Institution of The Society of the Cincinnati

Institution of The Society of the Cincinnati

Proposals for establishing the Society of the Cincinnati

[Newburgh, [N.Y.]]? 1783]

[4] p. ; 35 cm. (fol.)

MSS L1969.35 M

Possibly in the hand of Samuel Shaw, aide-de-camp to General Knox, and an organizing member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati -- see M. Myers. Liberty without Anarchy, p. 29. ... Knox took over organizational efforts. Aides copied the institution...."
Has been attributed also to William North, an original member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati who later transferred membership to the New York State Society.
According to notes in the case file for this document, it first came to light in the Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, vol. 1 (not in this Society's collections), wherein the manuscript appears in facsimile and transcription and discussed. "However, the discussion is of little value because it is premised that the handwriting is Washington's. Nevertheless the pedigree ... is begun with the statement that it was from the papers of General David Cobb of Massachusetts." Cobb was aide-de-camp to George Washington between June 1781 and Jan. 1783 and was an original member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. It is possible that the document could have been among those circulated at the time, or that it is in his hand.
Knox, Shaw, North, and Cobb were all original members of the Society of the Cincinnati.
Incomplete, ending after the description of the insignia of the Society
Purchase, 1969, from Charles Sessler Co. of Philadelphia; for further notes on provenance, see case file.
Digital image available.

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