The Portland daily press., 1869-04-27

Tuesday Morning, April 27, 1869.

PORTLAND

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Grafton by P. G. M. BENZ. Kingsbury, il
In CONGRESS SQUARE UNIvERsALIsr cHURcl
APRIL 18th, ON THE OCCASION OF THE SEM
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE FoUNDA
TIoN OF THE ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS
AMERICA.
the introduction of Odd Fellowship into th
United States, it is not inappropriate to recu
to the origin of the Institution, and brief,
consider its uses, its purposes, and its teach
ings;
the origin of Odd Fellowship. Some of oul
writers, with the desire to give it the grace
and sanction of age, have undertaken to trace
its beginnings, in rudimentary form, to ths
middle ages, and some even farther back
| But all these speculations are idle having nc
foundation in fact, and If they were true they
would add nothing to the value of the Insti-
tuition. The present Age looks to the present
1t looks to living realities, and tests them sole
~ by their qualities. Less and less does the
scrutiniZing eye of the nineteenth century
search for the finger marks Of the fathers, Of
bow to the moth-eaten garb in which the thing
itself is wrapped.
We put in no claim for our institution on
account of its antiquity. 1t it cannot fad a
It's own practical and beneficial workings-its
enlarged and active charities-its spirit OF
common brotherhood, let it fall. If the tenn
pie we have erected cannot be upheld by
the strong pillars OF the Order, Friendship,
Love and TRUTH then let it crumble into
] ruins. If the fire on our affairs ceases to be
tanned by the divine breath, then let it cease
| to burn.
by their fruits ye shall know tAsm," said
the Great Master, and we submit oar claims
to this infallible test. The tree may be stately
| in its proportions-its roots may strike deeply
into the soH-its branches may spread them
selves gracefully, and be clothed in beautiful
| foliage-and charm the eye-but without fruit,
it fails to accomplish the end OF its creation,
and but cunbers the ground.
ORIGIN IN ENGLAND.
| For centuries past in England it has been
the custom OF the various trades to organize
| themselves into societies for the protection of
their rights, for social purposes, and for mu-
tual aid. These are variously known az
Guilds, Associations Societies." and
"COmpanies''
In the city of London in the year 176O. some
marble workers united together for the above
objects AT first, they had no associated name,
but from certain odd proceedings the outsiders
gradually called them set of very "odd fsl-
lows: The insiders caught up the title, liked
7, adopted it, asd called their humble society
BY the grand and taking name of "the Ancient
and Honorable Loyal Odd Fellows" The
funds were created by small admittance fee
and the contribution of penny week. This
was the initial movement in Odd Fellowship.
Others; not OF the marble working craft, were
gradually admitted. Officers were appointed,
under quaint titles. Initiatory ceremonies
were introduced, startling, unique and some
times, undoubtedly rough. It was union of
fun, sentiment, and practical philosophy. The
name may seem Objectionable. Certainly,
it implies what, in these times the facts do
not warrant. But names are not things, and
many OF the grandest religious and political
movements of the world have been pushed in
to notice by the grotssque names given them
by the humorous lookers-en. While, there
fore, we accept the title forced upon us, and
would not change it if we could, we ask to be
| are called .as'ee4.eis
The movement spread. Other lodges were
instituted, not only in London, but elsewhere;
and Odd Fellowship began to be of some i'm
portancs and to attract considerable attention.
Upon its extension to Liverpool, a general
convention was held and the lodges united in
compact body under the name of the Union
Order of Odd Fellows and selected London
az its seat of government These lodges were
| peculiarly conyivial in Their character. One
of their recognized officers was the "Host,"
whose duty 1T was to see that when the mem
bers went from labor to refreshment," they
should find the "refreshment" ready
In 1909 strenuous efforts were made, but
without success, to change this unfortunate
system. Not succeeding, IN 1913 convention
OF the friends of reform assembled at Man
chester when several lodges seeded from the
Union Order and formed the Independent
| Order of Odd Fellows under the govern
naent of what is called the Manchester Uni
| ty," This is now the main body of Odd Fell
l0wShip in England, and numbers a member
ship of more than half million.
| ORIGIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
In the month of September, 1917, an un-
known young man, mechanic, by the name
| OF Thomas Wildey, of London, who bad filled
+ the position of Noble Grand Of one of the Lon
| don lodges, arrived in the city of Baltimore,
for the purpose of improving his condition in
life. In the following year he became ac-
| quainted with one John Welch, fellow-coun-
/. tryman, who had also been an Odd-F Fellow in
England, and the subject of introducing the
| Order in this country was discussed between
them. Mr WEIGH cordially entered into Mr..
Wildey's suggestion for the formation of a
Lodge, and after various unsuccessful efforts
| toincrease their number, they adopted the ex-
pedient of advertising through the public
press; accordingly the advertisement was so
made In the Baltimore American, in the fol-
lowing words
NoTIoE TO ALL oDD-FELLows.-A few mem
bers OF the Society OF Fellows will be glad to
meet their Brethren for cons ultaton upon the sub
Lodge 5 "a The meeting a, viii be held
On the 18th day of April, 1919, another no.
tice appeared, which was more effectual
In response to this call five persons assem-
bled in an supper room in the tavern of, Will
lam Lupton, sign Of the Seven stars, on Sec
ond Street. on the twenty sixth Of April 1s19
| fifty years age to-day, and organized them
selves into Washington Lodge, No. /. These
| five. persons were Thomas Wildey. John
Welch, John Duncan, John Cheatam and
Richard Rushworth.
,oGD ThO%as %a,oS Widsy i was elected N. g., and
This was the beginning of Odd Fellowship
in the United States. Surely no great institu-
tion-such as Odd Fellowship now is-ever
had more Insignificant birth. Yet all great
barvests must have their seed time. The
church, upon which we base our happiness in
time, and eur hopes for eternity had stable
for its nursery and manger for its cradle.
The acorn enfolds within its form, and is the
prophet of the towering oak, and there can be
no oak without the acorn.
Rude reeds and mighty ferns marked the
first efforts of the earth to bring forth: then
trees, vines and shrubs, and flowers crowned
themselves with tender beauty and spoke
with perfumed voice, and ensphered them
selves into fruit for both delight and subsist-
enee.
These five humble men were the sssd corn
of a magnificent growth. But they had no
just comprehension of the work it was their
mission to perform. The Divine Providence,
which ssees the end from the beginning"
leads men By ways they know not. So were
these led. They have all passed away, and
but one of them leaves . memory behind
Thomas Wildey, the originator Of Odd Eel
lowship in the United States, the first Noble
Grand, will be remembered and honored an
long as the order lives From the twenty
sixth day of April, 1819 until the year of his
departure in 1861 he surrendered to this great
work his ceaseless and unfagging energies
Fired by an intense and passionate love for
I the order and its principles, he traversed the
country, north, south, east and west, present.
| ing its claims to public consideration and or
| ganizing lodges. And he lived to see the
cloud, at first no larger than mans hand,
covering the whole surface of the heavens
And when his hour came, at the ripe age of
seventy eight years, he departed, universally
loved and universally lamented by the order.
| Ten thousand Odd Fellows marched behind
| his body to the grave, with dropping banners
| and solemn music, and two hundred thousand
| Odd Fellows erected on one Of the command
| ing heights of Baltimore a grand and stately
monument to.his honor.
| We celebrate to-day the work of this re-
| narkable man, his compeers and his success
| ors. And not we alone. From the British
| Dominions of the North to the sunniest cline
| of the South-from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
| in every State~and Territory, the songs Of
thanksgiving, the loud anthem, the splendid
procession. the faring of gorgeous banners,
and the stirring strains Of martial music are
seen and heard.
And well may We thus rejoice; for daring
the whole of the past fifty years, in calm OF
storm, Odd Fellowship has maintained its uni
ty of membership and purpose and action.
Standing discrete degree above all political,
party or religious questions, the storms of the
hour have ragged below, but never reached it.
The late rebellion sundered nearly all other
national organizations. The churches them
| selves were not spared in the general rupture.
| But Odd Fellowship remained intact. And
| although all communication between the two
| M a nj nIo Al