Included in the family are the Canadian Order of Foresters, the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Independent Order of Foresters, Foresters of America, Companions of the Forest (or of Foresters) and several lesser Forester orders.  All of the major American and Canadian branches of the order were founded in the 1870's and in keeping with the times were fraternal benefit societies offering life and disability insurance to their members.  Over the years, the insurance business gained dominance over the fraternal aspect of the orders.