Copyright, 2001, Mark W. Swarthout
Note: This article also appeared in the Ohio Genealogical Society's Monthly Magazine.
One of the primary needs of human beings is to 'belong'. This need to belong is met through a wide variety of groups including the family, churches, hobby clubs, sports teams, and many other organizations.
In the late 1800's, fraternal organizations became extremely popular. Their histories and archives can provide information on your ancestors and the communities they lived in. I will present a wide variety of information on these organizations, where you can get background and data on them, and tips on how to identify the organizations your ancestors may have belonged to.
At the turn of the century (1900, not 2000!) almost five million men and women belonged to fraternal organizations. Chances are pretty good, about one in seven, that if your ancestors were in North America that they were among them. Since you have eight Great Grandparents, it would be difficult to imagine that at least one of them was not a member of these organizations. An excellent article on the web i Fraternalism in America (1860 - 1920) by Bart P. Snarf.
In addition to understanding some of the influencing factors in your ancestor's life, you may also discover migration factors you didn't know. A person who was a member of a nationwide organization would transfer their membership to the new chapter or lodge, quickly giving them a link into their new community. Perhaps they were instrumental in founding a chapter in a newly established community. One of my ancestors moved from New York to California and then into Nevada. There he participated in obtaining the charter for a new Masonic Lodge.
Membership information may help you discover many other things about your ancestor. Their religious beliefs can be determined. After all, Protestants didn't joint the Knights of Columbus! This could lead you to other records. (Yes, that is a future topic! Church, religious records and archives.)
So, how do you determine whether your ancestor was a member of any of these organizations? Time to play detective and look for those clues! Rings, watch fobs, medals and pins handed down through the family can be a key. Those old pictures often show insignia that can be identified.
Here are some sites to help you with the identification:
Abbreviations found on medals and badges
Pictures and identfication of badges and medals
The International Electronic Phaleristic Encyclopedia seeks to provide identification of medals from all over the world. While mostly focused on military awards, there are a superb number of links and fraternal organizations mentioned.
More links to medal information
Certificates, that may be found in old family Bibles or framed, are excellent sources, and make nice illustrations for use in books and family trees. Perhaps you even came across an article in one of the Newspapers that pertained to their membership and some function they participated in.
What does family history have to say? Was your father a member of a lodge? Perhaps he became a member because his father sponsored his membership after your great grandfather sponsored him!
Maybe a property deed can provide a clue! Was the widow able to pay off the mortgage shortly after his death? So perhaps he literally "bought the farm" when he died. Many organizations included some sort of insurance in their membership fees to provide for the widows and children of their members.
In working through this topic, I contacted a number of organizations about what information might be on file and whether the data is kept on a national or local level. I asked the listed below and have provided a general summary of the answers I received.1. What historical records does your organization keep?
2. Are they kept at a local, state, regional or national level?
The records that are maintained at a national level are normally related to the charter or admission of chapters. Membership applications are also placed on file, but these are kept on local, or sometimes state, level. None of the organizations have requirements to keep records for any specific period of time. Availability varies between organizations, and even between states as to how items are stored and if they are kept for any period of time.
3. Is there a means that the general public may make inquiries or have access to these records? Or request a copy of the records?
Most of the organizations do not have policies regarding access to this information. Privacy laws prevent current information (anything from about 1900) from being easy to obtain. Few records are indexed, and looking for a specific name can be time consuming and difficult. Since most of these organizations are not staffed for this type of research, it is not likely that you will be successful at a national or state level, unless your ancestor happened to be an officer at that level. Many local chapters can provide some basic information, such as name, address, occupation and perhaps birthdate from the application, if you know what chapter to ask!
Yes, this does sound rather discouraging! But don't give up hope!
If you determine that an ancestor was a member of one of these organizations, and you know the towns or area and time frame, make contact! Many of these organizations have a 'Chapter Historian' who may have documentation and membership roles. Most of these organizations are very open about what their purpose is and what they are all about. This can really add to your understanding of your ancestors.
Many of the "vanity histories" of the late 1800's and early 1900's contain detailed information on the fraternal organizations of the area, with complete listings of the officers and even charter members. An example is Myron Angel's History of Nevada, Thompson and West, 1881. (Myron is a first cousin of my 3rd Great Grandfather!)
And don't forget, newspapers often reported on key events regarding new organizations, particularly dedication ceremonies of new buildings.
Here are a couple samples of the replies that I recieved to my request. My clarification of statements will be found in square brackets [].
SUPREME LODGE KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
Alfred A. Saltzman, Supreme Secretary
[The national] office does not keep records of individual members in its archives. When inquiries come in about former members, we refer them to the Grand Secretary (State Level) of the state where the former member held his membership. Most Grand Secretaries have records of some sort and quite often they refer to the subordinate lodge in question for whatever information they can get from there.
. . .
We have files of our quarterly magazine going back several decades and we have a complete set of Journals of Proceedings of the biennial conventions since the founding of our Order in 1864. These may be perused in our offices.
General Grand Chapter Order of the Eastern Star
Betty J. Briggs, Right Worthy Grand Secretary
The only records we have are membership rolls that are submitted to each State, each year. They are often incomplete, and all states do not keep all of their records in one place.
. . . [given that the records are not indexed, and everything is done on a volunteer basis] our records are not a viable source of information.
International Order of Odd Fellows
Don Lang
We have a registration book that the member signs when he comes into the Order. It has the date he joined, the date of his birth, his occupation, where he lives. We also have minutes of our meetings that were held, which are usually weekly meetings. This information is keep at the local lodge level. The name of the member and when he joined is turned in at the Jurisdictional level, usual the state. But this information is hard to find there, unless you know the town where the lodge is.
Best records would be local level, with minimum information at the state level.
I have been sending on the requests to the IOOF Grand Secretary of that state. I give the person the name and address of the Grand Secretary and tell him he can write to him. I do not know what the success of this is. Since I don't hear back from the people, I guess it works at least to some extent. As far as the public going in and reading the records or minutes of the lodge, I don't think this is allowed, unless you get a very interested person who would be in agreement to do allow you to do that. But generally, I would say that that doesn't happen. We do not have all of the records of our membership in one big file, or is it on line.
My appreciation to all those that provided responsed to my inquiries about their organizations!
Searchable RecordsOfficial Homepages
American Legion of Honor
Ancient Order of Hibernians of
America
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
Catholic Knights of America
Independent Order of B'Nai
B'rith
International Order of the Odd Fellows
Junior Chamber of Commerce (JayCees)
Knights of Columbus
Knights of Pythias
Lions International
Modern Woodmen of America
Rotary Club
Sons of Veterans
Catholic Order of Foresters
Improved Order of Red Men
Royal Arcanum - Thanks to Jim Kucharski
for providing this one!
History of Organizations or Unofficial Homepages
Ancient Order of
Foresters
Ancient Order of United Workmen
Brotherhood of
Railroad Trainmen
Catholic Benevolent Legion
Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)
Junior Order of
United American Mechanics
United Ancient Order of Druids
Freemasons
Christian Endeavor
Epworth League
Other Organizations
(No web presence found, Prove me wrong, Please!)
They can be found as references in a number of obituaries and town histories.
Some of these are listed in Listed in the San
Francisco History Page.
Catholic Mutual Benefit Association
Daughters of Honor (A.O.U.W.)
Equitable Aid Union
Improved Order of Heptasophs
Irish Catholic Benevolent Union
Knights and Ladies of Honor
Knights of the Golden Eagle
Knights of the Maccabees
New England Order of Protection
Knights of Honor
National Union
Order of Chosen Friends
Order of the Golden Cross
Order of United American Mechanics
Order of United Friends
Patriotic Sons of America
Royal League
Royal Society of Good Fellows
Royal Templars of Temperance
Sons of Temperance
United Order of Pilgrim Fathers
Woodmen of the World
Again, I have not include veteran organizations here, as they were discussed in the military articles. Besides, they are no longer strictly 'fraternal' with more and more women being eligable for membership.