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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.
There were a number of Scottish organizations in the US and Canada in the 1870s, whose activities included holding games and entertainments dedicated to preserving Scots heritage. However, none of the existing groups provided sickness or death benefits. To fill this void the Order of Scottish Clans was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 30, 1878. Its founders included James McCash, Dougal Crawford, John Beattie, John Bruce, John D. Cruickshank, George Bain, Robert R. Scott, William Morrison, Peter C. Peterkin and Neil Stewart. Most of the members were Masons and "high in its councils". [1]
The group experienced financial insolvency in the state of Missouri, where it was incorporated in the 1920s, but later rebounded. In 1971 the Order of Scottish Clans was subsumed into the Independent Order of Foresters. [2]
Membership was open to Scotsmen, their sons or male descendants, ages 18 to 50, who were of good moral character and possessed a reputable means of support. There were 4,000 members in 1897. [3] At the time of its merger with the Independent Order of Foresters it had 16,000 members. [4]
The Order had a three tier structure. Local units were called "Subordinate Clans", state or provincial groups were "Grand Clans" and the biennial "Royal Clan" was the highest authority. In 1897 there were 96 Clans, 89 in the United States and 7 in Canada. [5] Each branch, of the Order, chose a clan association, often by who was in the area. For example, Clan MacKenzie #27, was in Manchester, New Hampshire, until the amalgamation with the Foresters.
The groups headquarters was in Boston at the time of the merger with the IOF. [6]
The Daughters of Scotia is a female auxiliary founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1895 and incorporated in that state the following year. Originally the membership was made up of two men and twenty three women. When the organization was firmly established, the men withdrew. [7]
Membership was opened to the wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and widows of members of the Order of Scottish Clans, as well as other women of Scottish descent or adopted by the OSC or DOS. There are two classes of membership, donation (beneficiary) and social (non-beneficiary). Donation members must be between 16 and 45 and in good health, while social members were over 45 and "not physically qualified to become a donation member." Social members are entitled to all privileges of membership other than donation fund benefits. All of its members in Canada were social members. [8]
The donation fund was not a typical insurance fund, but was a death benefit paid by assessing each member a nominal fee. The Daughters had a ritual, which included an initiation ceremony. [9]
In 1979 the local units were called "Clans", [10] but they now appear to be called "Lodges". [11] The national structure is called a Grand Lodge and meets in convention annually. In 1979 its "secretarial offices" were in Troy, Michigan, and the Daughters had 17,000 members. [12]
The Independent Order of Foresters, operating as Foresters Financial, is a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that provides life insurance and other financial solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As of 2022, Louis Gagnon has served as the company's president and CEO.
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 Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), also known as the Sons and Daughters of Rechab, is a fraternal organisation and friendly society founded in England in 1835 as part of the wider temperance movement to promote total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. The Order has been active in Australia from 1843, promoting temperance and as a benefit society. A branch was established in the United States in 1842, and also flourished for a time. In the United Kingdom, the Order trades under the name of Healthy Investment, being well connected in upper society and involved in financial matters; there it gradually transformed into a financial institution which promotes teetotalism.
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.
A benefit society, fraternal benefit society, fraternal benefit order, friendly society, or mutual aid society is a society, an organization or a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit, for instance insurance for relief from sundry difficulties. Such organizations may be formally organized with charters and established customs, or may arise ad hoc to meet unique needs of a particular time and place.
Sons of Norway, founded in 1895 as the Independent Order of the Sons of Norway, is a fraternal organization principally representing people of Norwegian heritage in the United States and Canada. The organization includes in its mission the promotion and preservation of the heritage and culture of Norway and other Nordic countries. It also sells life insurance and other financial products to its members. The organization is classified as a non-profit 501(c)(8) fraternal beneficiary society.
The Order of United American Mechanics was an anti-Catholic American Nativist organization of the mid-19th century. It was founded in Philadelphia amid the anti-alien riots of 1844-45. It originally was called the Union of Workers. Members were required to undertake efforts to publicize and campaign against the hiring of cheap foreign labor and to patronize only "American" businesses.
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 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.
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 Gleaner Life Insurance Society, originally known as the Ancient Order of Gleaners, is a fraternal benefit society based in Adrian, Michigan.
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 and adopted its current name in 2011.
The Degree of Honor Protective Association is a fraternal benefit society. It was originally organized as a female auxiliary to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, but split off in 1910 to become its own independent group. It merged with Catholic Financial Life in 2017.
The American Legion of Honor was a fraternal benefit order that was active in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In its heyday, it was one of the best known benefit societies.
The Knights and Ladies of Honor was a highly successful and popular American fraternal benefit organization in the late 19th and early twentieth century. It is perhaps the first major fraternal benefit organization to adopt the idea of diversity allowing non-white persons and racial groups to be recognized and establish lodges.