
 never be departed from. 
 
 Officers were eligible to membership who had served 
 for three years, or to the end of the war, or who had 
 been left out on the several reductions of the army, 
 upon contributing one month's pay to the treasury of 
 the respective State societies, the interest of this fund 
 to be applied to the relief of the indigent widows and 
 orphans of deceased members. 
 
 The General Society was to be divided into State 
 societies, and it was to meet triennially on the first 
 Monday in May. The triennial meeting is composed 
 of the officers of the General Society, and a delegation 
 of not more than five members from each State. There 
 have been thirty-five meetings of the General Society 
 during the century, besides those supposed to have 
 taken place between 1811 and 1829, of which no rec- 
 ord exists. Onh' temporary officers were chosen at 
 the first meeting, as follows : Washington, President ; 
 General Knox, Secretary ; and General McDougal, 
 Treasurer. A little later, the eagle, the beautiful in- 
 siirnia of the order, was designed bv Maior I'Enfant. an 
 accomplished engineer and draughtsman. 
 
15 
 
 A number of prominent French officers who had 
 aided us in achieving our independence were consti- 
 tuted members of the Society. The French king, as a 
 special mark of favor, permitted them to appear at court 
 with the new decoration, the only foreign badge previ- 
 ously suffered to be worn there bemg that of the Golden 
 Fleece. The Society was held in high honor among 
 the French officers, and its membership was eagerly 
 sought by them. The terrible revolution which swept 
 away every vestige of rank and title in France made 
 sad havoc among them, and brought to the giullotine 
 D'Estaing. Custine. Lauzun. De Broglie. Dillon, and 
 others who had earned and worn the much-coveted 
 decoration. The especial distinction accorded to the 
 order by Louis XVI. was acknowledged by his suc- 
 cessors as long as royalty held sway in France. In 
 Russia it has received special recognition from the 
 Czar ; and in Ensrland the badcre of the order is recow- 
 nized by the Lord Chamberlam as a passport to court 
 ceremonials. Our Society is more generally recognized 
 abroad than any other American organization. At 
 home, many prominent men have been among its 
 members. 
 
 One feature of the Institution — the hereditary suc- 
 cession of its members — alarmed the friends of the 
 new republic, then at the beginning of its experimental 
 stage, and provoked hostile criticism from all quarters. 
 The ablest of its opponents was Judge Burke, of South 
 Carolina. The gifted Mirabeau also, afterward the 
 impassioned orator of the French National Assembly, 
 uttered this solemn warning : •• In less tlian a cen- 
 tury this institution, which draws a hue of separation 
 
16 
 
 between the descendants of the Cinchinatl and then- 
 fellow-citizens, will have caused so great an inequality 
 that the country which now contains none but citizens 
 perfectly equal in the eye of the constitution and of the 
 law, will consist altogether of two classes of men, — 
 Patricians and Plebeians."^ 
 
 How ridiculous this prediction seems to us, and how 
 completely ■ was it falsified by the event! Yet such 
 was the sensitiveness of popular feeling upon this 
 subject at that day that these and similar forebodings, 
 absurd as they now appear, produced a profound 
 impression all over the country. 
 
 That such ideas should be entertained by persons 
 living under monarchical governments, and unfamiliar 
 with the genius of our people, is not strange ; the won- 
 der is that they should have been shared by some of 
 the most enlightened of our own statesmen. Jefterson, 
 Jay, the Adamses, even the sagacious Franklin, were 
 among those who believed that the Society was laying 
 the foundation of a new order of nobility. The State 
 of Rhode Island threatened to disfranchise such of its 
 citizens as were members of the Cincinnati ; but, not- 
 withstanding the assertion of several writers that she 
 did deprive them of citizenship, no such step was actu- 
 ally taken by her, nor by any other State. McMaster, 
 the latest writer upon this portion of our history, not 
 only repeats but magnifies this error, for he tells us 
 that " the officer who subscribed to its laws laid down 
 in many States his rights of citizenship." ^ 
 
 1 Considerations on the Order or Society of the Cincinnati, p. 22. 
 - MciNIaster's History of the People of the United States, vol. i. 
 p. 168. 
 
17 
 
 Here in Massachusetts, a committee of both Houses 
 of the Legislature reported, March 25, 1784, that the 
 association was " unjustifiable, and, if not properly dis- 
 countenanced, dangerous to the peace, liberty, and 
 safety of the United States in general, and this com- 
 monwealth in particular." No action, however, was 
 taken by the Legislature, and the excitement eventu- 
 ally subsided. 
 
 So strong indeed was the public sentiment against 
 the Society in our own State at that time, that even 
 Knox its founder, and Jackson his bosom friend, 
 stanch supporters of the order as they were, were 
 for a time constrained to abstain from wearing their 
 badges ; ^ and General Heath, then a candidate for 
 senatorial honors, and fearing for the result, wrote on 
 the eve of the election to the Secretary-General to 
 erase his name from the Society's list of members.^ 
 
 Knowing as we do the purity of the motives that 
 actuated the founders of our Society, and the patriotism 
 and beneficence that have marked its whole career ; 
 and knowing, too, the utter impossibility of founding 
 here, even had they desired to do so, an aristocratic 
 and privileged class, — knowing all this, one can 
 hardly repress a smile at the wide-spread alarm and 
 apprehension excited by the wise, perfectly simple, 
 and proper method devised by the Society for continu- 
 ing its existence. 
 
 ^ See Winthrop Sargent's article in the "North American Review" 
 for October, 1852. 
 
 2 General Heath paid his money, but never met with the Society. 
 See "Heath's Memoirs," pp. 380-82. Life of Samuel Adams, by S. A. 
 Welles, vol. iii. p. 204. 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 No one now thinks of questioning the wisdom of 
 this method. The fact of its adoption hy that patriotic 
 body of men known as the " Loyal Legion," whose 
 task it was to preserve that which our original mem- 
 bers had contributed so largely to secure, — this fact 
 is of itself a sufficient commentary on the judgment 
 and good sense of the founders of the Cincinnati in 
 establishing such a rule, however contrary it might 
 then have been to current popular sentiment. 
 
 The first General Meeting of the Cincinnati, after 
 the disbanding of the army, took place at the City 
 Tavern in Philadelphia, in May, 1784. At the sugges- 
 tion of Washington, and in deference to the strong and 
 general sentiment of the country, it recommended to 
 the State societies the abolition of the obnoxious pro- 
 vision in the Institution. By this timely action the 
 opposition was silenced, and the storm hushed. After 
 the adoption of the Federal Constitution, warfare 
 against the Society ceased. As, however, the pro- 
 posed alteration in the Institution never was agreed 
 to by the State societies, that instrument remains to 
 this day unaltered in this respect. At- this meeting in 
 Philadelphia the first regular officers of the Society were 
 chosen. Washing-ton was of course named President- 
 General ; General Gates was elected Vice-President- 
 General ; and General Knox, Secretary-General. Since 
 its formation the presiding officers of the Society have 
 been as fohows : George Washington, Alexander Ham- 
 ilton, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Thomas Pinckney, 
 Aaron Ogden, Morgan Lewis, William Popham, Henry 
 A. S. Dearborn, and Hamilton Fish. Four of the nine 
 
19 
 
 have been from New York, and all bnt two were 
 Revolutionary officers. 
 
 With regard to the admission of new members, vari- 
 ous rules have from time to time been adopted, and 
 there is, — unfortunately, as I believe, — no uniformity 
 of action in the different State societies. Since 1792, 
 our Society has elected its members by ballot, and in 
 1801 it adopted the rule of electing no person under 
 twenty-one years of age. The principle of limiting 
 membership to a single individual of the same line 
 prevails uniformly in Massachusetts, and, I think, in 
 Pennsylvania; while South Carolina admits all male 
 descendants, at least in the same degree of blood. In 
 Maryland, also, different degrees of the same stock in 
 the line of descent, as father and son, are admitted 
 together. 
 
 In all the societies from the beginning, a brother or 
 a nephew of an original member was eligible ; and 
 direct male descendants, through female collateral 
 lines, have, upon failure of original male lines, been 
 made admissible, in preference to kinsmen more re- 
 mote. The admission of nephew^s has been extended 
 in Massachusetts and New York to one clahnina' 
 through a sister of an original member. In 1822 the 
 first and only instance occurred in Massachusetts of the 
 choice of a cousin and nearest malt? relative to succeed 
 a deceased member (William Lyman, now deceased, in 
 that year succeeding his cousin James W. Lyman). The 
 honorary membership in our Society has been limited 
 to three, — William H. Prescott, in 1845 ; Dr. John C. 
 Warren and Daniel Webster in 1847. 
 
20 
 
 A recent rule of our Society permits a deviation from 
 the succession of the heir male if, for satisfactory rea- 
 sons, another be chosen. But ujDon the decease of the 
 person so preferred, the membership reverts to the heir 
 male of the original member. 
 
 In 1799 the South Carolina society voted to admit to 
 membership all the sons and all the male descendants 
 of original members, whether such descendants derived 
 through a male or female branch, or of such officers as 
 having served with reputation died during the war, or 
 who having been entitled to become members died 
 wdthin six months after the army was disbanded, who 
 might be judged worthy, provided three fourths of a 
 legal quarterly meeting were in his favor, and upon the 
 payment of thirty dollars. They also voted to admit, 
 on a three-fourths vote and one month's pay, officers 
 who had served six j-ears in the army or navy of the 
 United States, or who after three years' service had 
 been deranged by act of Congress.' This action of the 
 South Carolina branch seems clearly to be a direct vio- 
 lation of the organic law of the Society. No notice has 
 been taken of it, however, by the General Society. 
 
 I am not informed of the rules of other State so- 
 cieties, now in force, in regard to the admission of 
 members ; but I think the records will show that the 
 Massachusetts State society has adhered more rigidly 
 in this respect to the spirit of the original institution, 
 from its beginning to the present time, than have the 
 other State societies. 
 
 By the action of the General Society in 1854, the 
 
 1 See letter from the South Carolina Society, dated May 23, 1799, in 
 the archives of the Massachusetts Society. 
 
21 
 
 door of admission to membership was opened to the 
 male descendants of such officers of the army or navy 
 as might have joined it originally, but who fliiled so to 
 do ; to those who resig-ned with honor or left the ser- 
 vice with reputation ; and also to the male collateral 
 relatives of any officer who died in service without 
 leaving issue. It was further provided that the male 
 descendants of those who were members of State socie-- 
 ties which had been dissolved, might be admitted mto 
 existing societies upon such terms as these societies 
 might think proper to prescribe. This measure has had 
 the effect to increase the membership of the Society, 
 wdiich had previously been gradually diminishing. 
 
 From the records of our State society I glean a few 
 items of more than ordinary interest. Its first meeting 
 was held at the cantonment of the Massachusetts line, 
 near Newburg, on the 9th of June, 1783, three weeks 
 after the formation of the General Society ; its subse- 
 quent meetings have all been held in Boston. General 
 Patterson presided ; one hundred and fifty members 
 were in attendance, and the following named officers 
 were chosen : President, Major-General Benjamin Lin- 
 coln ; Vice-President, Major-General Henry Knox ; 
 Secretary, Colonel John Brooks ; Treasurer, Colonel 
 Henry Jackson ; Assistant-Treasurer, Captain Benjamin 
 Hey wood. 
 
 At a special meeting on the 11th of April, 1787, a 
 standing committee w^as organized. It was to meet 
 monthly to examine the claims of candidates for admis- 
 sion ; to distribute aid from its funds to beneficiaries ; 
 and to transact all other business of the Society. This 
 
22 
 
 committee was subsequently enlarged, and now holds 
 its stated meetings in March and November of each 
 year. 
 
 In 1788-89 our State society lost some valuable mem- 
 bers, who emigrated to the Northwestern Territory, 
 where, under the lead of Generals Rufus Putnam and 
 Benjamin Tupper, they founded at Marietta the first 
 white settlement in Ohio. Among these enterpris- 
 ing pioneers were Colonels Sprout and Stacey, Major 
 Oliver, Captains Nathaniel Gushing, Nathan Goodale, 
 Zebulon King, Robert Bradford, Jonathan Stone, Huf- 
 field White, and Jonathan Haskell. These gentlemen 
 afterward formed a branch society, and applied for 
 their portion of the Society's funds. The request was 
 refused as incompatible with the terms of the Institu- 
 tion itself, and as establishing a dangerous precedent. 
 The capital fund has ever been regarded as a sacred 
 trust by the Society, " to endure as long as they shall 
 endure, or any of their eldest male posterity, and, in 
 failure thereof, the collateral branches who may be 
 judged worthy." , 
 
 On the 10th of September, 1789, our State society 
 w^as entertained on board the French fleet then in Bos- 
 ton Harbor," commanded by the Marquis de la Gal- 
 lissoniere, a member of the French Society, and on 
 the twenty-fourth the French officers were in return 
 the Society's guests at Concert Hall. This wns a 
 grand affjiir ; the hall was gayly decorated, and a full 
 band was in attendance. 
 
 In this vear occurred also President Washington's 
 visit to Boston. He was waited on by the Society at 
 his quarters in the building which until quite recently 
 
23 
 
 stood on the corner of Tremont and Court streets. The 
 occasion was one of deep interest, six years having 
 elapsed since their parting with their beloved com- 
 mander-in-chief. An address was made b}^ Vice- 
 President Eustis, to which the President made a feeling 
 and eloquent reply. 
 
 Another of these pleasant reunions occurred in 1817, 
 when President Monroe, the second chief magistrate 
 taken from the ranks of the Cincinnati, came to Bos- 
 ton. He made the Exchange Coffee House his head- 
 quarters, and received a congratulatory address from 
 the Society. 
 
 But the most memorable of all the occasions that 
 brought the veterans of our State society together 
 occurred in 1824, when Lafayette, after forty years' 
 absence, revisited our shores as the guest of the nation. 
 Probably no one has ever received a more enthusias- 
 tic reception than that accorded upon this occasion to 
 the " hero of two hemispheres." From the balcony 
 of the mansion yet standing at the corner of Park and 
 Beacon streets, with Brooks and Eustis, in their old 
 continental uniforms, on either side of him, the dis- 
 tinguished visitor saw the troops and the procession 
 pass in review. A committee of the Society called 
 upon Lafayette at the residence of Governor Eustis in 
 Roxbury, before his entrance into Boston. They were 
 anxious to offer him their congratulations at the earli- 
 est moment, and to bid him welcome to the land they 
 had imitedly struggled to defend. A few days after his 
 arrival, the whole Society waited on him, and addressed 
 him through their President. The General, in reply, 
 expressed his thanks and gratification at being per- 
 
24 
 
 mitted to revisit his surviving companions of the Revo- 
 lutionary Array, to whom he tendered his '' grateful 
 thanks and constant love." While in Boston, the Mas- 
 sachusetts Cincinnati again assembled to ofter him a 
 tribute of affection, and their meeting was deeply in- 
 teresting. His venerable associates-in-arms were in 
 tears when he addressed them, and he appeared highly 
 affected by the interview. Lafayette's visit has a spe- 
 cial interest for this Society, as it was made the occasion 
 for Brooks and Eustis, brothers-in-arms, to bury an old 
 animosity. 
 
 When in 1826 the fiftieth anniversary of the Decla- 
 ration of Independence was celebrated, twenty of the 
 old Revolutionary veterans, most of whom were over 
 seventy years of age, assembled. One of them had not 
 attended a meeting of the State society for forty years. 
 We can well imagine that their greetings were warm, 
 their reminiscences of the past abundant, and that their 
 expressions of pleasure at being permitted once more 
 to meet their old comrades, and to see the country for 
 which they had fought and bled in so happy and pros- 
 perous a condition, were deep and heartfelt. 
 
 On Nov. 21, 1881, the descendants and represent- 
 atives of Lafayette, Rochambeau, Noailles, and others 
 of the gallant Frenchmen who aided us in our war for 
 independence, were welcomed to Boston by the Presi- 
 dent of our State society, in the name of the Massachu- 
 setts Cincinnati. 
 
 For six consecutive years, beginning with 1787, ora- 
 tions were delivered before the Society on the 4th of 
 July of each year. The orators were Colonel John 
 Brooks, Colonel William Hull, Dr. Samuel Whitwell, 
 
25 
 
 Colonel William Tudor, Dr. William Eustis, and Thomas 
 Edwards. The first four were delivered at the Old 
 Brick Meeting-house, and were printed. The last two 
 were given in the Stone Chapel. On these occasions 
 the Society marched in procession, accompanied by 
 the officiating clergyman, to and from the " Bunch 
 of G^^apes " tavern to the meeting-house. The rev- 
 erend gentleman opened the services with prayer, and 
 afterward dined with the Society. 
 
 Our first annual meeting was held July 4, 1784, at 
 the " Bunch of Grapes " tavern. This then famous 
 hostelry, kept at that time by Colonel Marston, and 
 afterward by Mrs. Lobdell, stood at the corner of 
 State and Kilby streets, the present site of the New- 
 England National Bank. After 1789, the annual fes- 
 tive reunions of the Society were usually held at Con- 
 cert Hall, the last of these occurring in 1846. From 
 1848 to 1860 the Society met and dined at the United 
 States Hotel. Since that period its meetings have been 
 held at the Parker House. 
 
 At the earlier anniversaries of the Society the cocked 
 hat and knee breeches and the small sword were worn. 
 The hair carefully jDOwdered and brought down to a 
 pigtail claimed no small share of attention, and con- 
 stituted an important feature in the costume. Old 
 comrades met and talked over the past, recalling their 
 varied experiences of the camp, the march, and the 
 battle-field. Conviviality was apt to be carried to ex- 
 cess in those days, and it was not likely to be unduly 
 restrained by old campaigners on the anniversary day 
 of the nation they had helped to found. 
 
 Apropos of this now obsolete feature of our annual 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 gatherings was the toast of Major Jackson, an old 
 artilleryman. Said the Major : " May we not over- 
 charge our old pieces, and never heat them hotter than 
 they were at Monmouth." This is said to have been 
 a " palpable hit." 
 
 Some of these scarred veterans present at these 
 social reunions had served from Bunker Hill to York- 
 town. Their talk was of the retreat through New Jer- 
 sey and the night-march to Trenton, the destitution 
 and misery of Valley Forge, the heat and dust of 
 Monmouth, the storming of Stony Point under the 
 lead of " Mad Anthony," the treason of Arnold, the 
 capture and execution of Major Andre, and the decisive 
 events of Saratosfa and Yorktown. 
 
 o 
 
 The dinners — and they w^ ere good and substantial 
 repasts — cost each member four shillings, equal to two 
 thirds of a dollar; the wine, which was an " extra," two 
 shillings : this was in 1789. The Master of Ceremo- 
 nies w^as directed to call for the bill before sunset, — 
 perhaps to avoid an extra charge for candles ! 
 
 Since 1794, the cost of the annual dinner has been 
 defrayed from the funds of the Society. The regular 
 toasts were originally thirteen in number ; but as State 
 after State came into the Union, their number corres- 
 pondingly increased. They were usually of a patriotic 
 character. One, which has never been omitted, is 
 drunk standing and in silence, — '' To the memory 
 of Washington." 
 
 The Antislavery sentiment of the time is revealed 
 in a toast given soon after the Missouri Compromise 
 Act of 1820. It was this : " Our sister States in the 
 South : May the time soon come, when their songs 
 
27 
 
 of liberty shall no longer mingle with the sighing of 
 slaves ! " 
 
 After a century of existence as a Society, the ques- 
 tion naturally arises, Has it faithfully carried out the 
 cherished objects of its founders ? That it has perpetu- 
 ated and strengthened the friendships of our members 
 does not admit of question. Especially bright and en- 
 joyable were those rare occasions particularly noticed 
 in our records, that brought from a distance comrades 
 like General North (the favorite aid of Steuben), Colonel 
 Trumbull (the painter), Colonel Nathan Rice, and John 
 K. Smith. The descendants of the original mem- 
 bers have cherished and know how to value this most 
 agreeable feature of their association. 
 
 That another and much more important object has 
 also been borne in mind, is attested by the Society's 
 records, which show that whenever the institutions we 
 so highly prize were threatened either by domestic or 
 foreign foes, the members of the Society instantly came 
 forward to sustain the cause of union and good gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The first of these occasions, the Shays Insurrection, 
 occurred in Massachusetts in the winter of 1786-87. 
 Those were dark days. The old Confederacy w\as 
 falling into contempt, and there seemed little hope of 
 uniting the discordant political el'ements then existing 
 into anything like a stable form of government. Ad- 
 vantage was taken of this state of affairs by a few 
 desperate men, who hoped to derive some benefit from 
 the overthrow of the State government. Notwith- 
 standing the fact that many of the officers were still 
 
28 
 
 unpaid, and extremely depressed in their j)rivate cir- 
 cumstances, the moment the government was in dan- 
 ger, they rallied unanimously to its support. 
 
 The following extract from the report of a committee 
 of the Society, composed of Generals Knox and Lin- 
 coln, Colonel Brooks and Dr. Eustis, dated Oct. 11, 
 1786, and which, as the records show, was unanimously 
 adopted, speaks for itself : " Having the happiness," 
 say the committee in their report, " to live under a 
 o;overnment of laws and not of men, attached to that 
 government by the strong ties of principle and habit, 
 valuing freedom in proportion to the sacrifices they 
 have made in her support, this Society will never 
 tamely suffer these inestimable blessings to be wrested 
 from their hands by foreign force, or domestic faction. 
 The Society are interested in the preservation of the 
 Constitution ; and so long as life and its attendant 
 blessings, so long as public faith and private credit are 
 made the sacred objects of government, agreeably to 
 its original institution, this Society pledge themselves 
 to support it by every means, and by every exertion 
 in their power." 
 
 Nor was this all. The pledge thus given was amply 
 redeemed. Several of the Cincinnati played a most 
 prominent part in suppressing the outbreak which 
 quickly had attained to formidable proportions. Gen- 
 eral Lincoln headed the forces that in mid-winter 
 marched through deep snows against it in the west. 
 General Shepherd, with a few cannon-shot, shattered 
 and dispersed it in the same quarter; and General 
 Knox, then Secretary of War, was active in providing 
 for the security of the United States arsenal at Spring- 
 
29 
 
 field. In Bristol County the mob, confronted by the 
 energetic and determined officer, who declared that 
 he would " sit as a judge, or die as a general," and 
 who would, as they well knew, keep his word, — scat- 
 tered without firing a shot. 
 
 The prospect of a war with France, in 1798, called 
 out similar assurances from the Society of loyalty and 
 support to the government ; and there can be no doubt 
 that had the necessity arisen, their acts would not have 
 belied their words. 
 
 In the great rebellion which divided our country on 
 a strictly geographical line, the large majority of the 
 Cincinnati were actively loyal. The patriotism of the 
 sires bore les^itimate fruit in the sons. Amono; the o-al- 
 iant men who upheld our country's flag in the hour of 
 her utmost need, the descendants of the Cincinnati 
 were everywhere conspicuous, and proved themselves 
 worthy of their exalted origin. South of Mason and 
 Dixon's line the Union men, though few in number, 
 made a gallant fight to prevent the impending catas- 
 trophe ; but they were completely buried beneath the 
 fierce waves of secession which at that time over- 
 whelmed the Southern section of our country. 
 
 One other theme presents itself in connection with 
 our inquiry. 
 
 We have seen how the Cincinnati have responded to 
 the calls of friendship and patriotism. What have they 
 accomplished toward fulfilling the beneficent designs 
 of the founders of the order ? 
 
 No sooner had the Society been organized than a 
 committee was appointed '• to inquire into the situa- 
 
30 
 
 tion of distressed members." It was six years, however, 
 before the fii\st application for relief was made. 
 
 Two years later (1791), the standing committee was 
 empowered to grant, annually, a sum not exceeding 
 twenty dollars to each applicant for relief. In 1796 it 
 was voted to apply the entire interest of the Society's 
 fund for this purpose ; and that its benevolent objects 
 might be more fully attained, the standing committee 
 was instructed to give public notice of its meetings. 
 It is a matter of wonder that the applications for aid 
 were so few in the earlier days of the Society. Forty 
 years after its establishment the number of its benefi- 
 ciaries had risen to ninety ; in 1847 it had decreased 
 to fifty, and is now but half that number. In 1862 it 
 was found expedient to adopt a rule restricting aid so 
 as to apply it solely to our indigent members, and to 
 the widows and orphans of said members. 
 
 The administration of the Society's finances has 
 always been in able hands. Its past treasurers — 
 General Jackson, Robert Williams, and William Per- 
 kins, each of whom were many years in office — 
 have by their judicious management so increased the 
 fund of the Society as to enable it to carry out the 
 eleemosynary provision of its Institution in a most 
 enlarged and liberal manner. While its beneficiaries 
 in 1847 received annually on an average but about 
 thirty dollars each, they now receive over eighty dol- 
 lars each. 
 
 The sums contributed by original members, as ap- 
 pears by our books, was |13,058.15. These were 
 paid in Continental certificates, which were probably 
 redeemed at par. 
 
;i 
 
 When it is considered that not a few of these con- 
 tributions were made at the cost of great personal 
 inconvenience and even of comfort, such as we in this 
 day can neither understand nor appreciate, we can tlie 
 better realize the earnest interest which these men felt 
 in establishing this brotherhood. One instance of this 
 kind has come to my knowledge. An original member 
 of this Society, who served through the Revolutionary 
 war with much distinction, — a brigadier-general at its 
 close, — went home to poverty, and ruined in health. 
 He soon afterwards died. He was so much reduced in 
 his pecuniary circumstances that his widow was obliged 
 to ask help in order to defray the expense of his 
 burial. 
 
 Surely, a fund gathered for such uses as was that of 
 the Cincinnati, and representing as it did the hard- 
 earned and, in some instances, the only savings of the 
 contributors, cannot be held too dearly or guarded too 
 closely by those to whose care it has been committed.^ 
 
 The amount paid from the treasury of this Society in 
 aid of members and their descendants to the present 
 time, as the records show, exceeds ninety thousand 
 dollars. The expenditures for annual dinners and inci- 
 dentals has been another and no inconsiderable item 
 
 1 In a circular dated June, 1836, Dr. James Thacher of Plymouth calls 
 for the dissolution of the Society and the distribution of its funds. " Our 
 glorious days are gone by," says the writer, " our work is tinislied; not 
 more than twenty of our original members survive, and the time is at 
 hand when not an individual of the old stock will be seen at your festive 
 board. Our funds might add much to the comfort of the old debilitated 
 soldiers if divided." At the annual meeting July 4, 1836, "the subject 
 of dissolving the Society, as suggested by Dr. Thacher, was debated, and 
 on motion it was indefinitely postponed." 
 
32 
 
 of expense. Notwithstanding this, we begin the new 
 century with our vested capital increased fully five- 
 fold in amount, as compared with the sum contributed 
 orio-inallv. 
 
 On the rolls of our Society there are many distin- 
 guished names, to a few of which it seems proper on 
 this occasion briefly to refer. 
 
 The army and navy are well represented by those 
 of Lincoln, Knox, Rufus Putnam, Patterson, Greaton, 
 Shepard, Tupper, Hull, Vose, Wesson, Jackson, Nichol- 
 son, and Warren of the Revolutionary period, and by 
 Casey, Hunt, Townsend, Davis, and Thatcher of later 
 date, but of no less distinction. The names of Parker, 
 Baylies, Cobb, and Binney have illustrated the bench 
 and bar ; those of Eustis, Brooks, Homans, Townsend, 
 Hunt, Green, and Thacher have graced the medical 
 profession, of whom Brooks and Eustis have also wor- 
 thily filled the gubernatorial chair of Massachusetts. 
 The pulpit has been enriched by the piety and elo- 
 quence of an Ingersoll, a Ballard, a Baury, and a 
 Wells. In this connection I cannot forbear reference 
 to one ^ whom it is not necessary in this presence to 
 name. Far distant be the day when his genial com- 
 panionship shall cease from among us, to gladden and 
 to cheer ! Science and scholarship can claim Picker- 
 ing, Popkin, Tudor, Bradford, Daveis, Dearborn, and 
 Gould. Prominent among: the distino-uished names 
 stands that of Charles Sumner, statesman, orator, and 
 scholar. Franklin Pierce, one of our members, was 
 the fourteenth President of the United States. Other 
 
 1 The Rev. S. K. Lotlirop, D.D. 
 
33 
 
 honored names will readily occur to you, such as Shaw, 
 Sever, and others ; but the Ust is too long to be recited 
 on this occasion, and I must leave it incomplete. 
 
 Dr. Joseph Prescott, the last survivor of the original 
 members, and at one time Vice-President of the Mas- 
 sachusetts society, died at Great Barrington, Mass., in 
 1852. The last of the original Cincinnati, Major Robert 
 Burnett, survived until 1854. The Massachusetts roll 
 contains at the present time the names of only four who 
 are sons of original members ; namely, Dr. Samuel Al- 
 den, of Bridgewater ; Benjamin H. Greene, of Brook- 
 line', Mass ; John Edwards, of Portland, Me. ; William 
 H. Burbeck, of New London, Conn. The roll also con- 
 tains the name of William Eustis, of Philadelphia, a 
 nephew of Governor William Eustis. 
 
 Cincinnati, the '• Queen City of the West," was so 
 named by General Arthur St. Clair, in honor of this 
 Society, of which he was a member. St. Clair, as you 
 remember, was the first governor of the Northwestern 
 
 Territory. 
 
 Of the thirteen original State societies, seven are 
 yet in existence. Those of North Carolina and Geor- 
 gia long ago ceased to have vitality. The Delaware, 
 Connecticut, Virginia, and New Hampshire societies 
 were dissolved in the years 1802, 1804, 1822, and 1830, 
 respectively, tlie latter by the death of its last member. 
 The Rhode Island Society was also dissolved in 1832, 
 but has recently been revived by sons and representa- 
 tives of former members now deceased. The only State 
 societies of the Cincinnati ever incorporated were those 
 of Pennsylvania, in 1792 ; Massachusetts, in 1806 ; and 
 Rhode Island, in 1814. 
 
34 
 
 The Massachusetts State society has always been the 
 largest, — the three hundred and thirty-four members 
 who originally signed its roll being now represented 
 by ninety of their descendants ; and it is believed to 
 have held more closely to the principles and practices 
 of the original Institution than have either of the re- 
 maining State societies, if we except that of Pennsyl- 
 vania. These two societies have, as a rule, opposed all 
 radical departures from the Institution as originally 
 planned. 
 
 A few figures exhibit the condition of each of the 
 State societies, and the number of its regular and houo- 
 rary members, as reported recently to the Secretary- 
 General : — 
 
 State Societjes. 
 
 Original 
 Members. 
 
 Present 
 Members. 
 
 Honorary 
 Members. 
 
 Fund. 
 
 Massachusetts .... 
 
 New York 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Maryland 
 
 South Carolina .... 
 Rhode Island 
 
 Totals 
 
 33i 
 230 
 110 ■ 
 268 
 148 
 131 
 71 
 
 90 
 57 
 41 
 34 
 22 
 42 
 29 
 
 3 
 9. 
 
 5 
 
 $53,000.00* 
 
 22,000.00 
 
 15,000.00* 
 
 36,050.00 
 
 5,660.00 
 
 5,500.00 
 
 1,401.23 
 
 1,292 
 
 315 
 
 17 
 
 $138,611.23 
 
 Such, in brief. Brothers, is the record of this Society 
 during the past hundred years. 
 
 I have no need here more than to allude to the not 
 less interesting, as well as important, history of this 
 brotherhood, which is, and must always remain, un- 
 
 * Securities taken at par. 
 
35 
 
 written. Of the life-long friendships that have been 
 fostered and strengthened here ; of the conntless and 
 nameless individuals who have been the recipients of 
 the Society's bounty ; of the genuine comfort and good 
 cheer it has vouchsafed to all; of the inspiration to 
 well-doino- that has gone out from these fraternal 
 gatherings, hallowed by all the glorious memories 
 and associations that belong to them, — these have 
 not been, under the providence of God, without their 
 influence in making up the sum of the good work which 
 this Society has accomplished ; ay, and in making bet- 
 ter men of all those who hnve accepted its membership 
 in the true spirit of its Institution. 
 
 Standing thus at the opening of the second cen- 
 tury of this Society's existence, we have just cause 
 to congratulate ourselves upon the record it has 
 made. 
 
 Let us look forward iiopefully and confidently to 
 the work that is before us, remembering always that 
 to us has been conunitted for the time being all the 
 interests, all the nobly conservative influences and 
 associations, of this time-honored Society. 
 
 A o-lorious heritay:e is ours ; but this inheritance im- 
 poses upon us important duties and responsibilities, 
 which can be neither overlooked nor neglected if we 
 would prove ourselves to be worthy of it. 
 
 There is an old proverb which is to the effect that if 
 we would be the equals of our fathers, we should be 
 superior to them ; that is to say, as they occupied higher 
 ground than those who preceded them, so, to be their 
 equals, we must advance our position beyond theirs. 
 
36 
 
 Let us see to it that the principles of honor, of a 
 broad patriotism, and of an unswerving devotion to 
 duty are the cardinal principles of our action, not only 
 as members of this bi-otherhood, but as citizens of this 
 republic which our fathers helped to found, and which 
 they looked to their descendants to preserve, to 
 streno-then, and to make the noblest among; the nations 
 of the earth. 
 
 Then shall an influence for good go forth from this 
 organization which shall be worthy of its founders and 
 of their successors ; an influence founded upon the 
 everlasting principles of justice, charity, and truth, 
 which shall be transmitted in all its strength and 
 fulness to the generations which shall succeed us. 
 
 EsTO Perpetua ! 
 
EXERCISES AT THE CENTENNIAL DINNER, 
 
 LISTS OF offict:rs and members. 
 
Delegates to the triennial meeting of the General Society 
 of the Cincinnati, to he holdcn at Princeton, ]V. e/., m 
 Mag, 1884: — 
 
 Samup^l C. Cobb. 
 Charles D. Homans. 
 Francis W. Palfrey. 
 WiNSLow Wari:en. 
 Samuel K. Lothrop. 
 
BOSTON,- JlTLV 4, 1883. 
 
 CENTENNIAL DINNER 
 
 At the Parker House, 2 o'clock, p.m. 
 
 — ♦ — 
 
 JEusic bn tl)c (licimanid |iaut). 
 
 Toast-master David G. Haskins, Jr. 
 
 Chaplain . . The Rev. Samuel K. Lothkop, D.D. 
 
 TOASTS. 
 
 I. The Memory of Washington. (Standing, in Silence.) 
 Music: " Washington's Makch." 
 
 II. 27ie Day and Year we Celebrate : The Birthday of our Na- 
 tion, and the Centennial of our Order. We honor the 
 memory of those who declared our Independence and 
 of those who fought for it. 
 
 3Iusic : " Hail Columbia." 
 
 Historical Address by the President, the Hon. Samuel C. Cobb. 
 Music: "The Marseillaise." 
 
 Address by the Rev. Sabiuel K. Lothrop, D.D. 
 
40 
 
 III. The Health of our Honored President : The last Presi- 
 dent of the first century, the first President of the 
 second century of our Order. Long may lie live in 
 health, honor, and prospeiity, to preside over the nieet- 
 ine:s of this Society ! 
 
 Response, by the President. 
 
 IV. The Army and N^avy of the United States : Few in num- 
 ber, but mighty in spirit ; worthy sons of the men 
 of Bunker Hill and Valley Forge, of Lake Erie, New 
 Orleans, and Buena Vista. 
 
 Jilusic : ''The Star-Spanuled Banner." 
 
 V. 77ie Clergy : Zealous and 2)0\verful advocates of the 
 riglits of man, whether in the pulpit, the foruni, or 
 the battle-tield, in 1776 or 1883. 
 
 " Those who, regardless of an earthly prize. 
 Offer their lives a double sacrifice, — 
 To God for men, to men for God: that band 
 Of noble men, — the Clergy of our land." 
 
 3Iusic. 
 
 Response, by the Rev. James G. Vose, of Providence, 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 VI. The Surgeons of 1776, 1812, 1846, and 1861 : Fear- 
 less messengers of mercy amidst the horrors of the 
 battle-field ; freely shedding their own blood at their 
 country's call ; true to-day, as in 1775, to the motto, — 
 " Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." 
 
 3fusic. 
 
 Response, by the Vice-President, Charles D. IIomans, M.D. 
 
 VII. Plymotith Hock : The stepping-stone from mediaeval tra- 
 ditions to modern liberty and equal rights. 
 
41 
 
 " Like cleaves to like ! The wandering exiles found 
 A rock, firm as their wills, on which to rest; 
 No yielding clay, no flower-besprinkled ground, 
 Would suit these man, —stern, tempest-tossed, oppressed. 
 The gray old rock, ne'er yielding to their tread, 
 Stamped its own impress on the little flock; 
 And we, the children of the noble dead, 
 Still thrill with reverence for Plymouth Rock." 
 
 Music .; " America." 
 
 Response, by Gamaliel Bradford. 
 
 VIII. The Beneficiaries of the Society : The needs of the 
 children only strengthen our remembrance of the 
 patriotic deeds of the fathers. 
 
 Response, by WiisrsLow Warren. 
 
 IX. Our Brethren of the other State Societies : May the sa- 
 cred ties of sympathy and love that united in their 
 infancy the thirteen fair sisters, bind ever closer to- 
 gether the seven survivors in their mature years. 
 
 Music : " Yankee Doodle." 
 
 Response, by tlie Rev. Winslow Warren Sever, 
 of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
 
 Closing Remarks by tlie Toast-master. 
 Music: "AuLD Lang Syne." 
 
 [The two poetical sentiments were written for this occasion by Mrs. 
 Mary C. D. Watson, granddaugliter of the late 'hou. Charles S. Daveis 
 President of tlie Society]. 
 
 6 
 
OFFICEHS 
 
 GENERAL SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI, 
 
 Elected at the Triennial Meeting, held at 
 Charleston, S. C, 1881. 
 
 ^Irtsibcnl- General . 
 HAMILTON FISH, 
 
 OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Wut - ^ rjEsibtnl - d^ntral. 
 AVILLIAM A. IRVINE, 
 
 OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 GEORGE W. HARRIS, 
 
 OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Resistant ^ttrttarg- General. 
 R I C H A R D T. M A N N I N G, 
 
 OF MARYLAND. 
 
 S^uasurer-^tnEral. 
 JOHN SCHUYLER, 
 
 OF NEW YORK. 
 
 gissistaut S^reasurer-^fjteral. 
 HERMAN BUR GIN, 
 
 OF NEW .JERSEY. 
 
ORIGINAL MEMBERS 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 
 
 Abbott, Josiah, Ensign. 
 
 Abbott, Stephen, Captain. 
 
 Adams, Henry, Eegimental Surgeon. 
 
 Allien, Jiulah, Captain. 
 
 Allen, Nathaniel C, Captain. 
 
 Allen, Noah, Major. 
 
 Ames, Jotham, Lieutenant. 
 
 Andrews, William, Lieutenant. 
 
 Armstrong, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 
 Ashley, Moses, Major. 
 
 Austin, John, Lieutenant. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bailey, Adams, Captain. 
 Bailey, Luther, Captain. 
 Balcom, Joseph, Lieutenant. 
 Baldwin, Jeduthun, Colonel. 
 Ballantine, Ebenezer, Surgeon's Mate. 
 Ballard, William H., Major. 
 Bancroft, James, Lieutenant. 
 Barlovy, Joel, Chaplain. 
 Bassett, Barachiah, Lieut-Colonel. 
 Baury de Bellerive, Captain. 
 Baylies, Hodijah, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 Benson, Joshua, Captain. 
 Blake, Edward, Lieutenant. 
 Blanchard, John, Captain. 
 Bowles, Ralph H., Lieutenant and 
 
 Adjutant. 
 Bowman, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 Bradford, Andrew, Lieutenant. 
 Bradford, Gamaliel, Colonel. 
 Bradford, Gamaliel, Lieutenant. 
 Bradford, Robert, Captain. 
 Bramhall, Joshua, Lieutenant. 
 
 Brigham, Origon, Surgeon's Mate. 
 Brooks, John, Lieutenant-Colonel- 
 Commandant. 
 Brown, Ebenezer, Lieutenant. 
 Brown, Oliver, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 Bugbee, Edward, Lieutenant. 
 BuUard, Asa, Lieutenant. 
 Burbeck, Henry, Captain. 
 Burnham, John, Major. 
 Bussey, Isaiah, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 
 Callender, John, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 Carleton, Moses, Lieutenant. 
 Carleton, Osgood, Lieutenant. 
 Castaing, Peter, Lieutenant. 
 Chambers, Matthew, Captain. 
 Chapin, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 Clap, Caleb, Captain. 
 Clap, Joshua, Lieutenant. 
 Clayes, Peter, Captain. 
 Cobb, David, Lieutenant- Colonel- 
 Commandant. 
 Cogswell, Amos, Captain. 
 Cogswell, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 Cogswell, Thomas, Major. 
 Condy, Thomas H., Lieutenant. 
 Cook, David, Captain. 
 Cooper, Ezekiel, Captain. 
 Cooper, Samuel, Adjutant. 
 Crane, John, Colonel. 
 Crane, John, Eegimental Surgeon. 
 Crocker, Joseph, Captain. 
 Crowley, Florence, Lieutenant. 
 Gushing, Nathaniel, Captain. 
 Gushing, Thomas, Lieutenant. 
 
44 
 
 D. 
 
 Dana, Benjamin, Lieutenant. 
 
 Danforlh, Joshua, Lieutenant. 
 
 Daniels, Japlietli, Captain. 
 
 Darby, Samuel, Major. 
 
 Davis, Ebenezer, Lieutenant, and 
 
 Brigadier Quarter-Master. 
 Davis, James, Lieutenant. 
 Davis, John, Lieutenant and Adjutant. 
 Dean, Walter, Captain. 
 Dix, Nathan, Captain. 
 Dodge, Levi, Lieutenant. 
 Drew, Seth, Major. 
 DufBeld, John, Regimental Surgeon. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eaton, Benjamin, Lieutenant. 
 Edwards, Thomas, Lieutenant and 
 
 Judge-Advocate. 
 Egleston, Azariah, Lieutenant and 
 
 Pay-Master. 
 Emerson, Nehemiah, Captain. 
 Emery, Ephraim, Lieutenant and 
 
 Pay-Master. 
 Eustis, William, Hospital Surgeon. 
 Everett, Pelatiah, Lieutenant. 
 Eysandeau, William, Lieutenant. 
 
 P. 
 
 Felt, Jonathan, Captain. 
 
 Pinley, James E. B., Begimental Sur- 
 geon. 
 
 Pinley, Samuel, Eeginiental Surgeon. 
 
 Fisk, Joseph, Regimental Surgeon. 
 
 Ployd, Ebenezer, Ensign. 
 
 Foster, Elisha, Ensign. 
 
 Foster, Thomas, Lieutenant. 
 
 Fowles, John, Captain. 
 
 Freeman, Constant, Captain-Lieuten- 
 ant. 
 
 Freeman, Thomas D., Lieutenant. 
 
 Frink, Samuel, Ensign. 
 
 Frost, Samuel, Captain. 
 
 Frothingham, Benjamin, Captain. 
 
 Fryc, Frederick, Ensign. 
 
 Fuller, John, Captain. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gardner, James, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 Garrett, Andrew, Lieutenant. 
 George, John, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 Gibbs, Caleb, Major. 
 Gilbert, Benjamin, Lieutenant. 
 Goodale, Nathan, Captain. 
 Goodwin, F. L. B., Surgeon's Mate. 
 Greaton, John, Brigadier-General. 
 Greaton, John W., Ensign. 
 Greaton, Richard H., Ensign. 
 Green, Francis, Captain. 
 Greenleaf, William, Lieutenant. 
 Gridley, John, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hall, James, Lieutenant. 
 Hamlin, Africa, Ensign. 
 Hancock, Belcher, Captain. 
 Hart, John, Regimental Surgeon. 
 Hartshorn, Thomas, Captain. 
 Harvey, Elisha, Captain-Lieutenant, 
 Haskell, Elnathan, Captain. 
 Haskell, Jonathan, Lieutenant. 
 Hastings, John, Captain. 
 Heath, William, Major-General. 
 Hey wood, Benjamin, Captain. 
 Hildreth, William, Lieutenant. 
 Hill, Jeremiah, Lieutenant. 
 Hinds, Bartlett, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 
 Hiwell, John, Lieutenant, and In- 
 spector of Music. 
 
 Hobby, John, Captain. 
 
 Holbrook, David, Captain. 
 
 Holden, Aaron, Captain. 
 
 Holden, Abel, Captain. 
 
 Holden, John, Lieutenant. 
 
 Holden, Levi, Lieutenant. 
 
 Holland, Ivory, Lieutenant. 
 
 Holland, Park, Lieutenant. 
 
 HoUister, Jesse, Captain. 
 
 Ilomans, John, Surgeon. 
 
 Hooker, Zibeon, Lieutenant. 
 
 Horton, Elisha, Ensign, 
 
 Houdin, M. G., Captain. 
 
 Howe, Richard S., Ensign. 
 
 Hull, William, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 
 Hunt, Ephraim, Lieutenant. 
 
45 
 
 Hunt, Thomas, Captain. 
 Huril, John, Ensign. 
 
 Ingersoll, George, Lieutenant. 
 
 Jackson, Amasa, Ensign. 
 Jackson, Charles, Ensign. 
 Jackson, Daniel, Lieutenant. 
 Jackson, Ebenezer, Lieutenant. 
 Jackson, Henry, Colonel. 
 Jackson, Michael, Colonel. 
 Jackson, Michael, Lieutenant. 
 Jackson, Simon, Captain. 
 Jackson, Thomas, Captain. 
 Jefferds, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 Johnston, John, Captain. 
 
 Killam, Joseph, Captain. 
 
 King, Zebulon, Captain. 
 
 Knapp, INIoses, Major. 
 
 Knowles, Charles, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 
 Kno.x, Henry, Major-General. 
 
 Larncd, Simon, Captain. 
 Laughton, William, Surgeon's Mate. 
 Leavcnsworth, Nathaniel, Surgeon's 
 
 Ma te. 
 Lee, Daniel, Captain. 
 Lee, William R., Colonel. 
 Leland, Joseph, Lieutenant. 
 Leonard, Jacob, Ensign. 
 Lillie, John, Captain. 
 Lincoln, Benjamin, Major-General. 
 Lincoln, Rufus, Captain. 
 Liswell, John, Lieutenant. 
 Lockwood, William, Chaplain. 
 Lord, Jeremiah, Ensign. 
 Lovell, James, Lieutenant. 
 Lunt, Daniel, Captain. 
 Lyman, Cornehus, Ensign. 
 
 M. 
 
 M'Cay, Daniel, Ensign. 
 McKendrj', William, Lieutenant. 
 Marble, Henry, Lieutenant. 
 Mason, David, Jr., Lieutenant 
 
 Maxwell, Hugh, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 Maynard, John, Lieutenant and 
 
 Quarter-Master. 
 Maynard, Jonathan, Captain. 
 Maynard, William, Captain. 
 Means, James, Captain. 
 Mellisii, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 Miller, Jeremiah, Captain. 
 Miller, Joseph, Lieutenant. 
 Mills, John, Captain. 
 Mills, William, Captain. 
 Mooars, Benjamin, Lieutenant. 
 Moore, William, Captain. 
 Moore, William, Lieutenant. 
 Morgan, Benjamin, Surgeon's Mate. 
 Morrel, Amos, Major. 
 Morton, Silas, Lieutenant. 
 Myrick, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nason, Nathaniel, Lieutenant and 
 
 Quarter-Master. 
 Nelson, Henry, Lieutenant. 
 Newhall, Ezra, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 Newman, Samuel, Lieutenant. 
 Nicholson, Samuel, Captain in the 
 
 Navy. 
 Nixon, Thomas, Colonel. 
 Nortii, AVilliam, Captain. 
 
 0. 
 
 Oliver, Alexander, Ensign. 
 Oliver, Robert, Major. 
 
 Pardee, Aaron, Lieutenant. 
 Parker, Benjamin, Lieutenant. 
 Parker, Elias, Lieutenant. 
 Paterson, John, Brigadier-General. 
 Peabody, -Ebenezer, Lieutenant. 
 Peirce, Benjamin, Lieutenant. 
 Peirce, John, Captain-Lieutenant. 
 Peirce, Silas, Captain. 
 Perkins, William, Major. 
 Peters, Andrew, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 Pettingill, Joseph, Major. 
 Phelon, Edward, Lieutenant. 
 Phelon, John, Lieutenant. 
 Phelon, Patrick, Lieutenant. 
 
46 
 
 Tike, Boiijamin, Captiiin. 
 
 Pope, Isaac, Major. 
 
 Popkin, Jolin, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 
 Porter, Benjamin Jones, Surgeon's 
 
 Mate. 
 Pratt, Joel, Lieutenant. 
 Prescott, Josepli, Hospital Mate. 
 Putnam, Rufus, Brigadier-General. 
 
 K. 
 
 Randall, Thomas, Captain. 
 Rawson, JcduUiun, Ensign. 
 Rcab, George, Lieutenant. 
 Remick, Timothy, Captain. 
 Rice, Nathan, Major. 
 Rice, Oliver, Lieutenant. 
 Richardson, Abijah, Regimental 
 
 Surgeon. 
 Rickard, William, Lieutenant. 
 Ripley, Hezekiali, Lieutenant. 
 Rouse, Oliver, Captain. 
 Rowe, Jolin, Ensign. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sampson, Crocker, Lieutenant. 
 Sargeant, Wintliroi), Captain. 
 Satterlce, William, Major. 
 Savage, Henry, Lieutenant. 
 Savage, Joseph, Captain. 
 Sawyer, James, Ensign. 
 Scammell, Samuel L., Ensign. 
 Scott, James, Ensign. 
 Selden, Charles, l>ieutenant. 
 Sever, James, Ensign. 
 Sewall, Henry, Captain. 
 Seward, Thomas, Captain. 
 Shaw, Samuel, Captain. 
 Shepherd, William, Colonel. 
 Sliepherd, WilHam, Ensign. 
 Shute, Daniel, Regimental Surgeon. 
 Smith, Ebenezer, Captain. 
 Smith, Ebenezer, Captain. 
 Smitli, John K., Captain. 
 Smith, Joseph, Lieutenant. 
 Smitii, Josiah, Lieutenant. 
 Smith, Simeon, Captain. 
 Smith, Sylvanus, Captain. 
 Spring, Simeon, Lieutenant. 
 Sprout, Ebenezer, Lieutenant-Colonel- 
 Conmiandant. 
 
 Stacey,' William, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 Stafford, John R., Ensign. 
 Stephens, William, Captain. 
 Stocker, Ebenezer, Lieutenant. 
 Stone, Jonathan, Captain. 
 Stone, Naihanicl, Lieutenant. 
 Storer, Ebenezer, Lieutenant and 
 
 Pay-Master. 
 Story, John. 
 
 Story, William, Captain. 
 Sumner, Job, Major. 
 Swan, Caleb, Ensign. 
 
 T. 
 
 Taylor, Othniel, Captain. 
 
 Taylor, Tertius, Lieutenant. 
 
 Taylor, William, Lieutenant and 
 (Juarter-Master. 
 
 Thacher, James, Regimental Surgeon. 
 
 Thatcher, Nathaniel, Lieutenant. 
 
 Thonuis, John, Regimental Surgeon. 
 
 Thomas, Joseph, Captain. 
 
 Thomas, Thaddeus, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel. 
 
 Tisdale, James, Capiain. 
 
 Torrey, William, Lieutenant and 
 Adjutant. 
 
 Town, Jacob, Lieutenant. 
 
 Townsend, David, Hospital Surgeon. 
 
 Tread well, William, Captain. 
 
 Trescott, Lemuel, Major. 
 
 Trowbridge, Luther, Lieutenant. 
 
 Trotter, John, Captain. 
 
 Tucker, Joseph, Lieutenant and 
 Pay-Master. 
 
 Tudor, William, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 and Judge -Advocate-General. 
 
 Tupper, Anselm, Lieutenant and 
 Adjutant. 
 
 Tui)j)er, Benjamin, Colonel. 
 
 Turner, Jonathan, Captain. 
 
 Turnei-, Marlbray, Lieutenant. 
 
 Turner, Peleg, Lieutenant. 
 
 Turner, Thomas, Captain. 
 
 Vose, Elijah, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Vose, Joseph, Colonel. 
 Vose, Thomas, Captain. 
 
47 
 
 w. 
 
 Wales, Joseph, Lieutenant. 
 Walker, Edward, Lieutenant and 
 
 Pay-Master. 
 Walker, Hobert, Captain. 
 Wardwell, Josepli, Lieutenant. 
 Warren, Adriel, Lieutenant. 
 Warren, James, Jr., Lieutenant in 
 
 the Navy. 
 Warren, John, Lieutenant. 
 Watsqn, William, Captain. 
 Wattles, Mason, Captain. 
 Webb, George, Captain. 
 Webber, Daniel, Lieutenant. 
 AVellington, Elisha, Lieutenant. 
 Wells, Benjamin, Lieutenant. " 
 Wells, James, Lieutenant. 
 Wells, Thomas, Captain. 
 Wesson, James, Colonel. 
 White, Edward, Lieutenant. 
 
 White, Haffield, Captain. 
 Whiting, John, Lieutenant. 
 Whitwell, Samuel, Surgeon. 
 Wild, Ebenezer, Lieutenant. 
 Williams, Abraham, Captain. 
 Williams, Ebenezer, Lieutenant. 
 Williams, John, Captain. 
 Williams, Joseph, Captain. 
 Williams, Robert, Lieutenant and 
 
 Pay-Master. 
 Wing, Jonathan, Ensign. 
 Winslow, John, Captain. 
 Woodbridge, Christopher, Captain. 
 Woodward, Samuel, Surgeon's Mate. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yoeman, John, Lieutenant. 
 
 WiiOLK Number, 334. 
 
THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 
 
 1883. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 President. 
 SAMUEL C. COBB. 
 
 CHARLES D. HOMANS. 
 
 Sccrttarg. 
 FRANCIS W. PALFREY. 
 
 STrcasuvcr. 
 WINSLOW WARREN. 
 
 Assistant 2brcasuvcv. 
 GAMALIEL BRADFORD. 
 
 3lssistant Srcittaii. 
 DAVID G. HASKINS, Jr. 
 
 StautJing Committfc. 
 
 William Perkins. 
 Samuel K. Lothuop. 
 Edward S. Moseley. 
 William Raymond Lee. 
 Benjamin A. Gould. 
 Henry J. Hunt. 
 
 J. Huntington Wolcott. 
 Charles W. Storey. 
 Benjamin II. Greene. 
 Alexander Williams. 
 J. Collins Warren. 
 Benjamin Lincoln. 
 
MEMBERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 
 
 1883. 
 
 Samuel Alden.' 
 Leonard Arnold. 
 S. D. Bailey. 
 Walter L. Bailey. 
 Edmund L. Baylies. 
 Frederic F. Baury. 
 Charles Upham Bell. 
 Stephen W. Bowles. 
 Gamaliel Bradford. 
 Robert F. Bradford. 
 Thomas G. Bradford. 
 James Bullard. 
 F. Prescott Bullock. 
 William H. Burbeck. 
 Thonias L. Casey. 
 William Chase. 
 Charles B. Clapp. 
 Samuel C. Clarke. . 
 Samuel C. Cobb. 
 George H. Cooper. 
 Lewis C. Crocker. 
 Prentiss Cummiugs. 
 Charles H. Davis. 
 John J. Doland. 
 Clement Drew. 
 Charles M. Eaton. 
 John Edwards. 
 Nathaniel W. Emerson. 
 William Eustis. 
 
 Benjamin A. Gould. 
 Benjamin H. Greene. 
 David G. Haskins, Jr. 
 Edmund T. Hastings. 
 John G. Heywood. 
 J. TJussell Hodge. 
 Ciiarles D. Homans. 
 Henry J. Hunt. 
 Francis Jackson. 
 Alexander B. Keyes. 
 Gilbert C. Knapp. 
 Amos A. Lawrence. 
 Charles 0. Lawton. 
 William Raymond Lee. 
 Daniel C. Lillie. 
 Benjamin Lincoln. 
 Samuel K. Lothrop. 
 Mansfield Lovell. 
 William M. Maxwell. 
 George A. McKendry. 
 John W. Moore. 
 Edward S. Moseley. 
 J. W. A. Nicholson. 
 Marcellus Nixon. 
 Edward K. O'Brien. 
 Francis W. Palfrey. 
 Henry A. Peirce. 
 William Perkins. 
 Andrew P. Perry. 
 
50 
 
 Jolin L, Peters. 
 John Pickering. 
 Josiah Pierce. 
 William Pitt Preble. 
 Nathan P. Rice. 
 George D. Richardson. 
 William H. Savage. 
 George A. Sawyer. 
 Winslow Warren Sever. 
 Richard T. Seward. 
 Daniel Shute. 
 Henry Knox Sikes. 
 William 11. Smith. 
 John J. Soren. 
 Henry H. Sproat. 
 John T. Stoddard. 
 Charles W. Storey. 
 
 Edwin V. Sumner. 
 Charles H. Thompson. 
 William Torrey. 
 E. D. Townsend. 
 George C. Trumbull. 
 Frederick Tudor. 
 Joseph B. Upham. 
 James G. Vose. 
 Thomas S. Vose. 
 William H. Wardwell. 
 J. Collins Warren. 
 Winslow Warren. 
 George Peabody Wetniore. 
 William D. Whiting. 
 Charles Tidd Wild. 
 Alexander Williams. 
 J. Huntington Wolcott. 
 

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