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Bryce Metcalf’s
“ORIGINAL MEMBERS AND OTHER OFFICERS
ELIGIBLE TO THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI”

The book "Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati" is a hard backed book of over 400 pages.  The book lists each officer who served in the American Revolution.  It contains information on his unit, his time periods of service, the state from which he served, and his rank.  Those officers who were original members are indicated, as well as those who were killed while in service.  In addition, the book lists each person who has been a hereditary member of the society from its inception in 1783 until 2008.

The book also lists honorary members.  Honorary memberships had been provided for in the original membership rules, and from the beginning they were distinguished leaders of the nation, including such notables as Benjamin Franklin, General Ulysses S. Grant, General Norman Schwarzkopf, John D. Rockefeller, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The book also includes the original 1783 rules of admission, and a history of the society.

SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI

The Society of the Cincinnati was organized at the conclusion of the American Revolution, on May 13, 1783, by the officers of the Continental Army.  The first President of the Society was General George Washington.  Although he declined to take a third term as President of the United States, he remained the President of the Society of the Cincinnati until his death.

Eligibility to the society was restricted to officers of the Continental Army and Navy who had served during the Revolution.  This included officers from all thirteen original colonies, as well as officers of the French army and navy who had served in America.  A hereditary clause was added to the membership rules, allowing the eldest son in the male line, under the laws of primogeniture, to succeed to membership in the society upon the death of the original member.  As a result of this hereditary element to the society, it has continued in existence to the present day.

A MUST BUY BOOK ...

"Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati" is a required book for every serious historical library.  The Society of the Cincinnati has always been considered the premiere lineage society in the United States.  Its members include the most distinguished in the history of the country, beginning with twenty-three of the fifty-four signers of the U.S. Constitution.

Originally published in a very limited edition, copies of the original book are today virtually impossible to obtain on the collectors market.  Only a limited number of the books are being printed to satisfy this demand. 

HISTORY OF THE BOOK

In 1938, Bryce Metcalf, who was the President of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut, prepared a work entitled "Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati."  Bryce Metcalf, a very active member of the Society of the Cincinnati, was responding to a demand for a book which would document all of the original members of the society.  The original members of the society were the men most responsible for the creation of the United States, and its successful revolution against England which guaranteed its independence.

Using the archives of the society, and other never-before-published information, Bryce Metcalf created an unparalleled listing of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati.  In addition, realizing that many officers who had served in the Revolution had never become members of the society, even though they were eligible, he also documented every other officer of the continental army and navy who was eligible for admission to membership in the society.

In 2008, this book was updated, to include many more qualifying ancestors, and those who had been admitted, up to the year 2008.  This new 2008 edition is required reading, even for those who already have the 1938 edition.

HOW TO BUY THE BOOK

Those interested in obtaining a copy of "Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati" should send a check for $82.00, which includes shipping and handling, to:

Robert Davenport

564 Midvale Avenue #8

Los Angeles CA 90024-2307

 

 

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Page Last Updated April 28, 2008