USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County Indiana (Volume 1) > Part 34
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The first Odd Fellows' lodge in Madison county was instituted at Pendleton on September 11, 1850, as Pendleton Lodge, No. 88. The
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first officers were G. W. Bailey, noble grand; James Beck, vice-grand; W. N. Lummis, secretary ; George Brown, treasurer. For some time the lodge held its meetings in the Masonic hall, where it was organized, but in 1880 the trustees purchased a lot and in January, 1891, the Odd Fellows' hall was dedicated with the customary rites of the order. At the close of the year 1912 this lodge reported 282 members. Harry Stevens was then noble grand and S. B. McKee was secretary.
Anderson Lodge, No. 131, the second in the county, was instituted on April 18, 1853, in the room occupied by the Sons of Temperance in the old courthouse. The first officers were: G. R. Diven, noble grand; R. N. Clark, vice-grand; A. M. Williams secretary; William Wilson, treasurer. Meetings were at first held in the room where the lodge was organized, but in 1854 a room was secured on the third floor of the old
I. O. O. F. BUILDING
United States Hotel, at the southwest corner of Ninth and Main streets. In 1867 an agreement was made with the owner of the lot at the north- west corner of Ninth and Meridian streets, by which the third story of a new building was added by the Odd Fellows for a lodge room. This hall was destroyed by the great fire of May 17, 1875, but was rebuilt. When the Presbyterians built their new church the old one at the southeast corner of Ninth and Jackson streets was purchased by the Odd Fellows. The building was remodeled, a new front added, and here the lodge has one of the most comfortable and best arranged fra- ternal buildings in the state. The lodge now numbers about five hun- dred members. In the grand lodge report for 1912 the name of Brice Dille appears as noble grand and C. W. Benbow as secretary.
The next Odd Fellows' lodge to be established in the county was Quincy Lodge, No. 200, which was instituted at Elwood (then Quincy) on July 30, 1858, with twelve charter members and the following officers :
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Culpepper Lee, noble grand; John B. Frazier, vice-grand; B. T. Call- away, secretary ; Mark Simmons, treasurer. This lodge now has a mem- bership of about four hundred and owns one of the best halls in the county. Roy F. Mossy was noble grand and Ephraim Remmel was sec- retary at the end of the year 1912.
Perkinsville Lodge, No. 207, was instituted on May 18, 1859. A comfortable hall was later acquired by the lodge and meetings were held regularly on Tuesday evening of each week for a number of years. Then a decline set in. Some of the members moved away, others died, and about 1885 the lodge surrendered its charter.
On November 21, 1860, Necessity Lodge, No. 222, was instituted at Alexandria with ten charter members and the following officers: Cy- renius Free, noble grand; John Heagy, vice-grand; R. H. Cree, secre- tary ; S. B. Harriman, treasurer. The lodge now owns a substantial three story brick building on West Church street and has about 240 members. Michael Furst was noble grand and I. S. Kelly secretary when the last grand lodge report was issued in 1912. This is the only fraternal society in Madison county that owns a cemetery, an account of which may be found in the preceding chapter.
An Odd Fellows' lodge was instituted at Fishersburg in the spring of 1875 with eight charter members, A. J. Fisher, noble grand; H. G. Fisher, vice-grand; George Dunham, secretary. Five years later the lodge numbered thirteen members, but it never prospered and after struggling along for a few years more it surrendered its charter.
Summitville Lodge, No. 475, was organized on December 14, 1875, with fifteen charter members. S. Fenimore was the first noble grand, Thomas J. Clark, vice-grand; L. S. Williams, secretary; E. Runyan, treasurer. In 1892 a building was erected by the lodge, which now numbers nearly 150 members. At the close of the year 1912 Lemuel Dickerson was noble grand and A. F. Kaufman was secretary.
Other Odd Fellows' lodges in the county, with the membership and principal officers at the close of the year 1912, were Frankton, No. 711, John Hartley, noble grand, Dolph Meltzer, secretary, 109 members; Gilman, No. 745, William E. Smith, noble grand, J. M. Morgan, secre- tary, 54 members; Active (located at Anderson), No. 746, A. J. Dowe, noble grand, H. F. Wright, secretary, 260 members; Chesterfield, No. 786, R. C. Hall, noble grand, J. M. Heath, secretary, 68 members; Linwood, No. 793, H. C. Warren, noble grand, R. S. Thompson, sec- retary, 97 members: Lapel, No. 805, Albert Russell, noble grand, Perley Schultz, secretary, 106 members. All these lodges are in good condition and some of them own their own buildings. In connection with each lodge, except the one at Gilman, has been organized a lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah, a society to which the wives and daughters of Odd Fellows are eligible.
Sinai Encampment, No. 54, located at Pendleton, was organized on March 12, 1857, and is the oldest encampment in the county. On May 21, 1867, Star Encampment, No. 84, was instituted at Anderson. Since then the following encampments have been established in the county. Elwood, No. 168; Alexandria, No. 212; Frankton, No. 271; Gilman, No. 322; Activity (at Anderson), No. 331; Lapel, No. 335.
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Within the Odd Fellows is a uniformed organization known as the Patriarchs Militant, the local branches of which are called cantons. Three cantons have been organized in Madison county, viz: Anderson, No. 3; Elwood, No. 33; and one at Alexandria. Anderson Canton was organized in 1883 by Dr. Horace E. Jones, who drilled them so thor- oughly that in a contest at Indianapolis in May, 1884, on the old state fair grounds, they easily won first prize. Upon their return to Ander- son the members of the drill team were given a banquet at the Doxey House. A band composed of members of the order accompanied the canton to Columbus, Ohio, at a later date, and here the drill team again won first prize and the band, under the leadership of Dallas K. Elliott, one of the best cornet players in the country, was awarded a medal. In 1886 the canton again took third prize at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Elwood Canton had for a drill master Captain Nett Nuzum, under whose instruction the drill team became so efficient that it won several prizes in the latter '80s. In September, 1891, at St. Louis, Missouri, Captain Nuzum entered his team into a competitive drill contest with the leading cantons of the country and carried off first honors.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
On February 15, 1864, Justus H. Rathbone, Robert A. Champion, William H. and David L. Burnett, and Edward S. Kimball, five govern- ment clerks at Washington, D. C., met and listened to the ritual of a new secret order that had been prepared by Mr. Rathbone. As the basis of the ritual was the friendship of Damon and Pythias, the new order was named the Knights of Pythias and on February 19, 1864, Washing- ton Lodge, No. 1, was formally organized. A few weeks later Franklin Lodge, No. 2, was instituted, and early in April the grand lodge was organized at Washington. Just at that time the country was in the throes of civil war and the order made slow progress. On May 1, 1866, Franklin Lodge was the only one in existence. It was used as a nucleus, around which the organization was strengthened, new lodges multiplied and on August 5, 1870, the supreme lodge was incorporated by act of congress. Since then the order has prospered and has been extended into every state in the union, as well as to foreign lands.
The first Knights of Pythias lodge in Madison county was . Ander- son Lodge, No. 106, which was instituted on January 19, 1883, with twenty-one charter members. On November 23, 1894, this lodge dedi- cated a hall on the third floor of the Donnelly block on Meridian street between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, the third story of that building being owned by the lodge. According to the last available report of the grand lodge, Anderson Lodge had 188 members at the end of the year 1912, when F. E. Neal was chancellor commander and W. A. Boyden was keeper of the records and seal. The regular meetings of this lodge are held on Tuesday evening of each week.
Elwood Lodge, No. 166, the second in the county, was instituted on March 31, 1887. It is now the strongest and wealthiest lodge in the county, having a membership of nearly four hundred and owning real estate valued at $18,000. Regular meetings are held on Wednesday
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evenings. John W. Grimes, of this lodge, was the deputy grand chan- cellor in 1912 for the Tenth district, composed of the counties of Hamil- ton, Tipton, Madison and Delaware. At the same time Claude Wright was chancellor commander of the lodge and L. M. Gross was keeper of the records and seal.
Sicilian Lodge, No. 234, located at Pendleton, was organized on December 19, 1889. It now has a membership of about 225 and owns real estate valued at $10,000. The lodge meets every Tuesday evening.
Frankton Lodge, No. 315, was instituted on April 30, 1891, and now has over one hundred and fifty members. It owns real estate valued at $1,800 and is in a prosperous condition. Regular meetings are held on Thursday evenings.
Alexandria Lodge, No. 335, was instituted on December 3, 1891, and now owns real estate worth $4,000. The membership is about two hundred and fifty and the regular meeting night is Tuesday of each week. In the last grand lodge report the name of Will F. Schmitz ap- pears as chancellor commander and that of W. C. Stewart as keeper of the records and seal. In 1912 Blaine H. Ball of this lodge was a member of the grand lodge committee on constitution and by-laws.
On May 5, 1892, Gas Belt Lodge, No. 362, was instituted at Summit- ville. It now has about one hundred and seventy members and owns real estate valued at $2,100. Wednesday evening of each week is the time for regular meetings. Ludie Warner was chancellor commander at the close of 1912, and R. B. Givens was keeper of the records and seal.
Lapel Lodge, No. 386, was instituted on April 6, 1893, and now has about one hundred and twenty-five members. Regular meetings are held on Monday evenings.
Banner Lodge, No. 416, located at Anderson, was instituted on April 17, 1895, with eighty charter members, many of whom had withdrawn from Anderson Lodge for the purpose of organizing a new one. In 1912 the lodge reported 231 members and is constantly adding new ones to the list. Its regular meeting night is Thursday. J. C. Shuman was chancellor commander and A. L. Jacobs was keeper of the records and seal when the last grand lodge report was issued.
Orestes Lodge, No. 471, and Markleville Lodge, No. 479, are the two youngest lodges in the county. The former was instituted on May 29, 1899, and the latter on February 16, 1900. Orestes Lodge owns real estate valued at $1,800 and has about eighty members. It meets every Thursday evening. Markleville Lodge has over fifty members and owns real estate worth $500. Friday evening of each week is the time for holding regular meetings.
The lodges at Pendleton, Anderson and Elwood have companies of the Uniform Rank, and in connection with all the principal lodges are temples of the Pythian Sisters, the ladies' degree of the order. The oldest and strongest of these temples are the ones at Anderson, Elwood and Alexandria.
IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN
This order claims an unbroken succession from the Sons of Liberty, a patriotic order at the time of the American Revolution. It was mem- Vol. I-18
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MAJOR MAY POST No. 244, G. A. R.
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bers of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Indians, who destroyed the tea rather than pay the unjust tax, and this incident was made use of when the Improved Order of Red Men was reorganized at Baltimore in 1835. The local lodges or societies are called tribes and the principal officers of the tribe bear Indian titles, such as sachem, prophet and sagamore. There are three degrees-Adoption, Warrior and Chief-for the men, and a degree called the Daughters of Pocahontas for the wives, daugh- ters and sisters of the male members. There are also a uniformed rank and a subordinate degree called the Haymakers. During the decade ending in 1910 the order paid out in the United States over $6,000,000 for relief, burial expenses and the support of widows and orphans.
The first society of this order to be organized in Madison county was Ononga Tribe, No. 50, which was instituted at Anderson in 1874. For about three years its growth was slow and then a large number of members came in. Two other tribes were later organized from Ononga, viz .: Mingo and Kamala. The former was instituted on October 19, 1892, but has been discontinued, the members uniting with the other tribes. Kamala Tribe, No. 157, was instituted on October 18, 1893. Both Ononga and Kamala tribes are in flourishing condition and are two of the strongest fraternal societies in Anderson. Each has an organization of Haymakers.
After the organization of Ononga Tribe at Anderson, the next to be established was Mashingomisha Tribe, No. 110, at Alexandria. This tribe meets every Friday evening and the Mashingomisha Haymakers on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
Seneca Tribe, No. 113, located at Elwood, was the next organization of Red Men in the county. This tribe owns a handsome building and is one of the strongest tribes financially in Madison county. Regular meetings are held on Tuesday evenings and the Seneca Haymakers hold meetings on Friday evenings.
Oconee Tribe, No. 159, was instituted at Pendleton on November 26, 1892. Meetings are held every Wednesday evening. Subsequently the Oconee Haymakers were organized and they hold meetings on alternate Monday evenings.
Neoskaleta Tribe, No. 149, was organized at Summitville in the sum- mer of 1892, and Onaway Tribe, located at Lapel, was instituted about the same time. Both these tribes are in prosperous condition.
The councils of the Daughters of Pocahontas in the county are as follows: Wyoming, No. 49, at Elwood; Oconee, No. 78, at Pendleton; Tahoma, No. 82, at Anderson; Kamala, No. 124, at Anderson; and Winona, No. 143, at Alexandria.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
The Grand Army of the Republic is an organization of volunteer soldiers who served in the war of 1861-65. It was founded soon after the close of the war, but for the first fifteen years of its existence was of rather slow growth. About 1880 there came a revival and during the next decade the order spread to every state in the union. The pur- poses of the order are to collect and preserve war relics and records,
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maintain fraternal relations, and assist needy comrades. The local organizations are called posts. The strongest post in Madison county, though not the oldest, is Major May Post, No. 244, at Anderson. It was organized on September 18, 1883, with seventy-one charter members. For several years it met in various halls about the city, but in 1895 arrangements were made with Major Charles T. Doxey to provide a permanent home in a building at the northwest corner of Ninth street and Central avenue. This hall was completed in May, 1896, and the post met there for some time. It now has quarters in a room in the courthouse basement. The present membership is about 150. A few years ago an Anderson photographer (Mr. Clark) made pictures of nearly all the members of this post and arranged them in a group, which is here presented that the reader may see the type of men Madison county furnished to the country's defenders in 1861.
Beginning at the upper left hand corner and reading from left to right, the members of this post are as follows :
Top Row-William A. Kindle, John Madison, Cornelius Moore, J. A. Mahan, A. H. Workman, William L. Jones, John F. W. Meyers, C. C. Johnson, Slavin Graham, Adam Fath, John Cather, George T. Pen- niston, Henry Clark, H. J. Stein, Vincent Carroll, C. P. G. Austin.
Second Row-D. P. Maynard, M. L. Patton, A. J .. Applegate, W. H. H. Quick, M. G. Watkins, Jacob Harter, John S. Handy, William F. Branson, John H. Harrison, John W. Cherington, John B. Swart, Joshua Kirk, Noah H. Randall, Alfred Brown, James Murphey.
Third Row-John S. Steel, Dempsy Waggy, George Nichol, Jacob Koehler, John H. Terhune, George Mathes, James L. Webb, James Clark, Enoch Alexander, E. L. Pickering, Theodore Zion, D. F. Mus- tard, William Hubbard, John W. Goff, H. E. Jones, James W. Streets.
Fourth Row-D. A. Taylor, William A. Craven, Robert P. Brickley, George W. Hackleman, Isaac Foland, Jacob Ellis, John Reynolds, Elias Falknor, William Mahoney, James Redd, Stephen Metcalf, Samuel Mc- Nutt, William B. Miller, E. W. Clifford, Henry Kessler.
Fifth Row-William Keiser, Samuel Hicks, John C. Knight, Joseph Poor, Jonas Stewart, William Callahan, Jesse Forkner, Alansing Lamaster, Henry T. Denius; Moses C. White, Melville B. Cox, Peter B. Millspaugh, Samuel Todd, Jacob Mays, Samuel Longnecker, Daniel Stewart.
Sixth Row-Samuel Van Pelt, Thomas L. Brooks, William Layton, C. S. Fifer, John Baker, Robert Dorste, William W. Clifford, Robert B. Mason, B. B. Campbell, Henry Mitchell, Hiram H. Palmer, George W. Shreeve, Joseph Brown, William Venemon, John A. Cook.
Seventh Row-Thomas Foland, James Gwinn, John Umensetter, Stephen Price, James Kenroy, W. T. Durbin, Henry C. Durbin, H. H. Durbin, Ezra Iler, John P. Parson, John Hoover, George E. Springer, John A. Gains, Samuel C. Miller, Abner G. Clark, John Titherington.
Eighth Row-O. L. Shaul, John McCurley, D. B. Davis, John Run- yan, James T. Knowland, A. I. Makepeace, Isaac Wood, L. D. Crawley, B. H. Perse, Joseph R. Cravens, Thomas Talmage, James G. Jeffers, W. B. Carroll, Henry Vinyard, E. R. Cheney.
Ninth Row-A. L. Ethel, Daniels Rhoads, John W. Lovett, John
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Besom, Warren L. Coots, F. M. Van Pelt, S. G. Bevelheimer, Edmund Johnson, Jerome J. Musser, Gambrel Little, John F. Wilson, George F. Ethel, Thomas Paxton, George W. Lawson, William L. Lundy, W. R. Myers.
Tenth Row-John W. Riley, Samuel Wolf, J. B. Howard, J. C. Mathews, John Turner, John F. Thompson, Samuel A. Towell, Pennell M. Keepers, Henry Ray, Carl Bronnenberg, Joseph A. Studebaker, John J. Muldown, Lafe J. Burr, John Featherstone, Amos McGuire.
This post was named in honor of Isaac M. May, who was mustered into the volunteer service of the United States on July 29, 1861, as captain of Company A, Nineteenth Indiana Infantry, was promoted to major of the regiment and was killed at the battle of Gainesville, Vir-
LIVING FLAG
ginia, August 28, 1862. In connection with the post is the Women's Relief Corps, No. 70, which was organized in 1887, and which meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.
Elwood Post, No. 61, was one of the first to be organized in this section of the state. It was at one time also one of the strongest, but the scythe of time has cut down many of the old veterans comprising its membership. Meetings of this post are held on alternate Saturday afternoons. Elwood Women's Relief Corps, No. 117, meets on alternate Monday afternoons.
Major Henry Post, No. 230, located at Pendleton, was organized on August 28, 1883, and was named in honor of Major Samuel Henry, who entered the service as captain of Company B, Eighty-ninth Indiana
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Infantry, in August, 1862, and was murdered in cold blood by guer- rillas near Greenton, Missouri, November 1, 1864.
Lew Taylor Post, No. 243, at Alexandria, was established in the summer of 1883. Its meetings are held on the second and fourth Tues- days of each month, in the afternoon, and the Alexandria Women's Relief Corps, No. 200, meets on alternate Thursdays.
Hiram G. Fisher Post, located at Lapel, was named in honor of a Madison county boy who was commissioned captain of the Fishersburg Union Guards in the summer of 1861 and later entered the volunteer service as first lieutenant of Company E, Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry.
One of the most notable events in the history of Anderson was the entertainment of the state encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic in May, 1903, when the citizens of the city expended over $7,000 in caring for members of this patriotic order. A feature of the encampment was a living flag, composed of Anderson school children, placed upon an inclined scaffolding reaching from the sidewalk to the roof of the courthouse and facing on Eighth street. The idea originated with Captain Jerome J. Musser, of Major May Post, who had charge of the erection of the scaffolding, and the children who participated in forming the national colors were under the guidance of Prof. John W. Carr, then superintendent of the Anderson public schools. No other city in Indiana has ever attempted to rival this demonstration and at each subsequent state encampment the "living flag of Anderson" has been a topic for conversation.
The order known as the Sons of Veterans is represented in Madison county by R. L. Leeson Camp, No. 305, at Elwood, and J. P. Condo Camp, No. 364, at Alexandria. Major Doxey Camp was organized at Anderson some years ago, but it has lapsed into a state of inactivity.
LOYAL ORDER OF MOOSE
This order was first established at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1888, and for a few years enjoyed a fair growth, reaching a total of thirty lodges and a membership of five thousand. Then came a decline and in 1907 there were but three lodges and less than three hundred members. About that time James J. Davis, of Anderson, undertook the work of reorganizing and building up the order. He associated with him Rod- ney H. Brandon, then the presiding officer of Anderson Lodge, No. 1, the first to be instituted under the new regime. In 1908 Mr. Brandon was elected supreme secretary and the offices of the supreme lodge were removed to Anderson. On September 30, 1913, the order showed a total of 1,425 subordinate lodges, with a total membership of over five hundred thousand. Recently the supreme lodge has purchased one thousand acres of fine land near Aurora, Illinois, where the order is erecting a vocational school for the children of members and a home for dependents, both young and old. The two Moose lodges in Madison county are located at Anderson and Elwood.
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THE ELKS
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks had its foundation in a club organized in New York soon after the close of the Civil war, when a number of "good fellows" were in the habit of meeting at some suitable place to beguile the evening with singing songs, telling stories, etc. At first the club, the plan of which was originated by a young Englishman named Charles S. Vivian, was known as the "Jolly Corks." By 1868 the membership had increased to such proportions that it was decided to establish a secret order. A committee was appointed to select a name. Upon visiting Barnum's museum the committee saw an elk and learned something of the animal's habits, which inspired them to select the name of Elks for the new society. The motto of the order is: "The faults of our brethren we write upon the sands; their virtues upon the
ELKS' HOME, ANDERSON
tablets of love and memory." As there is no state grand lodge, the work of obtaining information concerning the individual lodges is some- what difficult.
Anderson Lodge, No. 209, was instituted on June 30, 1891, with thirty-one charter members, in the Odd Fellows' hall, and the ceremony of institution was followed by a banquet at the Doxey Music hall. The lodge now owns an equity in the building at the northwest corner of Main and Eleventh streets, where the members have well appointed club and lodge rooms on the third floor. From the membership of Anderson Lodge have been formed Elwood Lodge, No. 368. and Alex- andria Lodge, No. 478. The former has club rooms in the second story of the building formerly occupied by the First National Bank, and the latter has its headquarters in the Alexandria Opera House building. All three of the Madison county lodges are in prosperous condition.
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MISCELLANEOUS
There are in the county several orders represented in the principal cities and towns, of which it was impossible to get detailed information. So far as possible a list of these lodges is given below, together with any historical information that could be procured.
Pendleton Grove, No. 20, United Ancient Order of Druids, was organized on April 5, 1895. A grove or lodge of this order was organ- ized at Anderson on July 22, 1896, but after a short existence it sur- rendered its charter. Subsequently it was revived as Progress Grove, No. 27, and is now in fairly prosperous shape.
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