Ancestry Magazine

It is estimated that one in four adults living in the United States were members of a fraternal organization at the turn of the twentieth century. It is likely that at least one of your ancestors was a member of a fraternal group.

When you think about fraternal organizations, most likely the first group to come to mind is the Masons, but there are many fraternal groups, including the Order of the Elks, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Knights of Columbus. These organizations provide camaraderie, a support network, religious support, even ties to the old ways or the old country.

It is estimated that one in four adults living in the United States were members of a fraternal organization at the turn of the twentieth century. With such a high percentage of participants, it is likely that at least one of your ancestors was a member of a fraternal group.

Almost all of the fraternal groups were secret societies, but members could still let others know about their membership. In fact, they often proclaimed their membership with jewelry and calling cards. Many members even had the insignias of their affiliations inscribed on their tombstones. It is to these items that family historians now turn for further information. What you may have once thought was a lovely ring or pin, may in fact be an item related to a fraternal organization—and it may hold the key to further research opportunities.

The Goal in the Treasure Hunt
Genealogists have one primary goal in mind: to identify an ancestor and take the lineage back fu rther generations. It is to that end that all records are sought out and examined.

For the fraternal organizations that are still active, it may be possible to contact a local or state lodge to request copies of the records that exist for an ancestor. Not all fraternal groups will turn over copies of these records and, like most organizations today, such requests are only honored for those who are no longer living. Still, it is always worth a try.

The records may offer information such as date and place of birth. Or they may help you pin down the dates your ancestor arrived or left a given area, thus making it easier to compile a timeline of the migration of the family.

The records, by showing the offices the member held, may also give insight into the character of the ancestor and his or her standing in the community. Those who were well respected are often found written up in county and town histories, offering the researcher another source to search for the names of parents or the place of origin of the family.

Obituaries frequently mention membership in such organizations, and many times the newspapers will place announcements specifically for the fraternal brothers. This information is helpful in furthering your research possibilities.

A number of fraternal groups were created as a result of a person’s occupation. For instance, membership in a railroad fraternal group simply identifies that an ancestor worked for the railroad. But such information will allow you to then identify which railroad and when the ancestor worked for it. Upon further investigation, you may find records showing date and place of birth or death, as well as pension information. Depending on when the individual worked for the railroad and for how long, you may also find files from the Railroad Retirement Board at <www.rrb.gov>. And, while not all of the labor union groups were secret societies, some of their insignia may also help you know where to turn for more informati on about your ancestors.

Trails to the Treasures
When researching the memorabilia of fraternal organizations, it is important first to identify the organization. In some families the researcher is fortunate enough to know that an ancestor was a member of the Order of the Owls or that a great-grandfather rose to the level of a 32nd Degree Mason. But many researchers are hard-pressed to know the organization just from the memorabilia passed down or from family oral tradition.

A visit to eBay, with “fraternal” as the search term, will yield many items available from individuals who have purchased collections at estate sales or in auction houses or antique stores. Still others are being sold by individuals who do not understand the important piece of family history in their possession. A look through the items for sale may identify something in your own personal collection of family artifacts.

In old jewelry catalogs, it was not uncommon to find pages devoted to the different fraternal groups and the specialized jewelry associated with each group. These catalogs can be an excellent resource in the identification of some of the insignias found on the jewelry, letterhead, envelopes, and carte de vistes in your possession as well as on tombstones. And they will help you see the types of symbols used by the different fraternal groups.

Some members of fraternal organizations also purchased their jewelry through local merchants who ordered their goods from a catalog known as the “Blue Book.” These catalogs are hard to find, though, because they were used by traveling salesmen as they visited local jewelry stores. Occasionally you may find one on an auction website or through a local antique dealer that sells old papers and books.

The department store catalogs published at the turn of the twentieth century also have pages devoted to the rings and pins fraternal members purchased. Although the catalogs were published in black and whit e, the artwork in them is quite legible, making identification easier than you may imagine. Some of these catalogs have been digitized. For instance, the 1902 catalog of the Sears, Roebuck & Company was digitized by Princeton Imaging at <www.princetonimaging.com> and is available now on CD-ROM.

Clues on Buildings
For researchers who live in older communities and towns, keep a look out for the buildings in which these groups once met. Many of them will have artwork that is indicative of the group and can be used as a method of identifying the insignias found on family memorabilia in your possession.

Tombstones
While some researchers have received special family mementos that have been passed down, others have not been so fortunate. Their first introduction to an ancestor’s membership in a fraternal organization is at the cemetery when they discover an unknown image carved on the stone. Only then will they begin to ponder the groups to which their ancestors may have belonged.

When visiting a cemetery, instead of concentrating on just one tombstone, take pictures of the stones in the area as family members were often buried nearby. Also, cemeteries often designate entire sections for the burial of members of fraternal organizations.

When it comes to inscriptions on tombstones, often the most elaborate are those of the Woodmen. Many of these tombstones resemble tree stumps, ranging from the humble to the impressive, complete with limbs and a scroll hanging from it; all intricately carved into granite or marble. They are the easiest to identify, as they often stand above the other tombstones in the cemetery.

The emblem of the Masons is an insignia you’ll frequently find on tombstones. It is perhaps the most recognized of all the fraternal organization’s emblems. The Masonic emblem is an overlapping compass and square that forms a diamond in the center.

The Grand Army of the Republic was an organiz ation that honors Union veterans of the Civil War. Because of its narrow focus, when the last member died, the society died out, too. (Although some of its records have been microfilmed, some have been indexed, and some states have quite extensive collections relating to GAR records.) The intricate eagle that appears on some of the tombstones, though, is a sight to behold and indicates to the researcher that the deceased fought in the Civil War for the North.

Armed with this new information, and a tombstone that often lists the individual’s specific involvement in the Civil War, including regiment and company, you may be able to find valuable service and pension records and thus more completely identify your ancestor.

Calling Cards and Carte de Viste
In the less harried world that our ancestors lived in, when they would go visiting they would often leave a calling card or carte de viste to either announce their visit or let the absent occupant of the home know they had missed a visitor. For those affiliated with a fraternal group, it was not uncommon to emboss the emblem of the group on the card.

The carte de viste is usually a card with a photograph of an individual. In the case of members of the fraternal organizations, it was not uncommon of them to dress in partial or full regalia before having their picture taken for the carte de viste .

The problem in identifying the carte de viste is that the necessary detail is often obliterated because of the photography or the smallness of the image. In some carte de vistes there is more than one person in the photo, or the individual is shown standing.

Miscellaneous Memorabilia
Occasionally, a family will be fortunate to have special treasures passed down from previous generations. These treasures may include china, a writing desk, a sword used in the Civil War, even a small shaving mug. Check to see if there are image s and letters on the sides or bottoms of these items, since they often provide clues to fraternal affiliations as well. For example, shaving mugs were often emblazoned with the motto and insignia of the fraternal organization to which the owner belonged. Or they may be decorated with intricate, hand-painted pictures on the side. If nothing else, many of these mugs include the name of the original owner.

Deciphering the Acronyms
Remember that the name of the game is to identify the fraternal group. Perhaps one of the most challenging tasks of working with the artifacts of our ancestors’ fraternal organizations is deciphering the acronyms or abbreviations found on the jewelry, tombstone, or calling card.

One resource that includes many of the acronyms found in the world of fraternal organizations is Kip Sperry’s Abbreviations and Acronyms: A Guide for Family Historians, 2nd edition (Ancestry, 2003).

There is also a good website that deals specifically with the various acronyms found in the world of fraternal groups. “Secret Society, Fraternal organizations abbreviations, slogans, mottos, a complete list” at <www.exonumia.com/art/society.htm> offers not only the acronyms for the societies, but also the acronyms to many of the mottos or slogans, which are often engraved on the jewelry or included as part of the insignia on a tombstone.

Another site that may prove useful in deciphering acronyms is Acronym Finder at <www.acronymfinder.com>. Remember that this site is not limited to fraternal organizations.

Going Further
Of course, once the insignia or emblem has been identified, the researcher must then consider the history of the society. The Internet offers some information, and many of the organizations that are still in operation have created websites. A good starting place to find websites of fraternal organizations is Cyndi’s List at <www.cyndislist.com>. General search engines such as Google at <www.google.com> also should be visited.

A good primer on secret and fraternal societies is Alan Axelrod’s International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders (Checkmark Books, 1997). This book also offers an index that contains listings of those groups that do not have a main entry.

Once the information begins to come, additional information for your family history will be just around the corner. Searches of the Family History Library Catalog, especially the keyword search found on the CD-ROM version of the catalog, may reveal records of the society or organization that the ancestor was involved in. And as was discussed earlier, affiliations with a particular fraternal organization will likely lead the researcher to occupational, military, or published records—all of which should lead you to the information you are seeking on your family. b

Rhonda R. McClure is author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Online Genealogy and Finding Your Famous and Infamous Ancestors . She is a contributing editor to Biography Magazine.