History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 144

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

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ODD FELLOWSHIP.

The first lodge of Odd Fellows organized in the State of Illinos was Western Star Lodge, No. I, at Alton. In 1835 Samuel L. Miller, a past-grand of a lodge in Mary- land, came West and brought with him a warrant from the Grand Sire, for the institution of an I. O. O. F. lodge at St. Louis, at or near which city it was his inten- tion to reside. Under this warrant he instituted Trav- eler's Rest Lodge, No. 1, at that place, in the jurisdiction of Missouri, and the following year, August 11, he aided in the institution of the first lodge in Illinois, namely, Western Star Lodge, No. I, at Alton. The charter members were Samuel L. Miller, John R. Woods, Stephen Lansing, Thomas Wright and John Fisher. Samuel L. Miller, the founder of the two first lodges in Illinois and Missouri, became the first Grand Secretary of Illinois, and was for some years prominently identified with the Order in this State.

UNION LODGE No. 9 .- From 1836 to 1844 the Order evidently grew but slowly, for on the 28th of Feb- ruary of the latter year the first lodge was instituted in Chicago, under the name of Union I.odge, No 9 ;* so that in eight years from the time of its introduction into the State, nine lodges constituted the strength of the Order all told. This lodge was established on a petition -to the Grand Lodge, from Past Grand A. L. Jacobus, B. W Thomas, Edward Burling, Francis Marshall and others, early in January, and on Wednesday night. February 28, 1844, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, Thomas J. Burns, being present, the first meet- ing was held in a building which then stood on the corner of Randolph Street and Fifth Avenue. The charter members were B. W. Thomas, E. Burling, Charles Wheelock, Francis Marshall, Augustus 1 .. Jacobus, Daniel Heald, Jr., William Anderson, J. M. Morton, C. P. Kellogg and J. Burrows. Its first officers were A. L. Jacobus, N. G .; F. McFall, V. G .; B. W. Thomas, secretary, and Daniel Heald, treasurer. Among its early initiatory members were Samuel B. Walker, now living in retirement on the West Side, E. W. Den- soms, E. A. Rucker, H. L. Rucker, W. W. Danenhower, H. O. Stone, Robert H. Foss, A. G. Burley, and many others whose names it has been impossible to obtain. There were thirty-nine members by August 14. Isaac N. Arnokl joined in 1846. After it was fairly started and in good working order, the lodge moved its place of meeting to a hall on the corner of Lake and State streets, where it remained until the erection of Odd Fellows Hall, at Nos. 98 and 100 Randolph Street, when it removed to that place. From the first, Union

. Prior to the institution of Union. No. of the eight lodges in the State war. lowratrd a follows: No. 1 and 2 at Alug ; No. 3 at Lon nville : \. . . Ja kunville ; Nu gat Galena ; No. 6 at Springfield, and Nos. 7 and Bat Heli- ville.

* It. S. Tiffany of Apollo Commandery, and the Bur Bank of that organi- zation, have furnished valuable data that is presented in this summary.

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ODD FELLOWSHIP.

Lodge prospered finely, and its membership increased so rapidly that in a little over a year, using the language of a veteran Odd Fellow, "The boys swarmed and a new lodge was started." This was

DUANE LODGE, NO. Ir, was instituted March 5, 1845. Its place of meeting was in the fourth story of the Loomis Building, corner of Clark and South Water streets. Of course the charter members of Duane were all members of Union ; but, feeling that a new lodge was needed, they had acted as they thought wisely in thus establishing it. Their names were : Francis McFall, Robert P. Hamilton, Allen S. Robison, Thomas George, Lewis H. Todd, Augustin D. Boyce, Perley D. Cummings, and William Anderson. The new members fitted their lodge-room up in excellent style, and it was generally conceded to be the finest and best appointed hall then existing in the West. Owing to this fact and the pride its members took in their organization, Duane soon came to be known as the " Silk Stocking Lodge," a title which clung to it for many years. With the starting of Duane Lodge, the Order continued to grow in Chicago, but nearly two years elapsed before the third lodge was established.

EXCELSIOR LODGE, NO. 22. This was instituted January 6, 1847. The formation of this lodge was the result of a second "swarming " from the mother hive. Its charter members were James K. Webster, S. W. Grannis, James W. Grauks, Horace Lamb, J. DeLa- Croix Davis, Herman H. Benson, Elisha Lane, F. Camp- bell, Abel H. Daufer, William E. Knibloe, Thomas Manahan, William Henry, George W. Carley, and L. Daufer. Excelsior Lodge held its meetings in the hall of Duane Lodge until the building of the hall on Ran- dolph Street when it also moved to that place. Con- cerning the formation of this lodge, an interesting bit of history is found in the report of Grand Master S. S. Jones to the Grand Lodge, in its session held at Spring- field, in January, 1847. He says :

"Since the November session of this body, a petition has been received from fourteen highly wortby brethren of Chicago, asking for a charter for a new lodge at that place, to be known and hailed as Excelsior, No. 22. The prayer was granted, and on the 6th of of January, I, in company with other Odd Fellows, from sister lodges, repaired to Chicago, and there instituted Excelsior Lodge, No. 22, and installed their officers under the most flattering circumstances. The petitioners for the charter were all worthy gentlemen and well worthy to receive it, and we may look forward with the brightest anticipations, for a high state of prosperity in that lodge. They will do honor to the title and name they have assumed." Continuing his report, the Grand Master adds, " We, on Tuesday evening, visited Duane Lodge. No. II, and there in- stalled the officers for the current term. The petitioners for Excel- sior Lodge were principally an accession from Duane, which lodge they left with the best of feeling ; as 1 am informed they presented the out-going members with the amount of their initiation fee for the purpose of aiding them to commence the work under the charter. Excelsior Lodge was instituted in the Duane lodge-room. where their meetings are to be permanently held. In a word. I may say, the Order in Chicago is in a highly flourishing condition."

It was in December of that year that the Order was called on to perform the last solemn rites at the burial of a brother. The Daily Journal of December 13, 1847, thus refers to it :

"On yesterday the different lodges of I. O. O. F. assembled at the Methodist church to pay the last tribute to a departed brother, .A. I. Spencer, who died on Saturday ( December FI ). Rev. Mr. Ilibbard, of the New Jerusalem faith, though not a member of the Order, officiated by request of the deceased. Mr. Spencer was a printer and formerly a workman in this office. A large number of the craft was in attendance and followed his remains to the grave. This is the first instance where the brethren of the mystic tie have been called upon to perform the solemn rites of their D 'rder."

CHICAGO LODGE, No. 55, the third in point of

seniority, was organized in July, 1849, and held its meetings on each Monday evening in the hall of Union Lodge, which was still situated on the corner of Lake and State streets. In the two years which had elapsed since the institution of Excelsior, the Order had con- tinned its rapid growth in strength and numbers, until the institution of Chicago Lodge was a necessity occa- sioned by the number of applications for membership in the existing lodges. On its charter can be found the names of many who are still its members. The follow- ing is the list: Edward Burling, William Anderson, Benjamin G. Johnson, Patrick O'Donaghue, Robert H. Foss, Isaac Spear, Timothy H. Ladd, Isaac Coburn, Charles M. Gray, George M. Gray, B. C. Welch, H. H. Husted, Ambrose Burnam, James Launder, David S. Smith, William Dickens, John P. Foss, Samuel T. Foss, William P. Roche, John M. Merserve, Moses Kohn, Joseph Harrison, John J. Brown, Simon V. Kline, and Jacob V. A. Wemple. A glance at the number of the lodges as they were organized in this city, and an observation also of the time elapsing from the institu- tion of Union Lodge, No. 9, in 1844, to the establish- ment of Chicago Lodge, No. 55, in 1849, will give the reader some idea of the growth of the Order in the State, and its comparative advancement in this city. For instance, there were eight lodges in the State when Union Lodge was organized; five years later, when Chicago had four lodges, there were fifty-five, so that it is apparent that the growth of the Order here was more rapid than in any other portion of the State.

ROBERT BLUM LODGE, No. 58, was organized in October, 1849, and was the first German society of the Order. Its meetings were held in the hall of. Union Lodge. It was from the beginning a prosperous body. Its charter members were: Peter Schmitz, Philip Freed- rich, John Fischer, Frederick Singer, George Funk, C. Frederick Schott, Joseph Schlereth, Gottfried Laughein- rich, V. A. Boyer and John M. Pahlman.

The following year, at the session of the Grand Lodge, held at Peoria in July, the Grand Master re- ported the fact that permission had been granted Robert Blum Lodge to work in the German language. Com- menting on this action, and referring to the policy of permitting lodges in this country to work in a foreign tongue, the Grand Master remarked:

** As it is the established policy of the Order to allow lodges to work in other languages than the English, I requested the secretary to send for six copies of the books in the German languages, as more would probably be needed. I am happy to say that I have none but good accounts of the working of this lodge. Since this occurred I have doubted whether it was the true policy to have lodges working in foreign languages-whether our duty to our country does not require us to use all our influence to Americanize all foreigners among us as soon as possible, and afford them no facilities for their being satisfied or comfortable without conform- ing to the genius, institutions and language of the land."

The Grand Master's suggestions, it appears, have never been carried out by the Order, for all over the land are lodges working in foreign tongues, whose power for good is unquestioned and whose members are in every sense true Odd Fellows.

In July, 1850, a Degree Lodge was organized, which met on the second and fourth Fridays of each month for work in the degrees, in Odd Fellows Hall on Randolph Street. Previous to this two encampments had been formed, but as they will be treated separately later on, no further mention is necessary here. But. pursuing the history of the lodges, it is found that a period of seven years elapsed before the formation of . new lodge marked the growth of the Order here, and that one was established on the West Side.

516

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

FORT DEARBORN LODGE, NO. 214, the last referred to, dates from October 4, 1856. Dr. Samuel Willard, of this city, who for many years has been a prominent Odd Fellow in this State, and who has represented the Grand Lodge in the councils of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the United States, has written an interesting history of Fort Dearborn Lodge, of which he has for years been a member. Concerning the formation of the lodge he says:

" There were then in this city but five lodges, Union, Duane, Excelsior, Chicago and Robert Blum ; and the last of these lacked but a week of being seven years old. The city had grown greatly ; these lodges had increased in membership, and now two more lodges were to be formed to work on the west side of the river, Fort Dearborn, No. 214. to work in English, and Harmonia, No. 221, about four months younger, to work in German. * * *

* Curiously, Fort Dearborn Lodge is closely associated with my own memory and work in the Order : for this was the last lodge insti- tuted before I became Grand Secretary, and the first representative to the Grand Lodge froin this body, assisted in choosing me to that office within two weeks after this lodge was opened, and trans- acted business with me at the session of 1856." * " On the *

night of the institution the Grand Master, Perry A. Armstrong, met the charter members of Fort Dearborn Lodge in the hall of Excel- cior, with members of other lodges to aid. Brother George F. Crocker, of No. 22, an active Odd Fellow, long since dead. acted as D. G. M .: our long time-friend, Albert G. Lull, now P. G. Rep., was grand marshal : James F. Jillson, grand secretary and Andrew Tauber, of No. 53, deceased, was grand treasurer. The charter members were Allen C. Lewis, F. H. Sleeper, Thomas Manahan, E. B. Kingsley, J. K. Thompson, Reuben Cleveland, N. W. Condit, Pleasant Amick, J. P. Cook, A. G. Warner, George \V. Noble and P. B. Lamb. The records of the first month do not show the places of meeting after the institution ; but the lodge seems to have gone at once upon the West Side, to a hall held by Cleveland Lodge of Masons, on the southeast corner of Clinton and Randolph streets."

The seal adopted by the lodge and still in use, bears as a device a representation of old Fort Dearborn. The first term closed auspiciously, having in the first fourteen weeks of its existence taken in thirty new members and a revenue of $122.50. The lodge was now firmly established and from this time on its history would probably be of but little interest to the general reader, and the limits of this work preclude its further consideration ; suffice it to say that Fort Dearborn Lodge passed through various vicissitudes, alternate periods of prosperity and adversity, survived all, and is to-day one of the strong working lodges in the city.

HARMONIA LODGE, NO. 221, was instituted in January, 1857, by German residents of the West Side. Its charter members were John C. Smith, John A. Boerner, Louis Hientz, George Petermann, John Hoff- man, Charles Ippel, Charles Rietz, Conrad Schertel, F. W. Forch, and August Schenkoweitz. The lodge is still recognized as one of the foremost German lodges in the city.

ODD FELLOWS HALL .- in the foregoing history of the different lodges in this city, frequent references have been made to Odd Fellows Hall, which was situ- ated on Randolph Street, near Clark. As it is pecul- iarly an institution of the Order, a brief history is not inappropriate here. This hall was built by Union, Duane and Excelsior lodges, and on the 21st of Febru- ary, 1853, was thrown open to the public for inspection. It was elegantly furnished and was pronounced then the finest hall in the city. The following evening it was dedicated to the uses of the Order, with appropriate public ceremonies; Hon. Schuyler Colfax was the orator of the occasion.

At this meeting the degree of Rebekah was conferred upon some thirty or forty ladies, wives and daughters of the members of the different lodges.

ILLINOIS ENCAMPMENT, NO. 3, was the first of that

degree established in Chicago, and the third camp insti- tuted in the State. The first one was Wildey, No. I, at Alton; the next, No. 2, known as Lebanon Encampment, at Springfield; the third as above, which dates from February, 1845. Its charter members were R. W. Thomas, Arthur Johnston, A. D. Boyce, Sylvester Marsh, N. Sherman, Jr., P. D. Cumings and S. N. Davis. The application for the charter for this Encampment was made in December, 1844, and on the 24th of that month Grand Master William Duane Wilson, of Michigan, secured the warrant to confer degrees and to open Illi- nois Encampment, No. 3. In accordance with this com- mission Grand Master Wilson, assisted by Charles T. Adams, Past Senior Warden of Michigan Encampment. No. 1, came to this city and conferred the -Encampment degrees upon the petitioners, whose names have already been given, and duly instituted the body on the night of February 7, 1845. The ceremonies took place in the hall of Union Lodge, No. 9, and the following officers were installed: N. Sherman, Jr., C. P .; P. D. Cumings, H. P .; R. W. Thomas, S. W .; A. D. Boyce, S .; S. N. Davis, T .; Sylvester Marsh, J. W., and Anthony John- ston, S. The Encampment did not, it appears, thrive as vigorously as its friends had hoped; for three years later, March 20, 1848, for some reason, the members surrendered their charter and it ceased to exist. No (loubt the mistake was made of planting the Encamp- ment too early in a comparatively new field, as the Order itself had only been introduced here in the preceding year. Living but so short a time and dying as it did before the institution of the Grand Encampment in the State, facts concerning its history have been obtained only with great difficulty. A careful search of records here and the records of the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment of the State disclose no facts worthy of note. And it was only from T. A. Ross, Grand Secre- tary of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the United States, that the date of its organization and the names of its charter members were obtained. But notwith- standing the failure to continue the existence of Illinois Encampment, No. 3, it seems that the Odd Fellows were determined to try again; for in August, 1848, the records of the Grand Lodge of the United States show that a charter had been issued for the institution of

CHICAGO ENCAMPMENT, NO. 10, and on the night of September 21, 1848, in the hall of Duane Lodge, No. 11, Patriarch A. L. Jacobus, by the authority vested in him by the Grand Sire, instituted the new encampment. The charter members were F. Scammon, T. H. Ladd, E. A. Rucker, Charles Cumberland, S. N. Davis, N. Sherman, Jr., W. H. Minard, George G. Andrews and Peter A. Lantz. In addition, the following Odd Fel- lows were initiated: C. G. Drake, T. L. Perdue, John Gray, Henry L. Rucker, Moses Kohn, Charles M. Gray, Samuel Rattle, Patrick A. Donahue, Truman Whitcomb and w. A. Eliason. Its first officers were F. Scammon, C. P .; R. H. Foss, H. P .; T. H. Ladd, S. W .; N. Sher- man, J. W .; S. B. Walker, T., and E. A. Rucker, S. The new Encampment being started under more favor- able auspices than the old one, soon attained a perman- ent footing, and is to-day a prosperous and active organ- zation. In concluding this brief chapter, it should be stated that the records of Chicago Encampment were all destroyed in the great fire, and that, previous to this. the records of the Grand Encampment had also suffered a similar fate. Owing to these losses, it has been found a matter of much delay and difficulty to obtain the few facts here given concerning this Encampment. Indeed, it is due to the thoughtful foresight of A. T. Sherman. an old and honored member of the Encampment, who

517

SOCIAL AND TEMPERANCE REFORMS.

took the pains, immediately after the fire, to collect by interviews and from all obtainable records, information concerning its institution and early history, that the information herein given has been obtained.

It is to be regretted that a more detailed history of the Order, in this city, cannot be presented, but it is believed enough has been written to include, in a gen- eral way, the really important facts concerning its insti- tution and subsequent growth; while a history of its workings, in which would be included a discussion of the power and influences of the Order as a social factor, does not properly belong to a work of this character. Of the lodges mentioned, which embrace those estah- lished here during the period included in the present book, all are to-day in a satisfactory condition, and from them have gone out scores of sister lodges whose history will receive appropriate treatment in the pages of another volume.

SOCIAL AND TEMPERANCE REFORMS.

In the primitive state of society; in the embryonic stage of association of pioneer settlement, one of the first wants felt by the individual is that of frequent communion with his fellow-creatures-hence, in very immature settlements are seen the "stag-dance" and "hoe-down ;" in those a little more advanced, the Wa- ba-no. Consequent upon the assembling of the individ- uals of any sparsely settled region must result a discus- sion of the means whereby their opportunities for social and intellectual culture may be increased ; and then, how those vices which militate against the welfare of the little commonalty may be abrogated or destroyed. It goes without saying, that of the latter class, intoxica- tion is the most potent source of evil ; and to those who nullified its possibility of harmful influences in Chi- cago, Captain Heald takes precedence, by the destruc- tion of the liquor in Fort Dearborn, prior to its evacua- tion in 1812. This, however, was but a piece of quasi- philanthropy ; the destruction was only accomplished to preclude the augmentation of rancor and ferocity in the Indian heart. The evils that might arise from its con- sumption by the soldiers were undeserving of the exer- cise of the stratocratic prerogative. But in 1832, Philo Carpenter inaugurated a temperance society in the little coterie of settlers. How largely it was attended, or how many were permanently influenced by its precepts, are unknown facts. No effort, however, but attains some result. Meanwhile the settlers met at their balls and parties, formed reading-circles and debating clubs, and by the ennobling influence of the society of good women, prevented the too great spread of lax habits that are so prevalent in frontier settlements where the majority of the settlers are masculine, and Indians in an uncivilized state as to gcod habits, but in a highly civilized condition as to bad ones, frequent the settle- ment. There were likewise meetings held by various apostles of various denominations, but exactly the power that a church has in social reformation in a new settlement, it is hard to designate ; as a church per se is established by the devotees of that creed, and their presence in the community has made itself felt long before it assumes form as a congregation. Association with the ladies of early Chicago softened the rugged voyageur, ennobled the ferocious half-breed, stifled the half uttered expletive upon the lips of the careless hunter, and made the resident more careful as to his dress, demeanor and habits ; but this casual association was insufficient to check the fatal cvil, intemperance. The first organized secret society that attempted to

thwart the saloon interest was the Independent Order of Rechabites, organized August 20, 1844. It did excellent and efficient work, in alluring the young men from intemperance. This may be esteemed the fruitage of Philo Carpenter's temperance society, and many other societies that succeeded it. Temperance societies divested of the halo of initiations and degrees are not eminently successful in restraining mature persons. Swaddling clothes of blue and red ribbons do not pre- vent the illicit potation ; but the responsibility to a soci- ety that the infringement of the obligation, of which the cordon is an emblem, is a serious deterrent and pre- ventive. The rock upon which temperance reform was built may then be said to be the Rechabite Lodge of 1844. This statement, however, to be literally accurate, should be qualified by stating that the temperance reform of the hereafter was erected upon a basis of 1844, for no tidal wave of prohibitory amendment, or restrictive legislation swept over Chicago anterior to 1857. The temperance reforms of those early days were individual and not general, persuasive in lieu of coercive, appeal- ing instead of mandatory, and possibly none the less effectual because of these characteristics; that the co-operative efforts. that were exerted were successful is proven by history ; for, despite the large element that speculation introduced of lawless, careless charac- ters, drunkenness was not a widely spread vice.

The results that were produced by the efforts of individuals to cultivate their moral and intellectual forces are seen in the Young Men's Association of 1841, and the Mechanic's Institute of February 23, 1842. The amelioration of the dearth of intellectual food produced by the establishment of these Lycea can not be over-estimated, and their moral effect was extremely beneficial in the providing of pure, healthy subjects of thought. Herein lies the secret of moral warfare; fill the mind of youth with good, pure thoughts and resolves and he will be moral; let him be contam- inated by impure association and the result is nearly certain. Repression will not reform him any more than the argumentum ad aquam, used by the fire companies of early Chicago upon the demi-monde, extirpated the social evil. It only caused its abiding place to be more carefully hidden, to avoid similar unpleasant results. These two vices, immorality and intemperance, have kept pace with the growth of the city, but the ratio of increase was impeded by the social and temperance reforms of these times; their particularization is sum- marized about as follows: Social etiquette and the con- ventionalities of polite intercourse were ingrafted by travelers from the outside world and acquired by those who had means and opportunities for travel, and from them the "home-keeping youth " procured his example; but the amenities and purities of home-life, the effort at the cure of intemperance, proceeded from the rectitude of the Chicagoans themselves and to their personal efforts. To their irrepressible desire to do right them- selves and have their neighbor do so likewise, may be ascribed the results that made the Chicago of 1857- notwithstanding its being the Mecca of the speculator and adventurer-the law-abiding and orderly city that it was.

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 144

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340