Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-31

OF the state. TWO state DOules arc 9ShSu''N
to meet. both on the same day, Tuesuay'
One OF these, that Of the Woodmen oil the
World. is not only important in the eyes OIL
the members Of the order but is interesting
10 the members Of other secret bodies be-
cause OF the strife which has been dlVlulng
the Woodmen. These state meetings VIII
be followed in a couple OF weeks by anotner'
the state encampment of the Nebraska ol-
vision of the Sons Of Veterans, which wiz
be held in this city on February l6' IL ana
IS.
The convention head camp OF the wood
men will meet In Lincoln and VIII De at-
tended by some 200 delegates The other
state bodies the head camp OF the Modern
Woodmen of America by a somewhat
strange coincidence, will meet on the same
day and will also be attended oy soine NV
his,orias of these two orders will hnd TINS |
situation somewhat amusing. I
The coming week will also mark the an
niversary of the birthday OF one Oh the
pioneer secret society lodges oil the star:
Omaha lodge No. 2, Independent order OF
odd Fellows This lodge may be iookeu
upou as beginning the secret society history |
of the state. 1t will, however, hold no ceie
bration of the anniversary, although .he uay |
will be some ewhat Of red letter uay pecause
the city will be consohua's WI" |
lodge. 90 .,., ,,o,tors
will he found in their appropriate places
In the column following
IpJependent Order of odd Fellows
Tomorrw Omaha lodge No. Of this city
will be forty years OF age. lhere VIII
he no formal celebration of the anniversary
7, NAV be. however that the ceremony which
will occur tomorrow night, the consolidation
NJ Allemanen lodge with Omaha lodge, VIII
more attingly mark the day than any pIlh-
day party , A.,
Omaha lodge comes very near being tne
pioneer lodge OF the state, not only ol ouu
Fellows. but of all orders. Some members
claim il Is. Other Odd Fellows assign the
honor to Frontier lodge No. 3 OF Nebraska
CITY One or the other 1t must be. There
is an interesting story regarding the rlSe
of this discussion and the birth OF the TWO
lodges. ,, >-o,,o,,
ber II 1875 from the grand lodge OF the
limited states now the sovereign grand lodge
II was signed by William Ellison, grahu sire
and James l.. Ridgeley, grand secretary.
A. d. Jones, Omahas first postmaster, was
the man who worked up the charter list.
A little while before charter was given te
Nebraska City lodge No. 1. struggle en-
sued to see which would institute nrs'
Jones succeeded in obtaining the necessary
FIVE charter members nISl, pub pSi'AS ~
institution could be held one of these died
Defore his successor could be gained the
Nebraska City lodge got its five charter
members and instituted first. NeDraska olty
lodge No / remained in existence untll July
1850 when 1t was consolidated with Fron-
tier lodge No of Nebraska CITY, whlch is
still living and prosperlng:
Thus n short time after the institution OF
Nebraska City lodge No. l, Omaha lodge
was duly instituted on February l, 1906 py
I CaSSa1v
of Council Bluffs. The following were the
Gye charter members: Alfred d. Jones
HodIey ID. Johnson, Taylor G. Goodwill
r,eorge Armstrong and Ambrose s. Bishop
OF these two are living yet. one Is Jones
who resides at Eighteenth and Writ streets
in this city The other is Johnson, who is
at present resident OF Salt Lake
The lodge held it's second meeting on Feb
ruorv 8. on which date the petition OF Henry
C. Anderson was received ana ne was IN
itiated ON February 10, 1856, as the hrsf
novitiate. During the remainder OF that year
and the following years of infancy many
of the men prominent in the struggling city
were initiated. Among them were; Ut.
George l.. Miller, Governor John M. ihayer'
Rev. William Leech of the Baptist church'
Rev. ] F. Collins of the Methodist church
r. w, Hepburn, j. w. Richard on. I'M
Reik. II. w. Tuttle, Judge j. X. Porter, now
of Los Angeles; Asa Hunt, John T. olappei,
j. E. Allen. Joseph F. sheeley' d. pr. uuo, poaS 81
Smith tDOX DUN, ~ -
John Mccormick, John Evans Governor
Saunders and General John NJ Chivington'
On July s, 1856. the degree OF Repekan was
conferred on Mrs. Collins wlte OF Kew -
Il. Collins, who was the hrst woman ~ .,n,e
cciye that degree in Nebraska. Al that ,ilhe me
there we're no Rebekah degree lodges ana tne n
depree was conferred in the subordinate
lodges. 80, oh+oinod
It's first headquarters; It ieaseu ona OIr~ inown
hn ThAyer
os the pioneer block, which was located on on
Fsrnam street between Eleventh ana lWeii.n
streets. The rental was $500 per annut, ..l.nn
AS the lodge at that time had put si,, siAl1.
members 1t was assuming a purden win
onnsdence in itself and the city that must
have been very buoyant The later history
nf the body has shown, however, thal INV
confidence was not illplaced or iiitlheu,
since that time the growth OF the louse
has been steady and its condition has always
bccn advancing 1t now has 2l7 members,
every one of whom pay assessments proHptly
ond repularly as the lodge has reputa-
tion for dropping its members when 'ns'
fall behind in their assessments, i.s o 81,
terprIse was shown couple OF years az, aso
whom IL erected the magnificent odd feilows
temnle which is it's property. rms puiiu-
ing. a palace for secret society pouies, Ia
become a paying venture, as IL is ocGuieu
ON every night in the year by inc toueeS 80
os some order and there are a huiupei y.
r,'Iications y, on hand for the first night that
becomes vacant. ,,o Mo
During the existence OF Omaha loase NO
o Tho growth Of the order has been proper
tlonnte' In 1856 the entire order numbered
less .ban 175OOO members and was reaueeu
70 900 during the civil war; but since 1919
II has shown a large growth. 1t numbers
today over 900 900 members, scattered over
ali portions OF north and south America,
Norway and Sweden. the German
empire, Switzerland and the sanu'
wich islands The amount that has Deen
dlsbursed in benefits since the institution
of the order is hardly to be appreciated IL
is far over $100. 900 900,
The growth in Nebraska during
the forty-one years since Omaha
and Nebraska City lodges were
organizeh has also been great In the
wear OF the institutions there were two lodges
with a total membership OF ten. There are
now 22G lodges In existence With member
shin Of l0,05G. or these lodges there arc
seven In this city, with a total paying mem
bershlp of $50, although the rolls contain
about 100 names.
Omaha lodge expects shortly TO be the
biggest lodge of the order In the state, an
honor which is at present held by centen'
NAL lodge of Fremont II Is claimed tha'
It now has more actual paying members
than Centennial However, 1t proposes t'
have a membership roll that Will contain the
most names The first step In that direction
will be taken tomorrow, when Allemaner