GIFT OF 1 18 19 iGIFTi L^^^ -VVBilA/, vSpciet^ of Coloniat TIHlats in tbe State of California. ^ (^ Bi2s=Xaws ot tbc Societie of Colonial TKIlars of tbe State of California. teas V ,^r^ uwn Moatva Vncbimnr 9|i»i 'yr' HE Code of By-Laws of the Society of Colonial Wars in ^^ the State of California was adopted at its First General Court held in the city of Los Angeles on the seventh day of March, 1896. The untimely death of the Secretary, Harry Woodville Latham, has filled our hearts with sorrow that so bright a young life should be taken from us in the midst of his use- fulness. All of the work of the Society properly falling to the duties of his ofiEce, has been necessarily delayed, but there is so general a demand for copies of the By-Laws, that I have thought it best to have them issued at once, and not to post- pone their publication to an indefinite future. I therefore certify to the correctness of this printed copy of the By-Laws without waiting for the election of a Secretary, to whom such an attestation more properly belongs. HOLDRIDGE OZRO CoLLINS, Los Angeles, CaL, Jime 15, i8g6. Governor. r)4r)r)07 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.arerhive.org/details/bylawsofsocietyoOOsocirich ot tbe Societie of Colonial Mars ot tbe State of California. preamble. ^'HE Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Vi^ California has been organized for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of those events and of the men who, in military, naval and civil positions of high trust and re- sponsibility, by their acts and counsel assisted in the estab- lishment, defense and preservation of the American Colonies, and were the founders of this Nation; to collect and pre- serve manuscripts, rolls, relics and records : to provide suita- ble commemorations or memorials relating to the American Colonial period, and to inspire in its members the fraternal and patriotic spirit of their forefathers, and in the commu- nity, respect and reverence for those whose public services made our freedom and unity possible. We acknowledge the supremacy of the General Society in all matters which have been and which shall be delegated to it, and we pledge ourselves to observe and maintain all laws, rules and regulations for the government and control of the United State Societies, which shall be lawfully prescribed by the General Society. Now, for the better government of this Society, and the achievement of the ends desired, we have adopted the follow- ing Code of By-Laws : XL article I. NAME. HE Society shall be known by the name and title of " Society of Colonial Wars in the State of California." article II. MEMBERSHIP. I ^fl ■'^^ male person above the age of twenty-one years, of '^ good moral character and reputation, shall be eligible to membership in the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of California, who is lineally descended in the male or female line from an ancestor : (i.) Who served as a military or naval officer, or as a soldier, sailor or marine, or a privateersman, under authority of the Colonies which afterward formed the United States, or in the forces of Great Britain which participated with those of the said Colonies in any wars in which the said Colonies were engaged, or in which they enrolled men, from the settle- ment of Jamestown, May 13th, 1607, to the battle of Lexing- V^^ ton, April 19th, 1775; or, ^^ (2.) Who held office in any of the Colonies between the dates mentioned, either as (a) Director-General, Vice-Director-General, or member of the Council or legislative body in the Colony of New Netherland ; (b) Governor, Lieutenant or Deputy-Governor, Lord Proprietor, member of the King's or Governor's Council or legislative body in the Colonies of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware ; (c) Lord Proprietor, Governor, Deputy-Governor, or member of the Council, or of the legislative body in Maryland and the Carolinas ; (d) Governor, .Deputy-Governor, Governor's Assistant, or Commissioner to the United Colonies of New England, or member of the Council, body of assistants, or legislative body in any of the New England Colonies. XL article III. OFFICERS. HE officers of this Society shall be a Governor, a Dep- uty-Governor, a Lieutenant-Governor, a Deputy-Gov- ernor General, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Registrar, a His- torian, a Chaplain, a Chancellor and a Surgeon, who shall be ex officio members of the Council. article IV. GENTLEMEN OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMITTEES. ^^^ERE shall be a Council, consisting of nine members, Vl^ who shall be styled "Gentlemen of the Council," in ad- dition to the ex officio members ; a Committe on Membership, consisting of five members ; a Committee on Historical Docu- ments, consisting of three members, and a Committee on Entertainment, consisting of five members. tL article V. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. HE officers, together with the Gentlemen of the Council, the delegates and alternates to the General Society, and members of all the Standing Committees, except the Com- mittee on Membership and the Deputy-Governor General, shall be elected by ballot at the General Court. A plurality vote shall elect, and said officers and committees shall hold office for one year, or until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified. Vacancies among the officers, or in the Council or Com- mittees, shall be filled for the residue of the current year at any meeting of the Council called for that purpose. Provided : That in case there shall be a vacancy in the 8 office of Governor, the Deputy-Governor, and in case of his inability to act, the Lieutenant Governor shall thereupon suc- ceed to said office of Governor, The Deputy-Governor General shall be elected by the delegates to the General Society. article VI. COUNCIL. HE Council may provide by resolution for regular meet- XL ings, but it may be convened at the call of the Gov- ernor or Secretary, or upon the written request of three of its members. Five shall be a quorum for the transaction of busi- ness. It shall have general control and management of the affairs and funds of the Society, and it may appoint such special committees as to it may seem proper, composed wholly or in part of members of the Society outside of its own num- ber. The Council, for cause, may suspend any officer, and its action must be reported, in writing, to the Society for approval or the reverse, within thirty days thereafter. article VII. COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP. '/T HE Committee on Membership shall be chosen by the ^*^ Gentlemen of the Council, and shall be elected for one year. Three members shall constitute a quorum, and a nega- tive vote of one member shall cause an adverse report to the Council upon the application of any candidate. The proceedings of the Committee shall be secret and confidential. It shall have power to elect from its members a Chairman and Secretary, and to establish regulations for its goverment not inconsistent with the by-laws of the Society. Any member failing to attend three successive meetings without sufficient excuse, shall be dropped from the commit- tee, and the Council shall fill the vacancy caused thereby. Hrttcle viii. COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. ^T^E Committee on Historical Documents, in connection Vi^ with the Historian, who shall be ex-officio chairman, may prepare papers on matters of interest to the Society, and sub- mit them to the Council. No paper shall be printed without the order of the Council. It shall use all possible efforts to secure original documents, muster-rolls and other papers or articles connected with the Colonial history of the country. It shall be empowered to correspond in the name of the Society with individuals, societies and governments, in the course of its investigations. It shall keep a record of its transactions. article IX. COMMITTEE ON ENTERTAINMENT. YY HE Committee on Entertainment shall be the Stewards ^^ of the Society's banquets, but must present to the Gov- ernor a list of all speakers and invited guests for his ap- proval. They shall have power to select places for banquets, and to issue tickets for the same, but they shall assume no ex- pense without the approval of the Council. They shall have charge of the annual election, and shall install the officers elected. article X. ELECTION OF MEMBERS. 'IfJVERY application for membership shall be made in ^^^ writing, subscribed by the applicant under oath or affirmation, upon blanks prescribed by the Council, and approved by two members of the Society over their signa- tures Applications shall be accompanied by proofs of eligi- bility, and shall be referred to the Committee on Membership, who shall carefully investigate the same and report their recommendation thereon to the Council. ^ IP Members may be elected at any meeting of the Council, but one negative vote of every five ballots cast shall cause the rejection of the candidate. A rejected candidate shall not be permitted to apply for membership until the lapse of one year, except by the unani- mous consent of the Committee on Membership and the Gen- tlemen of the Council. Payment of the membership fee and dues for the current year shall accompany the application. In case the candidate shall be rejected, the amount paid by him shall be returned. Membership shall be hereditary for all male descendants of the present members of this Society, and of those who may hereafter be elected, up to the limit that the Society ma}'- hereafter determine upon, subject to the vote of the Council upon the moral qualification of the person who may be an heir at any time to such membership. article XL DECLARATION. ^IjJVHRY applicant for membership shall declare upon '^^ honor that he will use his best efforts to promote the purposes of the Society, and will observe the Constitution and By-Laws of the same; and if a citizen of the United States, he shall declare that he will support the Constitution of the United States. Such declaration shall be in writing, and subscribed by the applicant. article xiL RESIGNATION, DISQUALIFICATION AND EXPULSION. mo resignation of any member shall become effective un- ■ less consented to by the Council. No person who has become enrolled as a member of this Society shall be permitted to continue in membership after his proofs of eligibility shall have been found to be defective. After six months' notice to such person to substantiate II his claim, and upon his failure satisfactorily so to do, the Council must direct the Secretary to erase his name from the membership roll. The said person shall have the right to appeal to the Society at its next Court or to the General Court. If the said appeal be sustained by a two-thirds vote of the members present at such Court, his name shall be restored to said membership roll. iVny member, for conduct inconsistent with the character of a gentleman and man of honor, or for serious disloyalty to this Society, or for other grave cause, may be suspended or expelled from the Society. But no member shall be sus- pended or expelled unless written charges are presented against him. The Council, after hearing such charges, and giving him an opportunity to reply to them, may act by a two-thirds vote, and its action shall be final. The insignia of said member shall thereupon be returned to the Treasurer of the Society, and his rights therein shall be extinguished or suspended. The Treasurer shall refund to said member the amount paid for said insignia. article xiii. PURPOSES. BT every meeting of the Council the purposes and gen- ' eral welfare of the Society shall be considered, and measures taken to promote and secure them. No party polit- ical question of the day, nor existing controversial religious subject shall be discussed or considered in the Council, or at any meeting of this Society, or of any of its committees. article XIV. COMMEMORATIONS. '^^HE Society shall celebrate yearly some event in Colonial Vi^ history, as a festival day, and its members shall dine together at least once in each year. 12 Hrttcle XV. LOCAL SECRETARIES. 7|Yl|HHN ten or more members of this Society shall be ^^^ resident in a city or town of the State of California, one of their number may be appointed Local Secretary by the Council, to hold office for one year, or until his successor be duly appointed. Subject to the approval of the Council, a Local Secretary may, in conjunction with the members locally resident, organize a Chapter of this Society ; arrange local commemorations of men and events of Colonial history ; hold annual and special meetings and elect such local officers as may be desired ; provided, however, that all reports and recom- mendations from said Local Chapter to this Society shall be made through said Local Secretary. Hrttcle XVL FLAG. ^T'HE Flag of this Society shall be Argent, a Cross of Saint ^^ George gules ; an escutcheon or, bordered sable, charged with a Grizzly Bear, passant, proper ; under the motto " Eureka." article xviL INSIGNIA AND DIPLOMA. ^^HE Insignia and Diploma of Membership shall be those ^»^ of the General Society ; provided, however, that mem- bers may receive a certificate of membership in this Society, signed by the Governor, Registrar and Secretary, in such form as may be prescribed by the Council. article xviiL SEAL. '^^HE Great Seal of this society shall be : Within a beaded ^^ annulet a title scroll; Society of Colonial Wars in the State of California 1642-1775 surrounding a group of Colo- 13 nial weapons; over all a shield, or, a grizzly bear passant proper on a chief, per pale gules and argent a tower triple towered of the first (Castile) and a lion of the third crowned of the shield (Leon). z article XIX. COURTS HE General Court of the Society shall be held on the twentieth day of December in each year. Should said date fall on a Sunday, then the General Court shall be held on the following Monday. Special Courts may be called by the Governor at such times as in his opinion the interests of the Society may de- mand, and they must be called by the Secretary, by direction of the Council, or upon the written request of nine members. The notice for the holding of the General Court shall be given as is provided by law for the notice of annual meet- ings of corporations in the State of California. All notices of Special Courts shall be sent out at least twenty days before the date of such Courts. Ten members shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and in all cases, except the amendment of the By-Laws, a majority of those present, or represented by proxy shall constitute a vote. article XX PROXIES AND CUMULATIVE VOTING. BNY member who is unable to be present at a General or Special Court of this Society may, nevertheless, have his vote counted, having first duly authorized, in writing, a member to act as his proxy thereat. In all elections of officers, cumulative voting shall be lawful. 14 article XXL ANCESTRAL RECORD. 'liJVERY member who shall present to the Registrar, duly ^^^ verified before an officer authorized by law to adminis- nister an oath, a statement in writing, containing the particu- lars of his marriage, and the names and dates of the birth of his children, and such facts concering his life and ancestrj^, and the ancestry of his wife, as he may desire to have per- petuated, shall be entitled to have the same filed among the archives, and spread at large upon the records of the Registrar of this Society. article XXII. ADDRESSES OF MEMBERS. ^ T shall be the duty of every member to inform the Secre- \J tary, by written communication, of his place of resi- dence, and of any change thereof, and of his postoffice ad- dress. Service of any notice under the By-Laws on any member, addressed to his last residence or post office address, forwarded by mail, shall be sufficient service of notice. article XXIII. DECEASE OF MEMBERS 7tl -PO-^ ^^^ death of any member, notice thereof, and of the ^■^ time and place of the funeral, shall be sent by the Secretary to every member residing in the county of the de- ceased member, and thereupon it shall become the duty of members, if practicable, to attend the obsequies. Upon the information of the decease of a member, the Governor shall appoint from the Society four members as a Committee to represent the Society at the funeral. Any member who becomes aware of the death of a fellow member, shall immediately notify the Secretary of the fact. 15 article XXIV. FEES AND DUES. ^^ HE initiation fee shall be ten dollars. The annual dues VU shall be five dollars, payable between the first days of January and March of each year, after which latter date mem- bers who have not paid will be debarred from voting at the meetings of the Society ; /'r^z/2'^^