Monticello Live

At a recent meeting, the discussion turned to the membership of most organizations in Monticello and it was observed that most civic groups’ memberships are held by older citizens. The future of many organizations may become questionable unless more younger people can be recruited and become involved.

Again I was reminded that history repeats itself when I recalled a newspaper article in the December 17, 1907, which listed seven organizations, referred to as lodges, that were hale and hearty 103 years ago in Monticello. Today only two still thrive and the others’ names have been largely forgotten in today’s Drew County.

The term “lodge” may be broadly defined as (1) the meeting place of a fraternal order or (2) the membership of a fraternal organization. It seems that in the late 19th century most insurance companies formed were not interested in selling to the average persons. It began to dawn on the public that anyone could benefit from some type of “protection” against catastrophic events. This realization coupled with a desire and opportunity for social gatherings and meetings led to the emergence of a multitude of many new groups formed for fraternal (brotherly) and benevolent (charitable) purposes as well as life insurance benefits. Many of these were considered lodges.

The oldest lodge in Monticello is/was Eureka Lodge #40, F&AM, more commonly known as the Masons. Although the Masons hold their origin as dating back to the time of the building of King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, Monticello’s lodge was organized November 6, 1850 – 159 years ago! It was, and is, the most active and healthy lodge in the city.

Woodmen of the World is the other remaining “lodge” still prevalent in the county. It was organized in November of 1896 as Cedar Camp, #44. The organization itself began in 1890 in Denver, CO, as a fraternal life insurance company. Many older cemeteries hold Woodmen of the World grave markers.

The second oldest lodge in Monticello was the Knights of Honor. This group began in Kentucky about 1876. The Monticello lodge was organized in 1878. The Knights of Honor was formed as an insurance group that helped provide for the sick and paid death benefits to widows. They differed from many other insurance groups in that those who received their help did not have to belong to the group. They helped any they knew were needy. Unfortunately the parent organization was bankrupt by 1916 and disbanded.

In 1881 another fraternal group organized a chapter in Monticello. This group was the Knights of Pythias. The Knights of Pythias was officially formed in Washington, DC, in 1864 by a man named Justus H. Rathbone and was dedicated to peace among men. It stressed three points – friendship, charity and benevolence. In 1907 Monticello’s lodge was reported to have come through a few “listless” years, but members felt interest in it was reviving. Evidently that feeling didn’t last as it is now part of local history.

A splinter group from the Knights of Honor was known as the Knights and Ladies of Honor and formed in 1877. Monticello’s lodge was founded in 1892 and was one of the city’s most popular and prosperous organizations in 1907. (This is likely because it had male and female members, although many of these other lodges had ladies’ auxiliary groups.) When the Knights of Honor disbanded in 1916, the Knights and Ladies of Honor merged into the North American Union Life Assurance Society.

Earlier I noted that our local Masonic lodge was founded in 1850. Another Masonic lodge was instituted in Monticello in 1905. It was a Royal Arch chapter of the Masons. I am not sure why or when it dissolved leaving only one Masonic lodge in Monticello, but I do know it was still very active in 1947 because of a recent document acquired by the museum.

The youngest lodge organization in Monticello in 1907 was the Knights of the Maccabees. Formed on May 17, 1902, the parent group was also insurance oriented and more concentrated in Michigan. The Monticello lodge formed a ladies’ auxiliary in 1903. In 1941 the Knights of the Maccabees transformed itself into the Michigan Life Assurance Association. In 1962 it became The Maccabees Mutual Life Company.

As you may have realized at this point, most of these 19th century lodge organizations provided opportunities for insurance benefits as well as social gatherings. The development of major insurance companies tolled the death bell for many of these local lodges.

Today Woodmen of the World does provide insurance, but locally, they are better known for their flag presentation programs. The Masons are more recognized locally for their fraternal and benevolent programs, including scholarships and the Shriners’ hospitals. (The Masons have never been involved in insurance, but have always been a fraternal organization that is charitable.)

Now, at the close of the next 100 years, what local organizations do you think may have survived? Will some future history buff wonder, “What were the Rotarians, the Lions Club, the Optimists, the Kiwanians, the hospital auxiliary, the EHCs, the Jaycees, etc?” Some of these newer organizations are already relatively waning or gone.

One hundred years ago most of their social organizations were fraternal, benevolent organizations. Today most may be classified as service groups. Which ones will withstand the “sands of time”?

( The membership rolls of these aforementioned groups contained read like a” Who’s-Who” of Drew County. If you have any more information about any of these defunct groups, please give me a call at 367-6349.)

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 27th, 2011 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Memories from the Museum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.