The Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati, adopted on May 13, 1783, established the offices of the organization: president general, vice president general, secretary general, treasurer general, assistant secretary general, and assistant treasurer general. (The office of assistant treasurer general was not filled until 1825.) Although the election of officers occurred at each Triennial Meeting, from the beginning the sitting president general was by tradition re-elected to the office until his death. Many of the other general officers served multiple terms as well. A major change in the Society’s governance took place at the Triennial Meeting of 1950, when Bryce Metcalf, president general since 1932, retired voluntarily, and the delegates passed a resolution limiting the offices of president general and vice president general to no more than two consecutive terms of three years each. In practice, since 1953 a new president general and vice president general have been elected every three years, with a few of the other officers serving a second term in their office. The following provides a chronological list of the officers of the Society by office, with their constituent society affiliation noted in parentheses beside their names.
Presidents General
1783 George Washington (member at large)
1800 Alexander Hamilton (New York Society)
1805 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (South Carolina Society)
1825 Thomas Pinckney (South Carolina Society)
1829 Aaron Ogden (New Jersey Society)
1839 Morgan Lewis (New York Society)
1844 William Popham (New York Society) Last Continental officer to serve as president general
1848 Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn (Massachusetts Society)
1854 Hamilton Fish (New York Society)
1896 William Wayne (Pennsylvania Society)
1902 Winslow Warren (Massachusetts Society)
1932 John Collins Daves (North Carolina Society)
1939 Bryce Metcalf (Connecticut Society)
1950 Isaac Anderson Pennypacker (Maryland Society) Died in office, 1950
1950 Edgar Erskine Hume (Virginia Society) Died in office, 1952
1952 John Fulton Reynolds Scott (Delaware Society) Acting president general
1953 Richard Hooker Wilmer (New Jersey Society)
1956 Catesby ap Catesby Jones (Virginia Society)
1959 Blanchard Randall (Maryland Society)
1962 Francis Whiting Hatch (Massachusetts Society)
1965 Charles Warren Lippitt (Rhode Island Society)
1968 Frank Anderson Chisholm (Georgia Society)
1971 Armistead Jones Maupin (North Carolina Society)
1974 Harry Ramsay Hoyt (Pennsylvania Society)
1977 John Taylor Gilman Nichols (New Hampshire Society)
1980 John Sanderson du Mont (New York Society)
1983 Catesby Brooke Jones (Virginia Society)
1986 Reuben Grove Clark, Jr. (Georgia Society)
1989 Frank Mauran (Rhode Island Society)
1992 Frederick Lorimer Graham (Massachusetts Society)
1995 William McGowan Matthew (South Carolina Society)
1998 William Russell Raiford (North Carolina Society)
2001 Jay Wayne Jackson (Connecticut Society)
2004 Robert Fillmore Norfleet, Jr. (Virginia Society)
2007 George Forrest Pragoff (Delaware Society)
2010 Kleber Sanlin Masterson, Jr. (Massachusetts Society)
2013 Ross Gamble Perry (Connecticut Society)
2016 Jonathan Tufts Woods (New Hampshire Society)
2019 William Pless Lunger (North Carolina Society)
2022 Frank Keech Turner, Jr. (Maryland Society)
Vice Presidents General
1784 Horatio Gates (Virginia Society)
1787 Thomas Mifflin (Pennsylvania Society)
1799 Alexander Hamilton (New York Society)
1800 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (South Carolina Society)
1805 Henry Knox (Massachusetts Society)
1811 John Brooks (Massachusetts Society)
1825 Aaron Ogden (New Jersey Society)
1829 Morgan Lewis (New York Society)
1839 William Shute (New Jersey Society) Last Continental officer to serve as vice president general
1844 Horace Binney (Pennsylvania Society)
1848 Hamilton Fish (New York Society)
1854 Charles Stewart Daveis (Massachusetts Society)
1866 James Warren Sever (Massachusetts Society)
1872 James Simons (South Carolina Society)
1881 William Armstrong Irvine (Pennsylvania Society)
1887 Robert Milligan McLane (Maryland Society)
1896 Winslow Warren (Massachusetts Society)
1902 James Simons, Jr. (South Carolina Society)
1920 Charles Beatty Alexander (Pennsylvania Society)
1929 Francis Key Pendleton (New York Society)
1932 Bryce Metcalf (Connecticut Society)
1941 Edgar Erskine Hume (Virginia Society)
1953 Catesby ap Catesby Jones (Virginia Society)
1956 Blanchard Randall (Maryland Society)
1959 Francis Whiting Hatch (Massachusetts Society)
1962 Charles Warren Lippitt (Rhode Island Society)
1965 Frank Anderson Chisholm (Georgia Society)
1968 Armistead Jones Maupin (North Carolina Society)
1971 Harry Ramsay Hoyt (Pennsylvania Society)
1974 John Taylor Gilman Nichols (New Hampshire Society)
1977 Henry Charles Cheves III (South Carolina Society) Died in office, 1978
1978 Gérard, comte de la Villesbrunne (French Society)
1980 Catesby Brooke Jones (Virginia Society)
1983 Reuben Grove Clark, Jr. (Georgia Society)
1986 Frank Mauran (Rhode Island Society)
1989 Frederick Lorimer Graham (Massachusetts Society)
1992 William McGowan Matthew (South Carolina Society)
1995 William Russell Raiford (North Carolina Society)
1998 Jay Wayne Jackson (Connecticut Society)
2001 Robert Fillmore Norfleet, Jr. (Virginia Society)
2004 George Forrest Pragoff (Delaware Society)
2007 Kleber Sanlin Masterson, Jr. (Massachusetts Society)
2010 Raynald, duc de Choiseul Praslin (French Society)
2013 Jonathan Tufts Woods (New Hampshire Society)
2016 William Pless Lunger (North Carolina Society)
2019 Frank Keech Turner, Jr. (Maryland Society)
2022 Joel Thomas Daves IV (Virginia Society)
Secretaries General
1783 Henry Knox (Massachusetts Society)
1799 William Jackson (Pennsylvania Society) Last Continental officer to serve as secretary general
1829 Alexander Washington Johnston (Pennsylvania Society)
1857 Thomas McEuen (Pennsylvania Society)
1875 George Washington Harris (Pennsylvania Society)
1884 Asa Bird Gardiner (Rhode Island Society)
1920 John Collins Daves (North Carolina Society)
1932 Francis Apthorp Foster (Georgia Society) Resigned, 1948
1948 William Marbury Beall (Maryland Society) Acting secretary general
1950 John Fulton Reynolds Scott (Delaware Society)
1953 Joseph Knox Fornace (Pennsylvania Society)
1956 Irving Caywood Hanners (New Jersey Society)
1971 Stephen Caldwell Millett (New York Society)
1977 John Absalom Baird, Jr. (Delaware Society)
1983 Michael Miller (Connecticut Society)
1986 Minor Myers, Jr. (Rhode Island Society)
1989 William McGowan Matthew (South Carolina Society)
1992 Philippus Miller V (Pennsylvania Society)
1995 Andrew Pickens Miller (Virginia Society)
1998 Edward James Smith, Jr. (Maryland Society)
2001 Philippe, marquis de Bausset-Roquefort (French Society)
2007 Henry Burnett Fishburne, Jr. (South Carolina Society)
2010 Ross Gamble Perry (Connecticut Society)
2013 William Pless Lunger (North Carolina Society)
2016 John Christopher Harvey (New Jersey Society)
2019 Joel Thomas Daves IV (Virginia Society)
2022 Francis Ellerbe Grimball (South Carolina Society)
Treasurers General
1783 Alexander McDougall (New York Society)
1796 William Jackson (Pennsylvania Society)
1799 William Macpherson (Pennsylvania Society)
1825 Allan McLane (Pennsylvania Society)
1832 John Markland (Pennsylvania Society) Last Continental officer to serve as treasurer general
1838 Joseph Warren Scott (New Jersey Society)
1872 Tench Tilghman (Maryland Society)
1875 Alexander Hamilton, Jr. (New York Society)
1881 John Schuyler (New York Society)
1896 Richard Meredith McSherry (Maryland Society)
1899 Frederick Wolcott Jackson (New Jersey Society)
1905 Francis Marinus Caldwell (Pennsylvania Society)
1911 Charles Isham (Connecticut Society)
1920 Henry Randall Webb (Maryland Society)
1935 Horace Morison (New Hampshire Society)
1950 William Wickham Hoffman (New York Society)
1956 Charles Howland Russell (Rhode Island Society)
1962 Henry Irvine Keyser II (Virginia Society)
1971 Reuben Grove Clark, Jr. (Georgia Society)
1980 Francis George Shaw (Massachusetts Society)
1986 Frederick Lorimer Graham (Massachusetts Society)
1989 Thomas Willis Haywood Alexander (North Carolina Society)
1995 Jay Wayne Jackson (Connecticut Society)
1998 Robert Fillmore Norfleet, Jr. (Virginia Society)
2001 George Forrest Pragoff (Delaware Society)
2004 Kleber Sanlin Masterson, Jr. (Massachusetts Society)
2007 Jonathan Tufts Woods (New Hampshire Society)
2013 John Christopher Harvey (New Jersey Society)
2016 Frank Keech Turner, Jr (Maryland Society)
2019 Francis Ellerbe Grimball (South Carolina Society)
2022 William Postell Raiford (North Carolina Society)
Assistant Secretaries General
1784 Otho Holland Williams (Maryland Society)
1787 George Turner (South Carolina Society)
1790 William Macpherson (Pennsylvania Society)
1799 Nathan Dorsey (Pennsylvania Society)
1802 William Dent Beall (Maryland Society)
1825 John Markland (Pennsylvania Society) Last Continental officer to serve as assistant secretary general
1829 Thomas McEuen (Pennsylvania Society)
1857 George Washington Harris (Pennsylvania Society)
1875 Richard Irvine Manning (Maryland Society)
1890 Thomas Pinckney Lowdnes (South Carolina Society)
1896 Nicholas Fish (New York Society)
1905 John Cropper (Virginia Society)
1908 John Collins Daves (North Carolina Society)
1920 Francis Apthorp Foster (Georgia Society)
1932 Edgar Erskine Hume (Virginia Society)
1941 William Marbury Beall (Maryland Society)
1950 Joseph Knox Fornace (Pennsylvania Society)
1953 John Julius Pringle Smith (South Carolina Society)
1956 Bartlett Braxton Jones (North Carolina Society)
1962 Reginald Stuart Ward (New Hampshire Society)
1968 Stephen Caldwell Millett (New York Society)
1971 Scott Dudley Breckinridge, Jr. (Delaware Society) Died in office, 1976
1976 John Absalom Baird, Jr. (Delaware Society)
1977 John Sanderson du Mont (New York Society)
1980 Michael Miller (Connecticut Society)
1983 Minor Myers, Jr. (Rhode Island Society)
1986 William McGowan Matthew (South Carolina Society)
1989 Philippus Miller V (Pennsylvania Society)
1992 Andrew Pickens Miller (Virginia Society)
1995 Edward James Smith, Jr. (Maryland Society)
1998 Warren Masters Little (Massachusetts Society)
2001 Kleber Sanlin Masterson, Jr. (Massachusetts Society)
2004 Jonathan Tufts Woods (New Hampshire Society)
2007 Ross Gamble Perry (Connecticut Society)
2010 William Pless Lunger (North Carolina Society)
2013 James Bradley Burke (New Jersey Society)
2016 Joel Thomas Daves IV (Virginia Society)
2019 William Postell Raiford (North Carolina Society)
2022 Cordell Lee Bragg III (South Carolina Society)
Assistant Treasurers General
1825 Alexander Washington Johnston (Pennsylvania Society)
1829 John Markland (Pennsylvania Society) Only Continental officer to serve as assistant treasurer general
1832 Joseph Warren Scott (New Jersey Society)
1838 William Jackson, Jr. (Pennsylvania Society)
1851 John Henry Markland (Pennsylvania Society)
1863 John McDowell (New Jersey Society)
1872 William Berrian Dayton (New Jersey Society)
1881 Herman Burgin (New Jersey Society)
1893 Henry Thayer Drowne (Rhode Island Society)
1899 John Cropper (Virginia Society)
1905 Charles Isham (Connecticut Society)
1911 Henry Randall Webb (Maryland Society)
1920 James Wall Schureman Campbell (New Jersey Society)
1929 Francis King Wainwright (Delaware Society)
1932 Horace Morison (New Hampshire Society)
1935 Lawrence Monck Pinckney (South Carolina Society)
1950 Charles Howland Russell (Rhode Island Society)
1956 Bruce Baird (Delaware Society) Died in office, 1960
1960 Henry Irvine Keyser II (Virginia Society)
1962 Frank Anderson Chisholm (Georgia Society)
1965 Armistead Jones Maupin (North Carolina Society)
1968 Harry Ramsay Hoyt (Pennsylvania Society)
1971 John Taylor Gilman Nichols (New Hampshire Society)
1974 Charles Seymour Whitman, Jr. (Connecticut Society)
1977 Corbin Braxton Valentine, Jr. (Virginia Society)
1983 Frederick Lorimer Graham (Massachusetts Society)
1986 Thomas Willis Haywood Alexander (North Carolina Society)
1989 Jay Wayne Jackson (Connecticut Society)
1995 Ross Warne Maghan, Jr. (New Jersey Society)
1998 George Forrest Pragoff (Delaware Society)
2001 Jonathan Tufts Woods (New Hampshire Society)
2004 Brian Wesley Brooke (Maryland Society)
2007 Charles Lilly Coltman III (Pennsylvania Society)
2010 Frank Keech Turner, Jr. (Maryland Society)
2016 Peter Mapes Dodge (New York Society)
2019 Robert Mosby Turnbull (Virginia Society)
2022 John McConville Shannon (New Jersey Society)