"Improved Order of Red Men"
(Non-Masonic)
Established in 1834
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In 1766, a group of American patriots adopted the name "Son's of Liberty" following British Parliament member Isaac Barre's reference to these colonial agitators by that name. The "Son's of Liberty" were protestors against any English edict including the 'Stamp Act'. Their best known exploit was the December 16, 1773 Boston Tea Party. 'SL' members, many of whom were Freemasons, disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded British ships at Griffin's Wharf and emptied 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor. Do you know who the last survivor of the Boston Tea Party was... Click Here. A group of "Sons of Liberty" split off and created the "Saint Tamina Society" or "Tammany Society". Tamanend, a seventeenth century Lenni-Lenape, Delaware chief, was believed to possess special abilities, including the power of communication with the Great Spirit. The "Tammany Society" was founded originally as a philanthropic and patriotic society. After the Revolution it expanded its scope becoming a fraternal "benefit/charitable society" for Revolutionary War veterans. The "Tammany Society's" shift away from a philanthropic philosophy resulted in yet another splinter and formation of a new fraternal order: "Society of Red Men". Apparently, members of one or more of the "Tammany Societies" believed their original purpose had become perverted and wished to revert back to the founding principles of patriotism and benevolence. The "Society of Red Men", formed in 1816 and apparently active from 1816 to 1834 is the direct predecessor of the present day "Improved Order of Red Men" created in 1834. In 1878, the "Improved Order of Red Men" organized the "National Haymakers' Association" which was its 'fun' or 'friendship' branch that in all likelihood was formed in response to the success of the Masonic "Shrine" (A.A.O.N.M.S.) which had been founded eight years earlier in 1870. |