Collection Title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows Brandywine Lodge #388 Records
Collection Number: 155
Dates of Collection: 1850-1975
Box Numbers: 1-10
Repository: Chester County Historical Society
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal charitable society, was founded in England in the 18th century and is now an international organization. The I.O.O.F. has existed in the United States since 1819. The I.O.O.F is also known as The Three Link Fraternity; the links represent friendship, love, and truth. Its main causes are to “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, and educate the orphan.”
In order to become a member of the I.O.O.F., one must currently be “a man or woman of good character, who is loyal to his or her country and believes in a Supreme Being, the creator and preserver of the Universe”. The I.O.O.F. became the first national fraternity to include men and women when it adopted the Rebekah Degree in 1851.
I.O.O.F. Brandywine Lodge #388 was instituted in Downingtown, PA in1850. Its lodge was dedicated on May 29, 1857 at Lancaster and Stuart Avenues. This three story building housed a rented store on the first floor, a saloon with traveling shows on the second floor, and a lodge room on the third floor. The lodge room was occupied by several lodges, including the Masons, the Sons of Temperance, and others. Brandywine Lodge #388 occupied this building until 1912, when it moved to the GrangeNationalBankBuilding on East Lancaster Avenue. They purchased this building and began renovations in 1935. Brandywine Lodge #388 is still in existence as of this writing.
Sources: Chester Country Historical Society clippings file; I.O.O.F. website, https://www.ioof.org/
This collection contains the records of I.O.O.F. Brandywine Lodge from 1850-1975. These records include minutes, membership information, and financial records such as account/cash book, ledgers, order books, stock certificates, and auditing committee reports. Some I.O.O.F. publications are also included.
The records are divided into series and arranged chronologically within each series. Series (shown in italics) are as follows: Minutes, Membership, Receipt Books, Account/Cash Books, Auditing Committee Reports, Order Books, Stock Certificates, Ledgers, and Other. Items are arranged in boxes and folders. Items and folders are numbered continuously throughout the collection.
Kane W. Lewis: Ltr. to Samuel Black concerning sale of organ to I.O.O.F., 1889, Ltr. 10524.
Papers mainly concerning Judson Armor, et al., Trustees, etc. v. David Scholl, Vault.
BOX 1
Folder 1
1) Minutes, Minutes of Meetings, Feb. 18, 1850 – Sept. 27, 1856
-items laid in
Folder 2
2) Minutes, Lodge Degree Minute Book, July 24, 1869 – June 28, 1882
-items laid in
Folder 3
3) Minutes, Minutes of Meetings, Apr. 5, 1869 – Feb. 3, 1877
-items laid in
BOX 2
Folder 4
4) Minutes, Minutes of Meetings, Oct. 24, 1874 – Feb. 3, 1877
-includes Treasurer’s Accounts, Oct. 3, 1868 – Mar. 27, 1869
– some pages torn
– items laid in
Folder 5
5) Minutes, Minutes of Meetings, Sept. 24, 1904 – Nov. 28, 1913
BOX 3
Folder 6
6) Minutes, Minutes of Meetings, Apr. 4, 1913 – Nov. 15, 1918
Folder 7
7) Minutes, Minutes of Meetings, Jan. 8, 1945 – Oct. 4, 1948
– oversized, shelved separately
Folder 8
8) Membership, Membership Committee Reports, Feb. 18, 1850 – Jan. 28, 1882
-items laid in
Folder 9
9) Membership, Membership Interview Book, Feb. 25, 1850 – May 31, 1902
BOX 4
Folder 10
10) Membership, Certificate of Election and Lodge Degrees, July 2, 1853 – July 4, 1874
Folder 11
11) Membership, List of Females Admitted as Visitors, Jan. 29, 1855 – June 19, 1866
Folder 12
12) Membership, Semi-Annual Reports, Sept. 24, 1870 – Mar. 26, 1898
Folder 13
13) Membership, Members’ Accounts Alphabetical, [at least] June 26, 1881 – 1947
-oversized, shelved separately
Folder 14
14) Membership, Members’ Register and Official Term Roll, Apr. 4, 1891 – Oct. 2, 1897
Folder 15
15) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Feb. 18, 1850 – Mar. 18, 1865
16) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Mar. 4, 1850 – Oct. 25, 1852; Aug. 24, 1861 –
Nov. 12, 1864
17) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Apr. 1, 1865 – Oct. 31, 1977
BOX 5
Folder 16
18) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Oct. 6, 1877 – Mar. 31, 1886
19) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Apr. 3, 1886 – Apr. 3, 1895
Folder 17
20) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Apr. 6, 1895 – July 21, 1900
21) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Aug. 4, 1900 – Nov. 11, 1905
Folder 18
22) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Jan. 1904 – Feb. 11, 1911
23) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Nov. 18, 1906 – Aug. 29, 1908
24) Receipt Books, Receipt Book, Sept. 5, 1908 – Feb. 16, 1917
BOX 6
Folder 19
25) Account/Cash Books, Cash Book, Feb. 25, 1850 – Sept. 18, 1958
– oversized, shelved separately
Folder 20
26) Account/Cash Books, Treasurer’s Book of Board of Trustees, Aug. 26, 1850 –
Oct. 1, 1868
-items laid in
Folder 21
27) Account/Cash Books, Secretary-Treasurer Account Book, Oct. 2, 1858 –
Sept. 28, 1978
-oversized, shelved separately
-items laid in
Folder 22
28) Account/Cash Books, Treasurer’s Book, Apr. 3, 1869 – Oct. 5, 1879
29) Account/Cash Books, Cash Book Trustees, Apr. 30, 1869 – Oct. 1, 1885
Folder 23
30) Account/Cash Books, Account Book, Oct. 5, 1878 – Oct. 3, 1891
Folder 24
31) Account/Cash Books, Account Book, June 25, 1888 – Nov. 8, 1892
Folder 25
32) Account/Cash Books, Treasurer’s Book, Oct. 3, 1891 – Oct. 14, 1911
BOX 7
Folder 26
33) Account/Cash Books, Cash Book, Oct. 5, 1895 – Oct, 13, 1911
Folder 27
34) Account/Cash Books, Treasurer’s Cash Book, Apr. 4, 1921 – March 5, 1934
35) Account/Cash Books, Treasurer’s Cash Book, Apr. 2, 1934 – Sept. 30, 1947
Folder 28
36) Account/Cash Books, Secretary’s Cash Book, Apr. 6, 1925 – Dec. 30, 1934
Folder 29
37) Auditing Committee Reports, Auditing Committee Reports, Apr. 1, 1918 –
Sept. 30, 1929
BOX 8
Folder 30
38) Order Books, Order Book, 1865 – 1866
-items laid in
Folder 31
39) Order Books, Order Book, Jan. 1904 – Feb. 4, 1911
Folder 32
40) Stock Certificates, Stock Certificates, Apr. 1, 1851 – Apr. 1, 1861
-odd bills and receipts laid in
BOX 9
Folder 33
41) Ledgers, Ledger, 1851 – 1857
BOX 10
Folder 34
42) Ledgers, Ledger, 1859 – 1875
-items laid in
Folder 35
43) Other, Odd Fellows Publications, 1974 – 1974; labels
225 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 | 610-692-4800
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