EARLY FRATERNAL SOCIETIES

From "History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan" - 1880

MASONIC.
Grand Ledge Lodge No. 179, F. and A. M., was organized in October, 1865, with thirteen members, and has a present membership of 130. The first Master was George W. Thomas. The Masons and other orders occupied rooms in one of the buildings burned in the " great fire," and all their records, regalia, etc., were lost. The Masonic fraternity had an insurance of $300, which helped them to start
anew, and they now have convenient rooms in one of the new buildings erected
since the fire.

The present (1880) officers of the lodge are: Hugh Rossman, W. M.; Isaac
M. Brown, S. W.; George Deckey, J. W.; Francis M. Kent, Treas.; S. Chadwick, Sec.; A. B. Jones, S. D. George O'Neill, J. D.; Henry Sweagles, Tiler.

Statistics were promised regarding Grand Ledge Chapter, No. 85, of Royal Arch
Masons, but have not been forthcoming. This is of later organization than the
lodge.


INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD-FELLOWS.
Grand Ledge Lodge, No. 180, was instituted in 1872, with Hiram Rathbun as Noble Grand. The membership, which was limited at first, is now fifty. The
lodge was nearly broken up in consequence of the fire, in which it lost everything
except the treasurer's record, but finally rallied and is now in good condition, with
the following officers: John MeAlpine, N. G.; Albert Hancock, V. G.; Henry Bigelow, Sec.; F. A. Taber, Permanent Sec.; T. Foreman, Treas.; Henry Porter, C.; S. L. Hyde, W.; E. Niles, I. G.; De Witt Foreman, O. G.; S. L. Hyde, Lodge Deputy; W. G. Hyde, Sitting Past Grand.


ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN.
Island Lodge, No. 73, was organized June 26, 1879, with twenty members, which
number, in May, 1880, had increased to thirty. The officers are: A. B. Shoemaker,
Master Workman; G. Homer Jones, Recorder; M. Pettit, Foreman; Joel McPeek, Overseer; H. L. Bigelow, Financier; J. S. Holmes, Receiver.


KNIGHTS OF HONOR.
Oneida Lodge, No. 1208, was organized Sept. 27,1878, with twenty members. The membership on the 20th of May, 1880, was twenty-four, and the officers as follows: F. A. Taber, Dictator; H. Wareham, Vice-Dictator; Charles McAllister, Assistant Dictator; G. Homer Jones, Reporter; W. C. Westland, Financial Reporter; C. E. Waldo, Chaplain; J. S. Holmes, Treas.