Society of the Cincinnati; Wm. and Mary Qrtly., Vol. 9, No. 3

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Society of the Cincinnati

   William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 3.
   (Jan., 1901), pp. 192-194.

                           SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI.

   The Society of the Cincinnati was formed in the Verplanck house, Baron Steuben's head-
quarters, at Fishkill, on the Hudson, May, 1783, by the officers of the Continental Army,
to per-

Page 193.


petuate the friendships which had been formed during the great struggle of the Revolutionary
War, and to aid the unfortunate in the families of its members.  The motto selected for the
society was "Esto perpetua", and to insure this the succession to membership was limited
to "the oldest male osterity, and in failure thereof the collateral branches who may be
deemed worthy".  As the members were about to disperse to their various homes, the society
was divided into State societies, so that the meetings of the members, which took place
yearly, might be the more easily accomplished; and it was arranged that the Society in
general should meet every three years, each State society being represented by five 
delegates, who, with the President General, Vice-President General, Secretary General,
Treasurer General, Assistant Secretary General and Assistant Treasurer General, should be
designated the General Society of the Cincinnati.  To provide funds for the purpose of
helping hte unfortunate each member paid one month's pay into the treasury of the State
Society to which he belonged.  In all of the thirteen States and in France societies were
formed.  Owing to the fact that the Cincinnati was based on primo-teniture great opposition
was developed towards it, as it was supposed to be for the purpose of forming a caste and
influencing the course of politics.  To counteract the supposed baleful influence of the
Cincinnati upon the destiny of the infant State the columbian Order or the Tammany Society
of New York was instituted.  Under the pressure of this opposition the Cincinnati in New
Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and George became
dormant.  The society in France was engulfed by the Revolution of 1792-3, and has for
various political reasons never been revived by any of the parties ruling that country
during the century.  The society in Rhode Island was revived by the General Society in 1881;
those of Connecticut and Virginia in 1896 and 1899; those of New Hampshire, Delaware and 
North Carolina are in the course of being revived, and will be thoroughly established it is
expected in 1902, while active steps ar being taken to do the like office for Georgia.  The
organization of the Cincinnati in Virginia took place in the autumn of 1783, and there
were two hundred and seventy-nine members, as nearly as can be ascertained from the minute
book of the society, which is the only paper of the original society

Page 194.

known by the present organization to exist, whic number made it one of the largest of all
the societies, and consequently it possessed a large fund, the income of which was devoted
very properly to the help of the needy; but the opposition to the Cincinnati in Virginia
was so strong that it became dormant in 1824, giving its funds in bulk to the college now
known as Washington and Lee.  In 1889 the work of reviving the Cincinnati in Virginia was
begun, and in 1896 the General Society first received the delegates of that society as
representing the twenty members who had been gotten together, and in 1899 the General 
Society entirel re-established the society.  Since 1896 four members have died and eight
have been admitted.  The society is very anxious to have as many as possible, if not all, of
the original members represented, a list of whom and the Rules of Admission will be furnished
on request.  It is hoped that any one having knowledge of the representative of any of the
officers whose names are given will communicate with the secretary of the society, Mr.
Patrick Henry Cary Cabell, Richmond, Virginia.