A List of Officers and Members of the American Antiquarian Society 1812-1947 BY FREDERICK L. WEIS INTRODUCTION HE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY has during its T one hundred and thirty-five years elected 1407 mem- bers. Of these 1225 have been Resident Members elected from thirty-eight states and territories, and 182 have been Foreign Members elected from thirty-three foreign countries. Sixteen of these countries are situated in the Western Hem- isphere, fifteen in Europe, and two in Asia. In the election of members in 1813, Georgia was the most southern state represented, and Natchez, Mississippi, was our western frontier. During the following year members were elected from Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Kentucky first appears in 1815; Michigan and Arkansas Territory each contributed members in 1821. By the end of the first decade there were twenty-nine foreign members and 173 members who resided in the United States outside of New England. Thus early did the Society assume a national and even an international character. From 1812 to 1831 the number of members was unlimited and no distinction was made between resident and non- resident membership. Actually in these first two decades 290 AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY [Oct., 481 members were elected, which is more than one-third of the total membership from the date of incorporation to the present time. Many gentlemen who were elected in that period did not acknowledge the notice, if they received it in those days of uncertain mails. Their names vv^ere winnowed from the rolls when a limit was set on the number of mem- bers in 1831. The cumulative list of members which was issued in 1836 shows that the names of 199 of those who had been elected since 1812 had been dropped as inactive. Eleven had declined, fourteen had resigned, and the rest apparently had not acknowledged election. In the cumula- tive list of 1912, and in this list, the dropped names have been restored. That these men were thought to merit election is significant; that they did not acknowledge it may have been accidental. Since 1831 communications have improved and a greater care has been exercised to make certain that mem- bers chosen would take an active interest in the Society, with the gratifying result that during the last century only three members have declined and sixteen have resigned. For a quarter of a century no resignations have occurred. From 1831, when the membership was first fixed, until 1907, resident membership was limited to one hundred and forty. In April of the latter year this number was increased to one hundred and seventy-five, where it remained until October, 1923, when it was voted to change the limit to two hundred members. During the earliest years, a large number of members were elected from distant towns and cities along the grad- ually extending western frontier of the United States. In most instances the persons sb chosen became valuable mem- bers because they secured for the Society historical docu- ments, newspapers and books, which have since become very' rare. But at the same time, as we have seen, others, not fully acquainted with the aims and purposes of the 1946.] LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS, 1812-1947 291 Society, were not sufficiently interested to pay the small dues required. For this reason a short survey of the dates and amounts of these assessments may properly be given here. According to the earliest By-Laws (1813), all members were assessed two dollars annually, and the payment of twenty dollars relieved a member of all further dues. In 1814, the By-Laws were changed so that only members residing in Massachusetts were taxed, and in 1820, an initia- tion fee of six dollars was asked of all new members while the same sum paid by a Massachusetts member exempted him from annual dues. Having received Mr. Thomas's legacy in 1831, the Society adopted a new set of By-Laws and abolished all dues. This was again changed in 1878, when an admission fee of five dollars was required of all new members and New England members were assessed an annual fee of five dollars, which could be commuted by the payment of fifty dollars. This arrangement continued until April, 1918, when the admission fee was abolished. In October, 1925, all fees and assessments were abolished. Thus between 1831 and 1876, and since 1925 (that is, during nearly half of its existence), membership in this Society has been purely honorary in character. (See Proceedings, 1812-1849, PP- i°~ 2, 244-7; vol. 22, pp. 357-406; vol. 27, p. 282; vol. 33, p.230.) DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENT MEMBERS AT VARIOUS PERIODS United States Dates Worcester Massachusetts New England except N.E. Total 1812 Inc. 9 31% 29 100% 29 100% 29* 1812-1813 14 11% 84 66% 107 8s% 19 is% 126* 1812-1831 30 7% 189 42% í6s 60% 180 40% 44S* 1812-1839 32 7% 196 42% 272 59% 192 41% 464* 1812-18SS 47 9% 23s 43% 328 61% 210 39% 538* 1812-1912 104 11% 432 47% 569 62% 3SS 38% 924* 1812-1947 148 12% s66 46% 744 61% 481 39% I22S* 292 AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY [Oct., DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENT MEMBERS IN ANNUAL LISTS Year 1856 21 16% 71 S5% 86 67% 42 33% 128 Year 1880 31 23% 71 52% 89 66% 46 34% 135 Year 1907 30 23% 80 60% 98 73% 37 27% 135 Year 1917 28 16% 85 49% 104 60% 70 40% 174 Year 194s 30 IS% 88 44% 108 54% 92 46% 200 DISTRIBUTION OF FOREIGN AND RESIDENT MEMBERS Dates Foreign Members iResident Members Total 1812-1831 36 7% 445 93% 481* 1812-1839 s8 11% 464 89% S22* 1812-18SS 69 11% 538 89% 607* 1812-1912 IS3 14% 924 86% 1077* 1812-1947 182 13% I22S 87% 1407* •Actual number of admissions. SENIOR MEMBERS Died Member 1812 ISAIAH THOMAS .... 1831 1812 HARRISON GRAY OTIS 1848 1812 ELISHA HAMMOND 1851 1812 JOSIAH QUINCY .... 1864 52 years 1812 LEVI LINCOLN, JR. 1868 S6 years 1813 FREDERICK WILLIAM PAINE . 1869 S6 years 1813 JAMES HUGH MCCULLOH 1869 S6 years 1815 SAMUEL FINLEY BRÉESE MORSE 1872 57 years 1820 ANDREW BIGELOW • 1877 57 years 1838 ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP . • 1894 56 years 1847 GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS 1894 1847 EDWARD EVERETT HALE . • 1909 62 years i860 NATHANIEL PAINE 1917 57 years 1865 SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN . 1918 53 years 1879 FRANKLIN BOWDITCH DEXTER 1920 1881 HENRY CABOT LODGE 1924 1884 JOHN BACH MCMASTER . •• 1932 1884 WILLIAM HARDEN 1936 52 years 1885 REUBEN COLTON 1936 52 years 1888 JOHN MCKINSTRY MERRIAM . living 59 years 1946-] LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS, 1812-1947 293 FIFTY-YEAR MEMBERS NOT LISTED ABOVE I8I3 JOHN GREEN 1865 52 years I8I3 WILLIAM JENKS 1866 53 years I8I3 BENJAMIN SILLIMAN .... 1864 51 years I8I4 WILLIAM ALLEN . ' . 1868 54 years I8IS WiLKiNS UPDIKE 1867 '51 years 1815 REJOICE NEWTON 1868 52 years 1838 GEORGE BANCROFT 1891 53 years 1853 GEORGE FRISBIE HOAR .... • 1904 51 years 1857 JOHN CHANDLER BANCROFT DAVIS . , . • 1907 56 years 1862 HORACE DAVIS 1916 54 years 1893 ALBERT SHAW • 1947 54 years 1896 GEORGE HENRY HAYNES .... living 51 years The first list of members was published in November, 1813, as a part of An Account of the American Antiquarian Society, a pamphlet which is usually bound as the first of our old series of Proceedings. The second list appeared as an appendix to a Communication from the President, which was one of the two pamphlets which recorded the Proceedings of the meeting of October 24, 1814. The custom of printing an annual list of living members in our Proceedings did not begin until 1909, but there were earlier sporadic lists of this character: 1856 Transactions, Vol. 3, pp. 365-9 1876 Proceedings, Oct. 1875, pp. 25-8 1881 Proceedings, (New Series), Vol. i, pp. x-xiii 1885 Proceedings, (New Series), Vol. 3, pp. 509-13 1890 Proceedings, (New Series), Vol. 6, pp. ii-ix 1893 Proceedings, (New Series), Vol. 8, pp. x-xxi 1907 Proceedings, (New Series), Vol. 18, pp. xi-xxiv The present is the sixth of our cumulative lists, which were printed as follows : 1812-1836 Transactions, Vol. 2, 1836, pp. 565-73 302 names 1812-1839 Proceedings, Oct. 1839, pp. 1-16 323 names 1812-1855 Proceedings, Oct. 1855, pp. 39-54 408 names I855-1868 Proceedings, Oct. 1868 81 names 1812-1912 Proceedings, Vol. 22, pp. 357-406 1076 names 1812-1947 Proceedings, Vol. 56, pp 289-333 1407 names 294 AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY [Oct., The previous cumulative lists of members have contained many inconsistencies and errors, the latter resulting chiefly from the meager records and poor communications of our early days. In the compilation of this revision, the earlier lists have been compared, the inconsistencies unraveled, and the dates checked with the voluminous biographical sources not available when the last cumulative list was compiled. Historical societies and libraries in other parts of the country have been very kind and helpful in locating the "lost" men of our first generation. The foreign consulates, also, have been obliging. Quite indispensable has been the knowledge of Mr. Brigham, who during his forty-two years as a member or an executive of this Society has personally known over 500 of the 1225 Resident Members who have been elected since 1812. Of the 135 men who were members in 1905, virtually all of whom he knew, all but four have died. Some of the members who were living in 1905 had been elected as far back as 1847. As the result of his travels in search of materials for his newspaper bibliography Mr.