SECRET SOCIETIES OF GRANT COUNTY
F. and A. M., Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Red Men, and A. O. U. W.
Source: Souvenir Edition of the
Williamstown Courier, Williamstown, Kentucky, May 30, 1901. Reprinted
September 19, 1981 by the Grant County Historical Society.
Transcribed by Bonnie Snow
Secret societies have received their greatest acquisitions of membership and their highest degree of popularity in the last quarter of a century, they are an outgrowth of our modern civilization and have in every age of the world accomplished much good to their own membership and reflectively on the people who happen to reside in the radius of their influence. No history of Grant County would be finished without a resume of the history of her secret societies, They came early into her history and have grown in popularity and wealth as the county has grown in population. They are now strong in numbers and money and one of the features of our twentieth century civilization.
"OLD KENTUCKY HOME" GUARD
NO. 42, KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
UNIFORM RANK KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
We believe we are safe in asserting that there is not a town the size of this within the borders of Kentucky that can boast of a Uniform Rank Division of the order of Knights of Pythias that will surpass "Old Kentucky Home" Company No. 42 of Williamstown, a faithful illustration of which it is here appended. Tuesday, May the 30th, 1893, this company was instituted with the requisite number of members, and from that day the growth in membership has been so steady that today it is recognized as one of the solid secret institutions of Grant County. There are now thirty-0ne Uniformed Knights in the company, several of who have attained high rank. Following are the officers for the ensuing term: W. F. STREUKER, captain; R. H. HARRISON and E. B. CLARK, lieutenants; L. C. TANNER, guard; MONROE WESTOVER, sentinel; J. N. YOUNG, treasurer; and L. L. KROGER, recorder. The company is composed of alert, young and middle-aged men in various walks of life (all clean, reliable citizens) who are well drilled, and when formed in line make as fine looking body of men as you could find.
The praises of "Old Kentucky Home" Company have been sounded throughout this and other states and its progress is watched by many admiring friends and well wishers. It was the pride of the late Brigadier General, George E. Currie, who assisted in the institution, and is today the pride of Williamstown. The gallant general always expressed a desire to see "Old Kentucky Home" Company in line at the biennial encampments.
The honors bestowed on this company are more numerous that those enjoyed by any other in the state. R. H. ELLISTON is judge advocate of the staff of GEN. W. R. LOGAN; J. Q. BARBOUR is past colonel; R. A. COLLINS is lieutenant-colonel; O. S. HOGAN is major second battalion; R. A. SHAW, colonel, and Rev. WILLIAM McMILLAN chaplain of the Fourth Kentucky Regiment, all of which is exemplification of the high esteem in which the members of this company are held.
The Uniform Rank is a valuable adjunct to Pytianism the world over, as is evidenced by the increased membership and nowhere is there a better illustration of this than right here at home.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS IN SESSION
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
Williamstown Lodge, No. 74, a Prosperous Young Organization
Saturday, May 24, 1890, a number of prominent Knights of Pythias from Dayton, Covington, Maysville and other points, arrived at Williamstown and a few hours after their arrival got down to business by organizing a lodge which was named Williamstown Lodge No. 74, and the charter members numbered fifteen.
For a while the growth was slow and the outlook unfavorable, but perseverance on the part of those who first took an active part in the work finally brought about a boom and it was not long until the lodge began to flourish like the Green Bay Tree.
With the addition of new members came activity and improvement on every hand. The old way of conferring the degrees was cast aside and the modern style adopted. Brains, coupled with energy, were centered in the work and today, after years of patient service, No. 74 enjoys the distinction of being one of the most progressive secret organization in this Commonwealth, with a membership of nearly sixty. For several years the lodge has been domiciled in the Opera House - a commodious, handsome room - and new members are constantly being added. Such prominent men as T. B. MATTHEWS, Supreme Representative, and WADE SHELTMAN, G. K. R. & S., and others, have a warm place in their hearts for No. 74, and recognize its standing and the ability of its members in the work that is mapped out for them.
The officers for the present are: E. B. CLARK, M. W.; W. L. STEPHENS, C. C.; J. H. CUNNINGHAM, V. C.; C. W. RIDDELL, P.; W. F. STRUTKER, M. of E.; F. C. MENAUGH, K. R. & S.; ISOM SANDERS, M. F.; MONROE WESTOVER, M. at A.; W. W. POINTS, I. G.; and A. V. MENEFEE, O. G.
R. H. ELLISTON has several time been a Representative to the Grand Lodge, and is now a member of the Grand Tribune. Rev. WILLIAM McMILLIAN is a Representative to the Grand Lodge and Chairman of the Committee on Necrology. R. H. HARRISON is Deputy Grand Chancellor from this lodge.
The future prospect for this organization is very flattering, and the present high standards of the work will be maintained by the members who, in their onward march, will endeavor to faithfully discharge the duties incumbent on them, and do all in their power for the betterment of mankind.
On the members roster of this lodge are the names of some of the best people in Williamstown and other points in the county - men who strive to live up to the teachings of the order in all that the term implies.
The degree work that is done by the team is put upon the floor in an elaborate manner, and is weekly getting better. Visitors from other lodges have frequently been present and complimented the members very highly on the capable manner in which they delivered their respective charges.
At the organization of several lodges throughout the State Williamstown Lodge has been called upon to assist in doing the work, and in each instance the members who proffered their services won new laurels and paved the way for more honors in the future.
CENTURION LODGE AT EASE
Centurion Lodge No. 100
Organized Nearly Half a Century Ago
On April 1st., 1853, in Williamstown, Centurion Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 100, was instituted. In a few more years it will have past the half century mark, and its list of good deeds and charitable acts will have built itself a higher monument than it at this time possesses in the hearts and the affections of the people of Williamstown and Grant County. Prior to the organization of the lodge at Williamstown there had been an organization at Crittenden, and mainly from that lodge came the charter members with which the local lodge was instituted.
The charter members of the institution were AMOS GREEN, MOSES McCLURE, still living at Dry Ridge, THEODORE K. KIZER, THOMAS R. M. JEFFERS, an old citizen of Williamstown, and W. T. SIMMONS, a prominent young lawyer of the Grant county bar. They organized and offered the lodge. The lodge did not grow with any astounding rapidity. It had no home of its own, its membership was small and its means were very limited. It was not until after the close of the great Civil War, which paralyzed every industry and put a stop to every material improvement, that Centurion Lodge really began to grow. The membership increased fast about that time, and the organization had laid by a little money for a rainy day, and with this as a starter they decided to erect an Odd Fellows Temple, and the present Odd Fellows building was the result of their work. It was not until after may sacrifices had been made and money borrowed that the hall was completed and furnished, but at last the lodge found itself safely domiciled on its new home and the date of its greatest prosperity is from that day until now. O. P. BILLITER is the oldest member and G. W. TUCKER the next oldest member in good standing. Each of them connected themselves with this lodge a short time after its organization.
At present the lodge has an approximate membership of 117 in good standing,, it own in fee all of the Odd Fellows Temple in which it has its home, its property in real estate, votes, bonds and investments will fully reach $12,000.00. Its income from rents is $565.00, and its income from dues and other sources is more than as much more. Its membership is made up of the best people of Grant County and especially in Williamstown. There have been few prominent men who have lived in or near Williamstown in fifty years who have not at some time or other been members of Centurion Lodge. Its present membership is largely young active men although it embraces in its rolls some of the older and better citizens of the town and the county.
The motto of the order is friendship, love and truth, and to that tenet and the practice of virtues suggested by that term every Odd Fellow is supposed to live.
The present officers of Centurion are: JOE GILTNER, Sitting Past Grand; W. T. McKINLEY, Noble Grand; WILLIAM GIBSON, Vice Grand; C. W. RIDDELL, Treasurer; E. E. LOOMIS, Secretary; W. H. GRUBBS, I. S. G.; D. L. CUNNINGHAM, Host; W. L. STEPHENS, L. S. S.; E. D. WEBSTER, R. S. N. G.; A. V. MENEFEE, L. S. N. G.; D.; J. W. JOHNSON, Warden; T. L. C. TURNER, Conductor; D. M. HALL, Chaplain; J. F. VANCE, R. S. V. G.; L. L. HARRISON, L. S. V. G.; W. B. WILLIS, R. S. S.
The meeting night is every Saturday night at half past seven. The lodge room is a beautiful hall, carpeted and furnished in the best style, the social features are very pleasant and the good that the lodge has done in its own quiet way has been beyond computation.
ODD FELLOWS TEMPLE
WILLIAMSTOWN, GRANT COUNTY, KENTUCKY
WILLIAMSTOWN ENCAMPMENT
NO. 73, I. O. F. F.
Williamstown Encampment No. 73, which is a higher branch of the Odd Fellows, was organized in Centurion Hall, November 2nd, 1889, with the following charter members: C. C. NESBITT, CLAY CONRAD, LEONARD McGLASSON, GEO. HARRISON, A. G. DeJARNETTE, JAMES T. WILLIS and G. W. TUCKER. On the night of the organization nearly seventy-five members were initiated, and the camp has grown from that day until this. The encampment is the military branch of the order and is very popular with the young men. The "Camp" meets on every Thursday night at Centurion Hall, and recently has been growing with prodigious strides. The following are its officers at the present time: FRED BURCH, Chief Patriarch; E. E. LOOMIS, Senior Warden; W. T. McKINLEY, Sitting High Priest; D. L. CUNNINGHAM; Scribe; B. N. HARRISON, Treasurer; D. C. POINTS, Guide; MAT. BURCH, Inside Guardian; W. L. STEPHENS, First Watch; J. H. WESTOVER, Second Watch; WILLIAM M. SIMPSON, Third Watch, and W. J. ZINN, Guard of Tent No. I, and W. F. STREUKER, Guard of Tent No. 2.
ROSE REBEKAH LODGE, I. O. O. F.; No. 26
Nothing in this world would be complete if it were not for the women. Secret society work is more beautiful when the good sisters are allowed to participate in its work and enjoy its pleasures. The Rebekah department of Odd Fellowship is the part devoted to the good sisters; it is one of the most enjoyable parts of the entire organization. Rose Rebekah Lodge was organized in Centurion Hall in 1887 with the following charter members: SUSAN BURCH, PAULINE L. PRICE, REBECCA CUNNINGHAM, MRS. ELIZABETH CHARBONNEAU, SUE B. STEPHENS, F. BURCH, D. L. STEPHENS, AND JAMES T. WILLIS. The lodge has prospered from the day of its organization and is stronger and better today than at any time in its history. It meets at Centurion Hall on each Wednesday night, and frequently the good sisters spread a lunch after the work of the meeting is at an end that is truly delightful. The officers at present are: MRS. CLARA POINTS, N. G.; MRS. FANNIE BURCH, V. G.; MISS NANCY ARNOLD, Secretary; LUCY CUNNINGHAM, Treasurer; XENIA F. TURNER, Secretary; MRS. FUTHA B. VIOLETT, Chaplain; MISS MAGGIE BEASLEY, Warden; MRS. ETHEL McKINLEY, Conductor; MRS. ADDIE ENGLISH, I. S. G.; MRS. A. V. MENEFEE, R. S. N. G.; MISS MARIA THEOBALD, L. S. Z. G.; MRS. HATTIE ARNOLD, R. S. V. G.
THE OSWEGO TRIBE OF RED MEN
A Secret Order with Over a Hundred Members - Scarcely a Year Old
There are many secret societies in Grant County. There are none in the county with more promise of the future than the Oswego Tribe of Red Men at Dry Ridge. The tribe was organized April 19, 1900, with 30 members. There are now seventy-six members in good standing, with the following elective officers: R. L. CONRAD, Sachem; H. J. NORTHCUTT, Prophet; SR. SAGAMORE; J. W. NORTHCUTT, JR. SAGAMORE; J. G. BLACKBURN, Chief of Records; R. H. STEPHENSON, Collector of Wampum; and W. T. S. BLACKBURN, Keeper of Wampum. J. N. YOUNG and J. T. HURT and H. G. WILLIAMS, Trustees. The appointive officers are: B. D. MYERS, Capt. Degree Teem; M. E. McCLURE, 1st Sanap; D. W. WILLIAMS, 2nd Sanap; LEO ASWERUS, 1st Warrior; W. J. WEBB, 2nd Warrior; C. L. RENAKER, 3rd Warrior. J. A. JACKSON, 1st Brave; J. S. DAUGHERTY, 2nd Brave; G. A. HOLTON, 3rd Brave; T. L. CASH, 4th Brave; F. A. HAMBRICK and S. B. SECHREST, Scouts; J. S. RENAKER, Guard of the Forest; A. L. CHILDERS, Guard of the Wigwam.
MASONRY and MASONIC LODGES
The symbolic philosophy of Free Masonry has been taught to chosen groups of men for upward of four thousand years. The fundamental principles were revealed to seekers after light many years before Free Masonry as such was instituted, and so far-reaching has been its subtle spell that the noblest and the wisest have deemed it a privilege to enter its sanctum sanctorum. More venerable, more philosophic, more fascinating than any secret order on earth, it has numbered among its initiate the choicest spirits of the past. Not to speak of older nations, there is no other organization in existence that can claim among its devotees such names as GEORGE WASHINGTON, MARQUIS de LAYFAYETTE, ANDREW JACKSON, JEFFERSON and CLAY, and today the most exalted citizens in the United States and in Mexico is a Mason.
Grant Lodge No. 85, Free and Accepted Masons, was organized under dispensation, July 22, 1826, in Williamstown. The following were the original officer of the Lodge. ABRAM, JONES, W. M.; NATHANIEL HENDERSON, S. W.; D. HARRISON, J. W.; THOMAS WILSON, Treasurer; H. B. SMITH, Secretary; WESLEY TULLY, S. D.; W. VANLANDINGHAM, J. D.; WILLIAM BROOKS, T.; SAM E. GRIFFITH, Steward, all of whom have been transferred to that lodge on high, not made with hands, but eternal in Heaven.
The Lodge has retained its charter through all the many changes fro organization to the present, and at present is in fairly good working order. There are five lodges in the county, with a membership of about two hundred.