Laurie Ann Cornwell Aldinger is a native of Wisconsin born to Donald and Joyce Cornwell. She is married to Thomas Lee Aldinger and they have three sons:  Tony, Michael and Steven.  Laurie holds a B.A. in Accounting from North Central College, and a M.B.A. in Financial Accounting from Illinois Benedictine University.  She is currently the Treasurer for Epiphany Formation. Laurie and her husband Tom remain active in a variety of civic and historical groups, and Laurie is currently enrolled at the College of Charleston, studying the Classics.  

Past employers include Zodiac Boats (SC), Carolina Speech and Language (SC), McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd (London), and Chicago Bridge & Iron (IL).

Laurie’s contributions to the lineage society community are extensive, and she has provided primary leadership in a number of organizations.  

Membership

• Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors (Honorary Governor General)
• National Americans of Royal Descent (Third Vice President)
• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne of the USA (Treasurer)
• Baronial Order of Magna Charta (Treasurer)
• Military Order of the Crusades (Treasurer)
• Order of Medieval Women: Women of Consequence (Recording Secretary)
• Colonial Dames of America (Chapter XXXI President)
• One Hundred Living Descendants of Blood Royal
• Order of the Merovingian Dynasty
• Order of the Three Crusades
• National Society of Saints and Sinners
• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion
• National Society of Dames of the Court of Honor (South Carolina Chapter President)
• National Society Colonial Dames of 17th Century (South Carolina State Treasurer)
• National Society Daughters of American Colonists (Chapter President)
• National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars, Chapter Treasurer
• National Society of the Daughters of American Revolution
• National Society Daughters of 1812
• Daughters of Colonial Wars

LTC Lawrence King Casey, Jr., AUS (Ret.), a native of Brookline, Massachusetts is the son of the late Lawrence King Casey and Alice Annette Boultbee from Maine. He grew up in Codman Square Dorchester, and Lexington, MA, graduating from Lexington High School. LTC Casey completed his undergraduate work at Bucknell University, where he received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. He later graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business with a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).

At Bucknell University ROTC he was a Distinguished Military Graduate, the Commanding Officer Pershing Rifles Company M 5th Regiment, and a member of the sky diving team. He graduated from the Ordnance School, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, and the Air Defense Guided Missile School, Redstone Arsenal, AL. He graduated from the US Army Command and General Staff College (USAR School Beaumont, TX).

Additionally, LTC Casey served on active duty as Commanding Officer 226th Ordnance Detachment (Guided Missile General Support-NIKE) Korea, and the Facility Commander Combined Field Maintenance Shop (NIKE) Lincoln, RI. His reserve duty included tours with CONARC, and TRADOC, at Fort Monroe, VA; and with DARCOM at Fort Eustis, VA.

LTC Casey is now retired after 42 years in process control, and project management with ExxonMobil Chemical Company (a heritage Mobil employee). He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Texas. He has resided in Beaumont Texas the past 49 years, and owns the Lucky Shamrock Ranch, Fredericksburg, Texas, where he raises Angus Cattle.

Society Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut
• General Society of the War of 1812 (Past President General)
• National Society Sons of the American Revolution (Vice President of Texas Society, District 7) (Vice President)
• Dutch Colonial Society (Patroon)
• Hereditary Order Descendants Loyalists & Patriots American Revolution (Librarian General)
• Plymouth Hereditary Society 1620-1691 (Governor General)
• National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 (Advisory Council)
• Order of the First Families of Maine 1604-1652 (President General)
• Order of the First Families of New Hampshire 1622-1680 (Treasurer General)
• Order of the Indian Wars of the United States (Treasurer)
• Order of Descendants of the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company (Deputy Governor General)
• Descendants of Sheriffs & Constables of Colonial & Antebellum America (Deputy General)
• Aztec Club of 1847 (Councilor)
• Order of the Founders of North America 1492-1692 (Deputy Viscount General England)
• General Society Sons of the Revolution (former President Texas Society)
• General Society of Colonial Wars (former Governor Texas Society)
• Royal Society of St George (former President Texas Branch)
• Order of Founders and Patriots of America (former Governor Texas Society)
• General Society of Mayflower Descendants (former Governor and Deputy Governor General of the Texas Society)
• Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
• Society of the Order of the Southern Cross
• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
• Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United State
• Sons of Confederate Veterans
• Piscataqua Pioneers
• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims
• National Society of Old Plymouth Colony Descendants
• Military Order of the World Wars
• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy
• Military Order of the Stars and Bars
• National Society Sons of American Colonists
• Flagon and Trencher, Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers
• Hereditary Order of Descendants of Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution
• Order of Descendants of Colonial Physicians and Chirurgiens
• Thomas Rogers Society
• Son of a Witch
• Hereditary Order of the First Families of Massachusetts
• National Society Sons of Colonial New England
• Hull Family Association
• National Order of the Blue and the Gray
• International Military Order of the Southern Cross
• Sons and Daughters of the Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar
• Order of the Second World War
• Presidential Families of America
• Winthrop Society, Descendants of the Great Migration
• Hereditary Order of the Families of the Presidents and First Ladies of America
• Guild of Colonial Artisans and Tradesmen 1607-1783
• Registry of Famous and Infamous Relatives of American Families
• National Society of Textile Workers of America
• Order of the First Families of Vermont 1609-1791
• Hereditary Order of Teachers
• Descendants of Cape Cod and the Islands

Other Notes

Mr. Casey is a member of St Paul’s –Algonquin Lodge in Braintree, MA. He is a Past Worshipful Master of Beaumont Lodge #286, Texas. In the York Rite he presided over Beaumont Chapter #188 Royal Arch Masons, Beaumont Council #126 Royal and Select Masters, Beaumont Commandery #38 Knight Templars, Southeast Texas York Rite College #90, and San Felipe Conclave Red Cross of Constantine. He served as District Deputy in the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, and Grand Council of Texas. He was honored with the Order of the Purple Cross, and the Knight York Cross of Honor. He is currently serving as Recorder of San Felipe Conclave, and Representative of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts near the Grand Lodge of Texas.

In the Scottish Rite he presided over San Felipe Lodge of Perfection, Galveston Chapter of Rose Croix, Galveston Council Knights Kadosh, and Galveston Consistory. He is a member of the Royal Order of Scotland. He received the 33rd Degree Inspector General Honorary, 19 Nov 1975.

He is an Amateur Member in the United Country Western Dance Council, winning two Pro-Am World Championships in Nashville with Shawna Dysart of Houston, and one in Sweden with Lisa McIntyre of Calgary. He won an Irish Championship with Susan Kirklin of Austin.

He is an Amateur Member of the National Dance Council of America and currently competing in International Latin Pro-Am with Milana Pliner of Houston. He has competed in New York, California, Nevada, Florida, and Texas, winning several Championships.

He also holds membership in the Ferrari Club of America (F-458 Spider and 612 Scaglietti), the Beaumont Country Club, the Country Music Association Nashville (Drummer), Ima Hogg Ceramic Circle Houston (past Treasurer)(expertise in English Wedgwood and Irish Belleek), the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels by Governor Paul E Patton, Honorary Admiral in the Texas Navy by Governor Rick Perry, Honorary Tennessean by Governor Bill Haslam, the Military Officer’s Association of America, and life membership in the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Mr. Casey has been granted Irish arms by the Chief Herald of Ireland. The Arms are registered with the NEHGS Heraldry Committee and the Armorial Register #330.

• Registered: The International Register of Arms, 1st June 2015. Registration No. 0330 (Vol.2)
• Arms: Per fess embattled Or and Vert a crane in his vigilance counterchanged.
• Crest: A distillatory Or the fire proper.
• Motto:
• above the shield: Tairgeann Dua Sean Agus Fad Saoil.
• below the shield: Tairgeann Dua Rath
• Badge 1: Enfiling a sprig of laurel Proper an ancient crown Or.
• Badge 2: A polled bull rampant Or ringed Gules.
• Badge 3: An eagle with two heads facing to the dexter wings overture Or.
• Grant: The Chief Herald of Ireland, Volume Aa, Folio 64, Dublin Ireland, 30th March 2015.

During the petition process, the heraldic design was done by Micheal Comain, and the art by Philip Mackey, both of the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland, Colette O' Flaherty.

The field of the shield is parted per fess embattled to reflect Lieutenant Commander Casey's military career. The single charge is a very exact reference to his name. Casey/O'Casey/Cathasaigh which derives from cathasach meaning "watchful".

The crane, in legend, stands holding a rock in one foot so that should he sleep the rock will fall and wake him. He is, then, the symbol of watchfulness and is known heraldically as a crane in his vigilance.

The armiger's eligibility to bear Irish arms is based on his dual Irish citizenship and lineal descent from his father Lawrence King Casey of Portland in the State of Maine (USA), the grandson of William Henry Casey of Cahirciveen in the county of Kerry, and his great-grandfather Daniel Casey (1833-1936) of Cahirciveen in the county of Kerry.

The crest is a distillatory - in everyday language, a still and alludes to the chemical engineering familiar in Ireland.

Above the shield is the motto Tairgeann Dua Sean Agus Fad Saoil (Hard work produces prosperity/blessing and a long life), and beneath the shield Tairgeann dua rath (Hard work produces good fortune). These mottoes are based on a statement by great grandfather Daniel Casey of Cahirciveen, who became at the time Irelands oldest farmer, and when asked what he contributed his longevity he replied "hard work in the open air".

The armiger possesses three badges, the first: Enfiling a sprig of laurel Proper an ancient crown Or represents the families of Lawrence/Laurence and King.

The surname Lawrence or Laurence derives from laurel, so the armiger chose sprig of laurel enfiled by (passing through) an ancient crown representing the name of King. A reminder of the armiger’s paternal great grandmother Anastasia Lawrence of county Kilkenny, and great grandfather Patrick King of county Clare.

Peter Arrott Dixon, son of George Peleg Dixon and Eleanor Arrott Gardner, was born in New York City. He is married to Joan Wilson Dixon of Mobile, Alabama. The Dixons have one child, Pamela Arrott Dixon.

In his youth, Mr. Dixon attended the American School in Rio De Janiero, and later attended the University of Maryland. Mr. Dixon served with the United States Army for two years. Currently retired, Mr. Dixon enjoyed a career in the National Security Agency, and served in a variety of U.S. Government positions. He was a member of the Cabinet Committee on Education during the Nixon administration.

Mr. and Mrs. Dixon have been residents of the historic district of Alexandria, Virginia for the past forty-four years.

Membership

• National Gavel Society
• General Society of Colonial Wars (Gentleman of the Council of the District of Columbia Society)
• St. Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C.
• General Society Sons of the Revolution (President of the District of the Columbia Society)
• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (former Chancellor- in-Chief)
• General Society of the War of 1812
• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry
• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy
• Military Order of the Foreign Wars of the United States
• Military Order of the World Wars
• Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Loyalists & Patriots of the American Revolution (Flag Captain)
• National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (former Vice President General)
• National Society, Sons of Colonial New England (Honorary Governor General)
• National Society of Sons of American Colonists (Governor General, two terms)
• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (former Captain General)
• Sons and Daughters of the Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar 1585-1861 (former Treasurer General)
• Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 1636-1647 (Governor General, two terms)
• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (former member of the National Council of Administration)
• The Hereditary Order of the Families of the Presidents and First Ladies of America (founding Secretary General)
• Flagon and Trencher

Chivalric Orders

• The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem , Grand Cross, Priory of St. King Charles the Martyr of Washington, D. C.

Notes

Mr. Dixon is a member of the American Legion.

Carter Branham Snow Furr, Esq. was born and reared in Norfolk, Virginia and is the son of Carlton Harris Furr and Marion Carter Snow Furr. He is married to the former Caroline Ann Huffstutler of Birmingham, Alabama. They have one son Carter Branham Snow Furr, Jr. and three grandchildren.

Mr. Furr was educated in Norfolk public schools graduating from Maury High School. Thereafter he attended and graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1954 with a B. S. Degree Magna Cum Laude. Following college he attended and graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1957 with a J.D. Degree, at which time he was honored with membership in the Order of the Coif.

Mr. Furr began the practice of law in Norfolk, Virginia in 1958, specializing in maritime law. He was a partner in the firm of Jett, Berkley, Furr & Padgett until its merger in 1993 with the firm of McGuire Woods. After later retiring from McGuire Woods, he has maintained a small solo practice in Norfolk. Mr. Furr was a thirty-year member of the United States Army Reserve, serving in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, retiring with the rank of Colonel.

Society Memberships

• Order of First Families of Virginia, 1607-1624/5 (Honorary President for Life)
• Jamestowne Society (Governor)
• National Society Sons of the American Revolution (former Chancellor Virginia Society and former President of Norfolk Chapter)
• General Society of Colonial Wars (Gentleman of the Council, Virginia Society)
• Order of Descendants of Colonial Cavaliers
• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America
• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion
• National Gavel Society
• Order of the Merovingian Dynasty
• Baronial Order of Magna Charta
• One Hundred Descendants of Blood Royal
• Military Order of the Crusades

Other Memberships

• Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of Virginia
• Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Permanent Member, U. S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
• Virginia State Bar
• Virginia Bar Association
• Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association
• Maritime Law Association of the United States
• Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute
• Norfolk Historical Society, Board and past president
• Norfolk Preservation Alliance, vice-president
• Friends of Norfolk’s Historic Cemeteries, Board
• Hampton Roads Naval Historical Foundation, Board
• Norfolk German Club, past president
• Reserve Officers Association of the U. S., past president of Admiral Farragut Chapter
• Virginia Club, past president
• Elizabeth River Power Squadron, Law Officer
• Norfolk Yacht & Country Club
• Preservation Virginia
• Virginia Historical Society
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Civil War Preservation Trust
• Lifelong member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church of Norfolk, serving on the Vestry and as Senior Warden
• Former member of the Executive Board of the Diocese of Southern Virginia

Listed In

• Who’s Who in the South and Southwest

Peter Irving Channing Knowles II, Captain USAR (Ret.) a twelfth generation Virginian, was raised in Richmond. He and his wife Brantley Carter Bolling Knowles have been married for over 50 years. They maintain residences in both Richmond and Palm Beach, Florida, where they are active in both communities. The Knowles have two sons, one grandson, and three granddaughters. His wife was President General, 2018-2021, of The Society, The Colonial Dames of America, founded in 1890. 

Mr. Knowles is a graduate of St. Christopher’s School (Richmond), was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 1970, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, and was a Distinguished Military Graduate. Mr. Knowles is a retired Captain in the United States Army Reserves. 

Mr. Knowles is a retired general contractor specializing in historic preservation. His early career began at Taylor & Parrish, INC (Richmond) which he later purchased, retiring in 2002 after selling the business. He has worked on or been a consultant to numerous iconic properties and historic churches throughout Virginia and the eastern seaboard from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. In addition, he has built numerous churches, hospital additions, and buildings for schools, universities, and clubs. 

Memberships 

• Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors (Governor General) 
• Society of the Cincinnati in State of Connecticut 
• General Society of Colonial Wars (Registrar General; member of the VA, DC, NY, FL Societies; former Governor of the Florida Society; Council Member of the New York Society) 
• National Gavel Society 
• Order of the Indian Wars of the United States (Former Commander) 
• Order of the First Families of Virginia 1607-1624/25 
• Jamestowne Society 
• Sons of the Revolution (Virginia Society) 
• Order of Descendants Colonial Cavaliers 
• National Order of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe 
• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion 
• One Hundred Living Descendants of Blood Royal 
• Descendants of the Knights of the Garter 
• Preservation VA, Former State President 

Chivalric Orders 

The Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Bestowed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, II), Commander - North America Priory 

Other Notes 

Mr. Knowles is former board president of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA)/Preservation Virginia, the nation’s oldest statewide preservation group. He is also a former Trustee of the Historic Richmond Foundation, as well as a former Trustee of Saint Catherine's School (Episcopal), Richmond, Virginia. 

In Palm Beach, Mr. Knowles is a former board member of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, and a retired Commissioner in the Town of Palm Beach serving on the Architectural Review Commission. He has served on the Building and Grounds Committees of both Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (Richmond), as well as The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, Palm Beach. Mr. Knowles is also a former vestryman of Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (Richmond). 

Mr. Knowles has been a keen student of military history since his VMI years. He is particularly interested in the War of Independence and the period of Colonial Wars.  

Carla Lucille Whitehurst Odom, a native of Durham, North Carolina, is the daughter of the late Paul Donald and A. Lucille Martin Whitehurst.  She was married to Charles Robert Odom on June 6,1964 at Grace Baptist Church, Durham. They have two daughters, Charlotte Martin Odom Lytle Perrin and Catherine Lynne Odom Quick, and three grandsons. Mrs. Odom was educated at Twadell School, Durham Schools and is a graduate of Campbell College. She is a Co-Trustee and General Partner for her extended family.  She is a retired artist, business owner and consultant.

Memberships

• Baronial Order of the Magna Charta
• Colonial Dames of America (Former Member Missouri Chapter; Charter Member, Georgia Piedmont Chapter)
• Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars, (Honorary Governor, District of Columbia Society; Former Continental Society Chaplain General; Former Member, Virginia Society)
• Descendants of American Prisoners of War
• Descendants of Brian Boru (Co-Founder; Inaugural Chaplain General; Second Deputy Governor)
• Descendants of Colonial Mothers 1607-July 4, 1776 (Co-Founder; Inaugural Advisor)
• Descendants of Continental Colonial Officers (Founder; Inaugural Aide-de-Camp)
• Descendants of Early Postmasters 1607-1900 (Founding Chaplain General; Deputy Postmaster General)
• Descendants of Sheriffs & Constables of Colonial and Antebellum America (Charter Member; Former Chaplain General)
• Descendants of the Knights of the Bath
• Descendants of the Templar Knights (Charter Member)
• Flagon and Trencher Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers
• Founders Fellowship (Founder; Honorary President)
• Guild of Colonial Artisans & Tradesmen 1607-1783 (Former Recording Secretary General)
• Hereditary Order of Descendants of the Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution (Honorary Governor General)
• Hereditary Order of the First Families of Massachusetts (Honorary Governor General)
• Hereditary Order of the Presidents and First Ladies of America
• Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon (Founder; Inaugural Cleric; Governor)
• Hereditary Society Daughters of Founding Fathers of America (Founding Vice President General)
• Jamestowne Society (Former Member of the Council, Chairman, Alice Massey Nesbitt Fellowship; Former Lieutenant Governor, First North Carolina Company)
• Legion of Vikings and Valkyries (Charter Member)
• Military Order of the Crusades
• National Gavel Society
• National Guild of Saint Margaret of Scotland (Parliamentarian)
• National Huguenot Society (Former President, Virginia Society; Member, North Carolina Society)
• National Order of the Blue and Gray (Commanding General Retired)
• National Society Children of the American Colonists (Life Promoter)
• National Society Colonial Dames of the XVII Century (Former Corresponding Secretary, Richmond Chapter; Former First Vice President, Sir Humphrey Gilbert Chapter)
• National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century (Organizing Member, Oglethorpe Chapter; Organizing First Vice President, Honorary President, Crown Colony Chapter; Former National Councilor)
• National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars (Former First Vice President, Virginia Society; Member, North Carolina Society)
• National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America' (Former National Councillor; Honorary President, Virginia Chapter; Former President, National Officers’ Club)
• National Society Daughters of the American Colonists (Honorary Regent, Fort Henry Chapter; Honorary Regent, Virginia Society; National Regents' Club; Former National Chairman, National Radio and Television Committee; Honorary Member, Great Warrior Path Chapter)
• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Honorary Regent, Col. John Banister Chapter; District II Regents' Club; Former District II Chaplain; Former Virginia State Chairman, Virginia Veterans and Representative, VAVS; Charter Member, Heritage Club; Former Chaplain, Virginia Cameo Club)
• National Society Descendants of American Farmers (Founder, Inaugural Advisor)
• National Society Descendants of Early Quakers
• National Society Descendants of Colonial Indentured Servants (Founding Chaplain General; Vice President General)
• National Society of New England Women (Former Chaplain, Virginia Colony; Former Member, District of Columbia Colony; Charter Member, Albemarle Colony)
• National Society of Old Plymouth Colony Descendants
• National Society of Saints and Sinners
• National Society of the Dames of the Court of Honor (Former Librarian, Virginia Society; Member of the North Carolina Society; Former National Defense Chairman)
• National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 (Honorary President General)
• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Honorary Governor, Virginia Branch; Honorary Governor, Virginia South Branch; Founding Parliamentarian; Former Recording Secretary General)
• National Society Southern Dames of America (Organizing Honorary President, Virginia Society; Former National Registrar)
• National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (Former Chaplain, Virginia Society; Former Vice President, Hampton Roads Chapter; Member Captain Johnston Blakeley Chapter; Former Vice President, North Carolina Society)
• Order of Alba (Honorary President General)
• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry (Former Program Chairman)
• Order of Bacon's Rebellion (Founder; Inaugural Gazetteer; Cleric)
• Order of Descendants of Colonial Cavaliers 1640-1660 (Former Lady of the Council)
• Order of First Families of North Carolina (Former Secretary)
• Order of Founders of the Granville District 1663 - 1763 (Founder; Inaugural Palatine)
• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United State of America
• Order of the Descendants of El Cid (Founder; Governor Retired)
• Order of the Descendants of the Justiciars (Co-Founder; Inaugural First Vice Justiciar; Honorary Chief Justiciar)
• Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (Special Councilor to the Governor General)
• Order of the First World War
• Order of the Founders of North America 1492-1692 (Founding Deputy Viscountess General Italian Colonists; Charter Member)
• Order of the Honorable Artillery Company
• Order of the House of Wessex (Co-Founder; Inaugural First Vice President General; Honorary President General)
• Order of the Kings and Queens in the Holy Lands (Founder; Inaugural Governor Retired)
• Order of the Merovingian Dynasty
• Order of the Monarchs of Rheims (Inaugural First Vice Regent)
• Order of the Norman Conquest
• Order of the Second World War
• Order of the Sovereigns of Ancient Scandinavia (Founder; Inaugural Vice Regent; Regent)
• Order of the Steel Magnolias (Co-Founder; Inaugural Historian; Contributing Editor)
• Order of the Vietnam War (Founder; Inaugural Chaplain)
• Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192 (Former Recording Secretary General)
• Order of Washington
• Order of William the Marshal (Founder; Inaugural Cleric)
• Plymouth Hereditary Society (Past Governor General)
• Presidential Families of America (Honorary President General)
• Registry of Infamous and Famous Relatives in American Families
• Society of Descendants of Charlemagne
• Society of the 1704 Virginia Quit Rents (Founder; Inaugural Vicar; Former Vice Governour)
• Society of the Descendants of Founding Fathers of New England
• Society of the Descendants of Lady Godiva (Founding Countess General; Former Second Lady in Waiting)
• Sons and Daughters of Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar 1585-1861 (Honorary President General)
• Sons and Daughters of Virginia Founding Fathers (Charter Member)
• The IX (Founder; Inaugural Sergeant at Arms; Amicus Curiae)
• Virginia Huguenot Society (Co-Founder: Former Registrar)
• Winthrop Society (President Emerita)

Chivalric Orders

Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Priory of Saint Thomas a Becket, Dame Chevaleresse)

Compiled 

• More Grace, for the Virginia Society, DAR privately published, 2003.
• Book of Prayers and Rituals, for the Descendants of Early Postmasters, 1607 - 1900, privately published 2020.

Editor 

• Cardinal Commentary, Newsletter, Virginia Society, National Society Southern Dames of America, 2009-2012.
• Pilgrims Progress, Newsletter, Virginia Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, 2010-2011.
• The Planter, a publication of the National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861, 2011-2013.
• Justiciars Journal, a publication of the Order of Descendants of the Justiciars, 2012-2013.
• Crown Colony Communiqué, Newsletter, Crown Colony Chapter, National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century, 2012-2015.
• The Gazette, a publication of Presidential Families of America, 2013-2014
• The Barrister, a publication of Sons and Daughters of the Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar, 2014-2016.
• The Star Dispatch, a publication of the Founders Fellowship, 2016-2018
• Old Dominion Pilgrims, Newsletter, Virginia South Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, 2017-2019.
• Magnolia Messenger, a publication of the Order of Steel Magnolias, 2018-2021. 
• Journal of Alba, a publication of Order of Alba, 2019-2021.
• The Dragon's Tale, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon, 2020-2022; 2021-2024.
• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a publication of the Order of the House of Wessex, 2020-2021. 
• Queen Anne's Herald, a publication of the Society of 1704 Virginia Quit Rents, 2020-2022.
• Bacon's Gazette, a publication of Order of Bacon's Rebellion, 2020-2022. 
• The Puritan's Chronicle, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the First Families of Massachusetts, 2020-2022.
• Scandi News, a publication of the Order of Sovereigns of Ancient Scandinavia, 2022-2024.

Co-Editor

• The Spinning Wheel, a publication of National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century, 2018-2020.
• At Mother's Knee, a publication of Descendants of Colonial Mothers, 1607-July 4, 1776, 2019-2021.
• The Colonial Dispatch, a publication of Descendants of Continental Colonial Officers, 2020-2022. 
• The Bugler, a publication of the National Order of the Blue and Gray, 2021-2023.
• Granville Gazette, a publication of Order of Founders of the Granville District 1663 - 1763, 2022-2024.

Articles Published

• Hereditary Society Daughters of Founding Fathers of America Herald, a publication of Hereditary Society Daughters of Founding Fathers, Founder Richard Whitehurst, 2010; Founding Planters, 2011; Hereditary Society Community, 2013. 
• Pilgrims Progress, Newsletter, Virginia Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, Pilgrims, Pilgrims, Everywhere!; Vol. XVII, No. 2.
• Noblesse Oblige, a publication of The National Society of the Dames of the Court of Honor, Early Heroines of American Defense, Vol. XVIII, Issues 1, 2, 3 and 4.; Vol. XIX, Clara Barton, Heroine of America's Defense, Issue 1; World War I Heroine Helen Cramer Shurtleff, Issue 2.  Volume XIX, Issue 3., American Heroines of World War II.
• Old Dominion Pilgrims Newsletter, Virginia South Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, Some Virginia Pilgrims, Vol. I, Number 2, Summer 2016; Pilgrim Facts, Vol. II, Number 1, Harvest Holiday Edition, 2016. Lady Defenders of Early American Liberty, abstracted from program topic presented at the 109th General Court of the National Society, Vol. II, Number 2, Summer Edition, 2017.
• The Spinning Wheel, a publication of the National Society Daughters of the Seventeenth Century, Heroines of the Korean War, First Edition, June 6, 2019; Francis DeLaMare - Huguenot Refugee to the Province of Carolina, Second Edition, 2020.  
• Journal of Alba, a publication of Order of Alba, Saint Andrew, Patron Saint of Scotland, Vol. 2, Issue 1, Summer 2019, Fifth Annual Gathering - Online, Special Edition, Vol. 2, Issue 2, Spring 2020.
• At Mother's Knee, a publication of Descendants of Colonial Mothers, 1607 - July 4, 1776, Colonial Mothers - Daughters of Liberty and Others Engaged in the Political Roles of Tea, Homespun Yarn and Jewels, Inaugural Edition, Summer, 2019;  Colonial Mothers' Christmases, Christmas Eve Edition, 2019; Colonial Herbs, Summer Edition, 2020.
• Magnolia Messenger, a publication of Order of the Steel Magnolias, Heroines of the Confederate States of America- First in the Mini-Series (featuring Rose O'Neal Greenhow), Vol.1, Number 2, Winter 2020 Edition. Second in the Mini-Series (featuring Belle Boyd - "Siren of the Shenandoah, Cleopatra of Succession"), Vol. 1, Number 3, Summer, 2020 Edition. Third in the Trilogy (featuring Southern Spies by the author Antonia Ford, Aide-de-Camp to Major General J. E. B. Stuart), Vol. 5, Winter Edition 2022.
• The Holy Lands Courier, a publication of the Order of the Kings and Queens in the Holy Lands, Special Edition, Winter 2020, Holy Lands Pilgrimage; Second Annual Convocation Online - Special Edition, Spring, 2020.
• The Babieca Rider, a publication of the Order of the Descendants of El Cid, Second Annual Convocation Online - Special Edition, Spring, 2020.
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a publication of Order of the House of Wessex, KING ALFRED THE GREAT: EARLY YEARS AND MILITARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Inaugural Issue, Summer, 2020; KING ALFRED THE GREAT, second in the Series Featuring: LEGAL REFORMS, FOREIGN RELATIONS, RELIGION AND CULTURE, EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND COURT SCHOOLS, Christmas Issue, 2020.
• The Dragon's Tale, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon, WELCH CUSTOMS, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S CUSTOMS, Edition 2, Christmas 2020.
• The Colonial Dispatch, a publication of the Descendants of Continental Colonial Officers, (first in the series), Who Were the Continental Colonial Officers ... Lieutenant Dempsey Powell and Captain Thomas Voss, Summer Issue, 2021.
• The Bugler, a publication of the National Order of the Blue and Gray, Christmas During the War Between the States, Christmas 2021 Issue; The Early History of Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving During the War Between the States, Harvest Holiday Edition, 2022.

Book Reviews

• Hereditary Society DFPA, THE CENTURIAN PRINCIPAL, by author Colonel Jeff O'Leary, 2004, Nelson Business, A Division of Nelsons Publishers, 2012. 
• The Crown and Eagle, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution, Book Review, LAFAYETTE, LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP FROM THE IDEALIST GENERAL, by author Marc Leepson, March 2017; JONATHAN ODELL, Loyalist Poet Of The American Revolution, by author, Cynthia Dublin Edelberg, Duke University Press, 1987, Spring Issue, 2021.
• Royals, Nobles, Warriors and Leaders of the Western World, The Ancestors of Pvt. Benjamin F. Lovelace, (1824-1926), Book 1, Generations 1-10, by author Judge Edward F. Butler, Sr., San Antonio, Texas, May 2021.
• Descendants of Continental Officers, Company for Christmas, by author Christopher Geist, Colonial Williamsburg Journal, Autumn, 2008, December 2021.

Dedication

Author James de Maris Birchfield dedicated his book, Some British Ancestors Of Capt. James Blount to Carla Lucille Whitehurst Odom whose adventures in medieval genealogy suggested his study.

Other Notes

Mrs. Odom is of the Baptist and Episcopal faith, and a former member of the vestry, choir, lector, co-leader of the Young Women's Association, and Sunday School teacher.  The Odoms are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.  She is also a former President of the Protestant Women of the Chapel at historic Mark Twain Village Chapel, Heidelberg, Germany.  She served as guide of a ladies regional Christian bible study for many years. The Odoms were awarded the Family Life Award that designated them as Family of the Year.  She is former President of the Byrd Family Association and former Vice President and Reception Coordinator of the Board of Directors of the Petersburg, Virginia  Music Festival.

The Odoms established the Hereditary Society Community LTC Charles Robert Odom and Carla Whitehurst Odom Scholarship at the College of William and Mary.  The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International named Carla Odom as a Paul Harris Fellow.  She received the 2009 Special Award of the National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America, and Chartering Award of the National Society Southern Dames of America.  Three times she was named for the National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century President's Award of Excellence.  Mrs. Odom also received the Gloriae Coronam cum Sceptro (Crown & Scepter) in recognition of her membership and outstanding support of numerous European royally-focused lineage societies. Recently, she received Order of Descendants of El Cid Distinguished Merit Award and the Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon Dual Birthright Award. She has served as a judge for the Texas Genealogical College.

Mrs. Odom served the American Red Cross as a volunteer in military hospitals and local blood drives, as an Advanced First Aid Instructor, and as Vice President of a local Waiting Wives Club. As a Troop Leader for Girls Scouts of the USA she coordinated or assisted Scout activities in six countries.  She has served as a volunteer at Veteran Medical Centers in Virginia. 

After living where duty called, the Odoms resided in Virginia 33 years before returning to Durham, North Carolina. She enjoys genealogy, and floral exhibiting.  She is the former President of two garden clubs and a life member of the Garden Club of Virginia.  Mrs. Odom serves as Vice President of the Swampfox Board of Directors for Umstead Pines Club.

Her National Society Daughters of the American Colonists Virginia Society Regent’s project was the commission and gift of a pair of paintings by Jamestown artist Caroline Taylor.  They are exhibited in the Visitors Center at Jamestown Island. To commemorate her service Virginia Daughters marked Meander Plantation at Locust Dale, Virginia.   She restored an antique marble plaque as her gift to Mason’s Hall.  The plaque had in the early 20thh century been dedicated in Richmond by Virginia United States Daughters of 1812 to the site that also served as a War of 1812 hospital.  At the conclusion of Mrs. Odom’s term as Governor, the DC Society of Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars CSDIW marked the grave of Chief Pushmataha at the Congressional Cemetery.  During her administration, the National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters project was the casting of an official die for bronze markers.  She dedicated the first marker to Historic Stagville at Durham, NC.  Mrs. Odom initiated and presented the first Presidential Families of America marker to President John Tyler's family at Sherwood Forest, near Charles City, Virginia, and a second marker to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library And Museum at Staunton, Virginia.

John Michael Phelps, Esq., the son of John and Dorothy Phelps, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mr. Phelps was graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971. He was graduated from the University of California - Hastings College of the Law with a J.D. in 1975. Mr. Phelps is married to the former Irene Louise Cappelloni, and has one son, David Jason Phelps. Mr. Phelps has practiced as an attorney in San Francisco, California, for more than thirty-six years.

Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut (Chair, Committee on Pretensions; former President of the California Association)
• General Society of Colonial Wars (former Lieutenant Governor of the California State Society)
• National Gavel Society
• Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (former Governor General; former Governor of the California State Society)
• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Honorary Governor General)
• Presidential Families of America (Honorary President General)
• Order Of Descendants of Colonial Physicians and Chirurgiens (President General)
• Winthrop Society (President)
• General Society of Mayflower Descendants (former Counselor General; former Governor of the California Society)
• National Society Americans of Royal Descent (member of the Most Venerable Order of Saint Louis)
• Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors
• Aztec Club of 1847
• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America
• Baronial Order of Magna Charta (Surety)
• Order of Indian Wars of the United States
• Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192 (Chancellor General)
• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry (Treasurer General)
• Order of the Merovingian Dynasty (Counselor General; Founding Member)
• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
• Jamestowne Society
• Order of Lafayette
• Descendants of Signers of the Constitution
• General Society of the War of 1812
• Society of the Descendants of Washington's Army at Valley Forge
• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy (former Chancellor General)
• Sons and Daughters of the Colonial & Antebellum Bench & Bar 1565-1861 (former Chancellor General)
• National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 (Chancellor General)
• Order of First Families of Connecticut (Chancellor General; Charter Member)
• Order of the First Families of Maine
• National Society Sons of American Colonists (Advocate General)
• National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (former Chancellor of the California Society)
• Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
• General Society Sons of the Revolution (General Solicitor)
• Dutch Colonial Society of Delaware
• Guild of Colonial Artisans and Tradesmen, 1607-1783 (Master Guilder)
• Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations
• Order of the First Families of Massachusetts
• First Families of Ohio
• Flagon & Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers
• National Society of Old Plymouth Colony Descendants
• Society of Indiana Pioneers
• Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford
• Descendants of the Founders of Ancient Windsor
• Society of the Founders of Norwich, Connecticut
• Saybrook Colony Founders Association
• National Society Descendants of Early Quakers
• Order of the First Families of New Hampshire, 1622-1680 (Founding Member and Parliamentarian)
• Order of First Families of Vermont 1609-1791
• Founders of the New Haven Colony

Chivalric Orders

• The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (bestowed by Elizabeth II, Queen of England)
• Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Priory of Saint Francis, Secretary and Master of Postulants)

Notes

Mr. Phelps is currently a member of: the State Bar of California since 1975; the U.S. District Court, the Northern District of California since 1975; the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California since 1977; the U.S. District Court, Central District of California since 1978; the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California since 1978; the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit since 1978; the Bar Association of San Francisco since 1975; the Lawyers Club of San Francisco since 1975; the Bar Register of Preeminent Attorneys since 1995; and the Executives Association of San Francisco since 2001.

Mr. Phelps is a former winner of the Princeton University's S. Barksdale Penick Award. He also twice was awarded the William C. Van Siclen Award by the Princeton Club of Northern California.

Mr. Phelps was a member of the Princeton University National Committee on Schools for four years and served as chair of the Princeton University Alumni Schools Committee for Northern California for nearly ten years. He has served as Chair of the Marin County Schools Committee from 2002 to present. He also currently serves on the Princeton Prize on Race Relations for the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Phelps was the Princeton University, Class of 1971, Secretary from 1996-2001 and President 2001-2006.

J. Michael Phelps is very active in his local community. He is a current and longtime Board Member and Sponsor of the Marin Shakespeare Company and the chair of its Human Relations Committee. Mr. Phelps previously served as Secretary of the Reedlands Homeowners Association for several years. He served as Marin County Little League Assistant District Administrator for three years, and President of Tiburon Peninsula Little League for five years (having served previously as a Coach for several years). He was also a Coach of the Tiburon Peninsula Soccer League.

Priscilla Bruce Roberts, a seventh generation Texan, is the daughter of Olan Hanford Bruce and Jeanne Marie Lusk Bruce. She was married to the late Major General James Milnor Roberts. Mrs. Roberts’ ancestors arrived in the 1600s and settled at various places from New England to Virginia. Mrs. Roberts currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.

Priscilla B. Roberts has unusually diverse interests: business, cultural, political, military and defense, philanthropic, and spiritual. Not a by-stander, she is a person of action who thinks creatively and successfully motivates others toward team success.

Memberships

• Colonial Dames of America (Chapter III First Vice President)
• Daughters of Cincinnati
• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (former State Regent, District of Columbia; John Alexander Chapter, Alexandria, Virginia)
• National Society Americans of Royal Descent
• One Hundred Living Descendants of Blood Royal
• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America
• Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192
• Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia,
• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry
• Society of Descendants of Knights of the Garter (UK; Descendant Member)
• Order of the Descendants of the Justiciars (Chaplain General)
• Order of Descendants of Colonial Cavaliers (Historian General)
• National Society of Daughters of the American Colonists-State Librarian
• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Virginia Branch)
• Daughters of the Republic of Texas (Founding President of the Elizabeth Nay Chapter of Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia)
• Order of the Merovingian Dynasty (Advisor)
• Society of Daughters of Holland Dames
• Society of the Daughters of Holland Dames
• United Daughters of the Confederacy (Mary Custis Lee 17th Virginia Regiment Chapter, Virginia)
• National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century
• Military Order of the Crusades
• Baronial Order of Magna Charta
• Dutch Colonial Society
• Magna Charta Dames and Barons
• Most Noble Order of the Garter
• Sovereign Colonial Society of Americans of Royal Descent
• Plantagenet Society
• Order of the Norman Conquest
• Order Descendants of Lady Godiva

Honors

Among a lifetime of achievements, awards, and honors, Priscilla B. Roberts cites the following as most satisfying:

• USS LST 325
  One of Priscilla B. Roberts’ greatest achievements was bringing home to the United States from Greece the USS LST 325, a ship from D Day, June 6, 1944, which was remembered by her late husband, Major General J. Milnor Roberts from the beaches of Normandy. While serving on the staff of Texas Congressman Ralph Hall, Mrs. Roberts worked tenaciously over a period of several years to achieve this victory in the Defense Authorization Act of 2000. It was her assignment alone and she coordinated outreach to an extensive range of offices including the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Embassy of Greece. Just one of her accomplishments in the entire project was interfacing with the British Petroleum Company, with the result that BP agreed to donate all the fuel needed for the ship to sail from Greece back to the United States. The USS LST Ship Memorial designated Mrs. Roberts as an Honorary Crewmember in gratitude for her “exceptional help and services performed on behalf of The USS LST Ship Memorial, Inc.” In view of the success of the project, Mrs. Roberts accepted an invitation in 2004 and spoke on the subject to an audience of several hundred in Portsmouth, England.
• Washington, D.C. Memorial Day Parade
  In conjunction with the 2004 dedication of the National World War II Memorial, Priscilla B. Roberts was co-founder, along with her late husband Major General J. Milnor Roberts, of the Washington, D.C. Memorial Day Parade. As reported by The Washington Post, the theme for the 2004 parade was “Parade Salute to World War II Veterans,” with 200 organizations participating and 40 bands marching. Mayor Anthony Williams was so moved by the parade that he supported its being an annual event in our Nation’s capital. The parade has continued to be held each Memorial Day. The parade is broadcast worldwide on the Military Channel, the Pentagon Channel, and on the Armed Forces Network
• The Southern Heritage Ball
  When living in Texas, Priscilla B. Roberts co-founded the Confederate Ball of Houston, since re-named The Southern Heritage Ball. The Ball celebrates General Robert E. Lee’s birthday with a Debutante Ball. The overall purpose of the Ball is to raise money for projects that preserve southern history and heritage. The Ball makes donations to an array of scholarships and gives substantial funds for the repair and upkeep of various museums and cemeteries. The annual formal event, still going strong for almost 50 years, is attended by more than 300 ladies and gentlemen. The Debutantes are presented at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston with full regalia, including horses and carriages.
• Registry Cotillion Dancers
  In celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States, Priscilla B. Roberts organized and led a performing company of teenagers (sons and daughters of members of historic lineal societies) who performed dances popular in America through the 1860s. Priscilla Roberts led the group as it toured the South all the way from Houston, Texas…to Natchez, Mississippi…to Saint Augustine, Florida. The dance group received the “American Heritage” award from the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution.
• Radio Personality
  Producer and Co-Host (along with her late husband, Major General J. Milnor Roberts) of three radio interview shows: “The Greatest Generation,” “Front and Center,” and “Generally Speaking” (all broadcast from Washington, DC). Mrs. Roberts retains possession of the recording tapes of five years of interviews with members of the Greatest Generation. Mrs. Roberts conducted research, booked the guests, and participated in the interviews.
• Philanthropist
  Donor to the Congressional Cemetery (Washington, DC) of marble benches and five large trees in the Elbridge Gerry Grove in memory and honor of her late husband, Major General J. Milnor Roberts, and in honor of the National Society of Sons of the American Revolution and the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution.

Donor to National Defense University’s Special Collections (Washington, D.C.) of plans for the Allied Invasion of Normandy which had been given to her late husband, Major General J. Milnor Roberts, when he served on D Day during World War II. Mrs. Roberts receives annual recognition for this magnificent gift.

Donor to the Hereditary Society Community of the Major General James Milnor Roberts and Priscilla Bruce Roberts Scholarship Fund.

Donor to Gettysburg College of the Major General J. Milnor Roberts Outstanding ROTC Award.

Donor to National Defense University of the Major General J. Milnor Roberts Outstanding Student Award.

Chivalric

Commandeur, The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, Grand Priory of the United States of America; Member, Priory of Saint King Charles the Martyr.

John McConville Shannon was born in 1955 and raised for seven years in Washington, DC, after which his family moved to Paris for five years and Tokyo for another five before settling in New York City in 1971. He graduated from the Lycee Francais de New York in 1973 and received a BA in History from Trinity College, in Hartford, CT. He was a banker in New York for 11 years, working with European clients. Subsequently, he moved away from financial services and went to the non-profit sector. Since 1994 he has been Executive Director & Almoner of St. George's Society of New York, one of that city's oldest, continuously operating membership organizations, founded in 1770. In addition to organizing regular events for its members, the Society operates a significant charitable program of financial assistance to needy persons living in the New York area who are from the United Kingdom of the British Commonwealth. Additionally Mr. Shannon is President of the College of Arms Foundation, Inc., which was established by the College of Arms in 1984.

Memberships

• General Society of Colonial Wars (former Member of the Council of the New York State Society)
• St. Nicholas Society of the City of New York (past President)
• Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors
• St. George's Society of New York (Executive Director; Almoner)
• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion

Chivalric Orders

• The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Officer Companion)
• Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Knight)

Notes

Mr. Shannon serves as Assistant Secretary of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies in New York. He is a member of The Pilgrims of the United States; the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society where he serves as Chairman of the Committee on Heraldry; and Saint Thomas Church in New York (where he co-chaired the Every Member Canvass for two years). Mr. Shannon is also a member of The Heraldry Society and the Society of Heraldic Arts, two UK-based organizations that focus on all forms of English heraldry.

Josephine Lois Calendine Silman, the daughter of H.W. and Margaret Calendine, was born in Morgan County, Ohio. Mrs. Silman was educated at Marietta College and West Virginia University. She was employed for several years with Borg-Warner, in personnel as an Employee Coordinator. Mr. and Mrs. Silman have three children and six grandchildren, and reside in West Virginia.

Memberships

• National Society of Americans of Royal Descent (former President General Member of the Most Venerable Order of Saint Louis)
• One Hundred Living Descendants of Blood Royal
• Order of the Crown in America
• National Gavel Society
• Order of the Merovingian Dynasty
• Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192
• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America (Member of the Advisory Council)
• National Society Colonial Dames of America
• Order of Descendants of Colonial Cavaliers (former Chaplain General)
• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry (Registrar General)
• National Society Magna Charta Dames
• Society of the Ark and Dove
• Jamestowne Society
• National Guild of Saint Margaret of Scotland
• First Families of Georgia
• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
• Welcome Society of Pennsylvania
• Flagon & Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers
• National Society Colonial Dames of the XVII Century (National Insignia Chairman; former President of the West Virginia Society)
• Order Of Descendants of Colonial Physicians and Chirurgiens
• Hereditary Order Descendants Loyalists & Patriots American Revolution
• First Families of Ohio
• Society of Descendants of Knights of the Garter
• Sons and Daughters of the Colonial & Antebellum Bench & Bar 1565-1861
• National Society Dames of the Court of Honor
• National Society of New England Women
• National Society Descendants of Early Quakers (former National Presiding Clerk)
• National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Chairperson of the Bicknell Scholarship to William and Mary College)

Notes

She is very active in volunteer organizations, including, at various times: Easter Seal Society; March of Dimes; American Cancer Society; Hospital Auxiliary, and Girl Scouts of America. She served as President for the Mt. State Art and Craft Fair; Founder and Trustee of the Scholarship and Grant Fund; and Vice President for the Black Walnut Festival. In addition, Mrs. Silman hosted and wrote scripts for West Virginia Public Radio; hosted a weekly cable television program, "Lively Arts" for eight years; and was writer for a weekly food column, "Country Pantry".

Mrs. Silman is on the Executive Board of the West Virginia Arts Advocacy. She was recipient of "The Citizen of the Year" Award in West Virginia for her arts advocacy, by the Public Relations Society of America. Mrs. Silman was also appointed by the Mayor of Charleston to serve on Task Force for the Arts. She also served as President of the West Virginia Arts and Crafts Guild.

She also holds memberships in the Bruce Society in America and The National League of American Pen Women, Inc., Letters. Her writing contributions include articles for Center for Women's Studies, West Virginia University, Goldenseal, Plain Language and Airlines.

Mrs. Silman particularly enjoys genealogy, travel, cooking, music and theatre, in addition to spending time with her family.

Sharon Worthing Vaino, Esq. attended Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 1978, New York, NY, Dean's List Articles Editor, Law Review (full tuition scholarship). Yale College, Freshman year, 1970-71, New Haven, CT transferred to Barnard College to live in New York City, Barnard College, A.B., 1975, New York, NY, Cum Laude Dean's List Honors in History, The Seven Hills School, Diploma 1970, Cincinnati, OH, National Merit Finalist Cum Laude Society Class Valedictorian.

Attorney Employment

SEWARD & KISSEL LLP, New York, NY

Senior Attorney, 2004 to 2009

Concentration: Governmental qualified defined contribution and defined benefit plans; 401(k) plans; plan and trust mergers and terminations; participant disclosure; deferred compensation arrangements; church plans; and ERISA fiduciary issues: Qualified default investment alternatives, investment policy, and prohibited transactions Also: IRAs, cafeteria plans, welfare plans, Form 5500 reporting.

Memberships

• NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, New York, NY, Secretary, 2021 to present, Member of Board of Trustees, 2019 to present
• THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA (“CDA”), New York, NY, President General, 2012-2018 (longest such service since 1931). Visited all 40 CDA chapters in the United States and abroad; member of all committees. Co-Chair, Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden Fall Benefit, 2011 Recording Secretary, 2009-2012, Member of Board of Managers, 2002-2008, 2009-2018, Committee Chairmanships and Member service to present. Van Rensselaer Award Recipient (2015) This award may be given by the CDA upon a chapter’s nomination of one of its members for distinguished service to her respective chapter, local community, and/or to the CDA. Proclamation honoring Sharon Vaino issued by The Council, City of New York, Ben Kallos, Council Member of the 5th District (2014). Proclamation cited my “stellar service and leadership as President General of the Colonial Dames of America”. Oversaw the reaccreditation of the CDA’s wholly-owned Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden by the American Alliance of Museums, a rare recognition for a historic house museum (2013)
• THE HEREDITARY ORDER OF DESCENDANTS OF COLONIAL GOVERNORS
• HEREDITARY SOCIETY COMMUNITY, Consultant
• NATIONAL SOCIETY OF DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
• NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER, Safety Committee
• THE NATIONAL GAVEL SOCIETY
• NATIONAL SOCIETY OF AMERICANS OF ROYAL DESCENT
• THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF COLONIAL DAMES IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Historical Activities Committee
• ONE HUNDRED LIVING DESCENDANTS OF BLOOD ROYAL 
• ORDER OF THE CROWN IN AMERICA
• THE ORDER OF THE CROWN OF CHARLEMAGNE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ORDER OF THE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY
• ORDER OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST

Other Not-For-Profit Service

• AMERICAN FARM SCHOOL, New York, NY; Thessaloniki, Greece Secretary and Member of Executive Committee, 2009 to 2018 Member of Board of Trustees and of Corporation, 2008 to present Member of Legal Committee, 2009 to present 
• BARNARD COLLEGE, New York, NY Co-Fund Chair, Class of 1975 (30th Reunion, 2005) Chairperson, West Side I Area, The Barnard Campaign (1981 to 1984)
• CARNEGIE COUNCIL FOR ETHICS IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS New York, NY Co-Director, Project on Church and State Abroad (sponsored by the Lilly Endowment, stipend provided), 1982 to 1985 Resulting Publication: J. BRUCE NICHOLS, THE UNEASY ALLIANCE: RELIGION, REFUGEE WORK, AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY (1988) 
• COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY of the Freedom Forum Institute, Religious Freedom Center, Washington, DC Member, 1978 to present (longest serving member) Committee founded by Rev. Dean M. Kelley, Civil and Religious Liberty Executive of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, New York, NY Related Publication: REV. DEAN M. KELLEY, THE LAW OF CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA (online at www.cccny.net/resources/locs.htm, 2008). This five-volume work totaling approximately 2500 pages was close to completion and publication in hard cover at the 1997 death of its author. As the attorney who had agreed to bring this work to publication did not do so, I finally secured the necessary resources to achieve online publication of the work as written, including completion of the legal research needed to address issues that had been identified by the author’s publisher. 
• JOURNAL OF CHURCH AND STATE, Waco, TX Member, Editorial Council, 1981 to present J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, Baylor University (Journal currently published by Oxford University Press) 
• NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR COMMUNITY AND JUSTICE, Windsor, CT Member, Advisory Committee, Project on Church, State, and Taxation, 1980 to 1983 Project sponsored by the Lilly Endowment; organization then known as the National Conference of Christians and Jews, New York, NY

Professional Associations

• American Bar Association
• New York State Bar Association
• New York City Bar

Representative Publications

• De Masi, Sharri Whiting; and Vaino, Sharon, The Colonial Dames of America: The Momentum Continues in 2016, SOCIAL REGISTER OBSERVER, Summer 2016, at 45.
• De Masi, Sharri Whiting; and Vaino, Sharon, The Colonial Dames of America Celebrates 125 Years, SOCIAL REGISTER OBSERVER, Summer 2015, at 22.
• Vaino, Sharon, The Colonial Dames of America: Preserving the Past; Addressing the Future, SOCIAL REGISTER OBSERVER, Summer 2012, at 17.
• Ryan, John; Jacobson, Paul and Vaino, Sharon, Final Amendment to the Department of Labor’s Qualified Professional Asset Manager (QPAM) Exemption, MARCUM & KLIEGMAN LLP’S PRIVATE INVESTMENT FORUM, 2005, at 5.
• Stevenson, Elaine and Vaino, Sharon, Security in Retirement: New Annuity Plan Options, 35 COMPENSATION & BENEFITS REVIEW, No. 6, at 62 (2003).
• Vaino, Sharon Worthing, Government Monitoring of Religious Organizations, in THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN MONITORING AND REGULATING RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE 65 (J. Wood & D. Davis eds. 1993).
• Worthing, Sharon, Retirement Planning for Religious Organizations, 1986 CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY CONFERENCE: THE STATE OF OUR PROFESSION AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN IT: PROCEEDINGS.
• Worthing, Sharon, Corporate Free Exercise: The Constitutional Rights of Religious Associations, in FESTSCHRIFT, RELIGION AND THE STATE: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF LEO PFEFFER 167 (J. Wood ed. 1985), reprinted in GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS 2, at 57 (D. Kelley ed. 1986).
• Worthing, Sharon, The State and the Church School: The Conflict Over Social Policy, in RELIGION, THE STATE AND EDUCATION 85 (J. Wood ed. 1984), reprinted in 26 JOURNAL OF CHURCH AND STATE 91 (1984).
• Worthing, Sharon, Retirement Planning for Religious Organizations, 1984 CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY CONFERENCE: FREEDOM & FAITH: PROCEEDINGS.
• Worthing, Sharon, “Religion” and “Religious Institutions” Under the First Amendment, 7 PEPPERDINE LAW REVIEW 313 (1980).
• Worthing, Sharon, The State Takes Over a Church, THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE 136 (Nov. 1979). 

Club Memberships

• THE COSMOPOLITAN CLUB, New York, NY
• THE JOHNS HOPKINS CLUB, Baltimore, MD
• THE YALE CLUB OF NEW YORK CITY, New York, NY

Other Notes

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Granada, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

DOMESTIC TRAVEL: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia

Nicholas Donnell Ward, the son of Frances Xavier and Sarah D. Ward, was born in New York City. Mr. Ward was graduated from Trinity School, and earned his A.B. at Columbia University in New York City. He then completed his graduate work at Georgetown University Law Center, earning an LL.B.

Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Hampshire (President)
• General Society of Colonial Wars (Deputy Governor General; former Governor of the District of Columbia Society)
• National Gavel Society (President)
• Order of the Crown in America (Treasurer General)
• National Society Americans of Royal Descent (President General)
• Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192 (former Standard Bearer General)
• Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (former member of the Board of Managers)
• Colonial Order of the Acorn
• One Hundred Living Descendants of Blood Royal
• Order of Colonial Lords in America
• General Society of the War of 1812 (former President General)
• Aztec Club of 1847 (former President)
• Order of Indian Wars in the United States of America (Junior Vice Commander)
• Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Colonial Governors (former Governor General; current Chancellor General)
• Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America (President General)
• Baronial Order of Magna Charta
• Military Order of the Crusades (former Keeper of the Exchequer)
• General Society of Mayflower Descendants (States Attorney; former Governor of the District of Columbia Society)
• Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry (former Treasurer General)
• Society of the Sons of Saint George of Philadelphia
• Veteran Corps of Artillery in the State of New York
• Military Society of the War of 1812
• Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (former Treasurer of the District of Columbia Society)
• General Society Sons of the Revolution (former Secretary General; past President of the District of Columbia Society)
• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (former Recorder of the District of Columbia Commandery)
• Huguenot Society of America
• Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
• Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy (former Chancellor General)
• Order of Descendants of Colonial Physicians and Chirurgiens (former Secretary General)
• Flagon & Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers (former Mine Host)
• Military Order of the Stars and Bars (former Commander of the Jefferson Davis Chapter)
• Sons of Confederate Veterans (Past Commander R.E.D. Lee Camp # 726)
• Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

Chivalric Orders

• The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Officer Companion)
• Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Grand Cross; former Chancellor of the Grand Priory of the United States)
• Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (Knight; former Treasurer of the Commandery of the Atlantic)
• Ordo Sancti Constantini Magni (Chevalier; former Speaker and former Exarque of North America)

Authorship

• Will and Testamentary Trust Forms; Bar Association of Washington D.C., First Edition, 1974, Second Edition 1982, Third Edition retitled Wills, Trusts, Estates1993; cited in Estate of Felicia Spinner717 A.2d 362 (D.C. 1998), Fourth Edition retitled Wills, Trusts and Estates for the D.C. Area Practitioner, 2004
• "The Georgia Grind: Can the Common Law Accommodate the Problem of Title in the Art World, Observations on a Recent Case; 8 J.C.&U.L. 533 (1982), cited in Estate of Theresa Davis McCagg, 450 A.2d 414 (D.C. 1982)
• "Adverse Possession of Loaned or Stolen Objects - Is Possession Still 9/10ths of the Law"; in Legal Problems of Museum Administration (ALI-ABA 1980), cited in O'Keeffe v. Snyder, 416 A.2d 862 (NJ 1980)
• "Reflections on Finding the Monitor", Loyal Legion Historical Journal, September and November, 1974

Record: 'The Roast Beef of Old England and accompanying pamphlet (performed on antique flute, 1983); 'Come Dance with Me in Ireland (performed on antique flute, 1982); CD; The Last Dance on the Titanic (compilation of old records and accompanying notes, 2001)

Other Notes

Mr. Ward is currently a member of a number of professional organizations, including the Lawyers Club and The Councillors. He is the former President of The Barristers and is a former State Chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Socially, Mr. Ward holds membership in the Chevy Chase Club (former Chairman of the Art Committee); the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C. (Member of the Library Committee); Cosmos Club (former Secretary); and Newport Reading Room. In addition, he is a former President of the City Tavern Club. Mr. Ward also holds membership in the Pilgrims of the United States, and serves as Secretary-Treasurer of The Georgetown Assembly.

Mr. Ward is also a former State Editor of The Probate Counsel, as well as former State Editor of Wilkins' Drafting Will and Trust Documents.

Jonathan Tufts Woods was born and raised in the Boston area in the seacoast town of Cohasset, Massachusetts.  He is the son of Edward Franklin Woods and Lucia Russell Hedge.  On August17, 1991 he married the former Alice Frances Hamilton Bloomer.  They have two sons – Edward and Andrew.  Jonathan attended Derby Academy, The Fessenden School and The Brooks School.  He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University with a BA in International Business.

Jonathan started his investment career in the Asset Management division of the French Investment Bank, Lazard Frères & Co. in New York City.  After more than a decade, Jonathan moved his business to Merrill Lynch and then on to Smith Barney – which became Morgan Stanley in the midst of the Financial Crisis of 2008.  In the spring of 2015, Jonathan launched “Woods Asset Management, LLC”.  The company is an Independent Financial Services firm committed to world class, unbiased portfolio management for high-net worth investors, institutions and not-for-profit organizations.

After residing in Wilton, CT for 25 years, the Woodses relocated to Charleston, SC in the spring of 2021.  They continue to be warmly welcomed by vast numbers of members of the Hereditary Society Community.  And they are extremely grateful for the warm reception!

Memberships

• Society of the Cincinnati (General Society: General Officer in various officer roles 2001-2016; President General 2016-2019, Past President General beginning May 2019)
• Board of Governors of the American Revolution Institute (founding member)
• Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Hampshire 
• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, NY Commandery
• Military Society of the War of 1812
• American Independence Museum of Exeter New Hampshire
• Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion 
• Plymouth Antiquarian Society