Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1882-04-25

Fellows throughout the United Ssates.
with feelings Of the greatest interest
as the natal day of the order in this
country. Sixty three years have pass.
ed Sin co the seed was first planted hat
has grown to be such an enormous tree.
that its branches extend not only frcm
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from
The extreme northern borders of this
land to the Gulf of Mexico, but also
atar Off, across the ocean, and encom.
passes European and South American
nations. Books might be written, and
pages upon pages printed, brt all
wolld fail to tell the story of the
thousands of widows and the untold
NUN mbers of orphans ,hat have been
sheltered, fed, clothed and educated
beneath its branches.
Figures may tell us Of the number of
hers; or broOnets widows and orphans
that have been relieved within year,
but they can never tell of the wei ghts
OF sorrow that have heen lifted from
crushed and bleeding hearts, or the
depths OF gratitude that have been felt,
but could not be expressed by he dying
Odd Fellow AZ he felt the death damp
wiped from his brow by the hands of
loving brothers, and again received
their assurance that his widow and
helpless orphans should be- provided
for.
An order that has been instrumental
in accomplishing SO much for the bene-
tit of mankind, and whose growth is
without y parallel is deserving of more
than a passing notice, and = condo sed
history of the growth in this country
may not only be of interest TO mem bers
of the order, but also to others. In tho
winter OF 1918, there resided in Balti
more two Engli-hmen, one named Thos,
Wildey, and the other ohm Welch. The
war with England which had recently
closed, had greatly embittered the
feelln7s OF many of the people against
all Englishmen, and no where was the
ftellng more predominant tnan in Bal
timOre.
Conscious of these feelings in the
minds of the people, these two strar
gers in strange land naturally sought
the compani0nship Of each other. Both
OF these men had been members of the
order of Odd Fellows in the mother
country and frequently regretted that
their emigration to this country had
deprived them of the social pleasures
of lodge. The more they talked the
matter over the greater became their
desire to bring about similar relations,
and establish lodge OF Odd Fellows
IN the land of their adoption, and they
mutually resolved, it possible to ac-
complish their desires, The tirst diff.
Guilty that confronted them, was to find
sufficient mum Der for the purpose and
they made every effort to discover other
brothers among their cOuntrymen, but
all in vain. 1t then occurred to them
that resort to the newspaper might
prove successful, and they accordingly
inserted the following notice in the
Baltimore American, on the 18th day
of February, 1919:
Notice TO all Odd Fellows.-A few
mem bers of the Society of Odd Fellows
will be glad to meet their brethern for
consultation upon the subject of form
ing a lodge. The meeting will be held
on Friday evening, the md of March,
1919"
The notice had the effect of bringin
two recruits, both of whom claimed
to have been mem bers of the order; and
as cards were not then in use to mutu.
ally examine, and test each other, and
the result was entirely satisfactory.
Another difficulty now arose, there
were but four who wished 10 form a
lodge, and the law of the English order
required that there should at least be
live. Tne method they were adopting
was known as self institution, and in
view of their anxiety to establish a
Iodge, aud the difficulties that con front
I'd them on every hand, they n light
)ossiby y have been excusable for not
strictly adhering to the ancient usage.
The temptation was great, but not
sufficient to cause them to violate a |
principle OF the order.
search was earnestly made tor another |
tut without success and the |
newspaper was again resorted TO, and |
N advertisement inserted ia the "Bal |
imore American" on the the 9th of |
March 1879 This had the effect OF
forward a certain Richard |
who had also been mem
'er in England and theanumber was
complete.
The necessary arrangements were
Don made, and on Monday evening,
April Goth, 1919, the five brothers met
t a tavern called 1.-THE Seven Stars"
,ept by one William Lupton, and
instituted and opened the first
Odge of Odd Fellows in the United
tales, which they unanimously agreed
0 call Washington Lodge of Odd.
'ellows." Thomas Wildey was in
tailed as Noble Grand, and John
Velch as Vice Grand while each of
he other three were also installed into
n office.
Their first efforts were directed
)ward increasing their mem mbership,
nd within two or three weeks they
ad added some ten to their number.
The new lodge had many difficulties
} contend with and overcome, one of
10 first being an epidemic which
roke out in Baltimore the year of its
and which created such o
sneral alarm as to cause a suspension
its meetings for several months, and
hen the meetings were resumed it ,,
rs found that a spirit OF discOrd had
:ept in. that threatened the very ex
'tenCe of the order.
Another trouble was the lack of mon {
7, as the ancient practice had been
iopted by 1t, of fexpending the penny
ceipts for refreshment for brothers.
WAS therefore found that change of )
AL was necessary, and all the money
ceived was at once passed into "The
,rong Box" as fund to he used for
10 relief of needy brethren, and thus
as formed the first relief fund that |
w contains millions of dollars, and
10 first stone laid of the great super
ructure of American Odd Fellowship. !
On the 22nd day Of February 1921, a
~ selected Oh account of its being the
of the birth of Washington Z
Of Past Grands that had |
'en appointed by Washington Lodge,
OF and proceeded to organize a Grand 4
odge, under the style and title Of "The
rand Lodge of Maryland and the ,
nited States"
Thomas Wildey, the founder Of the
der, lived to see itincreased to ~ ju-