Fraternal Orders

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Show me your cemeteries and I will tell you what kind of people you have."  

What a seriously profound quote.

 

This is where being a taphophile delves into, cultural anthropology.
For unknown reasons, we all seem to thrive on dark cloaks, secret phrases and mysterious rituals - we are drawn to the mystique of fraternal orders. No matter the year, and there are certain truths that will persist when it comes to people. The things that drive us as a group...

First: We all want to be remembered. To be celebrated for the impact we had on those around us. Why else would we spend so much precious resource - time and money - building memorials to those who have passed on?

Second: We have a desire to belong. We are pack animals at heart. At one time we may have lived in groups for sheer safety and shared resources. But, as time marched on and we became more successful, that pack mentality continued to persist. Though, some may say, it developed into more of a social need and less of a survival need.


One solution to this need was the fraternal order. A fraternal order is typically defined as a group "whose members are usually bound by oath and who make extensive use of secret ritual in the conduct of their meetings." Sometimes they include secret handshakes and special benefits.

For instance, the picture at the top of this post  had an LOL at the top.  In today's world of abbreviations, any 16 year old would tell you that meant  "Laughing Out Loud". The truth is, it's attributed to a society call the Loyal Orange Lodge. The link here will give you more info on this obscure order.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Order  This stone was found in Brewer, Maine.

I found the stone just above in Waldoboro, Maine. A triangle, star, and the words LOVE – PURITY – FIDELITY. This order was very interesting indeed. It is the symbol used for The Sons of Temperance.  They existed:

"To reform drunkards and to prevent others from becoming drunkards.”  

 A colonial Alcoholics Anonymous if you will.

The first few orders I mention are not that well known but what about the ones we all recognize? Like the Freemasons. This fraternal order is truly ancient. The first text referring to Masonic activity is dated to 1390, but the first lodge,  Lodge at Kilwinning was known to exist in Scotland in the late 16'th century.  Here in the United States the growth of fraternal orders exploded after the Revolutionary War until the Anti-Masonic Movement of the 1820-30's. Again societies proliferated during the Progressive Era with approximately 600 organizations existing and 5 million members.

 Another well known order is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF)  This is recognized as three rings with  F-L-T (Friendship – Love – Truth) The first order in the U.S. was started in Baltimore in 1819. A point of interest is that, with all of their various activities, the Odd Fellows were known to have begun and maintained cemeteries in various states.

Also worthy of mention, is that often times people chose to belong to more than one order. Sometimes the desire to be a part of a group led people to join many different groups.  As is seen on the stone above. This person belonged to both the Masons and the Odd Fellows.

Most of these groups existed exclusively for men, but with time many auxiliary offshoots popped up for women.  The Odd Fellows for instance began the Daughters of Rebekah. These are some of the variations on markers that can be found on graves. Notice the three links with F-L-T on all three markers tying the group to Odd Fellows.

Women belonging to the Rebekah's today need to have no ties to the Odd Fellows ie. a husband belonging. Their credo is  “To live peaceably, do good unto all, as we have opportunity and especially to obey the Golden Rule, Whatsoever ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.”

In the 19'th and 20'th centuries many fraternal orders began to share the stage with civic groups and military service affiliations. From Civil War ancestors to insurance sellers, police to government workers. Sometimes you may find dozens of these group within just a single cemetery. Here are a few examples.

#1  The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress.
#2 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was founded on December 1, 1873 in Port Jervis, New York by Joshua A. Leach and 10 other Erie Railroad firemen.
#3 The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a  lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence.

This organization is a group for members who's ancestors fought in the Civil War. The eagle marker on the left has Sons of UV in the center, standing for Sons of Union Veterans. There is a matching logo carved into the headstone. The marker on the right has an ASUV. This would indicate the Auxiliary of the group, therefore the ladies version.

This grave is a great example of a husband and his wife who both shared an interest in belonging to the same group. For some reason I really like this one. I would have liked to have met this couple, but thanks to their stone and markers, I feel like I at least understand more about them.