Applicants for membership shall be individuals at least eighteen years of age, of respectable standing in society, of good moral character, and descended in the direct male line of a Dutchman who was a native or resident of New York or of the American colonies prior to the year 1675. This shall include those of other former nationalities who found in Holland a refuge or a home, and whose descendants in the male line came to this country as Dutch settlers, speaking Dutch as their native tongue. This shall also include descendants in the male line of Dutch settlers who were born within the limits of Dutch settlements, and the descendants in the male line of persons who possessed the right of Dutch citizenship within Dutch settlements in America, prior to the year 1675; also of any descendants in the direct male line of a Dutchman, one of whose descendants became a member of this Society prior to June 16, 1886.