The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a fraternal organization that has been around since, at the earliest, the 1730s in England. In a time where people were dying of plague, they organized for the betterment of life. The Odd Fellows have performed acts of philanthropy like building houses and burying the dead to help stop the flow of disease. The IOOF website says “[They] came to be known as ‘Odd Fellows’ because it was odd to find people organized for the purpose of giving aid to those in need and of pursuing projects for the benefit of all mankind.”
Members pay membership fees and this is mostly what funds the philanthropy the IOOF performs. In the past, members would use a secret password of a hand sign to protect the lodge funds. While the IOOF isn’t as necessary as it used to be, due to social welfare programs, they still give monetary and charitable contributions to people in their community. The central idea behind the Odd Fellows is that they will “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan.” In a time where there wasn’t much or any of an established healthcare system, one of the main goals of the IOOF in their beginning was to bury the dead. Which is why you may see I.O.O.F. banners close to your local cemetery.
The Odd Fellows have a merit system that somewhat resembles a military. There is a Meritorious Service Jewel for members who go above and beyond what is expected and an Odd Fellows “Veteran” jewel or pin for people who have served for 25 years or more with pins coming in five-year increments. They have a semi-military degree called the Patriarch Militant. They fulfill their duty to their lodge by performing the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’ ceremony in Washington D.C.
Here’s a picture of some of their medals.
But there are things about the Odd Fellows that most people don’t know. Like the Masons, the IOOF has been known for their “odd” rituals and secret practices. Now, I don’t know how true these rumors are, but they’re what peaked my interest in the IOOF. The Odd Fellows, according to myths I’ve found, have done some weird things in the past. While doing renovations on their lodge in Philadelphia, workers have found full skeletons sealed in the drywall. As a meditation on death, initiates are purportedly supposed to have performed rituals with a full real skeleton. It’s supposed to be because it’s one of their main tenets to bury the dead.
I reached out to the local Denton lodge for any information they could give me about the IOOF and their rituals but I received no response.
Of the many famous members of the IOOF, Charlie Chaplin, FDR and Ulysses S. Grant were active members.
