The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1923-06-07

Our order makes no claim to be an
ancient institution, running back into
the dim and distant ages. OF course,
there have been some ''old wives fab
les" tending to show that Odd Fellow
ship originated among the soldiers OF
Nero in Ancient Rome; that GideOn's
band We're Odd Fellows and that the
first man named in the Bible was one.
Come to think of it Adam was an
Odd Fellow, but not in the sense in
which We now use the word. We still
hear now and then among our older
members these tales of antiquity low
ingly recited. But they must all be
dismissed asidle talk. They have all
been Investigated in recent years and
found wanting.
We have preserved the minutes of a
meeting of Odd Fellows held in Lon
don in 1745, and that is the earliest
date that is established by real evil
dence. After that there are slight
traces of the order along the pathway
of the years until 1880, when we come
upon substantial evidence of three diff
ferent organizations, all calling them
selves Odd Fellows, The Patriotic Or
der. The Grand United Order and the
Union or London Order. From 1910
to 1914 there was gradually developed
in England and from the London Or
der what is known as Manchester
Unitey of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows" This order gave to our
American order the first formal
recognition in granting us charters.
Thomas .Wildey, the Father and
Founder" of American Odd Fellow
ship, was born in London in 1885 and
very early joined the London order,
and was the chief officer of two diff
ferent lodges. Coming to America in
1917 he grew hungry for the lodge,
and after advertising considerably,
finally on April 26, 1919, he got to-
Eether tine traditional number of five,
who had once belonged, and at the
Seven Stars Inn in Baltimore, organ
lied the first lodge. These five were
partly Manchester Unity and partly
of the London order, but later were
reorganized by Manchester Unity,
with whom the order in America re-
manned in affiliation until 1843, when
all relations were severed and none
have existed since. Manchester
Unity is great and powerful or
ganization with over million men,
WI anu iSaShCs INV Oil pdi Is VI ChC
world. But it has developed along
insurance lines and cares but little for
ritual and the two orders are now
much wider apart than when they
separated, and reuniop is virtually
impossible and undesired by both.
Our order spread rapidly after the
separation, going into all the states
and soon passing into Canada, then
across the seas to Germany, Swift
zerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Nor
way, Sweden, Australia and the "Isles
of the Sea-" Efforts have been made
to plant the, order in South America,
in Mexico and in France and Italy,
but the Latin people do not seem to
take kindly to our brand of frater-
nifty nor in fact to any other secret
| order. though Masonry seems to ap-
peal somewhat.
We hear much in these days of In
ternational bodies, courts and societ-
les which bring men of all "nations,
tongues and creeds" together. Our
order has been doing this work for
nearly half century.
Our Sovereign Grand Lodge with
the head office in Baltimore, meets
every year in some city of the United
States or Canada. To it represen
tatives may come from Strange cit