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| CRYSTAL LAKE I00F LODGE HALL. Built in the 1870s, the Post Mills Odd Fellows Hall house lodge activities as well as many community events. It still stands in the middle of that village. |
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| GOLDEN AGE OF FRATERNALISM. During the period from 1860 to 1920s, male-only groups such as the one pictured above med in lodges throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. While their ceremonies and regalia varied, they offered men opportunities for fellowship and civil involvement. |
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| This well-worn 1894 honors Thomas Widley, the founder of the first Lodge of American Odd Fellows, Baltimore, April 1819. A British emigrant, Widley brought the order from England to America. Surrounding his portrait are the symbols and activities of the order arrayed in a complicated mosaic. |
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| Bradford lodge of the Knights of the Golden Eagle met for a few years following their establishment in 1898. Next to their banner is the stamp of the Improved Order of Red Men which met locally for a short time. July 25, 2018 Journal Opinion |
“When a community gets the “get together” habit, reforms can
be easier accomplished, and each man can look his neighbor in the face and say,
with St. Paul, that he is the ‘citizen of no mean city.’” St. Johnsbury Caledonian, Dec.18, 1907
In 1835, visiting French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville
observed, “Americans of all ages, all stations of life, and all disposition are
forever forming associations.” In 2000, political scientist Robert D. Putnam
wrote in his national bestseller Bowling
Alone, that the nation was experiencing a decline of “active civil
engagement.” That decline was characterized by the loss in membership and
active participation by volunteers in traditional civic organizations.
Many organizations that have characterized local civic
involvement for years in New Hampshire and Vermont have ceased to exist. Their
memberships have melted away with age and conflicting interests.
This column describes some of the men’s groups that existed
locally in times past. It is the first in a series that will, in future
columns, cover groups for women and youngsters as well as literary societies. A
future column will also describe the history of the Masons, Grange and Modern
Woodmen of America.
This column details the history of just a few of the
numerous organizations that have existed over the past 200 years. Those selected are examples of once vibrant
groups that have faded to near or complete oblivion and is in no way meant to
suggest that others were not just as important to their host communities.
The period from the 1860s to the 1920s was the “Golden Age
of Fraternalism.” In 1899, there were over 200 different fraternal, benevolent,
social, insurance, political, religious and temperance societies in the nation,
many of them with secret ceremonies.
The International Order of Odd Fellows is an example of a
fraternal organization whose chapters or lodges once played an important civic
role locally. The organization began in London in 1730 and spread to the United
States in 1819. The title is thought to have been taken from the “odd” behavior
of gentlemen in carrying out charitable work.
The first local lodge, Moosehillock Lodge in Haverhill
Corner, was established in 1848. Bradford’s Champion Lodge and a lodge in
Orford followed. The Haverhill Lodge surrendered its charter in 1858 and was
reestablished in Woodsville in 1876. Lodges were also formed in Post Mills
(1872), Barnet (1880), Wells River (1881), Groton (1900) and North Haverhill
(1902).
With hundreds of members in both states, the Odd Fellows
focused on individual improvement and social service. They also played an
important social function by holding public dinners and dances.
In 1851, the Odd Fellows became the first fraternal
organization to have an affiliate auxiliary with open membership to both men
and women. Known as the Rebekahs, affiliate lodges were opened in: Bradford
(1890), Wells River (1892), Woodsville (1892), North Haverhill (1903), Barnet (1895), Post Mills (1895) and Groton
(1902).
It was common for lodges to acquire property and erect lodge
halls. Crystal Lake Hall still stands in
the center of Post Mills. The Bradford chapter owned what is now the Old Church
Theatre until selling it in 1970. At one time, Bradford was considered as a
possible site for the Vermont Odd Fellows Home, but lost out to Ludlow, where
it still exists.
All of the lodges mentioned above have ceased to exist. Some
just surrendered their charter whereas others merged in a vain attempt to
remain active. The Bradford Lodge closed in 1977 and merged with Barnet’s
Connecticut River Lodge until it too closed in 2000. There are just seven
active lodges in Vermont with 162 members remaining. From a high of 72 lodges,
the Rebekahs have shrunk to six lodges and 109 members.
The Knights of Pythias was another fraternal organization
that grew during second half of the nineteenth century. It was founded during
the Civil War with the objectives of “reestablishment of friendship and
confidence” among Americans. The organization’s Vermont Grand Lodge was
instituted in St. Johnsbury in 1889. By 1929, there were 32 lodges or castles
in Vermont with 2,536 members. Nationally, there were nearly a million members.
Locally, there were lodges in Groton, West Topsham,
Haverhill and Woodsville. In 1919, 100 members gathered at West Topsham for a
Field Day complete with a supper and torch parade The Mount Gardner Lodge in
Woodsville had a drill team and band and provided various financial and medical
for members in need. In 1908, one newspaper article described its annual Easter
Ball as “one of the leading social events of the season.”
As with other fraternal organizations, the Knights had both
several higher levels of lodges and both youth and women’s auxiliaries. By the
1940’s, the local lodges had disbanded. There is no evidence of this
organization currently in either state.
One of the most unusual organizations was the New England
Fat Men’s Club. It was established in Wells River in November 1903. At a time
when “bulbous and overhanging abdomens and double chins” were indicative of
wealth and success, this club met at Hale’s Tavern on the village’s Main
Street.
Operating under the motto of “We’re fat and we’re making the
most of it,” individual members observed “I’ve got to be good natured; I can’t
fight, and I can’t run.” Despite that
observation, the annual gathering often included athletic contests, like the
50-yard dash. That was in addition to a nine-course dinner and entertainment.
The United Opinion described the game supper the club held
in 1911 at which time the club claimed a membership of 5,000. The event got
front-page coverage as the club’s secretary was publisher Harry E. Parker. At
its height, this professional network of businessmen had a membership of twice
that number, including members from around the nation.
Between 60 and 100 members met in Wells River for the annual
meeting. Each was required to be at least 200 pounds at time of registration.
In 1923, former President Howard Taft, well-known for his portly stature of
about 300 pounds, joined the meeting. But just four years later, after some of
the original members died, the group ceased to exist.
In April 1909, the
Bradford Brotherhood, a Methodist group, organized the Bradford Young Men’s
Club. In its first year, the club organized baseball games and a fair. In 1926,
the Bradford Men’s Club was established and, until at least 1939, promoted
Bradford economically and provided social services in the community. In 1946,
it was reorganized as the Bradford Community Club.
The Community Club made substantial contribution to Bradford
for over 70 years. Those included assisting with the operation of the
Connecticut Valley Fair, turning a swampy area along the Waits River into
Memorial Field, building the Bugbee Landing, assisting with the
development of the Pierson Industrial Park and holding an annual Strawberry
Festival.
At its monthly meeting, the men voted to support youth
groups, staff the local Prouty SAG stop, work at the Bugbee Landing and take
stands on town issues. Prior to the
completion of I-91, the club sponsored the information booth on Main Street.
In 2017, with
membership declining, the remaining members decided to cancel further meetings,
although individually several of the traditional projects have continued to be
carried out by former members.
There have been several labor groups organized around
specific local industries. In 1885, the South Ryegate local of the Granite
Cutter’s National Union was organized. It stated purpose was, by collective
action, to remedy the unsatisfactory working conditions for the approximately
100 men working at the Blue Mountain granite industry. The next several decades
both confrontation and cooperation characterized the workers’ relationship with
the granite companies’ management.
The Ryegate Paper Company was unionized in 1907 for a short
period. The workers again unionized in 1944 as the East Ryegate local of the
United Paper Workers International Union. The union remained through changes in
management until the mill was closed permanently in 2001.
Beginning in 1921, three railroad labor groups met in
Woodsville. They included the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the Order of
Railway Clerks and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. Their presence was
indicative of the former importance of the railroad to that community.
Some organizations appeared briefly and then disappeared.
The Ethan Allen Castle of the Knights of the Golden Eagle was established in
Bradford in 1898. There was no mention of this organization in Vermont after
1907. The Improved Order of Red Men had 10 tribes in Vermont in 1906 including
locals in St. Johnsbury and Barre. The Woodsville tribe was organized in 1899
and existed until at least 1905. Despite its title, the organization’s
membership was exclusively white men.
The only evidence of this organization in Bradford is the
following 1890 tongue-in- cheek news item: “There is no truth to the rumor that
the Bradford Guard are to be called out to suppress the Hoccomocco tribe of Red
Men in the area. The latter don’t indulge in firewater or the ghost dance. Their existence is somewhat shadowy though.”
There have been other short-lived men’s groups over the past
century and a half. In Bradford those include the Oriental Palm and Shell (c.
1884). West Fairlee had an Athletic Club (1898) and Corinth had the Men’s
Welfare Club (circa 1921). Haverhill had
the Knights of the Maccabees (1899) and
Woodsville had Moose and Elks Lodges. For a short time in the 1920s, organizers
of the Ku Klux Klan in the area passed the group off as a worthwhile civic
group as well as protector of the status quo.
Some of those short-lived organizations may have had a
noteworthy albeit fleeting impact. One
such group was the Connecticut Valley Jaycees. Targeting men under 35 from all
walks of life, the group was chartered in Bradford in 1965 and immediately
became a major participant in community activities. They held field days,
sponsored the Junior Miss pageant and raised funds for the new local mental
health office. The local won many awards from the state organization.
When the original
group aged beyond 35, they rechartered the then defunct Bradford Lions Club and continued
many of the activities for a short time before disbanding. The Thetford Lions
cooperated with the Bradford group in hosting several field days at Gray’s
Field in Fairlee. The Thetford group no
longer exists.
There are currently several area Lions Clubs. The Cohase
Lions Club gathers members from the Woodsville-Wells River area and is very
active in sponsoring sports activities and granting scholarships. The
Orford-Fairlee Lions have fewer active members and sometimes struggle to find
workers for their activities. Both of these clubs opened membership to women in
an effort to be both inclusive and viable.
The Cohase Rotary Club, originally named the
Woodsville-Wells River Rotary, was formed in 1926. On the verge of disbanding last year, it has
had a revival under the leadership of the new president Monique Priestley with
membership going from 4 to 12 in the last few months.
In “Bowling Alone,” Putnam suggests that voluntary civic
organizations have been replaced by the “individualization” of leisure time
resulting from the rise of television and the internet. This is not the first
time new technologies have raised havoc with local activities.
In beginning of the
20th century, local appearances by visiting musicians and lecturers as part of
the Chautauqua circuit were very popular. Then, in the 1920s, that
popularity waned. I asked the late
Bernard Crafts, the local Chautauqua
organizer, about the sudden loss of interest. He quickly responded, “the coming
of the radio and the automobile.”
There is no doubt that residents of our area have new
interests other than belonging to volunteer civic groups. Many are drawn to
groups and activities that benefit themselves and their families with much less
emphasis on the ceremonies that characterized some of the groups in the
past.
\With that being said, thank goodness for those who are
willing to devote time to the “getting
together habit” in organizations that help to make our communities better
places.
