Special Collections: Guide to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Rockland Records

Collection title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Knox Lodge No. 29 (Rockland, Me.). Records
Collection number:  MS 1488
Dates of collection: 1884-1983
Size of collection: 1 box (12 folders)
Restrictions on access and use: Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval

History

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is a fraternal organization founded in Britain in the 1700s and organized to give aid to those in need without receiving recognition for having done so. It was established in the United States in 1819 when Thomas Wildey and others founded a lodge in Baltimore. It also has a ladies’ auxiliary known as the Daughters of Rebekah. The first lodge in Maine was founded in Portland in 1843. The foundation date of the Rockland, Maine, lodge is not known but it was in existence by 1877.

There are various levels of membership and degrees within the Odd Fellows: the subordinate lodge assigned to new members, the Encampment, and the highest branch, the Patriarchs Militant. In Rockland these were called Knox Lodge No. 29, Rockland Encampment No. 36, and the Patriarchs Militant Canton Lafayette No. 18. The ladies’ auxiliary in Rockland was called Miriam Rebekah Lodge No. 33.

Scope and Content Note

The collection includes records from the subordinate lodge, the encampment and the canton of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Rockland, Maine, as well as a folder of records of the ladies’ auxiliary, the Miriam Rebekah Lodge.

Most of the records are from the subordinate lodge, Knox Lodge No. 29, and include applications for membership, general correspondence, correspondence about sickness and funeral benefits, financial records, and copies of proclamations issued by the national and state lodges.

Records of the Rockland Encampment No. 36 are also found in the collection and include applications for membership, correspondence and copies of invoices.

There is also a small amount of information from both the Patriarchs Militant Canton Lafayette No. 18 and the Miriam Rebekah Lodge No. 33.

Contents of Box

Box 1

Folder

Knox Lodge No. 29

1 Applications for membership, degrees, 1913-1981

2 Correspondence, 1884-1976

3-4 Correspondence re sickness and benefits, 1886-1943

5 Proclamations, etc., 1909-1970

6 Financial records, receipts, etc., 1894-1983

7 Miscellaneous

Rockland Encampment No. 36

8 Applications for membership, 1922-1976

9 Correspondence, 1916-1936, 1975

10 Financial records, receipts, etc., 1930-1976

Patriarchs Militant Canton Lafayette No. 18

11 Proclamations, etc., 1928-1940

Miriam Rebekah Lodge No. 33

12 Bills, etc., 1915-1937

 

Finding Aids for selected manuscript collections in the Special Collections Department at Fogler Library are accessible online in URSUS, in a browsable Guide to Manuscript Collections. Please contact Special Collections at spc@umit.maine.edu or (207) 581-1686 for further information.

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Special Collections Staff: spc@umit.maine.edu | Revised: 01/16/2013