Since the last Annual Meeting on April 11, 1996, your Board of Managers has met each month except July, August and January to discuss the Society’s business.

The 108th annual Church Service, commemorating the encampment at Valley Forge, was held on Sunday, May 5, 1996 at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Wayne. Mark Crosby Ward is chairman of this committee. Our chaplain, the Rev. Gregory Forrest Dimick, M.Div., delivered the sermon, the text of which may be found in the 1996 annual Proceedings. Services were followed by a reception at the Overbrook Golf Club, attended by over 140 members and guests.

The 27th annual Independence Day observance and Bell Ringing Ceremony at Independence Hall continued under the energetic chairmanship of Winchell Smith Carroll. This has become your Society’s largest event, in terms of general attendance as well as planning. The Let Freedom Ring event also attracts much publicity. In conjunction with the Fourth of July celebration, the Liberty Medal was presented to the Prime Minister of Israel and the King of Jordan. The Governor’s Foot Guard was the main performer during this ceremony. A flyover of two F-18s dramatically punctuated this event. Your Society’s guest speaker was Rear Admiral Keith W. Lippert. Due to the large number of members of the Society and their families attending the luncheon, a change from Old Original Bookbinder’s to larger quarters is anticipated in the future.

The Musket Ball, commemorating the War of Independence victories of the Battles of Saratoga in October 1777 and Yorktown in October 1781, was held on Friday, October 18, 1996 at the Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne. Francis Joseph Bowden, III, chairman of this committee, reported that over 240 members and their guests attended. Dance music was by Jack Keller and his orchestra.

The New Citizens’ Reception Committee hosted 93 newly naturalized Americans on November 13, 1996 at U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. The Honorable John Padova addressed the group. Information about our country and your Society was distributed by Chairman James Whitney Marvin, Jr. and committee members Ralph Martin Shaw Scott and Winchell Smith Carroll.

The Washington’s Birthday Committee, Dennis Scott Clark Kelley, Chairman, worked hard to ensure the success of the traditional Washington’s Birthday Party, held this year on the actual anniversary (new style) of General Washington’s birth. More than 260 members and their guests attended this function at the Union League of Philadelphia. Dance music was by Jack Keller and his orchestra.

The Color Guard, under the leadership of Captain George Ireland Wright, III, paraded the colors at the Annual Meeting, Church Service, Independence Day Celebration, Musket Ball, and Washington’s Birthday Party.

Total membership stands at 1,188 members, down from 1,201 reported at the 1996 Annual Meeting.

The Younger Members Committee, under the Chairmanship of Jonathan Henry FitzGerald, continues to be active, and sponsored or participated in several activities throughout the year, including: a tailgate party at the Radnor Hunt Club; a marketing project by students at Rowan College [possibly in conjunction with an evening at Dock Street Brewing Co.]; a behind the scenes tour of the new CoreStates Center followed by Monday night football and refreshments in the Red Bell Microbrewery; an event at the 19th Hole Golf Center in Chadds’ Ford; and another evening at Dock Street Brewing Co.

The Membership Committee, under the chairmanship of Richard Dana Smith, also remains active, with Chairman Smith and the members assisting the Admissions Committee with applications for membership. A reception was held at the Union League of Philadelphia on March 13, 1997, to which your Board of Managers invited members newly elected within the past year, to meet for cocktails and hors d’ouvres.

Two Newsletters were published under the direction of Robert Reynolds Van Gulick, Jr., keeping members abreast of your Society’s current activities and providing information of historical interest.

The Society’s Valley Forge encampment film continues to be shown at the Visitor’s Center in Valley Forge National Park, and to students.

Copies of the booklet containing the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution continue to be distributed upon request.

Since the 1996 Annual Meeting, the Board of Managers has authorized or acknowledged the following public programs:

Establishment of a world wide web site at AMREV.ORG. A budget of $9,700 has been approved by the Board of Managers for design, posting information to the site, Let Freedom Ring publicity, and a Color Guard component.

Publication by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania of the second volume in the City Archives project, Guide to the Mortgages of the General Loan Office of the Province of Pennsylvania. The American Heritage Committee has distributed this book to 200 libraries and historical repositories in the Philadelphia region.

Restoration of gridirons owned by the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, also an expenditure authorized previously.

A $15,000 pledge, payable over three years, to the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Fund, to be held in escrow until the Fund takes title to the site of the Battlefield which is at risk of commercial or residential development.

Restoration, amounting to $3,500, of an 18th century sash of General Anthony Wayne. The Society has owned the sash since 1970.

Support in the amount of $5,100 to the Council on American Revolutionary Sites, to co-sponsor a regional seminar at Independence National Historical Park and to publish a volume of the speakers’ papers for national distribution.

Completion of a project with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to restore rare, brittle books, to which $9,000 was contributed over three years.

In a matching program with the State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania, distribution of $3,500 for dissertation fellowships, for the fifth consecutive year, to the Center for Early American Studies of the University of Pennsylvania. Initiation of a $1,500 award at the U.S. Air Force Academy, to be named for Edward West Richardson, in commemoration of his long and faithful service as Society Historian and illustrious pilot during World War II, the Berlin Airlift, and the Korean Campaign.

It has been an honor to serve as your Secretary. Thanks are due to James Whitney Marvin, Jr., previous Assistant Secretary, for delivering the report at the 1996 Annual Meeting, to which the undersigned arrived late due to bereavement; and to Richard Dana Smith, present Assistant Secretary, for all of his help. Recognition is also due to Mark Frazier Lloyd, Chairman of the American Heritage Committee, for his assistance in enumerating the public programs undertaken by your Society. Any remaining mistakes, however, are the sole responsibility of your outgoing Secretary. It would be remiss to overlook the tireless contributions of Executive Secretary Elizabeth Richardson, whose dedication in reporting the minutes of each Board Meeting has made this task a pleasure.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard Renato Paul Di Stefano, Secretary

 

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I am pleased to be able to continue the tradition of reporting that the Society’s financial affairs are in good order. In 1996 there was a combined fund net surplus of $643,313, resulting in a year-end combined fund balance of $5,102,629, an increase of more than 14% for the year. This follows the more than 20% increase in 1995.

You should each have a summary of the numbers I will present tonight. These numbers are from our auditors, Zelenkofske & Axelrod. Although the audit is not complete, I do not expect substantial changes in these numbers.

Total combined revenues from interest, dividends, membership fees, Rorer Trust income and merchandise sales was $515,079, an increase of 8% for 1996. Net realized and unrealized gains in the various funds declined by 46% for the year.

Total expenses for the General Fund were down 28%; for the Color Guard total expenses were down 11%; and for the Lancaster County Chapter expenses were up 233%. Total combined expenses of $275,291 represented a 23% decline from 1995.

The $643,313 operating surplus meant an increase in net assets of the General and Permanent Funds of 13%, an increase in the net assets of the Color Guard Fund of 16%, and a decrease in the net assets of the Lancaster County Chapter Fund of 3%.

The Society’s combined fund balance of $5,102,629 consists of $222,892 in cash, receivables of membership dues and investment income, prepaid expenses and inter-fund transfers; $4,420,862 in investments; $516,289 in historical collections; and office furniture and equipment of $3,649. The liabilities of the Society consist of accounts payable, accrued public programs, inter-fund transfers, and pension contributions, and total $61,063. You may be interested to know that the combined market value of the investment accounts represents a 17% increase from 1995.

The Board of Managers approved the Society’s 1997 General Fund Budget at the December 1996 Board Meeting, and you should each have a summary of this budget and the past three year’s actual expenses. In 1997 we have budgeted increases of 2.5% in income and 9.7% in expenses. You will notice that the activity expenses in 1996 were substantially lower than the previous two years, or the budget for this year. In 1996 the budget for activities was about $67,000, very much in line on a year-to-year basis. The Society actually did all of the activities that had been budgeted for, but through the hard work, and attention for detail, of those twelve committee chairmen, we were $16,500 under budget.

I would also like to mention the teamwork that goes into the financial affairs of the Society. In addition to the committee chairmen who are each responsible for adhering to their budgets, there is the Budget Committee, chaired by Vice President Leroy M. Lewis, III, the Finance Committee, chaired by Vice President Harland W. Johnson, our Executive Secretary Elizabeth J. Richardson, and the two individuals responsible for funds about which I reported tonight: Andrew J. Salisbury, II, the Quartermaster of the Color Guard, and John W. W. Loose, Treasurer of the Lancaster County Chapter. I extend my thanks to all of these people for their many hours devoted to the Society and for the results that I had the pleasure to report this evening.

I would be pleased to entertain any questions regarding the finances of the Society.

Respectfully submitted,

Benjamin C. Frick, Treasurer

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Lancaster Chapter sends greetings. Our annual meeting was held on May 5, 1996 at the Lancaster Country Club at 1:00 p.m. Dinner was served, followed by the annual business meeting when officers and council were elected. Paul S. Lefever was elected Lancaster County Regent. He presented a certificate of appreciation to outgoing regent, George Duffield May, III. Mr. Peter Siebert, Director of the Lancaster Heritage Center, gave an informative color slide presentation on the Susquehanna River School painters.

On July 4, 1996 several members traveled to Philadelphia to attend the LET FREEDOM RING celebration. They enjoyed the activities, and were very appreciative of your kind hospitality.

September 27, 1996 we celebrated CAPITOL DAY to commemorate Lancaster’s one day as our national capital in 1777, whereafter the government fled further west to avoid the British army. Mr. George F. Johnston, past Lancaster County Regent and now retired Armstrong Industries officer, was the speaker. Following that a luncheon was available for the members at Market Fare Restaurant in downtown Lancaster.

A Fall meeting of the chapter was held Wednesday, November 13, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the Stauffer Mansion in Manheim Township. Richard S. Watten gave a very informative illustrated talk "A Covered Bridge Story" about old covered bridges especially in Lancaster County. We recognize the importance of those early bridges before, during and after the Revolutionary War.

The 1997 annual meeting for members and wives will be held on Sunday, May 4, 1997 at 1:00 p.m. at the Lancaster Country Club. After the business meeting John G. Fish will present a slide illustrated talk on "Historic Lancaster, Seen and Unseen." If there is sufficient interest, a van will be employed to take members of the Lancaster Chapter to the Valley Forge Commemoration Church Service at Radnor that evening.

One of our large projects came to fruition this year. A memorial marker medallion was designed and produced under the guidance of Lancaster Chapter member Thomas C. Smith. This marker will denote the burial place of a descendant of someone who served in the Revolutionary War. We express special appreciation to Mr. Jeffrey Maiden, State President, who, through his office, provided the $650 for the production cost of the medallion. A special feature of this medallion is that, for a one time payment of $30, the state name may be changed and used by another state society of the national society. To show our gratitude an honorary medallion was sent to Mr. Jeffrey Maiden, Pennsylvania State president, and to Mr. James Thorington, President of the General Society.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul S. Lefever, Lancaster County Regent

 

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As you already know from the reports given, your Society has had a busy year. Since this is a transition year in which we will soon welcome new leadership to carry on the affairs of the Society, it is fitting that we not dwell too long on the past, but instead look to the future. Therefore I will not spend much time in reviewing the progress of the past three years other than to give the much deserved credit to those people who have made our accomplishments possible.

One area in which I feel we have been particularly successful is the controlling of our expenses and overall financial management. In the past we regularly took money from our investment portfolio from the Rorer Trusts to cover expenses that exceeded our dues and income. We knew that we had not been planning for the future when that trust income would end, and we knew that this had to stop. Thanks to the efforts of various people, we were able to come in sufficiently under budget during the past year. Rather than drawing down on the Trust again, we actually moved substantial amounts of money from our operating account to our investment portfolio for the first time in memory. Our Treasurer, Benjamin Frick, has worked very hard to bring our bookkeeping up to standard where we could do it in house, and he has worked to integrate it with our new auditors. Thanks to this we not only know where we are financially, but we have saved substantial sums of money as a result.

Leroy M. Lewis III, Vice President and Chairman of the Budget Committee, has given all committee chairman the guidelines and targets to set the agenda. In turn these chairmen did an excellent job of managing their committee’s expenses. They usually came in under budget. Elizabeth Richardson, our Executive Secretary, was also instrumental in reminding committee chairmen of their budgets and making a number of changes in our office procedures that saved us significant amounts in printing and mailing costs. In other words, it was a team effort. I was so lucky to have such an outstanding team of officers and board members to work with.

While we are on the financial subject, I want to thank Vice President Harland Johnson for the excellent job he did during the past three years as Chairman of the Finance Committee. During this time our portfolio had an annual average total return of 13.24% per year, going from $1,265,460.00 to $1,669,318.00 over the three years. Would that we all could have done as well.

Another area that we have tried to improve is the admissions process. To join this Society has been similar to running the gauntlet. It was difficult and many were unable to get through the process without great personal initiative and effort. We knew that there had to be a better way. Under the direction of Chairman Richard Di Stefano, the Admissions Committee has added two in-house genealogists to help locate missing documentation and give assistance and encouragement to prospective members. Our office keeps in touch with the candidates and their sponsors to maintain their interest. We have revised our written instructions for new prospective members. Additionally, our Membership Committee under the Chairmanship of Richard Smith has been revitalized. He reactivated the new members’ reception and has revised the information about our Society to attract new members. While we have not seen the significant increases in membership that I had hoped for as these improved processes were put in place, I am hopeful that these efforts will bear fruit over time. We have at least been able to maintain our membership levels and slow the decline in membership that other state societies have experienced.

Another area that your society has worked hard on is our Independence Day celebration. It has grown dramatically during the past three years so that we measure successes and participation on a global basis. During this period of exceptional growth, Chairman Winchell Carroll has guided this committee to a level that is remarkable. In other words, he has done much to focus national attention on the ringing of bells throughout the land and sea. Our Society has led our Country in advancing the national observance of Let Freedom Ring. Win deserves our thanks for his tireless efforts at promoting this event.

Before I move the meeting along, I wanted to mention that the recent Proceedings regrettably contained some errors. It is not unprecedented, but it is something that I take complete responsibility for. The officers have decided that this will be redressed by having an errata section in the next Proceedings to detail the corrections. Some excellent suggestions were made at the last Board Meeting to form a new committee to be in charge of the Proceedings. It will be responsible for reviewing the material in the Proceedings, section by section, before going to print.

There are other areas that I could talk about and cite other officers and board members who have worked hard for the good of the Society, but time doesn’t permit. Everyone who serves this Society in whatever capacity deserves our thanks and appreciation. We are all volunteers. I have said it before and I will say it again. I am continually amazed at the level of time and commitment routinely given our Society by its members. I can’t thank you enough for all you have done.

We look forward to another great year.

Respectfully submitted,

Walter Jeffrey Maiden, President

 

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The Nominations Committee was represented by President Emeritus D. Weston Darby, Jr.. He presented the following slate for consideration by the membership:

President: Mark Frazier Lloyd

President Emeritus: Walter Jeffrey Maiden

Vice Presidents: James Bradley Burke
Richard Renato Paul Di Stefano
Benjamin Charles Frick
Harland Wetmore Johnson
Leroy Moody Lewis, III

Secretary: Theodore Clattenburg, Jr.

Assistant Secretary: Francis Jay Bowden, III

Treasurer: Mark Crosby Ward

Assistant Treasurer: William Lloyd Truscott

Registrar: Jonathan Henry FitzGerald

Historian: John Marshall Groff

Chaplain: The Reverend Gregory Forrest Dimick

Counsellor: Curtis Paul Cheyney, III

Managers: (For a term of three (3) years, ending in
April 2000.)
Lewis Sidney Graham, Jr.
Stephen Paul Hoyt
Howard Randall Morgan
Harvard Castle Wood, III

To fill a vacancy in an unexpired term, ending in April 1999
David Brian Ermine

President Emeritus Darby asked if there was a motion from the floor to accept the report of the Nominations Committee and to instruct the Secretary to cast a single ballot, electing the entire slate of candidates to the offices to which they had been nominated. Such a motion was forthcoming and being duly made and seconded, it was unanimously adopted by those present.

Mr. Darby then congratulated Messrs. Lloyd and Maiden and returned to his seat in the audience. Mr. Maiden addressed the membership, expressing his confidence in this successor and presented Mr. Lloyd with both the President’s Star and the neck ribbon and insignia.

 

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"Gentlemen, I accept the honor you have conferred upon me with a profound sense of humility and obligation. There are many thoughts I wish to share with you, many tasks I look forward to performing with you, but as Benjamin Franklin said, "Learning is long and our time is short," so I will limit my comments this evening to just three ideas, ideas I choose to call identity, inspiration, and signature.

"Regarding the first, it may be said that a fundamental measure of the strength of a voluntary association is its ability to renew itself from within. The officers and managers you have elected today, gentlemen, have the astonishingly low median age of 44; among the officers, Terry Clattenburg, who turns 56 this year, is the graybeard of the group. Despite our relative youth, the eight senior officers of the Society have already logged a combined 77 years of service on the Board, an average of nearly a full decade per man. I am a member of and active in several hereditary organizations and am well acquainted with many more. None can make such a simultaneous claim to youth and experience, to the vigor which characterizes men in the prime of their working lives, to the promise of a bright, expanding future for a Society such as our own. At the close of the 20th century, gentlemen, this is our identity, as I see it, and in bringing this to your attention this evening I hope you will join me in recognizing that in the strength of our identity lies a great tribute to the work of the Nomination Committee, to the past presidents of our Society, five of whom–Jeff Maiden, Mark Tobin, Charlie Esler, George Lincoln, and Joe Loughran–I have had the privilege of serving and three more–Ted Clattenburg, Wes Darby, and Martin Snyder–whose wise guidance and active mentoring have enriched the lives of virtually all of us in the organization these past twenty years.

"It may then be asked, what will inspire and guide this youthful group of men? I would propose that we return to the advice of George Washington, the greatest of all the founders for our nation, whose counsel on patriotism and government service should be more widely heeded in our present day. Without more charity for the opinions and acts of one another in Governmental matters," he said, "it will be difficult if not impracticable, to manage the Reins of Government or to keep the parts of it together." In my view, perhaps the most profound threat to our great Republic at the present time is the deeply corrosive effect of constant, cheap accusation, institutionalized investigation, and bitter faction with which we seem to conduct so much of our public affairs. From the left come those who challenge and effectively reject all authority and discipline, particularly that of our police and military, and from the right come those best characterized by the radio trash talkers, many of whom should know better, even as their inflammatory rhetoric undermines the legitimacy of the civil institutions of our government. As many of you know, I was raised in a Presbyterian parsonage; the ethic of faithful work, personal sacrifice, and public service are deploy engrained in me. In my vocabulary an unshakable belief in a set of strong moral values is not incompatible with respectable compromise and the courage of a visionary leadership does not prohibit consensus building; nor are honest disagreements between public spirited people considered irreconcilable differences in the American experience. A gentleman’s code of honor can coexist with a two-party system; the vigorous advocacy of a position may defer to a democratic majority. Those are the values with which I intend to lead our Society and those, I believe, which we should project to our great city, our commonwealth and our nation.

What then of our signature statement, the work and results of which will carry us successfully into the next century? Over the past six months all Americans who read their newspapers have come to realize that the technology of personal computer and the television are rapidly merging. The Federal Communications Commission has issued industry standards and the race is on to manufacture the cheapest, but most reliable receivers, converters, and screens. By the year 2000, three short years from now, many, perhaps most of us, will be watching high-definition, digital-image, TV and most of us, with nothing more than a hand-held remote control will be able to flip back and forth from entertainment and the local news to research and information service on the Internet. An extraordinary opportunity presents itself to our Society. From the small website our Society established last summer we can build an internal communications vehicle and an external educational presence of amazing convenience and power. For the first time in our Society’s history we have the capacity to bring our chapter purposes to an audience of literally millions of American. I plan to make that initiative the foremost goal for my presidency and I look forward to the contributions many of you will make to the Society’s success. If we respect and retain the best of our traditions while simultaneously welcoming and engaging change in the world around us, I can promise you success and fulfillment will be with us."

President Lloyd then introduced the Society’s guest speaker Edward J. Larkin, the Society of Cincinnati/Sons of the Revolution Dissertation Fellow for 1996-97 at the Philadelphia center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Larkin addressed the Society on the topic, "A Revolutionary Language: Writing ‘Common Sense’ for the Common Man."

At the conclusion of his remarks, Mr. Larkin fielded several interesting questions from the audience. President Lloyd then presented him with a gift from the Society and wished him the very best in his budding scholarly career.

President Lloyd then asked Captain Wright to retire the flags. The officers and members of the Society rose as the flags were paraded out of the room.

The 1997 Annual Meeting adjourned at approximately 6:15 p.m.

Cocktails and a seated dinner followed in the Meade Room.

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