Kentucky’s Previous GUOOF Lodges and HH Ruth

One of the oldest African American organizations in Kentucky celebrates 145 years by Nancy Stearns Theiss Special to the Courier-Journal

One of the oldest African American organizations in Kentucky is the Odd Fellows Washington Lodge, No. 1513, in New Castle, Kentucky.

Since its Dispensation on Oct. 29, 1872 by the National Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF) in Philadelphia, The Washington Lodge, No. 1513, has held an annual parade and celebration in downtown New Castle. Ron Wright, a member of the Washington Lodge, said: “We began our Lodge in New Castle three years before the Kentucky Derby!”

The founding of this national organization began with Peter Ogden in 1843. Ogden was an African American steward on the ship Patrick Henry that traveled between Liverpool, England and New York City. He was a member of the Victoria Lodge, No. 448 in Liverpool and became quite upset when free colored men in NYC and Philadelphia tried to form a lodge that was rejected by Odd Fellows Lodges in the United States established by white men. With an Odd Fellow membership from England, Ogden intervened and the first Dispensation of a “colored” Lodge, The Philomathean Lodge No. 646 was formed in NYC through Ogden’s Liverpool Lodge.

The Philomathean Lodge’s number 646 reflects the order of numbered lodges that are given from the Committee of Management in England. So the origin of No. 646 shows that is was the 646th Lodge established through the English organization and the numbers are given consecutively, regardless of the country where they are established.

The GUOOF was comprised of the “free” thinking men of the colored society in those days. Debating local issues and providing social organization was a fundamental base for these early GUOOF Lodges. As pressures and hardships of enslaved African American grew, the GUOOF provided mutual aid and protection in the case of sickness and distress for fellow African Americans.

Early membership included well-known abolitionists such as Frederic Douglass but it was after the Civil War where the GUOOF gave critical support for African American communities seeking education and job opportunities. Racist groups threatened these opportunities, particularly in rural communities. The GUOOF provided a meeting place for blacks that had previously been discouraged prior to the Civil War.

The older members of the Washington Lodge recalled the years of segregation during the early 20th Century. According to Washington Lodge member Richard Smith, the GUOOF provided structure and mentorship for kids such as himself.

“That lodge was a tradition that was important for me, as a kid to belong to. We met twice a month. The sisters, from the House of Ruth in GUOOF, oversaw the activities. We had to pay dues to the lodge. Most of the people around here belonged to the church and the Odd Fellows. We only had one black church, the Main Street Baptist Church, that I recall.”

Another member, Frank Goodloe said the lodge acted as a community center for the church and the local colored school. “At one time we had a scholarship fund to help send kids to school.”

The Civil Rights movement was grounded through the network of local citizens at the grass roots level from organizations like the GUOOF. As each African American community struggled for their voice, the work of local citizens often went unnoticed but the roll call of these organizations stands tribute to their work. By 1900 the GUOOF was the second largest African American fraternal organization in America.

The following is a list of GUOOF Lodges (through 1876) established in Kentucky following the Civil War (taken from The Official History and Treatise of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows in America by Chas. H. Brooks, 1902)

July 3, 1871, no. 1476, John B. Stanberry Lodge, Danville

Aug. 14, 1871, no. 1871, The Anthony Bunch Lodge, Madisonville

May 13, 1872, no. 1496, The United Fellows, Louisville

Oct. 28, 1872, no. 1513, The Washington Lodge, New Castle

Nov. 11, 1872, No. 1574, The Adams Lodge, Louisville

Nov. 25, 1872, No. 1519, The Gem of Ky., Lexington

June 23, 1873, no.1545, Paducah

Oct. 27, 1873, no. 1597, Capitol City Lodge, Frankfort

Nov. 10, 1873, no. 1599, Bowling Green Lodge, Bowling Green

Jan. 12, 1874, no. 1608, The Golden Lyre Lodge, Goose Creek

Jan. 12, 1874, No. 1610, Bloomfield

March 9, 1874, no. 1621, Mt. Horeb Lodge, Elizabethtown

Jul. 13, 1874, no. 1633, The Samuel Lodge, Goshen

July 13, 1874, No. 1635, The Louisville Lodge, Louisville

Aug. 24, 1874, No. 1649, New Tane Lodge, Richmond

Sept. 14, 1874, No. 1642, Camby Lodge, Henderson

Nov. 9, 1874, No. 1650, The Crispus Attucks Lodge, Covington

Jan. 11, 1875, No. 1658, Mt. Calvary Lodge, Bowling Green

Jan. 11, 1875, no. 1659, St. Peter Lodge, Shelbyville

March 8, 1875, No. 1669, The Franklin Lodge, Franklin

Apr. 12, 1875, No. 1671, The Russellville Lodge, Russellville

April 12, 1875, No. 1677, The Blue Grass Lodge, Harrodsburg

Aug. 9, 1875, No. 1690, Hopkinsville Lodge, Hopkinsville

Sept. 13, 1875, No. 1693, The Farmers Lodge, Simpsonville

Sept. 13, 1875, no. 1697, The Bourbon Star Lodge, Paris

Feb. 14, 1876, no. 1719, The Star; Louisville

April 10, 1876, no. 1729, Earlington Lodge, Earlington

April 10, 1876, No. 1730, Woodford Star, Versailles

April 10, 1876, no. 1732, Eminence Lodge, Eminence

June 12, 1876, no. 1757, West Union, Louisville

Aug.14, 1876, No. 1769, Jessamine Lodge, Nicholasville

Aug. 14, 1876, no. 1770, Star Banner Lodge, Lexington

Aug. 11, 1876, no. 1775, Mayfield Lodge, Mayfield

Nov. 12, 1876, No. 1779, Princeton Lodge, Princeton

Nov. 13, 1876, No. 1780,Chas. Sumner Lodge, Lancaster

Dec. 11, 1876, no. 1783, Young Men’s Pride, Paducah

Dec. 11, 1876, no. 1784, Glasgow Lodge, Glasgow

Dec. 11, 1876, No. 1785, Logan Lodge, Russellville