The first lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the United States was formed in 1819. Thomas \Ilkley and another, both Eng lish Odd Fellows, arrived in Baltimore in 1818, and in the spring of the following year asso ciated with three others to form Washington Lodge No. 1 in Baltimore. Wildey was elected Noble Grand. Franklin Lodge No. 2 was created in the same year, also in Baltimore. On Feb ruary 1, 1820, Wildey and his companions re ceived a charter from one of the English lodges, the Duke of Preston Lodge. constituting it the 'Washington Lodge, the Grand Lodge of Mary land and of the United States of America of the Independent Order of Odd Fellowship.' It thus bore the character of both a subordinate and a grand lodge. The dual character of this char ter did not commend itself to the order, and in 1821 it was surrendered, and Washington Lodge became merely a local lodge. Steps were taken to model the government of the order in :1meriea after the political system of the United States. The management was to be vested in the representatives of each State Grand Lodge, who together with the past grand masters of the Maryland Grand Lodge were to constitute the governing body of the order. Five of these latter were authorized by charter, dated February 22, 1525, to form a grand lodge for Maryland to take the place vacated by Washington Lodge in 1821. The titles of the chief officers were changed from grand master and deputy grand master to grand sire and deputy grand sire in 1829. A German lodge, William Tell Lodge, chartered in 1827, was the first lodge formed for work in the ewrinatt language, and became the German lodge. The order was incor porated by the Maryland Legislature in 1833. In 1843 all connections with the Manchester Unity were severed. and it was resolved "that to the Grand Lodge of the United States belonged the exclusive authority to erect lodges and en campments of Odd Fellows upon any part or section of the globe." Meanwhile 01111 Fellowship was hieing estab lished in New York without any knowledge of the previous establishment of the order in Amer iea. Solomon Chambers and his two sons, mem bers of the Loyal Westminster Independent Lodge odd Fellows. England, came to New York in I sod, and, meeting two other Offil Fellows. organized Shakespeare Lodge of Offil Fellows in New York. This lodge lasted only about four years. when it dissolved. Several other self instituted lodges sprang into existence during the next ten or twelve years, when Shakespeare Lodge was revived. .\ lodge was established in Brooklyn—Columbia Lodge—which held a dis pen,ation from an English lodge, the Duke of Sussex. and for some years there was a struggle for the mastery between the New York and Brooklyn lodges, which were in affiliation with the Manchester Unity. The contesting lodges were finally brought to acknowledge the au thority of the Grand Lodge of the cnited States, from which a charter for a New York Grand Lodge was subsequently obtained. Dissension and division, however, did not cease until 1865.
There is no record of Odd Fellowship in Canada before ISIS, although it is stated that what are known as 'Prehistoric' lodges were to be found at various points. In September. 1543, Prince of Wales Lodge No. 1 of British North America was instituted at :Montreal under a charter issued by the Grand Lodge of the United States. The following year a Canadian Grand Lodge was created, and in September. 1846, the Canadian branch of the order was declared free and inde pendent by the Grand Lodge of the United States, which issued to the Canadian lodges a charter under the title of the Grand Lodges of British North America. By 1852, however, this Grand
Lodge had practically died of inanition, and in 1853, the Montreal lodges having formally dis banded, the Grand Lodge of the United States recalled the Canadian charter and resumed juris diction over the order in Montreal.
In 1868 Australia was added to the domain of the Grand Lodge of the United States, and from time to time other countries have been entered with more or less success. -Mexico, the \Vest Indies, Chile, Cuba, Peru. Japan. Denmark, Germany, England, France. Italy. Rolland, etc., have been admitted, but the continent of North .\meriea has proved the best fiold for cultiva tion. In 1879 the Grand Lodge of the United States, recognizing its undisputed sway in the world of Odd Fellowship, changed its title, and is now known as the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Three degrees are conferred in the subordinate lodge, and any Odd Fellow who has attained the third degree is eligible for membership in au en campment, a ,bralich or department chartered within the order by the Grand Lodge of Maryland in 1827. The encampment confers three degrees, the Patriarchal. the Golden Ride, and the Royal Purple. The Patriarchal is an English degree, and the others are American. The first Right Worthy Gram] Encampment was created and officers in stalled in Baltimore in 1S31. Membership in an encampment is dependent on good standing in a lodge, but otherwise the two arc independent.
The Patriarchs Militant, a uniformed degree of the order, came into existence in 1SS4. For many years the desire for greater display had been manifest throughout the order, although the more conservative element had opposed it. A resolution was adopted at the annual conven tion in 1874 delegating to grand encampments the power to permit eneampment members who had taken the Royal Purple degree to wear a uniform for street parades. The wearing of the uniform was optimml with the members. The agitation was continued until 1880. when the Sovereign Grand Lodge finally refused to permit the organization of regular uniformed eneamp ments. This refusal resulted in the establish ment, a year later, of the Patriarchal Circle, a body composed of Odd Fellows who had taken the Royal Purple degree. This body was inde pendent of the Sovereign Grand Lodge and con ferred its own degrees. The local organizations were known as 'temples.' The movement spread, and the danger of a schism impelled the Sov ereign Grand Lodge in 1884 to yield to the demand for a recognized military degree. The Patriarchs Militant were then organized and the new military degree was approved. Only en campment members who have taken the Royal Purple degree are eligible. The patriarchs have a complete military organization. The subordi nate bodies are known as 'cantons,' and each is commanded by e. captain. The cantons are or ganized into battalions, the battalions into regi ments, the regiments into brigades, and the brigades into divisions, with officers of cor responding rank. The whole 'army' is com manded by a lieutenant-general, and the grand sire of the Sovereign Grand Lodge is ex-officio general-in-eh ief.
The Rebekah degree for women members is an important branch of the order. It was es tablished in 1851, and is intended to bring the social benefits of Odd Fellowship within the reach of the female members of the families of living or deceased members of the order. Males are also admitted under the Rebekah degree into the encampment branch of the order.