MS-5
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS COLLECTION
INTRODUCTION
The records of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) were accessioned into the Flesh Public Library Archives and Special Collections on February 5, 1986. The records were acquired from Archives and Special Collections, Wright State University. The I.O.O.F. is a fraternal organization that offered various insurance benefits to its members. The collection fills twenty-four Hollinger boxes with one-hundred-one file folders, and also has nine loose volumes. The records collection covers the years from 1839 until 1962. There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Independent Order of odd Fellows Collection is divided into five series: Four on the communities of Miami County; City of Piqua, Village of Covington, Village of Pleasant Hill and Village of Fletcher and one on the Grand Lodge of Ohio. Each series is then divided into sub-series according to the number of individual lodges in the respective communities. Each sub-series is then ordered according to five types of material present in the collection; minutes, membership records, financial records, reports and correspondence and miscellaneous.
Minute Books contain the official record of the proceedings at various meetings of the lodges. They are, therefore, very diverse in content. There are occasional listings of committee members as will as some records of various financial transactions.
Membership Records are a collaboration of various record books which contain rather extensive listings of lodge members. Books listed under this category are often ledgers that record receipt of dues. The members’ age, address, and occupation are also occasionally listed.
Financial Records include account books, ledgers, cash books, receipt books et cetera that record the financial transactions of the various ledges.
Reports in this collection usually contain listings of officers, financial summaries, obituaries and promotions in degrees.
Correspondence and miscellaneous include correspondence received by the lodge, various notes, forms and other lodge memorabilia.
SERIES I: CITY OF PIQUA
Sub-series 1: Piqua Lodge #8
Piqua Lodge #8 contains eleven bound minute books ranging from 1839 until 1932. Missing are volumes dating from 1915 until 1919. It contains ten volumes of various membership records ranging from 1839 until 1959. Missing are records dating from 1851 until 1874 and from 1919 until 1923. It contains financial records ranging from 1897 until 1962. Missing are records dating from 1923 until 1925. It contains reports ranging from 1883 until 1926. Missing are reports from 1916 until 1920. Finally it contains correspondence and miscellaneous ranging from 1847 until 1924.
Sub-series 2: Miami Encampment #4
Miami Encampment #4 contains three bound minute books ranging from 1900 until 1958. It contains ten volumes of various membership records ranging from 1843 until 1958. It contains five volumes of financial records ranging from 1878 until 1961. It contains six volumes of reports ranging from 1882 until 1956. Missing are volumes dating from 1893 until 1914 and from 1924 until 1930. It contains correspondence and miscellaneous ranging from 1913 until 1960.
Sub-series 3: Commercial Lodge #180
Commercial Lodge #180 contains one bound minute book ranging from 1910 until 1915. It contains two membership record books ranging from 1901 until 1915. It contains one bound report book ranging from 1900 until 1921. Included in this book are reports for Piqua Lodge #8, 1916-1921. In 1915 Commercial Lodge #180 consolidated with Piqua Lodge #8. Also contained is correspondence and miscellaneous ranging from 1904 until 1915. Missing are any items dating from 1906 until 1913.
Sub-series 4: Minerva Rebekah Lodge #16
Minerva Rebekah Lodge #16 contains one bound membership record ranging from 1910 until 1921 and correspondence and miscellaneous from 1909.
Sub-series 5: Piqua Transient Relief Committee
Piqua Transient Relief Committee was a joint effort of the Piqua Odd Fellows lodges. It contains one financial records book ranging from 1881 until 1906.
SERIES II: VILLAGE OF COVINGTON
Sub-series 1: Covington Lodge #383
Covington Lodge #383 contains five bound minute books ranging from 1867 until 1893. It contains two volumes of various membership records ranging from 1882 until 1923. Missing are those dating from 1906 until 1912. It contains financial records ranging from 1899 until 1926. It contains reports ranging from 1866 until 1870. It contains correspondence and miscellaneous ranging from 1897 until 1906.
Sub-series 2: Royal Lodge #239
Royal Lodge #239 contains two bound minute books ranging from 1893 until 1920. It contains one volume of membership records ranging from 1888 until 1905. It contains reports ranging from 1888 until 1917. Missing are those dating from 1905 until 1908. It contains correspondence and miscellaneous ranging from 1895 until 1925.
Sub-series 3: Union Memorial Committee
The Union Memorial Committee of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Improved order of Red Men, and Jr. Order of United American Mechanics contains one bound minute book ranging from 1915 until 1923.
SERIES III: VILLAGE OF PLEASANT HILL
Sub-series 1: Pleasant Hill Lodge #574
Pleasant Hill Lodge #574 contains two bound minute books ranging from 1919 until 1923. It contains five volumes of various membership records ranging from 1908 until 1937. It contains financial records ranging from 1874 until 1908. Missing are records from 1892 until 1893. It contains reports ranging from 1875 until 1934. Missing are those dating from 1884 until 1910 and also the year of 1916. It contains correspondence and miscellaneous ranging from 1892 until 1932.
Sub-series 2: Rosezelle lodge #753
Rosezelle Lodge #753 contains one volume of membership records ranging from 1937 until 1956.
SERIES IV: VILLAGE OF FLETCHER
Sub-series 1: Violet Rebekah Lodge #435
Violet Rebekah Lodge #435 contains two bound minute books ranging from 1896 until 1938. It contains one volume of membership records ranging from 1902 until 1931. It contains financial records ranging from 1906 until 1912. It contains reports ranging from 1896 until 1927. Missing are those dating from 1898 and from 1917 until 1919. It contains correspondence and miscellaneous from 1896, 1900, and 1902 until 1928.
SERIES V: GRAND LODGE OF OHIO
Sub-series 1: Grand Lodge of Ohio contains correspondence and
miscellaneous from about 1900 until 1940.
HISTORY
Origins of The Odd Fellows
There have been a variety of theories about the origins of the Odd Fellows Lodges. Most of these have long been discarded because they are dubious and unsubstantiated. Some theorists have claimed that the Odd Fellows originated with various Old Testament characters such as Adam, Abraham, or Moses and Aaron.[1] Other theorists have claimed that it originated some time during the Common Era. One claim is that it originated from a band of Roman soldiers during the reign of Nero, and another is that it originated with the Goths, Huns, Scandinavians, Suevi and Moors. [2]
The most substantial theory is that it had an obscure origin somewhere in Great Britain.[3] In 1745 in an English magazine titled, Gentlemen’s Magazine, Daniel DeFoe gives a description of what was probably an Odd Fellows Lodge, stating that it is “. . . a place where very pleasant and recreative evenings are spent.”[4] A more certain reference is one that is made about a society of London laborers and mechanics in a song written for them in 1788 by James Montgomery. It is, therefore, certain that the Odd Fellows was established at least by this date.[5]
The reasons for the establishment of the Odd Fellows were probably to address the hardships that the common person endured during that era due to unfavorable social conditions and to offer them a group that would provide them with fellowship.[6] During that time Great Britain exhibited extremes in social class, inflicted hard labor on the common worker and generally paid very low wages in return for this labor. There was no relief for the sick, bereaved or unemployed. If social relief was to be provided, it would have to be provided by the common people themselves in groups such as this one. These ideals led to the development of a sort of insurance program based on dues or fees paid by their members so that they might be cared for during times of need. This practice characterized the orders of Odd Fellows, and it is continued into the twentieth century.[7]
Formation of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Manchester Unity
Before 1809 the Odd Fellows of London extended their fellowship to Liverpool. At this time they adopted the name, “Union Order of Odd Fellows.”[8] Later on in the early 19th century they adopted the name, “United Order of Odd Fellows” which was sometimes called the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.[9]
During the 19th Century there were several schisms in the United Order.[10] One group had been formed in 1809 in an effort to reform the organization whose meetings had become little more than convivial gatherings.[11] Having little success with persuading the other brethren to reform, they formed their own lodge in 1813 and called it the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Manchester Unity.[12]
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the United States,
The IOOF
In 1817 Thomas Wildey came to the United States from England where he had belonged to the Manchester Unity.[13] It was his desire to establish a lodge in the United States. On April 26, 1819 he organized an Odd Fellows hall in the Seven Stars Tavern in Baltimore, Maryland which was chartered by the Duke of York Lodge, Preston England of the Manchester Unity group. [14] Two unchartered Odd Fellows lodges had already been established in the United States, one in Baltimore and the other in New York, prior to the advent of Thomas Wildey.[15] Because they were unchartered, he is the one who receives formal credit for having established the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the United States.[16]
During the next few years the organization began to spread and flourish in the United States until in 1825 the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of odd Fellows of the United States was formed, and Thomas Wildey was appointed Grand Sire.[17] The Odd Fellows in the United States then consisted of the sovereign Grand Lodge which governed the national organization, the Grand Lodges which governed the affairs of particular regions and the lodges themselves which were the local units.
In 1843 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the United States severed its formal ties with England over a controversial issuance of a charter to a black lodge.[18] The title, Manchester Unity, was dropped and the official name of the Odd Fellows in the United States became the Independent Order of Odd Fellows more commonly referred to as the IOOF.[19]
The IOOF in Ohio
During the first half of the 19th Century the IOOF had gained a significant westward momentum. In 1830 a group of five men applied for and received a charter for a lodge at Cincinnati, Ohio which was named Ohio No. 1.[20] By 1832 three lodges had been chartered in Ohio with a combined membership of 350.[21] Then in 1833 the Grand Lodge of Ohio was formed at Cincinnati, and in 1851 it was moved to Columbus.[22]
The IOOF in Piqua, Ohio
In 1839, six years after the formation of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, four men established the first IOOF lodge in Piqua.[23] It was named Piqua No. 8 because it was the eighth lodge to be established in Ohio. Seeking a suitable location for the new lodge to meet, Piqua No. 8 assisted in financing the building of a third story on the Piqua City Hall building which was being constructed.[24] After the completion of the third floor hall in 1844 the lodge continued to meet in that location until 1928 when the city bought out their lease and demolished the building.[25] The lodge met in various locations until disbanded about 1962.[26]
At least four other IOOF lodges were generated by the first Piqua lodge. Commercial Lodge No. 180 was formed in 1851,[27] perhaps as a result of overcrowding in the already existing Lodge No. 8. For whatever reason this new lodge was formed, it appears to have been on favorable terms with Lodge No. 8.[28] It lasted until 1915 at which time it reunited with Lodge No. 8. [29]
Another Lodge that was generated from Piqua Lodge No. 8 was Piqua Independent Lodge No. 828 in 1897.[30] This lodge, like Commercial No. 180, appears to have been on favorable terms with Lodge No. 8. It lasted until 1901 when it united with Commercial Lodge No. 180.[31]
An Encampment lodge was also generated from Piqua Lodge No. 8 which was called Miami Encampment Lodge No. 4. This lodge was founded some time between 1839 (the date for the founding of Piqua No. 8) and 1848.[32] Encampment lodges differed from the regular lodges in that they offered three advanced degrees beyond what was offered in the subordinate lodges.[33] Records continue until 1960 for the Miami Encampment.
A Rebekah Lodge was also generated from Piqua Lodge No. 8 which was called Minerva Rebekah Lodge No. 16. This lodge was instituted in 1869.[34] The Rebekah lodges were different from the others in that they were developed for women. Men could and sometimes did belong to the Rebekah assembly, but women were not permitted to join the men’s lodges.[35] Records continue until 1921 for the Minerva Lodge.
Finally, following the Civil War, the Odd Fellows Beneficial Association was established[36] (later called the I.O.O.F. Mutual Aide and Accident Insurance Company of Piqua).[37] The concept of the lodge providing insurance dates back to the very beginnings of the lodge itself as explained earlier. When the Odd Fellows first met in London in the 18th Century, they required each person upon entering the lodge to pay one penny. From this fund they provided insurance and sick benefits to their members.[38] Evidently, by the post-Civil War era the task of handling claims and insurance dues had become so complex that a separate administrative structure had to be installed to handle the increasing volume of claims.
The IOOF in Covington, Pleasant Hill, and Fletcher, Ohio
In 1866 about ten men established the IOOF Lodge in Covington, Ohio and it was called Covington No. 383.[39] This lodge survived until about 1926.[40] Apparently some time prior to 1893, a second lodge was established: Royal Lodge No. 239[41] which appears to have survived until around 1925.[42]
Some time prior to 1874, Pleasant Hill, Ohio established Lodge No. 574[43] which survived until at least 1937.[44] There was also a Rebekah Lodge, Rozezelle No. 753 that functioned at least between the time of 1937 and 1956.[45]
Fletcher, Ohio maintained at least a Rebekah Lodge, Violet No. 435, which was established in 1896 with about 36 persons who were mostly women.[46] This lodge survived until 1938 when it merged with the Piqua lodge.[47] An unidentified Fletcher lodge built a lodge hall in 1887 at 120 West Main Street.[48]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grosh, Aaron B., Rev. The Odd Fellows Manual Philadelphia: H.C. Peck
and Theo. Bliss, 1853. Available at Flesh Public Library, Piqua,
Ohio.
International Order of Odd Fellows Collection (IOOF Collection) Piqua,
Ohio: Flesh Public Library, Archives and Special Collections, 1986.
L.A. Jones Piqua Directory On file at Flesh Public Library, Piqua, Ohio:
Department of History and Archives.
Miami Helmet Piqua, Ohio, March 4, 1886. On microfilm at Flesh Public
Library, Piqua, Ohio.
Piqua Daily Call Piqua, Ohio, January 17, 1928. On microfilm at Flesh
Public Library, Piqua, Ohio.
Rayner, John A. The First Century of Piqua, Ohio, Piqua, Ohio: The Magee
Brothers Publishing Company, 1916. Available at the Flesh Public
Library, Piqua, Ohio.
Ross, Theo. A. Odd Fellowship: Its History and Manual, New York: The
M.W. Hagen Company, 1887. Available at the Flesh Public Library,
Piqua, Ohio: Department of History and Archives.
Schmidt, Alvin Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions
Fraternal Organizations, 1978. Available at the Flesh Public Library,
Piqua, Ohio.
Williams Ohio State Register and Business Mirror, 1857. Available at Flesh
Public Library, Piqua, Ohio: Department of History and Archives.
CONTAINER LISTING
SERIES I: CITY OF PIQUA
Sub-series 1: Piqua Lodge #8
BOX 1
File 1 Minutes, 1839-1863
File 2 Minutes, 1845-1850
File 3 Minutes, 1850-1855
BOX 2
File 1 Minutes, 1855-1868
File 2 Minutes, 1868-1881
BOX 3
File 1 Minutes, 1881-1889
File 2 Minutes, 1889-1897
Loose : Minutes, 1897-1905
BOX 4
File 1 Minutes, 1906-1914
File 2 Minutes, 1920-1924
BOX 5
File 1 Minutes, 1924-1932
File 2 Membership Records, 1839-1850
BOX 6
File 1 Membership Records, 1875-1885
Loose: Membership Records, 1885-1893
Loose: Membership Records, 1893-1903
BOX 7
File 1 Membership Records, 1902-1908
File 2 Membership Records, 1911-1915
File 3 Membership Records, 1913-1924
File 4 Membership Records, 1915-1918
File 5 Membership Records, 1924-1937
File 6 Membership Records, 1930-1959
BOX 8
File 1 Financial Records, 1897-1899
File 2 Financial Records, 1900-1913
File 3 Financial Records, 1914-1930
File 4 Financial Records, 1915-1922
File 5 Financial Records, 1926-1961
BOX 9
File 1 Financial Records, 1931-1962
File 2 Reports, 1883-1892
File 3 Reports, 1893-1899
File 4 Reports, 1900-1915
* See Box 15, File 3
File 5 Reports, 1921-1926
File 6 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, 1847-
1924
File 7 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, 1914-
1917
Sub-series 2: Miami Encampment #4
Loose: Minutes, 1900-1921
BOX 10
File 1 Minutes, 1921-1937
File 2 Minutes, 1937-1958
BOX 11
File 1 Membership Records, 1848-1876
File 2 Membership Records, 1874-1882
File 3 Membership Records, c. 1900 +/- 10
Loose: Membership Records, 1905-1924
BOX 12
File 1 Membership Records, 1912-1932
File 2 Membership Records, 1915-1918
File 3 Membership Records, 1918-1924
File 4 Membership Records, 1918-1924
Loose: Membership Records, 1924-1958 (1881-1933)
BOX 13
File 1 Membership Records, 1933-1935. 1955
File 2 Financial Records, 1878-1914
File 3 Financial Records, 1881-1931
File 4 Financial Records, 1925-1957
Loose: Financial Records, 1927-1938
BOX 14
File 1 Financial Records, 1952-1961
File 2 Reports, 1882-1892
File 3 Reports, 1915-1926
File 4 Reports, 1931-1939
File 5 Reports, 1939-1945
File 6 Reports, 1946-1951
BOX 14 continued
File 7 Reports, 1952-1956
File 8 Correspondence and Miscellaneous 1919-1960
Sub-series 3: Commercial Lodge #180
Loose: Minutes, 1910-1915
BOX 15
File 1 Membership Records, 1901-1915
File 2 Membership Records, 1904-1915
File 3 Reports, 1900-1921 (1900-1915 Commercial Lodge
#180, 1916-1921 Piqua Lodge #8)
File 4 Correspondence and Miscellaneous 1904-1905
File 5 Correspondence and Miscellaneous 1914, 1915
Sub-series 4: Minerva Rebekah Lodge
BOX 16
File 1 Membership Records, 1910-1921
File 2 Correspondence and Miscellaneous 1909
Sub-series 5: Piqua Transient Relief Committee
File 3 Financial Records, 1881-1906
SERIES II: VILLAGE OF COVINGTON
Sub-series 1: Covington Lodge #383
BOX 17
File 1 Minutes, 1866-1878
File 2 Minutes, 1878-1881
File 3 Minutes, 1881-1886
File 4 Minutes, 1886-1888
File 5 Minutes, 1889-1893
BOX 17 continued
Loose: Membership Records, 1882-1905
BOX 18
File 1 Membership Records, 1913-1923
File 2 Financial Records, 1899-1922
File 3 Financial Records, 1913-1926
File 4 Reports, 1866-1870
File 5 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, 1897-1906
Sub-series 2: Royal Lodge #239
BOX 19
File 1 Minutes, 1893-1912
File 2 Minutes, 1912-1920
File 3 Membership Records, 1888-1905
File 4 Reports, 1888-1896
File 5 Reports, 1896-1904
File 6 Reports, 1909-1917
File 7 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, 1898-1925
Sub-series 3: Union Memorial Committee of the IOOF, K of P, IORM and
JR OUAM.
File 8 Minutes, 1915-1923
SERIES III: VILLAGE OF PLEASANT HILL
Sub-series 1: Pleasant Hill Lodge #574
BOX 20
File 1 Minutes, 1915-1923
File 2 Minutes, 1909-1916
File 3 Membership Records, 1874-1894
BOX 21
File 1 Membership Records, 1908-1918
File 2 Membership Records, 1911-1922
File 3 Membership Records, 1912-1924
File 4 Membership Records, 1918-1933
BOX 22
File 1 Membership Records, 1925-1937
File 2 Financial Records, 1874-1891
File 3 Financial Records, 1894-1908
File 4 Reports, 1875-1883
File 5 Reports, 1911-1915, 1917-1934
File 6 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, 1892-1932
Sub-series 2: Rosezelle Lodge #753
File 7 Membership Records, 1937-1956
SERIES IV: VILLAGE OF FLETCHER
Sub-series 1: Violet Rebekah Lodge #435
BOX 23
File 1 Minutes, 1896-1914
File 2 Minutes, 1914-1938
File 3 Membership Records, 1902-1931
File 4 Financial Records, 1906-1912
BOX 24
File 1 Reports, 1896-1897, 1899-1916
File 2 Reports, 1920-1927
File 3 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, 1896, 1900, 1921
File 4 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, 1902-1928
SERIES V: GRAND LODGE OF OHIO
BOX 24 continued
File 5 Correspondence and Miscellaneous, c. 1900-1940
[1] Grosh, The Odd Fellows Manual, H.C. Peck and Theo. Bliss. Philadelphia 1853 pp. 17-18.
[2] Ibid., pp. 18-19.
[3] Schmidt, Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions Fraternal Organizations, 1978 p. 2.
[4] Ross, Odd Fellowship: Its History and Manual. The M.W. Hagen Co., New York, 1887, p.10.
[5] Ibid., et Grosh, p. 20.
[6] Grosh, pp. 20-21.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid., p. 25.
[9] Schmidt, p. 243.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Grosh, p. 25.
[12] Ibid., et Schmidt, p. 243
[13] Schmidt, p. 243.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Schmidt, p. 243.
[16] Grosh, pp. 34-35.
[17] Ibid., p. 244.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ross, p. 373.
[21] Ibid., p. 622.
[22] Ibid., pp. 374-375.
[23] Rayner, The First Century of Piqua, Ohio. Magee Bros. Pub. Piqua. 1916. pp. 186-187.
[24] Ibid., p. 64.
[25] Piqua Daily Call, Piqua, Ohio. Jan. 17, 1928, p. 5.
[26] IOOF Collection, Flesh Public Library, Piqua, Ohio. Box 9 File 1.
[27] Williams Ohio State Register and Business Mirror, 1857. et. Rayner p. 187.
[28] IOOF Collection , Box 1, File 3.
[29] IOOF Collection, Loose Minute Vol. 1910-1915.
[30] Rayner, p. 187.
[31] Rayner, p. 187.
[32] IOOF Collection, Box 11, File 1.
[33] Schmidt, p. 245.
[34] Rayner, p. 187.
[35] Schmidt, p. 245.
[36] L.A. Jones Piqua Directory, p. 21.
[37] Miami Helmet, March 4, 1886.
[38] Ross, p. 10.
[39] IOOF Collection, Box 17, File 1.
[40] Ibid., Box 18, File 3.
[41] Ibid., Box 19, File 1.
[42] Ibid., Box 19, File 7.
[43] Ibid., Box 20, File 3; et Box 22, File 2.
[44] Ibid., Box 22, File 1.
[45] Ibid., Box 22 File 7.
[46] Ibid., Box 23, File 2.
[47] Ibid., Box 23, Bile 2.
[48] Miami Helmet, February 17, 1887.