
For many years The Artillery Company hasheadquarters on the fourth floor of Faneuil Hall
Overview[]
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusett (AHAC) is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the nineteenth oldest chartered military organization in the world. Its charter was granted in March 1638 by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay and signed by Governor John Winthrop as a volunteer militia company to train officers enrolled in the local militia companies across Massachusetts. With the professionalization of the US Military preceding World War I including the creation of the National Guard of the United States and the federalization of officer training, the Company's mission changed to a supportive role in preserving the historic and patriotic traditions of Boston, Massachusetts, and the Nation. Today the Company serves as Honor Guard to the Governor of Massachusetts who is also its Commander in Chief.
Motto[]

The Company's official motto is "Acta Non Verba" – a Latin phrase meaning "Deeds Not Words".
History[]
As the settlements which followed the landing at Plymouth increased and spread, there was no organized military force for protection - only local volunteer companies, which lacked the capacity for joint action or any centralized authority. Many of the settlers of Boston had been members in England of the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) of London, and the military training they had received in that company led them to form a similar organization in the new country. In 1637 the company was formed as a citizen militia for instruction in military discipline and tactics. Robert Keayne and many of the original members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company had been members of the original HAC of London.

Governor Winthrop granted a charter on March 13, 1638, and on the first Monday in June following, an election of officers was held on Boston Common. The original name of the Company was "The Military Company of Massachusetts". It began to be referred to as "The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company" in the year 1737.
Since 1746, the headquarters of the Company has been located in Faneuil Hall. In this armory, the company maintains a military museum and library containing relics from every war the United States has fought since its settlement. The armory is open to the public daily.
Prior to 1913, the Company served as the de facto officer school for the Massachusetts Militia. (Although not all officers in the Massachusetts Militia were selected from members of the Company.) In 1913, the Massachusetts Militia established the Training School for officer training. This school was later renamed the Massachusetts Military Academy and is today designated the 101st Regiment - Regional Training Institute (RTI)
Membership[]
Membership in the company has traditionally been selected from the upper middle and upper classes of Boston society. In recent decades membership has been expanded to include those from outside of Massachusetts. It is common for senior officers in the Massachusetts National Guard to be members of the Company. Although prior military service is not a requirement for membership, about one third of the current (2014) members of the Company have served in the Armed Forces of the United States, in most cases as commissioned officers.
Prior to the late 20th Century, the membership of the Company was almost exclusively white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). In recent decades, however, the Company has recruited a more diverse membership.
Reference Material[]
- AHAC.US.COM - official website of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company
- Wikipedia: Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
- The National Society of Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company
- American Wars - Commissioned officers of the Ancient Artillery Company of Massachusetts.
- See also : Members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company
1600s Rosters[]
- Roll of members of the Military company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and honorable artillery company of Massachusetts, with a roster of the commissioned officers and preachers, 1638-1894 - primary roster of members.
1637 Roster[]
Note: 1637 is the first year of the rosters of AHAC. (Page 27)
- Robert Keayne (1595-1656)
- Robert Sedgwick (c1611-1656)
- Joseph Weld (1599-1646)
- Thomas Savage (1607-1682)
- Daniel Howe
- Thomas Huckens (1617-1679)
- John Oliver
- Joshua Hewes
- Samuel Cole
- Israel Stoughton
- John Underhill
- Nathaniel Turner
- William Jennison
- Richard Morris
- Edward Gibbons
- William Spencer
- Robert Hanling
- Thomas Cakebread
- John Holman
- Richard Collicott
- Joseph Pendleton
- Edward Tomins
- Nicholas Upshall
- Edward Johnson
1638 Roster[]
- William French
- ---- Femys
- Edward Winship
- Thomas Strawbridge
- Thomas Makepeace
- Benjamin Keayne
- John Whittingham
- William Ballard
- Robert Saltonstall
- James Astwood
- Robert Scott
- Richard Waite
- John Johnson
- William Parks
- Isaac Morrill
- Hezekiah Usher
- Richard Walker
- William Perkins
- Thomas Cheeseholm
- John Moore
- Edward Mitchelson
- William Cutter
- Abraham Morrill
- Philip Eliot
- Samuel Green
- Robert Saunders
- Stephen Greensmith
- Arthur Perry
- John Audlin
- John Stowe
- John Winchester
- Nathaniel Duncan
- Thomas Stowe (1615-1684) (?)
- William Wilcox
- Humfrey Atherton
- David Offley
- John Harrison
- John Hull
- Thomas Clarke
- Thomas Hawkins
- Nehemiah Bourne
- William Ting
- Richard Parker
- Edward Bendall
- John Coggan
- John Gore
- Valentine Hill
- Walter Blackbourne
- Edward Hutchinson (1613-1675) (?) (multiple)
- James Johnson
- George Cooke
- Eleazer Lusher
- Richard Sprague
- Ralph Sprague
- Samuel Hall
- Abraham Palmer
- James Browne
1639 Roster[]
- Robert Thompson
- William Rainsburrow
- Robert Child
- John Leverett
- John Middlewait
- --- Bridemore
- Robert Sampson
- Thomas Owen
- Francis Willoughby
- John Allen
- Walter Ilaines
- Anthony Stoddard
- Thomas Fowle
- Thomas Clotmore
- Samuel Bennett
- Herbert Pelham
- Henry Saltonstall
- Richard Brackett
- Robert Long
- John Green
- Richard Davenport
1640 Roster[]
Page 29
- Thomas Litchfield
- Davie Yale
- ---- Courtney
- William Hudson
- Ralph Ory
- John Humfrey
- James Oliver
- Samuel Shepherd
- John Friend
- Wentworth Day
- ---- Lucar
- Francis Lyall
- Francis Cosen
- Thomas Lechford
- Joseph Cooke
- Robert Turner
- Christopher Stanley
- John Hurd
- Thomas Marshall
- Henry Dunster
- John Gutteridge
- Henry Phillips
- Joshua Fisher
- Daniel Fisher
1641 Roster[]
1642 Roster[]
1643 Roster[]
- Richard Cutter (1621-1693)
- William Aspinwall (1602-1663) - Antinomian Controversy
1644 Roster[]
1645 Roster[]
1646 Roster
1666 Roster
- John Paine
- Thomas Snawsnell
- Benjamin Gibbs
- Thomas Watkins
- Thomas Sanford
- Theophilus Frary
- Thomas Hull
- Richard Jencks
- Hugh Clark (1613-1693)
- Laurence Hammond
- William Sedgwick (1643-1674)
- Tobias Davis
- Daniel Brewer
- Philip Curtis
1667 Roster
- Freegrace Bendall
- William Kent
- John Ratcliff
- George Broughton
- Nathaniel Williams
- Samuel Bosworth
1700s Roster[]
1800s Roster[]
Summary[]
Membership in AHAC[]

px240
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (AHAC), which is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the nineteenth oldest chartered military organization in the world, lists this person as a member. Its charter was granted in March 1638 by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay and signed by Governor John Winthrop as a volunteer militia company to train officers enrolled in the local militia companies across Massachusetts. Membership in the company has traditionally been selected from the upper middle and upper classes of Boston society.
Captains of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company[]
- Bozoun Allen - joined: 1676 - elected captain: 1696
- Humphrey Atherton - joined: 1638- elected captain: 1650, 1658
- John Ballentine - joined: 1682 - elected captain: 1703, 1710
- Samuel Barrett - joined: 1735 - elected captain: 1771
- William Bell - joined: 1756 - elcted captain: 1774
- William Brattle - joined 1729 - elected captain: 1733
- John Carnes - joined 1649 - elected captain: 1649
- John Carnes - joined 1733 - elected captain: 1748
- John Chandler - joined 1734 - elected captain: 1736
- Samuel Checkley - joined 1678 - elected captian: 1700
- Joshua Cheever - joined 1732 - elected captain: 1741
- Thomas Clarke - joined 1638 - elected captain: 1653
- Thomas Clarke - joined 1644 - elected captain: 1673
References[]
Books[]
- Genealogical Data of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts 1638-1774, by Maude Roberts Cowan