Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia, Records, 1778-1941. Accession 26102, Organization Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

This collection is on deposit from the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia at The Library of Virginia from circa 1935-1940.

Related Material

Henry Lee, Membership certificate, 10 October 1785, Accession 20007a

Society of the Cincinnati, Papers, 1783-1861, Accession 24646

George Washington, Letter, 24 October 1783, Accession 21875

Treasurer's Office Inventory, entry no. 54, Special funds receipt ledger, 1823-1844, State Records Collection, TOI 54

Historical Information

The Society of the Cincinnati was formed on 10-13 May 1783 by American Revolutionary Army officers who met at Mount Gulian, the American Army's cantonment on the east bank of the Hudson River. After resigning his post as General, George Washington (1732-1799) accepted an invitation to become the society's first president. Major General Henry Knox (1750-1806) was the secretary and for years the guiding spirit of the organization. Membership extended to those officers of the Continental Army and Navy who had served to the end of the war or had resigned with honor after three years of service and to those who had been rendered supernumerary because of regimental reorganization by Congress. In addition, the institution provided that officers who had died in service could be represented in the Society by their eldest male descendants. The society was named in honor of Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, who after a distinguished military career in the service of the Roman republic, had returned to civilian life. The Society of the Cincinnati was the first patriotic society organized in the United States. Today the Society is a not-for-profit organization supporting educational, cultural, and literary activities that promote the ideals of liberty and constitutional government.

Within a year constituent societies were established in the thirteen states and in France by officers and members of the general society. Officers established the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia on 6 October 1783 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Members selected Brigadier General George Weedon of Westmoreland County as their president pro tem at the first meeting; he later served several more terms as society president. They also chose Horatio Gates as the permanent society president at the initial meeting. Members adopted the general society's articles of institution or charter and pledged to send five members to the national convention the following May. Notable members at the first meeting were Edward Carrington, William Heth, James Wood, and Henry Lee. The hereditary principle embraced by other state societies was abandoned by the Virginia society. Accordingly the Virginia society dissolved in 1824 after most of the original members had died. Pension funds were transferred to the state treasury and disbursed by the state treasurer. The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia was reformed in the 1890's by descendants of the original members.

Scope and Content Information

Records, 1778-1941 (bulk 1783-1848), of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia consisting of correspondence including letters and circular letters, membership certificates, a membership roster, military commissions, minutes including a minute book and printed proceedings, muster rolls, publications, and financial reports. The collection material principally concerns society functions and membership spanning the formative years of the society in the 1780's until its last meeting in 1824. There is also material concerning the disbursement of pension funds following the last meeting of the society in 1824 and correspondence with society president Edgar Erskine Hume (1889-1952).

Arrangement

Chronological

The collection is organized into the following four series:
Series I: Correspondence, 1783-1941 (bulk 1783-1808)
Series II: Membership files, 1778-1806
Series III: Minutes, 1783-1810
Series IV: Treasurer's Papers and Reports, 1786-1848