l.^'/i.^' °^ s;^/. v^>^ V^y' . "^^^-r .* 1^* C^^ •www?* 4lV^ ••^M^o ^9^^ l^^lc '^^•\ 0-5 V**^^*'**' >* .,. .9' .'••. *> ?•***'% -SK*' /\ ••^•' /% '-fl > t^-^ V/'^V* v^^^^'^-o' v*''^^'*,*-^'' ;°. ^^* • ' U -^ * V'^^ ., a\<^- 4o^ • «• iPv. -«< ,'lo.^ V u.** /Jfe\ \..^** ,*kM\ %<^* .-Ifev " SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ■ O.^.T 0. CO.ST,TUT.ON PKBP.KEO BV THB COMMHTBH APPOINTED TO CONSIDER AND RECOMMEND AMENDMENTS HELD APRIL U, «oa. AND ORDERED PRINTED. AND A COPY SENT TO EACH MEMBER .5 4 M '09 f ARTICI.K I. Name. The name of this Society shall be the " Socie:ty of CoLONiAi, Wars in the District of CoIvUmbia." This Society recognizes the authority of the General Society of Colonial Wars and will obey all its proper regulations which are applicable to this Society. ArticIvK II. Objects. The objects of this Society are to aid in preparing and publishing a correct history of the American Colo- nies now included in the territory belonging to the United States, from the Settlement of Jamestown, Va., May 13, 1607, to the Battle of lycxington, April 19, 1775 ; to commemorate the important events of that period ; to perpetuate the memory of the men who in military, naval and civil positions of trust and responsi- bility, by their acts and counsel, assisted in the estab- lishment, defence and preservation of the said American colonies ; and to promote a spirit of loyalty and patri- otic devotion to the nation which they founded. Article III. Membership. TERMS OF ELIGIBILITY. Section i. — Any male person above the age of twenty-one years, of moral character and good reputa- tion, shall be eligible to membership, who is lineally descended from an ancestor : (i) Who served as a military, naval or marine officer, or as a soldier, sailor or marine, or as a privateersman, under authority of the Colonies which afterward formed the United States, or in the forces of Great Britain which participated with those of the said Colonies in any wars in which the said Colonies were engaged, or in which they enrolled men, during said colonial period. (2) Who held office in any of the Colonies between the dates above mentioned, either as "(a) President, Governor, lyieutenant-Governor, Member of the King's Council, and County Lieutenant, or Member of the House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia. " (<^) Governor-General, Governor, Lieutenant or Acting Governor, President, Assistant, Member of the Governor's Council, Deputy or Representative in the General Court, in the Colonies of Plymouth, Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, Maine, Providence Plantation or Rhode Island, or New Hampshire ; as President of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, or as one of the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England. " (c) Director-General, Vice-Director- General, Gov- ernor or Deputy Governor, Member of the Council or of the Landtag of the Colony of New Netherlands, or of the Dutch Colony on the Delaware. ''(d) Palatine, Lord Proprietor, Governor, Deputy- Governor, Lieutenant Governor or President, Member of the Council, Member of the Lower House or of the Assembly of the Colonies of Maryland or of the Carolinas. " (e) Governor, I^ieutenant or Acting Governor, Member of the Council or of the Colonial Assembly in the Colony of New York. " (/) Lord Proprietor, Governor, Deputy-Governor, Member of the King's Council, Deputy to the Provin- cial Assembly, in the Provinces of Kast Jersey, West Jerse}^ or New Jersey. *'(^) lyord Proprietor, Governor, Deputy or Lieu- entant-Governor, Member of the Provincial Council or Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania, or Member of the Assembly of the Territories of Delaware. '' W Governor, lyieutenant-Governor, President, Vice President, Member of the Council or of the Pro- vincial Assembly of the Colony of Georgia. "(0 Governor- General, Captain-General or Lord Lieutenant of the British Colonies in North America now included in the territory belonging to the United States." J^ees and Dues. Sec. 2. — The admission fee shall be ten dollars. The annual dues shall be five dollars for each calendar year, payable in advance. Members admitted during the first half of any calendar year shall pay the full amount of the annual dues ; those admitted during the second half of any calendar year shall pay one-half the annual dues. Upon payment at one time of one hundred dollars, any member in good standing and not indebted to the Society, may be elected to life membership anC there- after be exempt from the payment of all regular dues. Admissions. Sec. 3. — Applications for membership shall be made in writing on duplicate forms prescribed and furnished by the Society, and shall give the name, place and date of birth, occupation and residence of the applicant, his line of descent, and the name, residence and service of the ancestor from whom he derives eligi- bility, with proof of such service. The applicant shall make oath that the statements of his application are correct and true ; that he will use his best efforts to pro- mote the objects of the Society and will conform to all its regulations, and, if a citizen of the United States, that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and he shall state under oath whether he has ever made application for admission to any other Society of the Colonial Wars. No person who has applied for admission to any other Society of Colonial Wars and not been accepted shall be admitted to membership in this Society, except upon approval by the Society to which his application was first made. Kach application shall be endorsed by two members of this Society who shall certify that they knew the applicant to be worthy of membership, and it shall be accompanied by the initiation fee. Applications shall be filed with the Secretary and be referred by that ofiicer to the Committee on Member- ship. If approved by that Committee it shall be for- warded to the Registrar, and, when verified by him, it shall be returned to the Secretary to be laid before the Society. A two- thirds vote by ballot of all members present at a meeting of the Society shall be required to elect an applicant to membership. If any applicant fails of election the initation fee shall be immediately returned to him and the papers shall be retained by the Society and placed in the files of the Registrar's office. One copy of every application for membership, after having been accepted by the Society, shall be sent by the Registrar to the Registrar General. Resignations. Sec 4. The resignation of any member presented in writing may be accepted by a two-thirds vote at any meeting of the Society, provided such member is in good standing. Suspension and Exptdsion. Sec 5. Any member for conduct inconsistent with the character of a gentleman and a man of honor, or with his obligations to the Society, or for other grave cause, may be suspended or expelled from the Society, but no member shall be suspended or expelled unless written charges against him be presented to the Council. It shall be the duty of the Governor to file, with the Council, charges against any member of this Society if it becomes known to him that such member has violated any of the rules of the Society which might render him subject to investigation therefor. The Council shall give reasonable notice of such charges and afford the member opportunity to answer and re- fute them. The Council after due investigation may recommend to the Society the suspension or expulsion of the member and the Society shall have authority to suspend or expel him by a majority vote of the members present at any meeting of the Society. (Any member who shall be suspended shall immediately re- turn his diploma, certificate of membership and insignia, to the Registrar to be held during such suspension.) The Society shall have power to drop from the rolls the name of any member two years or more in arrears for dues who shall fail after proper notice, to pay the same within sixty days, and on being dropped his membership shall cease, but he may be restored to membership by two-thirds vote of the Society, at any time upon his written application, approved by the Committee on Membership, and the payment of all sums that would have been charged against him had he not been dropped from the rolls. Any person expelled from the Society or dropped from the rolls shall forfeit all right to a diploma, certificate and insignia and shall immediately return them to the Society. The Treas- urer shall refund to him the amount paid for his insignia. Transfers. Skc. 6. No member of this Society shall be trans- ferred to any other State Society, and no member of any other State Society shall be received by transfer to this Society, who is not in good standing and whose dues are not paid up to the date of such transfer. A member of any other State Society desiring to be transferred to this Society shall file, with the Secretary, a written application accompanied with a certified copy of the original application on which he was admitted to the Society, and a certificate that he is in good standing and that his dues are fully paid. Such appli- cation shall be passed upon by the Membership Com- mittee and Registrar before the applicant is admitted. 9 A member of this Society desiring to be transferred to any other Society may be required by the Registrar, to pay the cost of making the requisite copy of his application. ArticIvE IV. Meetijigs. The regular annual meeting of the Society shall be held on the first Tuesday in December, of each year. Special meetings may be called by the Governor when- ever he deems it necessary, and it shall be his duty to call such meetings upon the written request of five members of the Society. Nine members shall consti- tute a quorum of the Society at all its meetings. Meetings of the Council shall be held whenever directed by the Society or the Chairman deems it nec- essary and it shall be the duty of the Chairman to call a meeting upon the written request of three members of the Council. Five members shall constitute a quorum at all meetings of the Council. Not less than five days' notice of all regular meetings of the Society and Council shall be given. No other meetings of the Society or the Council shall be held without reasonable notice to all members of the respective bodies. ArticIvK V. Officers. Section, i. The officers of this Society shall be a Governor, Deputy-Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Sercetary, Treasurer, Registrar, Historian, Chaplain, Chancellor, and Surgeon, who shall hold office for one lO year, commencing upon the adjournment of the annual meeting at which they are elected, or until their successors are duly elected, and qualified. These oflBcers shall be, ex officio, members of the Council, and the Governor shall be Chairman thereof. The Coimcil. Skc. 2. There shall be a Council consisting of the officers named in Article V, Section i, and nine addi- tional members to be called " Gentlemen of the Coun- cil." Three Gentlemen of the Council shall be elected at each annual meeting and their term of office shall be three years. Under the authority and by the direction of the Society the Council shall have general care of the interests and affairs of the Society and shall attend to such matters as may be committed to it. Delegates to the General Assembly. Skc. 3. Five delegates to the meetings of the General Society shall be nominated and elected annually at the same time, in the same manner and for the same term as the general officers of this Society. Nomination of Officers. Skc. 4. A Nominating Committee, to be chosen by the Council at a regularly-appointed meeting, not less than thirty days before the date of the annual meeting, shall nominate candidates for the offices provided for by this Constitution and, within ten days after its appointment, shall report the names of such nominees to the Secretary, who shall, not less than five days before the date of the annual meeting, communicate II the names of the candidates to all members of the Society. All members of the Society shall have the right to make other nominations for any office in open meeting. No member who is in arrears for more than one year's dues shall be nominated or elected to any office in this Society. Election of Officers. Sec. 5. The officers provided for by this Constitution shall be elected, by ballot, by a majority vote at the regular annual meeting of the Society. ArticIvK VI. The Governor. The Governor shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Society, under its direction, and shall preside at all meetings. He shall be, ex officio, Chair- man of the Council. In the absence or disability of the Governor, the Deputy Governor or I^ieutenant Gover- nor, in the order named, shall perform the duties of the office. ArticIvK VII. The Secretary. The Secretary shall keep accurate records of the pro- ceedings of all meetings of the Societ}^ and of the Council, separately, issue notices, conduct the corre- spondence and attend to such other duties as may be assigned to him. He shall be the custodian of the seal, and of all records and archives belonging to the Society, other than those lodged with the Registrar. He shall make written reports at each annual meeting and at such other times as may be directed. 12 Articlic VITI. The Tj-easurer, The Treasurer shall receive and disburse the funds of the Society, keep accurate accounts of the same, and report to the Society at the regular annual meeting and at such other times as may be directed. The funds of the Society shall be deposited in the name of the Society, in a bank to be designated by the Council, and dis- bursements vShall be made only upon authority of the Society and upon vouchers approved by the Governors ' and the Secretary. The Treasurer shall report to the Council, for action, the names of all members in arrears for dues — for two years or more. W \, ^V <\VV ^\V X^ ARTICI.K IX. ' The Registrar. The Registrar shall keep a correct record of the members and officers of the Society, showing all admis- sions, elections and changes; he shall be the custodian of all the proofs of membership qualifications, and all the historical and genealogical books, papers, manu- scripts, etc., belonging to the Society, and shall prepare copies of such documents as the owners thereof may not be willing to deposit with the Society. He shall verify all statements of genealogical descent and service of ancestors that may be made in applications for membership and endorse his conclusions on the application. He shall attend to matters connected with the issu- ance of diplomas, certificates of membership, and insignia, and keep full records of the same. 13 ArticIvK X. Historian. The Historian shall keep a record of the historical and commemorative meetings of the Society and prepare for publication such addresses and other docu- ments as the Society shall order published^ He shall submit at each annual meeting a list^of^e names of 'k> members who may have die^-during the year, with ^^ biographical memoirs, "^^^f *^ V\o.V\o oc^iC^wNV ,. '•••• A «». ♦7?^' ^5-^ >« ^•'^^'y V'^-V %'-^'%^ "^o* Y: ^^<^ • t >./ : V'^V %^^'/ V^^^*/ .4 Oft . V*^\/ %*^V \*^^y . r. v^^ : ^ >' ^ •-^^ae^** .-^^^ ^^ v^^'4 ^ JP^*. V • 4 O^ • j?-^*. *.' r«» jiO- ,/ V '^mj ^^"x '.j