Knowledge
We study and teach the history of the Revolution, and support the scholarship that keeps its record accurate for the generations who follow.
In honor of those who won American Independence
A Society of Gentlemen gathering the descendants of patriots who served the cause of liberty from 1775 to 1783, keeping their memory in the city where the Revolution began.
John Trumbull, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, June 17, 1775 (1786)
Our purpose
“To promote knowledge and appreciation of the achievement of American independence, to honor our ancestors who served for this independence, and to foster fellowship.” Mission of the Society
Honor
Each member proves his descent from a patriot who served. We keep their names and deeds before the public, and support the placement and preservation of memorials to the Revolution in Massachusetts.
Fellowship
Three dinners and a summer cookout each year bring members, their families and guests together in and around Boston.
Our history
A lineage of remembrance
The Sons of the Revolution began in New York City in 1876, the centennial of the Declaration of Independence, when the historian John Austin Stevens set out to gather the descendants of Revolutionary patriots. In November 1883, at the centennial of the British evacuation of New York, a remarkable company of New Yorkers joined him, and the Society took the shape it has today. State societies followed across the country, united in the General Society Sons of the Revolution, of which the Massachusetts Society is a part.
Massachusetts holds a particular place in that story. The first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord; the siege of Boston ended with the British evacuation in March 1776; and Massachusetts men carried the Revolution from Bunker Hill to the peace table in Paris.
The Society’s purpose has not changed: gratitude for the values of 1776, expressed through education, preservation and fellowship. In Massachusetts we honor it in the places where the Revolution began.
Timeline, 1775 to todayClose the timeline
- 1775
Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. Dr. Joseph Warren sends Revere and Dawes riding on April 18 and falls at Bunker Hill on June 17.
- 1776
Evacuation Day, March 17. Knox’s cannon on Dorchester Heights force the British from Boston.
- 1781
Yorktown, October 19. General Benjamin Lincoln of Massachusetts receives the sword of the surrendered British army.
- 1783
Treaty of Paris, September 3. John Adams, with Franklin and Jay, secures the peace and American independence.
- 1876
The Society is instituted in New York City at the Centennial, under John Austin Stevens.
- 1883
The Society of 1883 gathers in New York on 25 November, the centennial of the British evacuation of the city.
- 2018
The first Treaty of Paris Dinner is held by the Massachusetts Society in honor of John Adams.
- 2021
The John Adams Medal is presented for the first time.
- 2026
The Semiquincentennial. Nathaniel Philbrick receives the John Adams Medal at the ninth Treaty of Paris Dinner in the 250th year of American independence.
Our founders
The Society of 1883
On 25 November 1883, the centennial of the day the British left New York, the original members of the Society gathered in the city. Among them were a future President, a Medal of Honor general, the grandsons of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, and the son of Gouverneur Morris. Each was the descendant of a patriot who had served.
Meet the founders: 12 biographies and the roll of all 89 original membersClose the founders
John Austin Stevens
1827–1910
Merchant and historian, founder of the Sons of the Revolution in 1876 and its first president after the revival of 1883. He edited The Magazine of American History.
Grandson of Ebenezer Stevens, a Boston Tea Party patriot and artillery officer at Saratoga and Yorktown
Theodore Roosevelt
1858–1919
In 1883 the young Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly. He became the twenty-sixth President of the United States.
John Jacob Astor III
1822–1890
Financier and philanthropist who managed the Astor estate, and a brevet brigadier general of the Civil War.
Grandson of Major John Armstrong Jr., aide to Generals Mercer and Gates
Chauncey M. Depew
1834–1928
Lawyer, orator and executive of the New York Central Railroad, later its president and a United States Senator.
Descendant of the Rev. Josiah Sherman, chaplain in the Continental service
Alexander S. Webb
1835–1911
Union general awarded the Medal of Honor for Gettysburg, and president of the City College of New York from 1869 to 1902.
Grandson of Samuel Blachley Webb, wounded at Bunker Hill and aide to Washington
William Jay
1841–1915
New York lawyer who served on General Meade’s staff at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Appomattox.
Great-grandson of Chief Justice John Jay
Allan McLane Hamilton
1848–1919
Pioneering psychiatrist and expert witness, and later biographer of his grandfather.
Grandson of Alexander Hamilton, great-grandson of Allan McLane
Robert Ray Hamilton
1851–1890
Lawyer and member of the New York State Assembly in 1883.
Great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton and of the Schuyler family
John Cochrane
1813–1898
Congressman, Union brigadier general and Attorney General of New York.
Grandson of Dr. John Cochran, Surgeon General of the Continental Army
Gouverneur Morris Jr.
1813–1888
Railroad executive and a developer of the Bronx.
Son of Gouverneur Morris, author of the Preamble to the Constitution
Frederic W. Rhinelander
1828–1904
Railroad president and a founding trustee, later president, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Grandson of Ebenezer Stevens and nephew of John Austin Stevens
Asa Bird Gardiner
1839–1919
Army Judge Advocate and later Secretary General of the Society of the Cincinnati.
Original members, gathered in New York on 25 November 1883
- John Jacob Astor
- Nathaniel P. Bailey
- Gerard Beekman
- Henry White Bibby
- J. Miller Bleecker
- George Schuyler Bowdoin
- Herman H. Cammann
- John Armstrong Chanler
- Matthew Clarkson
- John Cochrane
- John H. Coster
- William Bedlow Crosby
- Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger
- H. Holbrook Curtis
- Maturin Livingston Delafield
- Edward F. De Lancey
- William Heathcote De Lancey
- Drake De Kay
- Chauncey M. Depew
- Frederic J. De Peyster
- Jonathan Livingston De Peyster
- Nicholas De Peyster
- John Duer
- Gerard Morris Edwards
- Paul S. Forbes
- Robert Ludlow Fowler
- Albert Horatio Gallatin
- Asa Bird Gardiner
- Francis T. Garrettson
- George Clinton Genet
- John M. Glover
- James King Gracie
- Allan McLane Hamilton
- Robert Ray Hamilton
- Joshua Hendricks
- Douglas Hilger
- George W. W. Houghton
- Richard Stockton Howell
- Frederick J. Huntington
- John B. Ireland
- William Jay
- Frederic Rhinelander Jones
- Mason Penshaw Jones
- William Keylb
- Edward King
- Benjamin J. Kissam
- Peter R. Kissam
- J. H. Lazarus
- Lewis Cass Ledyard
- William O. Le Gendre
- Henry W. Le Roy
- Johnston Livingston
- Robert E. Livingston
- Pierre Lorillard
- David Lydig
- Ward McAllister
- Charles A. Minton
- Henry Lewis Morris
- Gouverneur Morris Jr.
- Isaac Moses
- Theodorus Bailey Myers
- De Lancey Nicoll
- Henry Cruger Oakley
- Cadwalader E. Ogden
- Thomas W. Pearsall
- George Hamilton Pell
- Phillips Phoenix
- Henry Evelyn Pierrepont Jr.
- John Jay Pierrepont Jr.
- Robert G. Remsen
- William Remsen
- Frederic W. Rhinelander
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Andrew Hodge Sands
- Samuel Stevens Sands
- William C. Schermerhorn
- Samuel H. Shreve
- Lorillard Spencer Jr.
- Frederick William Stevens
- John Austin Stevens
- John Austin Stevens Jr.
- Lispenard Stevens
- Francis A. Stout
- Edward Mitchell Townsend
- Augustus Van Cortlandt
- Pierre Van Cortlandt
- James A. Varnum
- Jacob D. Vermilye
- Alexander S. Webb
Names as printed in the program of the General Society’s 44th Triennial, held in Boston in 2021.
From the Society’s history
The SR and the SAR: how the split came about
The Sons of the Revolution came first. The Sons of the American Revolution was formed in 1889 by men who broke away from it.
Visitors often ask whether the Sons of the Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution are the same organization. They are not, and the older of the two is the Sons of the Revolution. The SAR began in 1889 as a breakaway from the SR, and the two have been independent of one another ever since.
Read the full history of the splitClose the article
A society for every patriot’s son
John Austin Stevens founded the Sons of the Revolution in New York in 1876. His grandfather, Ebenezer Stevens, had fought at Bunker Hill and Yorktown, yet did not meet the strict rules of the Society of the Cincinnati, which admitted only officers and passed membership to one descendant at a time. Stevens opened his society to the descendants of enlisted men as well as officers, and to all descendants of qualifying patriots. After its reorganization in 1883 it grew quickly among New York’s old families.
The quarrel of 1888–1889
As the idea spread beyond New York, a question arose that the founders had not settled: who could charter a new state society? New York expected the others to act as its auxiliaries. When members in Pennsylvania organized their own society in April 1888 without New York’s approval, the constitution itself came into dispute.
In New Jersey, the financier William Osborn McDowell objected to making every state society subordinate to New York. He wanted something larger: a national movement with broad membership rules rather than a small social circle. On 30 April 1889, the centennial of Washington’s first inauguration, McDowell gathered the state societies he had organized at Fraunces Tavern and founded the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was elected its first president that day. The SAR thus began as a breakaway from the Sons of the Revolution, thirteen years after the SR was founded.
Two paths
The Sons of the Revolution answered the dispute by creating the General Society. Its constitution was adopted in 1890, and the General Society was inaugurated in Washington on 19 April 1890, joining the state societies in a balance of local independence and national unity. The Massachusetts Society is one of them.
The SAR went on to receive a charter from Congress in 1906. Its refusal to admit women in 1890 also led directly to the founding of the Daughters of the American Revolution that October.
Proposals to merge the two societies were made as early as 1893 and several times afterwards. Each failed, in the words of one Sons of the Revolution history, because “neither Society has wanted to lose its unique identity.”
| Sons of the Revolution | Sons of the American Revolution | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | New York, 1876, the original society; General Society 1890 | Split from the SR; organized at Fraunces Tavern, New York, 30 April 1889 |
| Members | About 5,000, in 28 societies in the United States and Europe | About 37,000, in more than 550 chapters |
| Headquarters | Williamsburg, Virginia | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Qualifying ancestor | A soldier, sailor or marine who served the Patriot cause, a signer of the Declaration, or a member or appointee of the Continental Congress | Broader: also civil and patriotic service, such as local officials, associators and those who supplied the army |
| Joining | By recommendation of two members | By application through a local chapter |
The Revolution in paint
Massachusetts on the great canvases
The painters of the young republic recorded the moments our members commemorate. Look closely and you will find Massachusetts men at the center of them.
Two more paintings: Knox at the Delaware and Washington at AnnapolisClose the paintings
The Society’s year
Commemorative dinners, and public events from time to time
Each year the Society gathers for a few commemorative dinners in honor of the Massachusetts patriots Major-General Joseph Warren, General Henry Knox and John Adams, held near the anniversaries of their service. From time to time we also host public events.
The keystone of the year is the Treaty of Paris Dinner, at which the John Adams Medal is presented. Members will find the calendar, invitations and all the details in the members’ area.
Three patriots, three dates, three dinners
17 March 1776Evacuation Day
General Henry Knox
A Boston bookseller turned artillery commander, Knox hauled the guns of Fort Ticonderoga across the winter mountains to Dorchester Heights. Their arrival forced the British to leave Boston. He later served as the nation’s first Secretary of War.
Our dinnerThe Henry Knox DinnerEach March, near Evacuation Day, when Knox’s guns on Dorchester Heights drove the British from Boston.
17 June 1775Bunker Hill Day
Major-General Joseph Warren
Physician, orator and President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Warren sent Paul Revere on his midnight ride. Newly commissioned a major-general, he fought as a volunteer at Bunker Hill and fell there.
Our dinnerThe Joseph Warren DinnerEach June, near Bunker Hill Day, the anniversary of the battle in which Warren gave his life.
3 September 1783Treaty of Paris
John Adams
A native of Braintree, Adams served on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence and was the principal author of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. With Franklin and Jay he negotiated the Treaty of Paris, which secured Britain’s recognition of the United States as free, sovereign and independent.
Our dinnerThe Treaty of Paris DinnerEach September, near the anniversary of the peace Adams negotiated, and the occasion of the John Adams Medal. About the dinner and the Medal
Open to the public
From time to time the Society holds or co-sponsors an event that is open to all.
The keystone of our year
The Treaty of Paris Dinner and the John Adams Medal
An evening in honor of John Adams, and the presentation of the Society’s highest honor
Each September the Society commemorates the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which secured the independence of the United States, and honors John Adams, the Massachusetts statesman who helped negotiate it. The evening is the Society’s principal fundraiser, and the occasion on which the John Adams Medal is presented.
It is deliberately intimate. Places are few, so that every guest sits at a single round table for an evening of conversation with the Medal’s recipient. Attendance is by invitation, and the evening is made possible by its patrons and sponsors.
- When
- Each September
- Held since
- 2018
- Dress
- White tie
- The table
- By invitation, one conversation
- The honor
- The John Adams Medal, since 2021
The Medal
The John Adams Medal
At the heart of the evening is the presentation of the John Adams Medal. Since 2021 the Society has awarded it for distinguished contributions to the understanding and preservation of American history, and the recipient is the guest of honor at the table.
The medal was designed and sculpted by Shervin B. Hawley, a past President of the Massachusetts Society. Its obverse shows Adams as President, Statesman, Diplomat, Founding Father; its reverse, the peace commissioners at Paris beneath his words, “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”
At the table in 2026
Nathaniel Philbrick
Born in Boston, Philbrick is among the most widely read historians of early America. His Revolution books include Bunker Hill (2013), Valiant Ambition (2016), winner of the George Washington Book Prize, In the Hurricane’s Eye (2018) and Travels with George (2021). In the Heart of the Sea won the National Book Award in 2000, and Mayflower was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
The Society honored him in the 250th year of independence for a body of work that has illuminated the American story from the colonies through the Revolution to the nation that emerged from it.
Past recipients: Simons, McCullough, Schiff and AllisonClose past recipients
2021 · First recipient
D. Brenton Simons, OBE
President and CEO of American Ancestors and the New England Historic Genealogical Society since 2005, author of Witches, Rakes, and Rogues and Boston Beheld, and Vice Chair of the Plymouth 400th Anniversary Commission. A third-generation member of the Sons of the Revolution, he is now President of the Massachusetts Society.
David McCullough
1933–2022
Author of John Adams (2001), winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the basis of the HBO series, and 1776. Twice a Pulitzer and twice a National Book Award winner, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006.
Stacy Schiff
Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer whose books on early America include A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, winner of the George Washington Book Prize, The Witches: Salem, 1692 and The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams.
Robert J. Allison
Historian of Revolutionary Boston, chair of Revolution 250, the Massachusetts commemoration of the Revolution’s 250th anniversary, and President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts.
Membership
Joining the Society
Membership is by invitation. We welcome inquiries from qualified gentlemen who would like to know more.
Who may join
Membership is open to men who descend in a direct line from one of the following:
- A soldier, sailor or marine who fought in the Revolutionary War and remained loyal to the Patriot cause
- A signer of the Declaration of Independence
- A member of the Continental Congress or a Congressional appointee
- Make an inquiryTell us a little about yourself and your patriot ancestor, if you know him.
- Become known to two membersA prospective member must be known to two members of the Society, who will propose him.
- Document your lineageThe Registrar will guide you through proving your descent, generation by generation, to your patriot ancestor.
Looking ahead
Our aspirations for the next 250 years
The Semiquincentennial is a moment to look forward as well as back. These are the commitments we hope to carry into the Society’s next chapter.
Place and preserve memorials
Support the placement, preservation and remembrance of memorials to the Revolution across Massachusetts, from monuments and markers to the graves of patriots.
Teach the Revolution
Support essay prizes, teachers and students who study the Revolution in Massachusetts schools and colleges.
Preserve the record
Protect the Society’s lineage files and help preserve Revolutionary documents, portraits and artifacts.
Welcome the next generation
Help sons and grandsons of members, and other qualified young men, trace their lineage and join the Society.
Support the Society
Keep the memory for another 250 years
The Society is a 501(c)(3) organization, and gifts are tax-deductible to the extent the law allows. Members and friends may give as a Lexington Supporter, or join the Paul Revere Circle at one of three levels named for a Massachusetts landmark of the Revolution. Gifts at every level are confirmed by the Treasurer.
$250
Supporter
Lexington Supporter
One dollar for each year of independence. Recognized in the Society’s annual report.
With thanks: the Society’s lapel pin
Give at this level$1,000
Paul Revere Circle · Bronze
Dorchester Heights
Recognition at the Henry Knox Dinner and in the annual report, and an invitation to the Paul Revere Medal Reception.
With thanks: the Paul Revere Medal in bronze
Join at this level$2,500
Paul Revere Circle · Silver
Bunker Hill
Recognition at the Joseph Warren Dinner, a named gift to a fund of your choice, and an invitation to the Paul Revere Medal Reception.
With thanks: the Paul Revere Medal, silver-plated
Join at this level$5,000+
Paul Revere Circle · Gold
Treaty of Paris
Recognition at the Treaty of Paris Dinner, an invitation to a private historic tour, and to the Paul Revere Medal Reception.
With thanks: the Paul Revere Medal, gold-plated, and an engraved pewter tankard
Join at this levelThe Paul Revere Circle
The Society’s one giving circle, for donors of $1,000 or more, is named for the Boston silversmith and engraver who rode to warn Lexington and Concord on the night of 18 April 1775. It has three levels: Dorchester Heights, Bunker Hill and Treaty of Paris. Each spring, near the anniversary of his ride, the Society holds the Paul Revere Medal Reception for the Circle and presents the Paul Revere Medal: in bronze at the Dorchester Heights level, silver-plated at the Bunker Hill level, and gold-plated at the Treaty of Paris level, which also receives an engraved pewter tankard in the tradition of Revere’s workshop.
Donors are told the value of any thank-you gift, which is not tax-deductible.
Where gifts go
- The Memorials FundPlacement, restoration and care of monuments, markers and patriot graves across Massachusetts.
- The Education FundEssay prizes, teacher awards and student programs on the Revolution.
- The Archive FundConservation of the Society’s records and support for historic collections.
- The Semiquincentennial FundCommemorations for the 250th anniversaries of 1775 through 1783.
Make a gift
Anyone may give to the Society, member or not, and every gift helps keep the memory of the Revolution alive in Massachusetts.
To give as a Lexington Supporter or join the Paul Revere Circle, become a dinner patron or sponsor, or make a gift in memory of someone, please write to us first. The Treasurer will confirm your gift and its recognition. The Society welcomes gifts that are consistent with its purposes and reserves the right to decline or return any gift.
Give onlineGifts may also be made by check payable to the Sons of the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or through a gift of appreciated securities or a bequest.
Treasurer: treasurer@srmass.org · mailing address to be confirmed
Questions about giving: treasurer@srmass.org
Ask about givingWith gratitude
The 2026 Treaty of Paris Dinner was made possible by our Patron, Brady Brim-DeForest, and our Gold Sponsor, James F. Comley. Patron and Gold Sponsor gifts support each dinner and are recognized in its printed program.
The giving levels and funds are proposed for review by the Board of Managers.
Members’ area
For members of the Society
The members’ area holds the Society’s calendar, replies to invitations, and dues and dinner payments.
Members sign in with the username and password the Society has sent them.
Need help signing in? Write to info@srmass.org.