General Society of Colonial Wars

In the summer of 1892 Samuel Victor Constant, Esq, Edward Trenchard, the well-known artist, and Colonel Thomas WaIn-Morgan Draper, a civil engineer convened in Colonel Draper's office at 45 Broadway to plan the formation of the Society. The General Society of Colonial Wars was organized in 1893, in the Governor's Room, City Hall, New York, by delegates from five States and the District of Columbia. A Constitution was adopted on May 10, 1893. There are now thirty-two constituent state societies. The first General Court met 19 December 1892, the anniversary date of the Great Swamp Fight of King Philip's War in 1675, it was announced that the Society had one hundred and five members. The total membership of state societies has for many years remained in the range of 4,000 to 4,500. Approximately 21,000 men have joined the organization during its history, including many prominent Americans. The Society has long sought to improve public awareness of the importance of colonial events and individuals in the shaping of America. A number of monuments, plaques, and other markers have been installed by the Society at prevenient sites. The Society also funds research and educational initiatives of colonial relevance. In recent years, the goal of improving understanding of the colonial period has additionally been addressed by Samuel Victor Constant Fellowships, awarded annually for postgraduate study of colonial American history. ==Membership==

To be eligible for membership in the Society an individual must be a male over age 18 who is lineally descendant from a person who served either in a military capacity or held public office in one of the original 13 colonies prior to the American Revolution. Specifically, the period from the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia on 13 May 1607, to the Battle of Lexington on 19 April 1775, and to limit qualifying ancestral service to those ancestors who served under the authority of the Colonies. ==Notable members==

Government officials Presidents and Vice Presidents • Calvin Coolidge - 30th President of the United States • Brigadier General Richard Napoleon Batchelder – Medal of Honor recipient. • Brigadier General Joseph Lancaster Brent, CSA – California State Assembly member. • Brigadier General Edgar S. Dudley • Brigadier General Morris Cooper Foote • Brigadier General James Forney, USMC • Brevet Brigadier General Charles R. Brayton – Political boss of Rhode Island. • Colonel William Seward Webb – Inspector General of the Vermont Militia. • Captain Vincent Astor, USNR – Husband of Brooke Astor. • Captain Alfred Brooks Fry, USNR – Marine engineer. • Brevet Colonel Johnston de Peyster – Union Army officer. • Commander Guy Castle, USN – Medal of Honor recipient. • Lieutenant Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, USV – Heir to the Astor fortune. Died on the RMS Titanic. • Captain Alexander Macomb Wetherill - Killed in action at the Battle of Santiago. Others • Francis Ellingwood Abbot – Philosopher and theologian • John Jacob Astor IV - Real estate tycoon • Willard Bartlett – Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals • Henry L. P. Beckwith Jr. – Genealogist and historian • George Madison Bodge – Author and historian • John Nicholas Brown I – Philanthropist • John Coolidge • Henry Benjamin Whipple – First Episcopal bishop of Minnesota. • Theodore Salisbury Woolsey – Yale law professor. == See also == • National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars • List of hereditary and lineage organizations in the United States ==References==