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Colonel Elias Boudinot


Propositus

Colonel Elias Boudinot

Represented Original Honorary Member 1783. First listed as Honorary and later deemed to be eligible propositus for Hereditary Membership in 1902 which was rescinded by further action 16 Oct 1948. Then accepted as Hereditary Member once again in 1980 with the acceptance of his grandson as a Hereditary Member. Began his service in the Revolutionary War as Colonel and Commissary General of Prisoners for the Continental Army during the American Revolution from 15 May 1777 to 11 May 1778, when he resigned to accept office as Delegate to the Continental Congress. Operated a spy service from 1777 to the end of the war. Had agents passing mis-information to Sir William Howe and Sir Henry Clinton and reporting back English troop movements. Born in Philadelphia, PA on 2 May 1740 and died in Burlington, NJ on 24 Oct 1821. Attended a school established by Benjamin Franklin and was a next door neighbor as a child. Attended Princeton. LLD from Yale 1790. Attorney. Member of the Bar 1760. Member of the New Jersey Provincial Assembly 1775. Member of the New Jersey Provincial Congress. Member of the Continental Congress 1778-1779 and 1781-1784 where he served as Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee 1783-1784. President of the United States in Congress Assembled 4 Nov 1782 to 1783. Presided over Congress at Nassau Hall in Princeton in 1783. Under his term the Treaty of Paris was negotiated to end the American Revolution was but signed by his successor Thomas Mifflin. He signed the Treaty of Alliance with France. Member of the New Jersey Convention in 1787 to ratify the Constitution. Member of the US Congress 1789-1795. Director of the United States Mint 1795-1805. Princeton Trustee 1772-1821. Founder of the American Bible Society in 1816 and served as its first President from 1816 to 1821. His $10,000 gift to the American Bible Society established its formation. Owned Boxwood Hall in Elizabeth, New Jersey 1781-1795. Owned the Boudinot-Bradford House in Burlington, New Jersey. The Boudinot Rooms at the Princeton Art Museum are a recreation of his home at Boxwood Hall. Elias was one of the wealthiest men in America. Author of “A Star in the West; or, A Humble Attempt To Discover the Long Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Preparatory To Their Return To Their Beloved City, Jerusalem”, 1816. Married Hannah Stockton 1762. [Sources: M; H; (66); (98); (C); “Washington’s Secret Service”, by Nathaniel Nitkin; “Historic Burlington County, NJ”. Pic: Find A Grave Memorial; Library of Congress etching by Charles B. J. F. de Saint-Memin.]

Successors

Private
Admitted 1902
Private
Admitted 1916
Private
Admitted 1980