Order of Chosen Friends

Last updated October 15, 2024

The Order of Chosen Friends was a fraternal benefit order that existed in North America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The group suffered a number of splits during its lifetime, leading scholar Alan Axelrod to call it "almost a parody" of fraternal benefit societies of the time.^[1]

United States

The Order was founded by a group of individuals who wished to found an organization that would pay old age and disability benefits. This group, a number of whom were Freemasons and Oddfellows launched the OCF in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 28, 1879. Like most fraternal societies of the day, the original Order had a secret ritual and was organized in the typical three tiered structure of local "Councils", statewide "Grand Councils" and a national "Supreme Council". Before the schisms occurred it had 12,000 members.^[2]

In 1881 the Order of United Friends split from the OCF in New York State over disagreements in insurance practices. The United Friends of Michigan left in 1889 and the Canadian Order of Chosen Friends was formed in Ontario in 1891. Lastly, German-speaking members left to form the United League of America in 1895. In spite of all this, the group was able to rebound and had 32,255 members in 1899. However, adverse publicity about the organizations financial difficulties finally spelled the end of the Order in the early twentieth century.^[3]

Order of United Friends

Incorporated in the state of New York in 1881, the O.U.F. was open to men and women and paid death and disability benefits. The ritual was based on the Golden Rule and the order's motto was "Unity, Friendship and Security". It had approximately 20,000 members in the late 1890s.^[4]

Independent Order of Chosen Friends

The Independent Order of Chosen Friends was founded in early 1882 when leaders of the O.C.F. in California petitioned the Supreme Council for the creation of a Pacific Jurisdiction. When this was refused there was a secession and the Independent Order of Chosen Friends was created. The group did well for a while with 7,000-8,000 members but disappeared by the late 1890s.^[5]

United Friends of Michigan

The United Friends of Michigan were founded in Detroit in 1889 by Dr. G. F. Kirker of Detroit and E. F. Lamb of Mount Morris, Michigan. Membership was open to people ages 18–51. The UFM had 10,000 members in the late 1890s. The orders emblem was a cornucopia with a red, white and blue shield bearing the letters U. F. & P standing for Unity, Fraternity and Protection. The Friends paid death, disability and old age benefits.^[6] It apparently became defunct by 1923.^[7]

United League of America

Founded by German members in Chicago in 1895. The leaders of the schism were dissatisfied with the Orders plan of equalization. It was unclear if the U.L.A. survived into the late 1890s.^[8]

Canada

The Canadian Order of Chosen Friends were originally incorporated in the Province of Ontario in 1887. The Canadian affiliates left the OCF when many members became dissatisfied with the parent order. For several years there was considerable litigation between the two over the use of the name "Chosen Friends" and because of financial matters. The Order established a sickness department in 1890 and a child insurance department in 1917. It made "very necessary actuarial adjustments" in 1915, which, nevertheless, resulted in a significant decrease in membership. However, by the early 1920s the Order had rebounded again and had 32,000 members. In 1943 the Order became the Reliable Life Insurance Society. It was turned into a stock own life insurance company in 1964.^[9] Its headquarters were in Hamilton, Ontario.^[10]

Related Research Articles

The Independent Order of Vikings is a Swedish-American fraternal organization promoting Swedish and culture and language. It was founded in Chicago the 1890s and has members throughout the United States.

Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal organization formed in 1878 in London, Ontario, Canada. Most active in the U.S. state of Michigan, the group's fraternal aspects took a backseat to providing low-cost insurance to members. In the society's early years it also provided other final-expense related benefits such as society cemeteries.

The Knights of Honor, was a fraternal order and secret society in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century. The Knights were one of the most successful fraternal beneficiary societies of its time.

The Order of Scottish Clans was a fraternal and benevolent society The dual purpose of the Order was to provide life and disability insurance to Scottish immigrants and their descendants, and also to preserve the culture and traditions of Scotland among Americans of Scottish ancestry.

The Improved Order of Heptasophs was a fraternal order in the United States that existed from 1878-1917. It was distinguished from its parent organization, the Order of Heptasophs in that its main focus was on insurance.

The Canadian Fraternal Association (CFA) was a trade association based in Waterloo, Ontario, for fraternal benefit societies in Canada which engaged in advocacy on their behalf as well as provided services. It was dissolved in July 11, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Financial Life</span> Milwaukee-based life insurer

Catholic Financial Life (CFL) is a Milwaukee-based life insurer and fraternal organization. It is one of the largest Roman Catholic not-for-profit financial services organizations in the United States, second only to the Knights of Columbus. Fraternal benefits societies are nonprofit membership organizations that designate a portion of their income for charity.

The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizations that would offer insurance as well as sickness, accident, death and burial policies. It dissolved in 1952.

The Daughters of America is an American secret society, Nativist organization dating from the late-19th century. It was founded in 1891 as an auxiliary of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Since its heyday in the 1930s, the organization is believed to have shrunk significantly, to the point that it is no longer known whether or not it still exists. As of July 2022, the organization is still active, though membership is dwindling and new membership almost nonexistent.

The Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, commonly known simply as the Royal Arcanum, is a fraternal benefit society founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts by John A. Cummings and Darius Wilson, who had previously been among the founders of the Knights of Honor, a similar organization, in Kentucky. The Royal Arcanum home office is located in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Tribe of Ben-Hur was a fraternal organization based on the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace. In 1930 it became the Ben-Hur Life Association.

The Gleaner Life Insurance Society, originally known as the Ancient Order of Gleaners, is a fraternal benefit society based in Adrian, Michigan.

There have been a number of interlocking fraternal orders known as the beavers. The Fraternal Order of Beavers was created in 1911. The relationships between these and the Beavers Reserve Fund Fraternity, Beavers National Mutual Benefit and the National Mutual Benefit is complex. The North American Order of the Beaver was founded in 1990.

The American Fraternal Alliance (AFA) is an umbrella group of fraternal orders in the United States. It was founded as the National Fraternal Congress of America in 1913, in Chicago/ It adopted its current name in 2011.

The Ladies of the Maccabees (L.O.T.M.) was the female auxiliary of the Knights of the Maccabees. It was the first fraternal benefit society operated exclusively by women. This was an insurance benefit society which grew to 80,000 members by 1913 and had paid out over $50 million in endowment benefits. The Ladies of the Maccabees Building, in Port Huron, Michigan was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Canadian Order of Chosen Friends was a fraternal benefit order that existed in Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Organized in 1887, it was an offshoot of the Indianapolis-based Order of Chosen Friends.

References

↑ Alan Axelrod International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders New York; Facts on File, inc 1997 pp.49-50
↑ Alvin J. Schmidt Fraternal Orders (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press), 1930, pp.71-72
↑ Schmidt p.72
↑ Stevens p.184
↑ Stevens p.138
↑ Stevens p.192
↑ Preuss, Arthur A Dictionary of Secret and other Societies St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co. 1924 p.465
↑ Stevens p.192
↑ "Reliable Life Insurance Company History". reliablelifeinsurance.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
↑ Schmidt pp.61-2