FRATERNAL GROUPS POPULAR WAY BACK AGO
International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) was a popular organization. I have dues slips payment receipts going back to 1903 for my grandfather Noah W. Martin, a fellow traveler and member of the Short Creek chapter.
An invitation card, 1901:
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was a powerful organiza-
tion, having in its ranks notable figures. Its membership included
congressmen, judges, police chiefs, attorneys, wealthy businessmen,
newspaper moguls, blue-collar or white-collar workers, plus those of
meager means. They all joined in the lodge room of Odd Fellowship.
The main tenet of Odd Fellowship is to "relieve the distressed,
bury the dead, and educate the orphan." The Order seeks to improve
the character of mankind" by employing its main principles of Friend-
ship, Love, and Truth.
The name "Odd Fellows" is derived from England during an era
when it was thought to be strange or "odd" for people to aid each other.
"All-Seeing Eye"
The all-seeing eye is watching you. This is what you believe if you
are a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The eye
reminds one that a Higher Being is always scrutinizing one's ac-
tions and thoughts. The skull and crossbones force one to be reminded
of his or her mortality, and the duty to seek a proper burial or place of
rest for a departed brother or sister. These symbols also encourage one
to value the memory of that departed person's virtues. The scythe is the
symbol of death. The serpent signifies wisdom; and the coffin is the final
place of rest for a person. These are just a few symbols used by the Odd
Fellows for hundreds of years.
History of the I.O.O.F. By Peter Sellars V
My first two years were at Liberty and then to Spring Grove.
I've two male cousins here, brothers Joe and Chuck Hudson, a couple of years before I breathed my first.
