List of North American fraternal orders

This is a list of North American fraternal orders. Ethnic- and religious-oriented fraternal orders have their list.

A

American Benefit Society of New York – Headquartered in White Plains, New York. Had 939 members at the end of 1922.Preuss p.11 American Benefit Society – Incorporated in late 1893 in Massachusetts. Open to socially acceptable men and women ages 18–45 who believed in a supreme being, and able to earn a livelihood. The organization would not enter any but the "more healthful regions of the northern States" and was particularly concentrated in New England. There were 5,000 members in the late 1890s.Stevens p.122 In 1923 it had 1,300 benefit members in 44 lodges. The supreme lodge was located at 1147 Tremont Building, BostonPreuss p.11 Members could skip the initiation ritual if they desired.Stevens p.122 There were no secret features.Preuss p.11 Offered death and sick benefits on an assessment plan.Preuss p.11 Disbanded by 1931.Schmidt p.33 American Benevolent Association – Founded in 1894 in St. Louis. Open to men 14–65 and women 14–55. there were 12,000 members in the late 1890s, spread out across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Iowas, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. There was only one degree, the ritual of which was "dignified and impressive." The emblems of the order emphasized "[e]quality for men and women, faith, hope and benevolence." Offered accident, sickness, and total disability insurance.Stevens p.197 Apparently disbanded by the early 1920s.Preuss p.11 American Benevolent Legion – Founded in the mid-1890s in San Francisco.Stevens p.197 Disbanded by the early 1920s.Preuss p.11 American Fraternal Insurance Union – Founded the mid-1890s in Batavia, New York. Open to men and women. Had lodges throughout western NY State, admitted men and women.Stevens pp.122-3 American Fraternal League – Merged in the North American Union in 1905.Fraternal Monitor December 1920 Vol. XXIX #6 p.19 American Home Watchmen – Founded in 1909 in Pennsylvania by the Rev. Moore Sanborn, DD, a Presbyterian minister. Open to white persons ages 16–60 who believed in a supreme being. There were 2,000 members in 1923, all of them in Western Pennsylvania. Locals called Forts, "Supreme Fort" located at 65 Chalfont Avenue, West View, Pittsburgh. Worked two degrees, Watchman and Scout. Ritual emphasized the three Hs Honor, Hope, and Health. Published a journal called The Scout. Its constitution pledged it to "improve its members socially, morally and intellectually, giving all the moral and material aid in its power to members and their dependents". This included sick and death benefits, as well as a plan for a home for aged or invalid members and their dependents.Preuss p.19 American Insurance Union American Legion of Honor American Order of Druids – Founded in Fall River, Massachusetts May 17, 1888, by William Pearson and William A. Dunn. Among the founders were members of the Grand United Order of Druids, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the United Order of Pilgrim Fathers. Membership was open to men and women in the New England states. There were 2,300 members in the late 1890s. The first Council was held on July 9, 1888. Paid sick and death benefits.Stevens p.123 Apparently defunct by the early 1920s.Preuss p.25 American Order of the Square – Founded in 1921 in Rochester, New York. The "superintendent of the organization" was John A. J. Papineau. Claimed to be non-sectarian and non-secret. A "patriotic, protective and philanthropic order" which also paid sick benefits.Preuss p.26 American Stars of Equity – Founded in 1903 in Illinois. Open to both sexes.Axelrod p.9 Had 1,295 members in 1905. Headquarters in Freeport, Illinois. Provided accident, partial disability, and total disability benefits. Disbanded between 1910 and 1915.Schmidt p.39 Merged in the North American Union in 1913.Fraternal Monitor December 1920 Vol. XXIX #6 p.19 American Woodmen – Organized in 1901. Admitted men and women. Had 51,906 members in 525 lodges. Head office in the Arapaho Building, Denver, Colorado.Preuss p.33 American Workmen – Founded in 1908 in the District of Columbia. Open to men and women. In 1923 it had 14,629 members in 208 lodges in the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Kansas. Headquarters at 716 Eleventh Street, Washington, DC. Published The American Workmen. Worked six degrees, First, Second, Third, Sixth, tenth, and Honor, each with distinctive "degree buttons". Had a secret ritual. Offered burial, sick, old age, and accident benefits.Preuss pp.33-4 Ancient and Illustrious Order of the Star of Bethlehem – Had an elaborate pseudohistory which stated that the order was founded in the first century AD and connected the order, inter alia, with the Knights Templar, the Waldensians, the Bethlehemites, the Spanish Inquisition, St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and Giles Corey. The English-based order was permanently established in the United States in 1869 by Albert Gross of Newcastle upon Tyne. At this point, the organization was known as the Knights of the Star of Bethlehem. The Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania was instituted in 1870 and the Eminent Grand Commandery of North America in 1871. The order prospered for a while but membership declined between 18778 and 1884 and the organization was reorganized under the above name. Membership was open to acceptable men and women over the ages of 18 and 16 respectively. In the late 1890s, the order reportedly had more than 17,000 members in 19 statesStevens p.182 In 1923 the order still had 17,000 members, in 250 lodges in the US and the Canal Zone, with 20 lodges in the British West Indies. Headquarters at 5004 Cass Ave. Detroit.Preuss p.36 In addition to the Eminent Grand Commandery the reorganized bodies of the order included the Grand Council, Uniformed Conclaves, and Subordinate Lodges. Paid sick, accident, disability, and death benefits. Also endeavored to solve disputes between members by arbitration, procure employment and "defend the life, limb, and reputation of its members from unjust assault".Stevens p.182 Published The Fraternal Index.Preuss p.36 Ancient Order of Gleaners Ancient Order of Knights of Jerusalem – "One of the smaller fraternal benefit associations, paying death and funeral benefits." Its headquarters was in Washington, D.C., and it had a female auxiliary called the Ancient Order of the Daughters of Jerusalem.Stevens p.229 It was defunct by the early 1920s.Preuss p.44 Ancient Order of Pyramids – Founded in June 1895 in Topeka, Kansas. Admitted men and women. In 1904 had a benefit membership of 13,207 and a social membership of 2,800 in 243 subordinate lodges operating in Kansas, Missouri, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Illinois, Colorado, and South Dakota. By 1904 the "Office of the Supreme Lodge" was in at the Gibraltar Building in Kansas City, Missouri. Officers included the Royal Prophet and the Royal Scribe.Stevens p.128Statistics, Fraternal Societies, 1904 pp.20-1 Was defunct by the early 1920s.Preuss p.46 Ancient Order of Sanhedrims – Founded April 1, 1895, in Richmond, Indiana (other sources say VirginiaPreuss p.46) by W. S. Iliff and Franklin Van Nuys. It was open to men of good moral character, sound physically, and already a member in good standing in a secret society. It was a splinter group of the "Orientals" (other sources use the name Ancient Order of the Knights of the OrientPreuss p.46), a side degree of the Knights of Pythias.Stevens p.229 Ancient Order of United Workmen Arctic Brotherhood – Founded in Skagway, Alaska in 1899 following the arrival of the Ocean Steamer "City of Seattle." The founding membership roster boasted 11 members but soon swelled to more than 300 as the roots of The Brotherhood spread amongst the miners readying themselves for the trip up and over the Chilkoot Pass en route to the Klondike gold fields. The lodge provided health and death insurance for its members and generally improved the educational and social conditions of the booming mining camps. Its original Lodge #1 building currently serves as home of the Skagway Convention & Visitors Bureau. Artisans Order of Mutual Protection Atlantic Self-Endowment Association – Founded in 1886 in Greenville, South Carolina. Insured the lives of its members by mutual assessments. Reported defunct in the late 1890s.Stevens p.130

B

Big Four Fraternal Life Association – Denver-based fraternal benefit society. Reported active in the late 1890s.Stevens p.130 The order was apparently defunct by the early 1920s.Preuss p.66 Brotherhood of America – Founded in 1890 in Philadelphia. Admitted men and women. In 1923 it had 3,176 benefit members and 11,000 social members in 138 lodges across Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. The organization's leader was titled "Supreme Washington". The governing body was called the "Supreme Circle" and was based at 2208 Frankfort Avenue, Philadelphia.Preuss pp.73-4 Merged with Maccabees in 1935.Axelrod p.10 Brotherhood of American Workmen – Active at least as of 1905, it was concerned with offering affordable insurance to working men. There was also a funeral ceremony.Preuss p.74 Brotherhood of American Yeomen – Founded in 1897. Membership open to men and women.Preuss pp.74-5 Membership stood at 26,203 in 1908 and 43,212 in 1917.Fraternal Monitor January 1922 Vol.XXXII #6 p.19 In 1923 it had 208,782 benefit members, 7,607 social members, and 3,191 lodges or "Homesteads". The Juvenile Department had 5,607 members. The B.A.Y was spread across the United States and into parts of Canada.Preuss pp.74-5 The supreme office was known as the "Castle". Officers included the "Grand Foreman", "Grand Master", "Chief Correspondent" and "Grand Master of Accounts"Preuss p.75 The highest governing body was the "Supreme Conclave."Fraternal Monitor January 1922 Vol.XXXII #6 p.19 Published a periodical called The Yeoman Shield.Preuss p.75 Ritual based on Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. It also stated that chivalry and yeomanry were synonymous and that the English language and Magna Carta were the two most important accomplishments of man.Preuss pp.74-5 It became the American Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1932.Axelrod p.269

C

Chevaliers of Pythias – Founded in Boston in 1888 as a charitable and benevolent society with optional sick and death benefits. Defunct by the late 1890s.Stevens pp. 230-1 Christian Burden Bearers Association – Established in 1885. In 1923 it had 819 members. Headquartered at 886 Elm Street, Manchester, New Hampshire.Preuss p.89 Church Fraternal – Merged in the North American Union in 1913.Fraternal Monitor December 1920 Vol. XXIX #6 p.19 Columbian Circle – Founded in 1895. Open to men and women. Had 20,494 members in 365 lodges and had 638 members in the Juvenile Department. It operated in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia. The supreme conclave was at 69 West Washington Street, Chicago.Preuss pp.92-3 It agreed to merge with Catholic Knights and Ladies of America in November 1918, after it was found that the latter group could not successfully adapt the American Experience Table.Fraternal Monitor January 1919 Vol. XXIX #6 p.9 However, the merger could only go through in the summer of 1919 after the legislature legalized mergers.Fraternal Monitor July 1919 Vol. XXIX #12 p.24 Columbian Fraternal Association – Founded in 1910. Had 6,790 members in 102 lodges in 1923. Headquarters at 509 7th Street, Washington, D.C.Preuss p.94