Odd Fellows Not So Odd

 Is it “odd” to want to help other people when they are in need? Or, was it “odd” to pursue projects for the betterment of mankind? People in 1730 in London, England thought so. So, when the original group was called “odd” they decided they were proud to be odd and hence they officially took the name: Odd Fellows.

 A fellow from Maryland began the organization of Odd Fellows in America. Thomas Wildey and four members of the Order from England instituted Washington Lodge No. 1 and received its charter from Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows in England in 1819.

 My first awareness of the Odd Fellows happened when two of my sisters and I went to visit the graves of our grandparents and great grandparents. I noticed the graveyards were “Odd Fellow” cemeteries.

 We were excited to visit graves of our ancestors. We discovered the beautiful grave sculpture devoted to our long-ago cousins, three beautiful girls who died within a year of each other from cholera. We found the grave of our War of 1812 soldier (whose own father fought in the American Revolution) and the grave of our Civil War soldier, who had died of starvation shortly after his release in 1865 from Andersonville prison following the Civil War. He was 28 years old. My great grandfather (a favorite of mine), who died at the ripe old age of 92 in 1955, is there, too. So are my grandparents who were not just Odd Fellow members but were Masons/Eastern Star members.

 As a result of this excursion, I have found that cemeteries are the keepers of our history.

 The Odd Fellows and their female counterparts the Rebekahs were the first organizations to establish homes for widows and orphaned children. And with the different fevers (now Covid, then the plague) and the wars being fought, there were many of them. Another important responsibility they took upon themselves was to bury the dead; hence, many cemeteries in the world have been created by the Odd Fellows.

 Since 1730 the fraternity has remained religiously and politically independent. The Independent Order of the Odd Fellows (IOOF) is one of the earliest fraternal societies. Odd Fellowship is non-partisan, non-sectarian, and welcoming of all people without regard to religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin. They believe in improving the quality of people’s lives through friendship, care and charitable support.

 Current status: The IOOF continues in the 21st century with lodges around the world, and is claimed to be the “largest united international fraternal order in the world under one head,” with every lodge working with the Sovereign Grand Lodge located in the United States.

 Their Creed – Odd Fellows believe in the universal brotherhood of Man and the fatherhood of God. Odd Fellowship is non-partisan, non-sectarian, and welcoming of all people without regard to religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin.

One tidbit: There are “Skeletons in their Closets.” Part of their initiation involved coming face-to-face with a skeleton. It is a symbol of mortality for the order. There are skeletons in the former homes of Odd Fellows all over America. The practice of using skeletons for their initiation no longer occurs.