The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-11-05

paid to members who were sick or
disabled and where social advantages
were to be had that could scarcely
be obt->:aed through other channels,
including as it did men of all nation
alities, so long as they were practical
Catholics of reputable standing.
The Foresters of Cook county were
deeply impressed with the wonder
full strides they had made in this
short period of time. The requests
that came to them fo,m all over the
state asking them for admission into
their society were so numerous that
it was deemed advisable to hold a
convention to consider the question
of extending the territory. The out
come of this convention was the
Catholic Foresters of Illinois.
1t was then that they began an
active campaign for powerful state
wide organization, directing their eff
forts chiefly to the younger element
of the state and in this they were
highly successful. Fraternal insurance
seemed to permeate the air, in every
city in the state subordinate courts
sprang up, the fundamental principles
of Faith, Hope and Charity as ex-
tolled by the opponents of Catholic
Forestry were disseminated like wild
rn Nhn 0f q G.
no longer confined to the borders of
the state, neighboring states began
to observe. The necessity of again
extending the Jurisdiction became
manifestly apparent, even the clergy
of the church took notice, the oppo-
sition to membership in secret So
ciety became less pronounced and it
was not long before the Foresters
added bishops and priests to their
number The following convention
changed the name to the Catholic
Order of Foresters and extended the
jurisdiction to the neighboring states
and a short time later to all of the
United States of America Except a
few of the Southern states) and to
the Dominion of Canada, organizers
were sent to the large centers OF
population, to institute local and
state courts.
The gratifying progress made by
the Foresters of Illinois was made
part of the campaign for additional
members, the result of these labors
was the institution of subordinate
courts all over the country. First
among which in the Northwest was
Hennepin Court No. 1853 of Minnep-
oils, organized in April, 1890. For
many years this court was the BAN
ner court of the state, counting as 1t
did nearly 400 members. Later this
honor was captured by st. Anna
Court of St. Paul, which in turn had
to relinquish it's proud position to
st. Martinus Court, also of st. Paul,
which is at the top to this day.
The second to be instituted in Min
neapolis was Nicollet Court No. 255,
organized in October, 1891; this was
followed in 1895 by the institution
of three courts, viz: st. Anthony
Court No. 491 in April, Sheridan Court
No. SIG in June and Ascension Court
No. 558 in December. These were
followed by st. Mary Court No. 589
in May, 1896, Holy Rosary Court No.
6S6 in June, 1897, Lincoln Court No.
S19 in February, 1898, and Washing
ton Court No. 829 in March, 1898. In
addition to these four other courts
had been instituted but owning to
the proximity of the older ones these
courts found it difficult to retain their
charters. 1t was therefore decided
that in as much as there were nine
firmly established courts in the city
it would be well to consolidate with
these courts The merger of Marquette
Court No. 426 and St. Joseph Court
No. 922 with ST. Mary Court No. $50
was followed by that of st. Clemens
Court No. 1862 and st. Lawrence
Court No. 1889 with Sheridan Court
No. SIG. Nine Courts with a men,
bership of approximately 1900 con-
stitute the Foresters of Minneapolis
today Many of these courts have
accumulated a small fortune. Their
relative standing in the order COM
pares very favorably with other fra
ternal centers.
The state court of Minnesota was
organized May %, 1895, at Thibedeau's
Hall, No. % Central avenue. Twenty
courts were represented at the con-
vention M. C. Egan was the first
State Chief Ranger, Ed. Peltier LIST
State Vice Chief Ranger, Geo. w.
Stenger State Secretary and G. C.
Belanger State Treasurer. st. Paul
having been made the home of the
state court Offices. There are 1872
subordinate courts in the state at this