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Fanuel hall

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[]

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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.

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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[]

1600s Rosters[]

1637 Roster[]

Note: 1637 is the first year of the rosters of AHAC. (Page 27)

  1. Robert Keayne (1595-1656)
  2. Robert Sedgwick (c1611-1656)
  3. Joseph Weld (1599-1646)
  4. Thomas Savage (1607-1682)
  5. Daniel Howe
  6. Thomas Huckens (1617-1679)
  7. John Oliver
  8. Joshua Hewes
  9. Samuel Cole
  10. Israel Stoughton
  11. John Underhill
  12. Nathaniel Turner
  13. William Jennison 
  14. Richard Morris
  15. Edward Gibbons
  16. William Spencer
  17. Robert Hanling
  18. Thomas Cakebread
  19. John Holman
  20. Richard Collicott
  21. Joseph Pendleton
  22. Edward Tomins
  23. Nicholas Upshall
  24. Edward Johnson

1638 Roster[]

  1. William French
  2. ---- Femys
  3. Edward Winship
  4. Thomas Strawbridge
  5. Thomas Makepeace
  6. Benjamin Keayne
  7. John Whittingham
  8. William Ballard
  9. Robert Saltonstall
  10. James Astwood
  11. Robert Scott
  12. Richard Waite
  13. John Johnson
  14. William Parks
  15. Isaac Morrill
  16. Hezekiah Usher
  17. Richard Walker
  18. William Perkins
  19. Thomas Cheeseholm
  20. John Moore
  21. Edward Mitchelson
  22. William Cutter
  23. Abraham Morrill
  24. Philip Eliot
  25. Samuel Green
  26. Robert Saunders
  27. Stephen Greensmith
  28. Arthur Perry
  29. John Audlin
  30. John Stowe
  31. John Winchester
  32. Nathaniel Duncan
  33. Thomas Stowe (1615-1684) (?)
  34. William Wilcox
  35. Humfrey Atherton
  36. David Offley
  37. John Harrison
  38. John Hull
  39. Thomas Clarke
  40. Thomas Hawkins
  41. Nehemiah Bourne
  42. William Ting
  43. Richard Parker
  44. Edward Bendall
  45. John Coggan
  46. John Gore
  47. Valentine Hill
  48. Walter Blackbourne
  49. Edward Hutchinson (1613-1675) (?) (multiple)
  50. James Johnson
  51. George Cooke
  52. Eleazer Lusher
  53. Richard Sprague
  54. Ralph Sprague
  55. Samuel Hall
  56. Abraham Palmer
  57. James Browne

1639 Roster[]

  1. Robert Thompson
  2. William Rainsburrow
  3. Robert Child
  4. John Leverett
  5. John Middlewait
  6. --- Bridemore
  7. Robert Sampson
  8. Thomas Owen
  9. Francis Willoughby
  10. John Allen
  11. Walter Ilaines
  12. Anthony Stoddard
  13. Thomas Fowle
  14. Thomas Clotmore
  15. Samuel Bennett
  16. Herbert Pelham
  17. Henry Saltonstall
  18. Richard Brackett
  19. Robert Long
  20. John Green
  21. Richard Davenport

1640 Roster[]

Page 29

  1. Thomas Litchfield
  2. Davie Yale
  3. ---- Courtney
  4. William Hudson
  5. Ralph Ory
  6. John Humfrey
  7. James Oliver
  8. Samuel Shepherd
  9. John Friend
  10. Wentworth Day
  11. ---- Lucar
  12. Francis Lyall
  13. Francis Cosen
  14. Thomas Lechford
  15. Joseph Cooke
  16. Robert Turner
  17. Christopher Stanley
  18. John Hurd
  19. Thomas Marshall
  20. Henry Dunster
  21. John Gutteridge
  22. Henry Phillips
  23. Joshua Fisher
  24. Daniel Fisher

1641 Roster[]

1642 Roster[]

1643 Roster[]


1644 Roster[]


1645 Roster[]


1646 Roster

1666 Roster

  1. John Paine
  2. Thomas Snawsnell
  3. Benjamin Gibbs
  4. Thomas Watkins
  5. Thomas Sanford
  6. Theophilus Frary
  7. Thomas Hull
  8. Richard Jencks
  9. Hugh Clark (1613-1693)
  10. Laurence Hammond
  11. William Sedgwick (1643-1674)
  12. Tobias Davis
  13. Daniel Brewer
  14. Philip Curtis

1667 Roster

  1. Freegrace Bendall
  2. William Kent
  3. John Ratcliff
  4. George Broughton
  5. Nathaniel Williams
  6. Samuel Bosworth

1700s Roster[]

1800s Roster[]

Summary[]

Membership in AHAC[]

Ahac01

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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

Internet[]

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