The Order of Founders and Patriots of America is a hereditary society honoring descendants of individuals who settled in the American colonies before 13 May 1657 (Founders) and whose direct male-line descendants served as patriots during the American Revolution. Conceived over the course of half a dozen meetings in early 1896 by prominent men assembled in Manhattan, the Order was designed to be a unique and distinctive organization that, in the words of its first expositor, “stands as preeminently American.” Membership requires documented proof of both a qualifying Founder and a qualifying Patriot in the same male line, a standard that makes it one of the most selective lineage societies devoted to early American heritage.
Founder: Henry Adams
Henry Adams (c. 1583–1646) was the immigrant progenitor of the Adams family of Massachusetts. Born in Barton St. David, Somersetshire, England, he was part of the Great Migration to New England, arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638 with several of his children. He settled at Mount Wollaston, later incorporated as Braintree and now part of Quincy, where he received a grant of forty acres and established a homestead.
Adams became an integral member of the new settlement, and his children went on to found or help establish towns such as Medfield, Marlborough, and Chelmsford. His descendants would become one of the most distinguished political families in United States history, including President John Adams, President John Quincy Adams, and President Calvin Coolidge. Many others in the family served as legislators, jurists, and local leaders, continuing the civic tradition begun by Henry’s generation.
Henry Adams died in Braintree in 1646. While the exact location of his grave is unknown, his memory is preserved in a granite monument erected in 1827 by President John Quincy Adams in Quincy Center. The inscription famously calls him “the Ancestor of Presidents” and claims he “took his flight from the Dragon persecution in Devonshire, England, and alighted with eight sons near Mount Wollaston.” Although some historians view parts of this inscription as symbolic rather than literal, the monument underscores the enduring national significance of his legacy.
Patriot: Daniel Adams
Daniel Adams (20 April 1750 – 19 December 1832) was a Massachusetts farmer, deacon, and Revolutionary War soldier whose service connects the founding generation of New England to the cause of American independence. Born in Medway, Suffolk County (now Norfolk County), to Thomas Adams and Mary Partridge Adams, he was a direct male-line descendant of Henry Adams of Braintree.
Daniel married Martha Watkins in Holliston on 30 January 1772. At the outbreak of the Revolution, he was living in Worcester County and served in the militia during the Lexington Alarm of 19 April 1775. This “alarm” was the rapid mobilization of colonial militia following the first shots at Lexington and Concord. Riders spread the news across Massachusetts, summoning citizen-soldiers from dozens of towns to march toward the fighting. Daniel served as a private in Captain Edmund Brigham’s company under the overall command of Major General Artemas Ward, who coordinated militia movements in central Massachusetts. While surviving records do not confirm whether his company reached Lexington Green itself, his participation places him among those who responded immediately to the opening call of the Revolutionary War.
Daniel’s subsequent service included enlistments from Barre and Rutland, Massachusetts. On 21 August 1777, he joined Captain Benjamin Ayers’s company in Colonel Nathan Sparhawk’s regiment for a ten-day tour, and on 26 September 1777 he marched toward Bennington in the Northern Department for twenty-nine days. These deployments reflect the nature of militia service, short, urgent tours in response to strategic needs, often balancing military duty with ongoing agricultural work at home.
After Martha’s death around 1790, Daniel married Sarah Alden of Barre in 1791. Following her death about 1808, he married Elizabeth Parmenter of Oakham in 1809. By this time, he was living in Rutland, where he became a deacon in the local church and a respected community leader. His will, dated 26 January 1826 and proved in 1833, named his wife Elizabeth; sons Jesse, Moses, Aaron, Daniel, Abijah, and Jonas; daughter Polly Mary; and two granddaughters.
Daniel Adams died in Rutland on 19 December 1832 at the age of 82 and was buried in Goose Hill Cemetery. His life bridged the colonial and early national eras, embodying the Massachusetts tradition of local leadership, military readiness, and civic duty stretching back to the Puritan founders.
Membership
Through direct descent from Founder Henry Adams and Patriot Daniel Adams, my admission to the Order affirms a continuous family legacy spanning from the earliest years of colonial settlement to the fight for American independence. In my line, the Adams name endured unbroken for nearly three centuries, concluding on 1 February 1910 with the death of John Hess Adams. The application process, supported by careful documentary research, reflects the Order’s dedication to preserving and honoring the nation’s formative history.
Additional memberships will be added as they are approved.
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