Original Officers and Eligible Officers of the Continental Army whose descendants qualify for membership in the Society of the Cincinnati. The Society contains thirteen (13) chapters for the original colonies and one (1) for the Republic of France recognizing its military involvement. Original Officers served at least three years and joined the newly formed Society of the Cincinnati after the Revolutionary War. Eligible Officers were ones killed in the line of duty. Some states' chapters such as South Carolina have broadened eligibility requirements to include descendants of Continental Army Officers who did not join while there can be more than one member of the same ancestor.

The writer discloses that 01) he is a member of the South Carolina Chapter along with his two sons and late father; 02) his family is descended from John Lewis Gervais, Deputy Paymaster for the South Carolina Continental Army and a Colonel, who was not an Original Member due to rural business affairs and leadership relocating the state capitol to Columbia, and 3) descended from Militia Officers who did not qualify for membership as Militias were supplements to the Continental Army. Columbia, South Carolina's main through fare, Gervais Street, was named in John Lewis Gervais's honor.