Membership in the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia is by invitation.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please feel free to contact the Membership Chairman (or any other officer or council member whom you know) so that we may have an opportunity to meet you. Contact information for the current Registrar is:
Lewis Taylor Cowardin
ltcowardin@gmail.com
(804) 305-8007
Membership is limited by our Constitution to gentlemen over the age of 21 who are directly descended from an individual who served in the colonial militia or British army or held high civilian office between the founding of Jamestowne in 1607 and the Battle of Lexington in 1775 within the area that became the United States.
Membership Eligibility
The exact qualifications are as follows:
Any male above the age of twenty-one years, of good moral character and reputation, shall be eligible to membership in the Society of Colonial Wars, provided he be lineally descended in the male or female line from an ancestor:
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- Who served as a military or naval officer, or a soldier, sailor, or marine, or as a privateers man, under authority of any 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, during the period from the settlement of Jamestown, May 13, 1607, to the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775; or
- Who held office in any of the Colonies between the dates above mentioned, as
- Director General, Vice Director General, or member of the Council, or legislative body, in the Colony of the New Netherlands;
- Governor, Lieutenant or Deputy Governor, Lord Proprietor, member of the King’s or Governor’s Council, or of the legislative body, in the Colony of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, or Delaware;
- Lord Proprietor, Governor, Deputy Governor, or member of the Council, or of the legislative body in Maryland, the Carolinas, or Georgia;
- 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;
- Justice, Judge, Justice of the Peace or other judicial officer.