The Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors is a hereditary society composed of men and women who can prove their descent from a colonial-era governor. Founded in 1896 Miss Mary Cabell Richardson of Covington, Kentucky

Covington, Kentucky

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...

, the Order’s is to “commemorate the services of those men who, prior to July 4, 1776, singly exercised supreme executive power in the American colonies and who laid in them the foundations of stable government and of the respect for the civil law and authority which made the maintenance of their future independence possible.”

History

The first two Governors General served the Order for the first seven years of its existence. In 1903, Miss Gail Treat of East Orange, New Jersey

East Orange, New Jersey

East Orange is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the city's population 64,270, making it the state's 20th largest municipality, having dropped 5,554 residents from its population of 69,824 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 14th most...

 became the new Governor General of the Order.http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F0DE6DA1730E233A25753C1A9679D946297D6CF Ms. Treat was a descendant of Robert Treat

Robert Treat

Robert Treat was an American colonial leader, militia officer and governor of Connecticut between 1683 and 1698....

, whose served as governor from 1683-1698.http://www.cslib.org/gov/treatr.htm Miss Treat would serve as Governor General from 1903 to 1944 and upon her death all of the records of the Order vanished and the group entered a period of dormancy.

In 1954 a group of members reorganized the Order and sought to preserve whatever records and information they could locate. The Order published a Register of known members in 1980 and in 2004 Lineage Book II was produced. In 2006, the Order published a comprehensive list of the Colonial Governors Prior to 4 July 1776. The Order presently consists of over five hundred members throughout the United States of America and overseas and has its annual meeting in April of each year in Washington, DC at the Metropolitan Club.

Governors

• Miss Mary Cabell Richardson (1896)
• Mrs. Henrietta Dana Skinner (1897–1903)
• Miss Gail Treat (1903–1944)
• Mrs. Hermann August Knorr (1954–1961)
• Mr. William Young Pryor (1961–1963)
• Mr. Grahame Thomas Smallwood, Jr.]] (1963–1967)
• Mary Genevieve Forbes Morse (1967–1970)
• Mr. Warren Smith Hall, Jr. (1970–1973)
• Mr. John Frederick Dorman (1973–1976)
• Mrs. Russell Francis Barker (1976–1979)
• Mr. Charles Owen Johnson (1979–1981)
• Mrs. Clyde Davis Martin (1981–1983)
• Mr. Nicholas Donnell Ward (1983–1985)
• Gilberta Wood Westbrooke (1985–1987)
• Mr. J. Orton Buck (1987–1989)
• Barbara Wilson Haupt Loucks (1989–1991)
• Rev. Dr. Dixon Barr (1991–1993)
• Mr. Judson Philip Mason, Sr. (1993–1995)
• Mrs. Hans Bielenstein (1995–1997)
• Joan Claire Hodgkinson Orton (1997–1999)
• Dr. Hardwick Smith Johnson, Jr. (1999–2001)
• Mr. Timothy Field Beard (2001–2003)
• Betty Jane James Bernstorf (2003–2005)
• Charles William Neuhauser (2005–2007)
• Michael Harrison Charles (2007–2009)
• Mr. Frederick Fuller Kellogg, Jr. (2009-2011)
• Brantley Carter Bolling Knowles (2011-present)