Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-05-10

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lating wealth refused them the prlvi-
lege to toll for bread, they lacked
means to seek employment elsewhere,
and support their families in the mean
time. When on the .bed-cf disease. or
death, none could spare time.to smooth
their pillow, or moisten their feyered
lips. When they looked forward to
the close of this ftful feyerish life, be-
yond it was only pauper's coffin TO be
pressed into, a paupers grave into
which to be huddled out of sight, with
out prayer breathed over the dead or
whispered text Of hope and consola-
ton for the living. And for the sur
wing partner and bereayed children
no future was presented, but trondling
them from parish. TO parish. until they
were thrust into the vice and infamy
of the alTnshouga, or perhaps thrust
into the street to grow up beggars or
criminals, if they did not earlier perish
In the cutters. Such were the circum-
stances and prospects of the few who
founded our Order, devised its first
crude measures of relief and the burr
al of the dead. Such was its humble
origin in the old world.
American Odd Fellowship dates no
further back than 1919. On the 26th
day Of April Of that year. History in
formes Us. that Thomas Wildey, a
blacksmith by trade, an Englishman
by birth. an American citizen by adop-
ton, at Baltimore, with four others in
stituted the first Lodge of Odd Eel
lows in the United States, and as we
understand the first on this continent,
and it was called "Washington Lodge,
No. l."
From this small beginning the Order
has spread over the United States. Go
East or West, North or South and
you will find its Lodges in almost eve
ry village and hamlet, difusing light
and charity among the suffering of our
race.
Having thus very briefly an dimper-
fectly given you an outline of the orr
gin and history Of our Order we now
ask your attention to its principles, its
objects and It's, aims.
The grand central principle of Odd
Fellowship is the Fatherhood Of God,
and the Brotherhood of man. "God
hath made Of one blood all nations Of
men to dwell on face of the earth. )"
1t throws down all barriers of caste,
creed and nationality, and plants itself
upon the broad platform that all men
e0erywhere are brothers, and that God
is the Father Of them all. Upon that
foundation our structure IS built
Friendship, Love and Truth are its
corner stones, while over It's broad por-
tails is inscribed the Golden Rule:. ssAs
ye would that others should do unto
you do ye even SO unto them. It's OBJ
jects and aims are to carry into effect
these principles, to lessen human suffer-
ing, and to elevate human character.
1t does not interfere with other socie-
ties. Its war is only against vice and
misery. In the words Of one of it's
eloquent members, it says to every
good institution, ''Fiew the vast field
of human ignorance, restitution, suf-
ferlng and crime around US. See how
little of the mighty void has been i'm
proved, or even disturbed by all the
agencies ever set in motion. Does il
not make the heart sick and tbs head
faint to contemp late the almost hope
lessness of relieving all that destitu-
ton and woe, and removing all that
ignorance and crime? Is there not
more than enough for US all to do"
Odd Fellowship bids hearty God
speed TO every Institution and every
society would alleviate human misery
and elevate human character.
We come now to consider what is
the secret of the rapid growth and
wide spread influence Of our Order.
And here we shall not give you all
the secrets of our success. Perhaps
the greatest secret of it all is that we
have been able thus far to keep our
own secrets, for we have secrets in re-
gard to the affairs of Our lodge just as
families have. just as the lawyer, doc
tor or merchant has, just as Churches
and ministers have, and we keep
those secrets for just the same reason
that the class above referred to keep
theirs, that is because they are oars
and no one else has any right to
them. Bound together by the ties
of honor and morality, we encourage
no secrecy as a cloak for evil: nor
do we keep anything hidden except
what IS necessary to give efficacy to
our work and permanency to our or