This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Odd Fellows Origin and Rise in America
A condensed history tracing the Independent Order of Odd Fellows from its English roots in the 18th century to its American independence. It describes key figures like John Pawson Entwistle and Wildey, the move toward a unified Grand Lodge system, civil war-era reunions, and the evolution of ritual and charitable aims within the order. It notes early lodges in Baltimore and New York, the 1843 formal split, and subsequent growth and reforms shaping Odd Fellowship in America.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Independent In Fellows
Odd Fellowship
America
Central Lodge
Titus
Adam
Ori
Bucks
Odd Fellows
Gentleman's Ine
Taree No. 1
James Mery
Sudan
Lodge of Odd Fellows
George IV
Prince of Wales
Fathers of God
Brotherhood of
Victory Lodge
Manchester
England
Kington Lodge No
Baltimore
Shakespeare Lodge No 1
New York City
United States
New England
Massassetts Lodge No. 1
Thomas Fey
London
Old Country
Vohn Welch
Washington Lodge
Grand Lodge
Maryland
John Pawson Entwistle
Wildey
Grand Lodge of
Jerusalem
Grand Tire
Lone Star Lodge No. 1
Texas
London Order of Odd Fellows
Louisiana
Sovereign Grand Lodge
Ridgely
Entwistle
James L. Ridgely
Edwin H. Chapin
James D. McCabe