Dear Dedicated Members for Change,
I'm just back from our annual Sessions of the California Grand Lodge, the Rebekah Assembly, the Grand Encampment, and the Military Council. One of the highlights, for me personally, was meeting and spending some quality time with Deputy Sovereign Grand Master Thomas J. Calabrese, from the Jurisdiction of New Jersey. Brother Tom and I chatted about ways to enhance the Odd Fellows experience for members, ways to involve the Lodge in the community, and ways to grow membership. He was kind enough to share a project which was launched about three years ago by Winslow-Hammonton Lodge #40 from the Jurisdiction of New Jersey, and which Brother Tom's own Lodge (New Brunswick Lodge #6, from the Jurisdiction of New Jersey) also recently presented - to great success.
I am enthralled by this project and commend it to the readers of this Newsletter. I like it because it is historical and educational, it reminds us of our Odd Fellows roots, it can be great fun for the members, it can involve the local community, and it will almost certainly bring attention (and potentially applicants) to the Lodge.
The project is a re-enactment of Odd Fellowship in America. Following are some photos. And the best part is the SCRIPT that is attached, below, which your Lodge can use should you decide to undertake such a re-enactment - the script's author has generously given permission to Odd Fellows to be able to use the script in performance of your own re-enactment.
Thank you to Brother Tom Calabrese, DSGM, for this great suggestion!
F - L - T
Dave Rosenberg
Past Grand Master
Jurisdiction of California
### REENACTMENT SCRIPT ###
WELCOME
Narrator: Good evening. Welcome to the Odd Fellows Dinner Party. My name is ________, current ________ of Winslow-Hammonton Lodge #40 and your narrator for tonight’s reenactment. So why are we here…? Well, this year makes ___ years since Washington Lodge No. 1 was instituted in Baltimore, Maryland, which would give birth to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in America. This event will highlight the early history leading up to the institution of Washington Lodge No. 1; the historic meeting of Odd Fellows at the Seven Stars Tavern.
Before we begin, I would like to recognize the (heads of branches present).
Now, let us take a journey…back to early 1800’s. The War of 1812 had just ended, Baltimore having been attacked by the English, and Washington, D.C. captured, and its public structures burned. As a result of this war, American sentiments toward the English in 1818 remained…delicate…to say the least. To be an Englishman was an offense to both pride and patriotism for many Baltimore natives.
In the Winter of 1818, Thomas Wildey and John Welch (Wildey and Welch walk in together, sit at a table and talk), both natives of England, were residents of the city of Baltimore. As fellow Englishmen in the city they had a shared experience of being excluded from social circles due to their English accents, a direct result of the war of 1812. Both men having been initiated as Odd Fellows, they were in the habit of spending much of their leisure time together.
Wildey had been initiated into an Odd Fellows lodge in London around 1804, when he was 22 years of age. Upon joining the Order, he assisted in opening a new lodge in lodge in London under the name of Morning Star Lodge No. 38. Both lodges were subordinate bodies of the Grand Lodge of England, a branch only known in London, which would later be absorbed by the much larger branch of Manchester Unity. At the time there were several grand bodies and independent lodges operating across England. Though they each had unique ceremonial work, they all shared a common lineage and recognized one another as Odd Fellows. (Wildey and Welch walk out together).
During his time in the two lodges, he had passed through all the chairs, becoming a Past Grand before emigrating to the United States of America. The Two friends would often share memories of the old country and were loud in their regrets that leaving England had deprived them of the social pleasure of an Odd Fellows lodge. Soon an intense desire arose to bring Odd Fellowship to Baltimore, and they formed a mutual agreement to form a lodge of Odd Fellows. Private efforts were made, and every means at hand exhausted to discover other brothers, but they were not successful. It then occurred to them to take their efforts to the newspapers. They managed to have the following notice published in “The Baltimore American” on February 13th, 1819: (Wildey and Welch walk in together)
"NOTICE TO ALL ODD FELLOWS. A few members of the Society of Odd Fellows will be glad to meet their brethren for consultation upon the subject of forming a Lodge. The meeting will be held on Friday evening, the 2d March 1819."
At the time and place designated two recruits made their appearance, John Duncan (Duncan and Cheatham join Wildey and Welch) …and John Cheatham. The latter had been initiated in England and was proficient in the secret work of the Order. John Duncan claimed to have been initiated in the city of Baltimore 17 years before but could not give satisfactory account of the lodge in which he was initiated, but he was accurate in his knowledge of the ancient password, sign, and grip. (They allude to an examination of one another without real signs of course) Since membership cards were not in use by the Order in London at the time, they proceeded to examine one another in the secret work of the order, each proving themselves as true Odd Fellows. (The group of men walk out together) But they were only four, making them one short of the requirement to self-institute a lodge. Self-Institution was common practice in those times among Odd Fellows, but the general law accepted by all required five to make the lodge regular. Though they were eager to form a lodge, they wanted to do so in accordance with the ancient law. They met frequently as a group and made several efforts to find a fifth member without success. They once more turned to the newspaper to publish a second notice to any odd fellows in the city on March 27th, 1819, the following Notice was published in “The Baltimore American”:
" NOTICE TO ODD FELLOWS. A few members of the Society of Odd Fellows will be glad to meet their brethren for the purpose of forming a Lodge, on Friday evening, 2d April, at the Seven Stars, Second Street, at the hour of seven P. M."
This has the effect of bringing to the surface a brother by the name of Richard Rushworth, another initiate of the London Odd Fellows, making the magic number complete. Not a moment was lost, and all arrangements were made with haste, so that in Monday, April 26th, 1819, the five brothers met at the sign of “The Seven Stars Tavern”, (Wildey walks out an waits as Welch arrives followed by Duncan and Cheatham and finally Rushworth; each greeting the other with a friendly grip as they arrive) on the south side of Second Street, between Frederick Street and Market Space, as a public house kept by William Lupton; and then and there, in regular form, they solemnly instituted and opened a lodge, which they named “Washington Lodge of Odd Fellows.” Thomas Wildey was installed as Noble Grand, John Welch as Vice-Grand. With all formality and dignity, the first stone was laid in the formation of American Odd Fellowship. (The group of five leave while in conversation with one another; they each put on the regalia and wait to reenter for the finale)
These five Englishmen faced ridicule for their endeavor due to national prejudice against them. However, they remained steadfast in their mission to spread Odd Fellowship, and after their third week of existence, the lodge increased their number from five to fifteen. They would go on to receive a charter form the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Manchester Unity, before forming their own Grand Lodge in Baltimore, forming the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. By the 1800s until the early 1900’s the Odd Fellows grew to become the largest fraternal order in the United States. Though our numbers have decreased in the last 100 years, our Order is once again attracting the attention of men and women seeking the social camaraderie of an inclusive fraternity and the desire to improve and elevate the character through service, leadership, and an international network of Odd Fellows from all walks of life. (All five men enter in a line and face the audience).
May the work done by these five men live on as we strengthen the links of Friendship, Truth, and Love. This concludes our reenactment. Thank you.
