Order of the Founders and Patriots of America New Jersey Society Records

The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (OFPA) was formed in March of 1896 in New York City. The United States was nearing the end of the Centennial Era that had begun in 1876. Many hereditary societies had been organized during this time period. The objective in forming the OFPA, and what made it distinct from other hereditary societies, was the bringing together of individuals who not only were descendants of the founders of what was to become the United States of America, but who, further, were also descendants of those who were patriotic to the cause during the Revolutionary War.

The OFPA's goals as stipulated in the second article of its original constitution are six-fold:

Membership was originally limited to adult males, age twenty-one or greater. Those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one could apply for junior membership. Currently, the minimum age for membership is eighteen. In 1898, a sister organization, the Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America, was formed for participation by women. To become a member of the OFPA, an individual has to prove lineal male descent, to one's mother or father, from individuals who arrived and settled in any of the colonies, now included in the United States, from May 13, 1607 (the founding of Jamestown), to May 13, 1657. This era represents the first half-century of settlement. The individual applying for membership must further prove that intermediary descendants in that lineage were loyal and patriotic to the American cause during the Revolutionary War.

Membership is open to the sons of members. Further considerations include being a citizen of the United States of America and being of good moral character and reputation. The membership eligibility clause in the national organization's constitution was changed in 1903, requiring new associates to prove that their ancestors were overtly active in the Revolutionary War. Efforts, by the New Jersey Society in 1906 (see box 2, folder 18) and the Pennsylvania Society in 1909 (see box 3, folder 12), were unsuccessful in rescinding this change. These state Societies felt that individuals, who because of religious convictions (such as Quakers) or age were unable to serve in the cause, were not necessarily any less patriotic.

In March and April of 1896, Messrs. William Winton Goodrich, Edward Nelson Granville Greene, Henry Lincoln Morris, Ralph Earl Prime, Howard Sumner Robbins, Charles Waterman Bentley Wilkinson, Howard Marshall, John Quincy Adams and Henry Hall met several times to form the OFPA and the New York Society of the OFPA, the first of the state Societies. The OFPA was officially incorporated in New York State on March 17, 1896, with the meeting of the charter members held on April 24, 1896. At this meeting, a charter was granted to nine associates to organize the New Jersey Society. The first meeting of the New Jersey organization was held on April 28, 1896, in the home of William Armstrong Halsey in Newark, New Jersey.

The New Jersey Society had the following offices when it was founded in 1896: governor, deputy governor, secretary, treasurer, states attorney, registrar and historian. A chaplain's office was added in 1898 and that of genealogist was added in 1900.

The inaugural set of officers in 1896 was as follows:

Governor:

William Armstrong Halsey

Deputy Governor:

George Long Hutchings

Secretary:

Washington Irving Lincoln Adams

Treasurer:

Charles Broadwell Corwin

States Attorney:

Frederic Allen Angell

Registrar:

George Washington Case

Historian:

Rev. Joseph Fulford Folsom

The New Jersey Society of the OFPA is still in existence and is active, conducting semi-annual meetings.

Hiram E. Deats

Many of the records in this collection were either created or accumulated, and then maintained, by Hiram Edmund Deats, an extremely active officer in the New Jersey Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots during its formative years. He held the following positions in the Society: historian (1899-1900), secretary (1903-1904 and 1907-1908), genealogist (1905), registrar (1906), deputy governor (1908-1909), governor (1911-1912) and historian-general (1913-1914; national office).

Deats (1870-1963) was born in Flemington Junction, New Jersey. He was educated at the Peddie Institute in Hightstown, New Jersey, and was graduated in 1891. He then returned to Flemington Junction and a life of farming. In addition to his life on the farm, and being a member of the New Jersey Society of the OFPA, Deats held many positions of civic responsibility: director of the Flemington National Bank; member of the County Board of Agriculture; member and secretary of the Board of Corporation of the Peddie Institute; member of the Hunterdon County Historical Society; member of the Society of Colonial Wars; member and trustee of the New Jersey Historical Society; and founding member and Hall of Fame member of the American Philatelic Society. In addition, Deats was the author and compiler of several works of local history and genealogy.

(1) Interview with Robert Kenner, Valentin Kenner's nephew, Oct. 29, 1996. On the Modern School, see Stanley S. Liptzin, The Modern School of Stelton, NJ: A Liberation Experiment Examined. Unpublished dissertation, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, 1977 (2) Carl Geiser, Prisoners of the Good Fight: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 (Connecticut, 1986). (3) Interview with Robert Kenner.