The Order of Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company (ODAHAC) is a lineage society for individuals who descend from members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, the oldest chartered military organization in the Western Hemisphere. Founded in 2002, the Order commemorates the lives and legacies of those early citizen-soldiers who were integral to the colonial militias of Massachusetts.
Membership is open to those who can prove descent from an ancestor who served in the Company prior to 1800. The Order fosters historical research, preservation of early military records, and public education about the colonial defense system of New England. Its mission complements the goals of the original Company, which continues to serve ceremonially in Massachusetts to this day.
Robert Sanford
Robert Sanford was born in England, likely in the early 17th century, and immigrated to New England by the mid-1600s. He married Elizabeth Skelton around 1652. By the 1670s, he had settled in Swansea, Massachusetts, though earlier records place him in Boston, where he was admitted to the Military Company of the Massachusetts, later known as the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, in the 1670s.
The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, chartered in 1638, served as a training and organizing body for militia officers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Membership was selective and usually limited to freemen and property holders. Sanford’s inclusion in the Company implies he was a man of standing, trusted with responsibilities related to colonial defense.
Although detailed records of his service are limited, Robert Sanford’s residence in Swansea during King Philip’s War (1675–1676) suggests he may have participated in local defensive efforts during one of the most devastating conflicts in colonial New England. Swansea was among the first towns attacked during the war, and the defense of such frontier communities often relied on local militia companies commanded by men with training from the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
Sanford lived beyond 1678, as shown in probate and land records from Swansea. His daughter Sarah Sanford married Daniel Adams, beginning a line of descent that would later include veterans of the American Revolution, pioneer settlers of western New York, and nineteenth-century farmers in Indiana and Michigan.
The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, founded in 1638, is the oldest chartered military organization in continuous service in the Western Hemisphere. Modeled on the Honourable Artillery Company of London, its original purpose was to train the officer corps of the Massachusetts militia and to ensure the colony’s defensive preparedness during an era of uncertainty and frontier conflict.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, membership in the Company was both a civic duty and an honor, often extended to freemen, landowners, and men of established character. The AHAC conducted regular drills and musters on Boston Common, maintained readiness among colonial militia leaders, and served as a social and professional network for Massachusetts’s military elite.
Though never a combat unit itself, the Company was integral to the military infrastructure of colonial Massachusetts. Many of its members went on to hold commissions in local militias during King Philip’s War, the French and Indian Wars, and the American Revolution.
Today, the AHAC continues its mission in a ceremonial and educational capacity. Headquartered at Faneuil Hall in Boston, the Company preserves its historic armory, maintains a museum, and participates in patriotic events and memorial observances. Its membership includes veterans, public servants, and citizens committed to the legacy of service that has defined the organization for nearly four centuries.
Membership in the Order of Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company recognizes those whose ancestors once stood among these early defenders, citizen-soldiers who shaped the course of American history through service and leadership in times of trial.
Additional memberships will be added as they are approved.
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