Information Sheet

 

 

R         Knights of Pythias.  Osceola Lodge No. 379 (Osceola, Mo.).

1050                Minute book, 1909-1914.

One volume.

 

 

 

This is the minute book of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Osceola in Saint Clair County, Missouri.  The minutes begin with the organizational meeting on 20 January 1909 and continue through 9 March 1914.  The volume includes amended by-laws, membership roster, rolls of offi­cers, and rules for the club room.

 

At its peak in the 1920s, the Knights of Pythias counted nearly a million members in thou­sands of “castles,” but has since fallen on hard times.  The fraternal order was established in 1864 in Washington, D.C. by Justus H. Rathbone and government employees.  The order is based loosely on the story of Damon and Pythias; its insignia bears letters “F. C. B.,” representing the ideals of friendship, charity, and benevolence.  The Pythian “ranks” were “Page,” “Esquire,” and “Knight.”  The rituals were largely appropriated from other fraternal societies existing at the time, in particular the Masons and the Order of Red Men.  Membership was restricted to white males, although women were accommodated in an auxiliary group known as the Pythian Sisters.  The or­der was primarily a social organization, but offered care for disabled or indigent members and the orphans of members, had a funeral plan, and operated retirement homes.  In the twentieth century, the Knights of Pythias adopted several benevolent and philanthropic programs including research into cystic fibrosis and supporting vacation camps for disadvantaged children.  Like many frater­nal orders, the Knights of Pythias once offered an insurance program for members which has since become a separate mutual life insurance company.

 

The records of Osceola Lodge No. 379 begin on 20 January 1909 with the organizational meeting in the Odd Fellows Hall in Osceola.  The charter members were G. W. Amerman, George W. Chaney, J. E. Clyde, A. B. Conant, Charles Hutsler, F. J. Husted, W. W. Lawton, T. B. Mumma, Fred T. Munson, R. E. Porta, L. O. Shrewsbury, George F. Stiles, J. P. Watson, and T. B. Wilson.  The first item of business was to choose the name “Osceola” (the other choice was “St. Clair”).

 

Typically, the business of the lodge included the admittance of new members, election of officers, work on various ranks and degrees, fundraising to secure lodge paraphernalia and furni­ture, and matters concerning “Castle Hall”-- the building that the Pythians shared with the Odd Fellows and, later, the Modern Woodmen.  The lodge appointed a committee to cooperate with the Odd Fellows to secure “a better hall” on 8 February 1909, and expressed an interest in the Osceola Opera House on 15 February.  In June 1909, the Pythians and Odd Fellows rented a hall from a Mr. Farmer for $100 annually, reduced to $60 in May 1912.  There was no meeting on 19 Decem­ber 1910; the minutes bear the notation, “smallpox.”  In at least one instance, in August 1912, the lodge hired a nurse to care for an ailing member.  The lodge sponsored several entertainments for its members, and rented the hall for others.  The last minutes in the volume, for 1914, include hopes for increasing attendance at the meetings.  The balance in the treasury was $35.00.

 

 

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