Our Hometown
Exeter | The Society of Cincinnati
Clip | 6m 13sVideo has Closed Captions
Dana tells us about the genesis of the Society of Cincinnati in New Hampshire.
Dana tells us about the genesis of the Society of Cincinnati in New Hampshire, and how the organization keeps the history of the Revolutionary War alive today.
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Our Hometown is a local public television program presented by NHPBS
Our Hometown
Exeter | The Society of Cincinnati
Clip | 6m 13sVideo has Closed Captions
Dana tells us about the genesis of the Society of Cincinnati in New Hampshire, and how the organization keeps the history of the Revolutionary War alive today.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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The society was originally, created by, George Washington with the help of Knox.
And the idea was that they wanted to, form a veterans organization, basically to help the widows of the Revolutionary War so that they could get paid.
I believe that was the original intent of the society.
The Society of Cincinnati was named after Cincinnatus, who fought in the Roman Empire.
And, the reason why they picked Cincinnatus is because he was like the gentlemens war hero.
And he basically went back to farming after the war, after he fought several battles.
He did not want to be known as a hero, a military hero.
He wanted to be known as a farmer.
And that's basically what George Washington wanted his men to do.
The intent today is to carry on the, history of the American Revolution in order to be a member.
They have to be a military officer in the Continental Army.
This was back when they first formed, to be a member today.
You have to be the oldest living male relatives of one of those officers.
If you were not the oldest living male relative.
This is according to when I interviewed somebody that was in the society.
They said they are a junior member because they are not the oldest.
Their father is still alive.
So to be a member, you had to be the oldest living male relative of those officers.
And I think that if the line stops, then it would be like a cousin or something like that so that they can continue on.
The first president of the society, Cincinnati, was John Sullivan, and John Sullivan was a general under George Washington.
And we actually possess one of the letters that George Washington gave, Sullivan when he became president.
And it was started here in 1783 at the tavern.
So we have the Folsom Tavern in there that is now owned by the Society of Cincinnati.
This house was, the original was bought by the society in 1905, and it was the headquarters for the society in, New Hampshire until it became a museum.
One of the big moves happened in 1929.
So luckily, John Scanlan owned the tavern at the time, and he was a member of the Society of Cincinnati.
Luckily for the society, that tavern still exists today because what the Standard Oil Company came in and they said, we want the land, we want to build a gas station.
So tear down the tavern.
And, he consulted the, society.
The society says we'll buy it from you.
They bought it for a dollar.
They moved it themselves in 1929 with the like a mule train with logs underneath, rolling it down the street.
And apparently it took like four days to move it.
And luckily it was down hill.
Like somebody said, this is, interesting comment that one of the people that I gave two or to said, he said, this is harder to get into this society than any other society like the daughters of the American Revolution.
That's easier to get into the Society of Cincinnati because of their restriction.
And, the thing is, there's 14 chapters.
I didn't mention this earlier.
There's 13 for the original colonies, and there's one for France.
Lafayette wanted the chapter.
So there's it.
I believe it's still running in France.
The specifications was you had to be a military officer in the Continental Army.
If you were in the militia, say, the Minutemen in Boston, you fought in the battle and then went home.
These people fought in all the battles, and they traveled.
And it was, quite a sacrifice for them.
So they had to be an officer in the Continental Army.
Now, the problem with that is there was people that said, this is too aristocratic because it's, you know, and there was several people that did not like it.
Thomas Jefferson was one that did not like the society.
Another person that actually fought in several battles that lived in, Dairy Field, which is now Manchester, was John Stark.
He was not a member of the society.
He was eligible.
Yes, he was.
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