The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-30

more today. A hundred OF more descend
ants II Revolutionary sires nave gathered
IN the Monumental City to honor the mem
CRY OF their ancestors and to commemO-
rate their heroic service in the cause Of
American liberty and Of human rights
throughout the world. The DELEGATES to
this congress Will participate in an eX-
tenslVe program Of patriotic exercises,
routine business and entertainment. sat
urday they viii so 70 Anna polls. Maryland,
where the congress will reassenbfe in the
state senate chamber, the scene OF Wash
ingtOu's surrender Of the command of the
Continental armies There the annual
election Of afIicers viii be held.
The Sons OF the American Revolution is
one Of several patriotic organizati tons. the
membership of which is composed Of de-
scendants Of Revolutionary people. All
are working toward the same enc. though
by different routes. Their object. general
~ speaking, is 20 keep alive the spirit Of
patriotism which animated the fathers of
the republic. to promote social intercourse
among their members. and to educate for
eigners in the duties and responsibilities.
as well as the rights and privileges. Of
American citizenship.
There are numbered in the ranks Of the
Sons OF the American Revolution lineal
descendants Of more than q. GO active par
Elephants in the struggle for American lib
erty. OF the fifty-six signers Of the dec
laratiOn of independence. forty are repre-
scented in the society by 100 patriots Of to-
day. There are found upon its rolls de
ScenUdnUS OF Israel BuInaIn- HatTlCk hen
~, Thomas Jefferson. Daniel Boone, Ben
jamin FRANKLIN. Robert Morris Roger
Sherman. Richard Henry Lee. the Mar
quis de Lafayette, General joseph Warren
Of Bunker Hill, and other patriots. Seven
hundred members showed their live pat
riotism by enlisting during the Spanish
American war.
Among the prominent names on the ros-
ter of the society are those Of Presidents
Hayes. Mckinley and Roosevelt. vice
Presiden Morton, Thomas F. Bayard.
John sherman. General Horace Porter
Generals Nelson Miles and Frederick D.
Grant: Joseph Wheeler and Wade Hamp-
ton the Confederate leaders. AmbaS dor
Hill: the late Ethan Allen Hitchcock. who
was descended from the Green Mountain
Bows leader: eX-SeCretaTies Of the Navy
Long and Newberry; Admirals Porter
Dewey. SchIey and other sea fighters;
Justice Brewer Of the Supreme court; Gov
ernors Hughes Of New York. Hadley OF
Missouri and Fort OF New Jersey, Sen
atOTs Root. Prye. Lodge. DepeW. D1lling-
ham, BulkeIev. Perkins. Smith Of AIchi-
gan. Daniel Warren and Crane: Jonn u.
Rockefeller. and scores Of congressman.
state judges. churchmen and other promi-
nent men all over the country.
The Sons Of the American Revolution
claim credit for the creation of Flag Day,
June t. They have had indexsd the rec
ords Of $4,000 Revolutionary patriots. They
are pressing q bill to prevent the desecra-
ton Of the national flag. and are seeking
10 promote appreciation OF lle udllDisl
anthem. THE Star Spanglei Banner To
encourag patriotism i'm the youth OF to-
day. the society has inaugurated plan
of giving 70 students prize silver medals
for the best essays in patriotic subjects II
has printed in thirteen Languages and cir
culated among immigrants 1.O0.OJ0 copies
&c a pamphlet on the meaning Of American
libercy. the naturalization law. etc. II IS
putting substantial markers on the graves
Of Revolutionary dead.
The society has erected monuments TO
General Stark in New HampShire. TO the
prison shiD martyrs in BROOKLYN TO George
Rogers Clark in lndianola. and cOmpleted
the pedestal for Barthoidi'S statue Of tiD-
ertv IN New York harbOr. It has marked
and preserved such historic sites as DOhbs
Ferry. New York. Bennington. Vt; the
John Trumbui home. the Nathan Hale
school house. COOcl'S bridge. Delaware.
where the American flag Is said to have
been first unfurled N battle; Washing
tons headquarters in New York and 1t
Morristown. y. J.. and has made a park
of Stony Point battle-ground. and has set
a memorial at Fort Washington. y. Y
The organization OF societies based upon
participation in the Revolution dates back
to the days Of George Washington He
founded the Society OF the Cincinnati.
which was then composed Of men who
had actually fought under the American
flag IN our first war against the British.
The scope 0i this society was thus linz
tied II was further limited by the fact
nrimngenituTp regulates membership. that
is only the first or eldest sons Of RevO-
lutionsry warriors and the direct descend
ants Of such sons, have been eligible 70
membership. such eligibility being con-
fined in every case to the eldest living
son Of each family.
Shortly before the first centennial Of
the American Republic In 1876. the inter
est o. the public was aroused IN Revolt
tionary matters. The current patriotic
feeling took concrete form first in san
Francisco in the organization Of the Sons
OF Revolutionary Sires. In the shadow
scene OF the great conflict for human
rights. the first moCCrn patriotic ReTolu-
UOnaTy. society was formed its Htera-
ture was circulated throughout the cOun-
try and some Of 1T. reached New York
Some people there did not think that Caii-
fornia should lead En- movement Of that
sort. Finally, in 1850. a few men gathered
I'm New York and organized the Sons or
ganizatiOn iE 1870 and again in 1876 Thus
the seed planted by California had sprout-
ed at last in the metropolis.
II was not long before the Revolution
AIRY society idea spread into other parts
Of the country. The New York society Of
the Sons of the Revolution. instead OF en-
Cou-sElnE the organization OF indepeno-
ent Of autonomous societies IL other states
permitted the organization Of auxiliary
bodies elsewhere. This was not SatSfac-
tory to many people. New England wished
to have Revolutionary societies. but re-
fused TO become "sUxiiiary'' 10 New York.
which had furnished far less Revolution
airy troops then New England had. y So
cisty was organized IN Philadelphia, which
refused to be auxiliary to the New York
society. Some New Jersey members Of
the New York society organized. by cor
respOndence and personal visits. state So
cieties IN New Hampshire. Vermont. New
jersey. Delaware. Maryland. Ohio. Indi-
ana. Illinois. West Virginia. Arkansas,
South Carolina. Kentucky and Tennessee.
A convention OF delegates from these
societies. including the original Califor
MIA organization. assembled in 1889 at
Frances Tavern. New York City. which
had been General Washingtons headquar-
tiers for a time. After a thorough canvass
Of the situation il became evident that the
other state societies would not consent 70
become auxiliary to New York. and equal
" evident that New York would insist that
they should continue as auxiliary organi-
cations Then new deCiara ton of indie
peudence was promulgated and the Society
Of the Sons Of the American Revolution
was created by uniting number OF state
societies. just as the thirteen colonies had
united to form the American union.
That nobody expected or wished for two
societies was evident from the fact that
il was not long before efforts were made
to reunite them. After time the New
York society repealed the auxiliary
clause Of its constitution. 4 joint CONVEX
ton OF both bodies was held in New York
in 1885. but il failed to agree upon treaty
Of peace and union Again in 1897 the con
crosses of the two organizations met in
Tfr rafr1r mad ~nn~ .