The National Society Sons of Colonial New England was established at a luncheon meeting held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC on April 20, 1985. The organizational meeting was called and chaired by Charles Owen Johnson, a gentleman long active in hereditary and patriotic societies in the United States.

Eight gentlemen were present at the meeting; they agreed to establish an ad hoc slate of officers to begin the work of the new organization. Frederic Schuler Briggs, an artist of note, agreed to design an appropriate insignia for the society.

During its first year of operation, the Society increased its strength to a total of 36; the seven founders and twenty-nine others who entered during our first year were designated Charter Members. To date, more than 380 Sons have submitted their ancestries and been welcomed into the Society.

In the autumn of 1995, the Society began publishing its periodical, the Pine Tree Colonial, which has been produced at least annually since.

The society is open to any gentleman of 18 years of age or more, who can prove lineal descent from a person born, prior to July 4, 1776, in any of the New England colonies.