Freedmen's Savings Bank Registers

Although this might not seem like a post about lodges, it actually is.  The registers for the Freedmen's Savings & Trust Company are a great resource to use when trying to find out more about the officers of benevolent and fraternal lodges.  The Freedmen's Savings Bank was incorporated in March 1865 and branches of the bank were located throughout the South.  In Tennessee, there were branches in at least Memphis, Nashville and Columbia.  The Bank went bankrupt in 1874; however, the registers for the account holders of the bank still exist for some of the branches.  You can find these records on microfilm at the National Archives or at your state archives.  Also, some websites such as Heritage Quest have digitized the records and made them searchable by name.

What makes these records so fascinating is the level of detail they contain.  They often list the name of the ex-enslaved's master and mistress, where the account holder was born, who their parents were, and a physical description of the account holder.  The ones for lodges and other groups will list the names of the officers of the organization.

Ledger for Henry Burney, officer of the Benevolent Society
Nashville branch of the Freedmen's Savings Bank

As this ledger shows us, Henry Burney was the secretary of the Benevolent Society in Nashville in 1872.  He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia and was about 34 years old.  He worked as a nursery hand and was married to Sarah.  The notation for his parents lists their names but states, "doesn't know whether he is living." The notation for his siblings reads, "don't where they are."  The ledgers bring home the impact slavery had on society, when people were separated from families and not able to locate them after the war.

Ledger for the Daughters of Zion No. 1 of Memphis
Memphis Branch of the Freedmen's Savings Bank

The ledger above for the Daughters of Zion No. 1 of Memphis is helpful in that it lists the officers of the group.  I then take these names and look for them in the census to learn occupations, where they lived, marital status, etc.

With the help of these ledgers from the Freedmen's Savings Bank, I hope to learn more about the people who were officials in lodges.

Benevolent Order No. 107, Una (Davidson County)

I grew up in south Nashville, near Haywood Lane and Una-Antioch Pike.  Imagine my surprise one day while scanning the Nashville Globe when I discovered a mention of an African American lodge in the Una community.  While I have not located where the lodge was located, I have since found several other mentions of the lodge, which I will share here.

I have blogged previously about other Benevolent lodges or cemeteries in Tennessee; this was a prolific and active group throughout the state.  I do not know when the lodge in Una was founded; the October 2, 1908 edition of the Nashville Globe states, "Benevolent Order Number 107 will dedicate its new hall on the third Sunday in October, with addresses by Grand President Swanson, Rev. Preston Taylor, J.H. Harding, B. Manier...." and a list of other officials.

Nashville Globe, October 30, 1908

The October 30, 1908 edition of the Nashville Globe contains a write-up of the grand opening under "Una Notes."  No location for the hall is given, but the article states, "The house was tastefully decorated by Mesdames Belle Cannon, Jennie Burnett, Ellen Leath, Annie Leach."

Other mentions of the lodge in the Nashville Globe throughout 1908 and 1909 mention the various entertainments and installations held at the facility.  On December 4, 1908, the paper reported that, "Quite an amusing entertainment was given by the Ladies of Benevolent Order No. 107, at their hall on Ethridge Avenue." I have not yet been able to find an Ethridge Avenue in Nashville, either on Sanborn maps from the period or on current maps.

The Benevolent Lodge No. 107 sounds like an active group, hosting a Christmas entertainment on December 29, 1908, electing officers in March 1909, and giving an entertainment in August 1909 at which Rev. C.H. Williams was the featured speaker.

Nashville Globe, December 25, 1908

Like so many other groups, this once activity community may have slowly dissipated.  It may have been struck down by the financial crises of the Great Depression.  African Americans leaving the South as part of the Great Migration may have diminished the membership.  Or it may still exist and thrive and continue to serve its purpose of creating community bonds.  I would love to know the answer one day.

Nashville Globe, March 19, 1909

Mt. Ararat Cemetery, Nashville (Davidson County)

Gate to Mt. Ararat Cemetery (photograph by author)

 
Looking out of place today amidst the industrial corridor that is the Fesslers Lane area of Nashville lies one of Nashville's oldest African American lodge cemeteries.  In April 1869, the Sons of Relief No. 1 and the Colored Benevolent Society in Nashville came together to purchase the land and create the cemetery (Bobby L. Lovett, The African-American History of Nashville, Tennessee, 1780-1930, 108).  Burials have continued since that time, and to date there are hundreds of burials in the cemetery.

Cornerstone of the stone gates installed c. 1914. (photograph by author)

The cemetery has undergone periods of neglect followed by transformation.  By the middle 1910s it was a largely overgrown, neglected burial ground.  A period of revival in the 1920s was followed by another period of neglect, and by the 1970s the cemetery was overgrown and businesses such as Purity Dairy and trucking companies encroached on the space.  In 1982 ownership of the cemetery passed to Greenwood Cemetery, an African American cemetery founded by undertaker Preston Taylor in the 1880s.  Mt. Ararat is currently owned by National Christian Missionary Convention.

View of the encroachment on the cemetery.  (photograph by author)

The creation of the cemetery by two African American lodges is not its only contribution to lodge history in Nashville.  A number of people buried in the cemetery had connections to a number of other fraternal and benevolent lodges in Nashville.  Mt. Ararat is the burial site of Nelson McGavock, first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Prince Hall Masons in the state of Tennessee.  A quick reconnaissance of the cemetery also yielded a tombstone showing the symbol of the Mosaic Templars, an African American lodge founded in Little Rock, Arkansas by ex-slaves, one of which was born in Moscow, Tennessee.

Tombstone of Nelson McGavock, Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons.

The symbol for the Mosaic Templars is located above

 the name of Lucinda Boyd.

I think Mt. Ararat is interesting also because it shows that lodges worked together to improve their communities. Places such as Mt. Ararat Cemetery I believe show the collaboration and cooperation that lodges displayed towards each other. Rather than competing for the membership and dues of the community, groups worked together to create community institutions. I also find it interesting that although Mt. Ararat has faced several threats over the years it is still an active cemetery. People continue to care for it and to find meaning in it.

The transcription for the cemetery may be found here and here.

Benevolent Cemetery, Murfreesboro (Rutherford County)

Benevolent Society Cemetery, Murfreesboro, January 2012 (image by author)

Tucked away in an industrial zone and virtually inaccessible by car lies the burial grounds of Benevolent Society No. 11.  Although this cemetery was once a vital part of the community, today it sits overgrown and overlooked.  According to research done by John Lodl and others at the Rutherford County Archives, more than six hundred African Americans are buried in this graveyard.  Yet the history of the group responsible for creating this cemetery is largely forgotten.

The Benevolent Society in Tennessee dates to at least 1865, when the Colored Benevolent Society was formed in Nashville.  The General Assembly soon amended the Articles of Incorporation of the group to allow for branches and lodges to be established throughout the state (A.A. Taylor, The Negro in Tennessee1865-1889, 156-157).  By 1900, lodges were located across the state, in locations such as Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, and Fayetteville.

It is not known when the Benevolent Society in Murfreesboro was organized, but it is known that they purchased land for their cemetery in 1897.  This property was located off of South Church Street (also known as the Shelbyville Highway).

The Benevolent Society in Murfreesboro must have thrived because the Nashville Globe reported in 1908 that the Fortieth Annual Session of the Delegated Assembly of the Benevolent Orders was held in Murfreesboro.  The headline boasted of "Complete Successful Four Days Work at Rutherford County Capital" (Nashville Globe, August 14, 1908).   Describing the convention, the paper stated, "The town of Murfreesboro has been all aglow with the major portion of this work with the spirit of Benevolence, having had the state assembly in their midst" (Nashville Globe, August 14, 1908).  The paper also described the event as "Historic Town of Murfreesboro overrun with Benevolent Workers."

Benevolent Cemetery, January 2012 (image by author)

    Despite the warm welcome given to the convention members in 1908, the Benevolent Society in Murfreesboro did not survive.  By 1988, the last surviving member of the organization deeded the cemetery to Allen Chapel AME Church.  Despite sporadic clean-up efforts throughout the last two decades, the cemetery remains overgrown and in poor condition.

Obscured tombstone (image by author)

View of Church Street from the cemetery (image by author)

United Helping Society

In 1889, the Strength of the No. 1 United Helping Society was incorporated in Davidson County, Tennessee.  The stated purpose of the organization was "the mutual benefit and moral elevation of its members and care for those in cases of great distress" while its motto was "Christ is head over all" (Charter of Incorporation, Secretary of State's Records, Record Group 42, Book O, Page 46, Tennessee State Library & Archives).

In addition to elevating the morals of its members, the group also worked to help its members purchase homes.  An article in the October 11, 1907 Nashville Globe described the annual meeting of the group in Antioch that month.  The article stated, "Progress was reported along all lines, and the people are awakening to the importance of owning their own homes and having a bank account" (Nashville Globe, October 11, 1907).  Furthermore, the paper reported, "the purpose of the Society is to encourage its members to secure homes and to become, as far as me be, self-sustaining" (Nashville Globe, October 11, 1907).

Nashville Globe, October 11, 1907

 Beyond assisting African-Americans in purchasing their own homes, the group began to organize a separate, African-American town in Dickson County in the 1910s.  The December 16, 1911 edition of the Lexington Standard reported "Negro City Planned" and that a tact of over 1,300 acres had been purchased in Hortense, Tennessee, in Dickson County.  The paper reported, "The United Helping society of Tennessee is back of the project, having already built a number of homes for colored people at Antioch.  All available land there has been used.  At Hortense an agricultural and industrial school has been projected and a widows and orphans' home" (Lexington Standard, December 16, 1911, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025729/1911-12-16/ed-1/seq-3/).

More research is needed to learn whether Hortense was actually planted, and if the plans for the agricultural school and widows and orphans home came to fruition.

Odd Fellow's Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County

Odd Fellows Cemetery, Knoxville

Located on Bethel Avenue in East Knoxville since c. 1880 is the Odd Fellows Cemetery, an African-American fraternal and benevolent cemetery.  The Odd Fellows, the Daughters of Zion, and the Good Samaritans purchased the property to create the joint cemetery.  Oddly enough, the cemetery is located on the same street as Bethel Confederate Cemetery, showing that the lines of segregation where not always drawn as rigidly in the decades following the war as they were in the early twentieth century.

According to Robert J. Booker, the Banner Lodge Chapter of Odd Fellows purchased the first section of the cemetery before 1881.  The Daughters of Zion purchased a section adjacent to this in 1881.  In 1884, the third section of the cemetery was purchased by Rebecca Lodge Chapter of the Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria (Robert L. Booker, Two Hundred Years of Black Culture in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1791 to 1991, p. 90).  It is not surprising that these groups purchased a cemetery together as the Rebecca Lodge and Banner Lodge of Odd Fellows shared lodge space, both meeting at Odd Fellows Hall on 92 Gay Street (1887 Knoxville City Directory, p. 29).

Odd Fellows Cemetery, Knoxville

The cemetery is in mixed condition.  It is apparent that there have been recent efforts to clear part of the vegetation at the site and to set upright fallen tombstones. The section belonging to the Daughters of Zion looks largely abandoned.

A partial transcription of the cemetery is located here.

Sunshine Lodge Knights and Ladies of Honor

What follows is a transcription from the February 7, 1908 Nashville Globe describing a visit by the head of the Knights and Ladies of Honor to Nashville in 1908.  No changes have been made to the spelling or punctuation.

"Sunshine Lodge Knights and Ladies of Honor

Dr. E. A. Williams, of Cincinnati, O., Supreme Director and Protector of the Knights of Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor of the World, spent two days in the city last week the guest of Miss Emma Joe Cockrill, of 1221 Third avenue, South.  Dr. Williams was here for the purpose of looking after the endowment of the Knights and Ladies of Honor in Tennessee, there being four lodges in this State.  Sunshine Lodge, No. 843, at Nashville; Woodlawn Lodge, No. 84, at Brownsville; Greenleaf Lodge, No. 805, at Keeling, and Rising Sun Lodge, No. 78, at Decaturville.

Sir W.S. Thompson, Past Protector of Sunshine Lodge, No. 843, has been given power of attorney by Dr. Williams to look after the Endowment and secure the State Charter of Incorporation.

The members of Sunshine Lodge were very enthusiastic over the visit of their Supreme Protector, and never in the fraternal history of Nashville has the head of an organization received the courtesy and attention which was lavished upon Supreme Protector Williams by the subordinate members.  Notwithstanding the severe weather they tendered him a banquet at Miss Emma Joe Cockrill's on Saturday evening and the Lodge members and their friends were out in gala dress to do honor to the doctor.  Quite an elaborate menu was served and all present enjoyed themselves.  One could not realize that Nashville was in the throes of hard times could that one have seen the sumptuous repast which was served by the members of Sunshine Lodge.

Protector Sir A. W. W. Upshaw in a very modest speech informally introduced the Supreme Dictator, Dr. E. A. Williams, who in his eloquent way thanked the Lodge for the honor which had been shown him, and outlined the efforts and purpose of the Order.  Past Protector Sir W.S. Thompson responded and thanked the Supreme Protector for the honor which had been shown to Nashville in electing Miss Emma Joe Cockrill Secretary-Treasurer of the Supreme Endowment Board, and assured him that no wiser election from any point of view could have been made.  The notification of her election came to Miss Cockrill during the holidays and was quite a surprise.  Miss Cockrill was appointed Deputy of the Knights and Ladies of Honor by Dr. Williams while attending the Supreme Conclave Knights of Pythias in Louisville, Ky., September, 1907.

Dr. Williams is Past Supreme Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and Past Supreme Counsellor of the Courts of Calanthe. He organized the first Court of Calanthe in Tennessee, which was brought about by the famous "Red Letter," which Capt. A.M. Cockrill, then C.C. of Damon Lodge, No. 2, wrote Dr. Williams.  Miss Cockrill, then a school girl, took the reins of authority from her brother, being his secretary, and with that modesty and refinement of speech which is characteristic of her, poured oil upon the waters and the result was that the Supreme Chancellor not only restore Damon's rights, but in time gave to Nashville our first Court of Calanthe, which was "Ivy leaf," with Mrs. M.J. Strong as W.C.

Had not Dr. Williams visited Nashville many persons who have been misled would never have known that through Capt. Cockrill and Miss Emma Joe's efforts Nashville got ehr first Court of Calanthe, and that Sir Aaron Dodd was the first Deputy Supreme Commander.

The Knights and Ladies of Honor bid fair to be quite a strong organization in the State of Tennessee as it is in other States, and with such a matchless leader as Dr. Williams it cannot do otherwise than prosper.

We are proud of a leader who is a man, with all the elements of true manhood, and one who will not stoop to the small things which have been a drawback to so many Negro organizations.  We are proud of him because he recognizes ability and will compromise with nothing else and, like the gallant Knights of other races, believes in first, last and always pushing to the front the women of his race."

Notes
Miss Emma Joe Cockrill was a teacher at the Knowles School (an African American school) in Nashville (Annual Report of the Public Schools, Nashville, Tenn., 1906, p. 61). She died in 1923 and is buried in Mt. Ararat Cemetery (Davidson County Cemetery Survey Project, http://www.davidsoncocemeterysurvey.com/home/cemeteries-m-o/mt-ararat-new-section-cemetery)

Clipping from the Nashville Globe, February 7, 1908

 

Number Nine Hall Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County

Number Nine Hall Cemetery (image by author)

Not far from the Mississippi state line in Shelby County (less than two miles) is a cemetery belonging to the Independent Pole Bearers Number Nine Hall. The Independent Pole Bearers started in Memphis shortly after the Civil War, and were initially a semi-military group with the members having the right to bear arms (Green Polonius Hamilton, The Bright Side of Memphis, 207).  The Pole Bearers were an active group, and by the end of the nineteenth century there were multiple lodges throughout West Tennessee.

The Articles of Incorporation for Independent Pole Bearers Association No. 9 states that the group was incorporated in 1896 and that it was located in the 12th Civil District of Shelby County, near the town of White House.  According to the Articles, "The object of this incorporation is to establish a means whereby we may secure for cash other exemption from neglect in the exigencies of sickness, want and death; to secure for each other employment, and to hold social meetings for the purpose of advancement of each other" (Record Group 42, Secretary of State Charters of Incorporation, Volume O-O, Page 172, located at the Tennessee State Library and Archives).  Various lodges of the Independent Pole Bearers continue to exist in Shelby County.

In April 2013, I visited this cemetery in Shelby County. The cemetery is adjacent to a Church of Christ church, and is very well-maintained.  There were several examples of hand-carved tombstones in the cemetery. There is no sign indicating the name of the cemetery.  The most recent grave dated to 2011.  It is possible there are a number of unmarked graves in the cemetery as there were several sunken spots in the rows of graves.  The tombstones were some of the most interesting that I have seen.

Example of hand-carved tombstone. Image by author.

Hand-carved tombstone.  Image by author.

Image by author.

Warfield Masonic Lodge, Clarksville, Montgomery County

Warfield Masonic Lodge, Clarksville (image by author)

In 1899, the Warfield Masonic Lodge purchased property at the corner of Ninth and Main Streets in Clarksville, Tennessee. They built themselves a lodge which suffered major damage in a 1911 fire.  After remodeling and repairing the building, the Masons moved back in, continuing to meet through the present.

The Warfield Lodge was organized in the 1890s; all the early records and archives of the group was lost in the 1911 fire.  The group is affiliated with the Prince Hall Masons, an African American masonic group dating to the late eighteenth century.  The first Prince Hall Masonic lodges in Tennessee were established in the 1870s.

Cornerstone of Warfield Lodge (image by author)

In 1907, the Nashville Globe wrote about the Emancipation Celebration planned by the Warfield Lodge. The paper reported

                          The 8th of August opened up in this beautiful section of Tennessee with the 

                          members of the Warfield Lodge Masonic rites, expecting the biggest and 

                          liveliest crowd known in the history of the Emancipation celebration.  Up 

                          until 2 o'clock the day was an ideal one, but it seems that the promoters failed 

                          to tip the weather man and consequently that august and mighty one gave 

                          Paducah, Ky., the sunshine and Clarksville one of the wettest days in the history

                          of the celebration.  With little or no shelter at the park, most of the celebrators 

                          were drenched to the skin, and dresses and hats of brilliant colors lost all their luster.  

                          The officers of the Masonic fraternity of this place have had the rainy heart ever 

                          since. ("Clarksville Notes," Nashville Globe, August 16, 1907).

I visited the Warfield Lodge in February 2013.  The building is brick and in moderate to good condition. It is a three story brick building with a flat roof (condition unknown).  A metal shed roof porch with a concrete floor and metal poles is located at the front elevation.  The side elevation (facing Ninth Street) has the cornerstone and lodge sign.

Image by author

Clipping about the Warfield Lodge from the Nashville Globe, August 16, 1907

Benevolent Lodge #79 Cemetery, Madison, Davidson County, Tennessee

Benevolent Lodge #79 Cemetery (Image by author)

Tucked away on Briarville Road in Madison, near Due West Avenue, Gallatin Pike, and Briley Parkway, sits a small cemetery with fewer than 40 marked graves. This is the Benevolent Lodge #79 Cemetery. The Benevolent Society, also known as the Colored Benevolent Society, was one of the first benevolent groups organized in Tennessee. A group of African-American men in Nashville started the group in 1865, and it was incorporated on May 22, 1866. In 1868 the group's charter was revised to allow them to start branches of the organization throughout the state (Alrutheus Ambush Taylor, The Negro in Tennessee, 1865-1889, 156). By the end of the nineteenth century, branches had been established throughout the state, in towns such as Memphis, Cross Bridges (Maury County), Port Royal (Montgomery County), Fayetteville and Brownsville. Many of the lodges built their own lodge buildings, and several, including the groups in Edgefield, Antioch, Port Royal, and Agnew, established cemeteries for their members.

From the 1888 Sanborn Insurance Map of Nashville, Sheet 6b, volume 1 (Image courtesy Digital Sanborn Collection, Walker Library, MTSU)

According to the Davidson County Register of Deeds office, the Benevolent Society No. 79 acquired the property for their cemetery in 1919. The Briarsville branch (also spelled Briersville), is mentioned before that date in several different Nashville Globe issues. On March 27, 1908, the Nashville Globe reported that the group held its annual election of officers on March 14th of that year. G.R. Love was elected president, Alex. Pettus was elected vice president, Mrs. Arminta Shute was elected secretary, Edd Yateman was elected treasurer, George Pettis was elected marshal, John Woods was elected chaplain, Narval Vinson was the men's chairman of sick committee, and Mrs. Francis Yateman was elected ladies' marshal. As this article highlights, both men and women were members of the Benevolent Society. Additionally, the group allowed for the election of female officers, as the election of Mrs. Shute to secretary shows.

 

Article from the Nashville Globe, March 27, 1908, detailing the annual election of officers for Benevolent Society #79.

I visited the cemetery in February 2012 and I found that it is well-maintained. There is no signage denoting the name of the cemetery. It is sandwiched in a residential neighborhood, and houses surround the cemetery. A stacked stone fence is located to the front of the property. A transcription of the tombstones for the cemetery can be found here.

Tombstone at the Benevolent Society #79 Cemetery (image by author)

Stacked stone wall at the front of the property (image by author)

1919 Deed to the cemetery.  Davidson County Deed Book 523 Pages 341-342.

Independent Order of Immaculates - Supreme Grand Lodge, 1907

Below is a clipping taken from the Nashville Globe, an African-American newspaper, dated August 16, 1907. This article describes the biennial meeting of the Order of Immaculates, taking place in Montgomery, Alabama, that year. I have transcribed the article as well. From time to time I will post clippings and transcriptions I have found that detail the operations and rituals of benevolent and fraternal groups.

"Order of Immaculates in Session
Montgomery Ala., Aug. 8.
Special to the Globe:

The Supreme Grand Lodge and Supreme Convention Independent Order of Immaculates have been in biennial session in this city since Tuesday morning, August 6. Next to Tennessee, Alabama is second in strength in the Order and so far as endowment obtains, Alabama leads all other the states.

Delegates are present representing, besides Tennessee and Alabama: Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and Ohio.

Among the Tennessee representatives are Dr. R.F. Boyd, A.A. Fisher, A.B. Bradford, W.S. Thompson, R. A. Pellow, B.J. Merritt, Chas. Vaughn, Summerfield Brown; Mesdames Mamie Vaughn, Hattie Bender, Irene Dowell, Susie Carter, Cassie Greer, A. Lofton and Miss M.L. Lawrence of Nashville; G.T. Bradford, J.H. Slaten, J.H. Watkins, Mrs. Flora Perkins, Mrs. J.S. Gilmore, Mrs. Alice Joyce of Columbia; Mrs. T.P. Turner of Pulaski; Mr. Samuel Moody and R.A. Moore, of Memphis; Mrs. S.E. Jones and M.E. Shaw, of Tullahoma; R.A. Vaugh, Mr. P. Dixon of Chattanooga, and many others.

The entire delegation numbers 116. Interesting reception exercises were held Tuesday morning, the State Grand Master of Alabama being Master of Ceremonies. C.E. Millier, Supreme Grand Master, delivered an encouraging report of the two years' labor, and this report received the unanimous endorsement of the Supreme Convention.

The election of officers for the next two years was as follows: C.E. Millier, Decatur, Ala., Supreme Grand Master; R.F. Boyd, M.D., Nashville, Tenn., Supreme Deputy Grand Master; A.A. Fisher, Nashville, Tenn., Supreme Grand Permanent Scribe; W.S. Thompson, Nashville, Tenn., Supreme Grand Treasurer; Summerfield Brown, Nashville, Tenn., Supreme Grand Recording Scribe.

The Endowment Report of the jurisdictions of Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, and Arkansas were read and received with hearty approvals.

Many resolutions seeking improvement in the laws of the Order were favorably considered. Consideration of insurance laws to improve the same occupied the entire day Thursday. The Convention adjourns Friday.

The highest degree department meets Friday afternoon and night and the entire delegation will adjourn from one of the busiest sessions it has ever held.

The next Supreme Grand Convention and Grand Lodge will likely meet in either Chattanooga or Nashville."

Independent Order of Immaculates

The Independent Order of Immaculates (or IOI) started in Nashville in 1872 as a successor to the Young Men’s Immaculate Association which had organized in 1868. The Immaculates allowed both men and women to join their lodges. Like other benevolent groups, the Immaculates offered sickness, accident and disability benefits to its members. Unlike other groups that began in Tennessee, the Independent Order of Immaculates grew to become a national organization. By 1907, there were lodges of the Independent Order of Immaculates in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and Ohio.

(Clipping from the Globe-Republican (Dodge City, Kansas), August 26, 1891. Taken from the Library of Congress Historic American Newspaper Collection, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84029853/1891-08-26/ed-1/seq-2/)

While there were numerous branches of the Immaculates throughout the state of Tennessee, I have not yet found an extant building associated with the group. Lodges were established in Memphis in 1872, and by 1908, that city had three lodges of Immaculates with a total membership of five hundred. G.P. Hamilton stated in 1908 that the group in Memphis “numbers among its members some of the best and most progressive people in Memphis. It has done much good in the past and its prospects for the future were never brighter than now." (G.P. Hamilton, The Bright Side of Memphis (1908), 207).

While it is unknown when the Independent Order of Immaculates ceased to exist, it appears that they survived World War I. The 1924 Nashville City Directory lists the office for the group as being located at 1100 1st Avenue South and that there were ten lodges in Nashville at that time (1924 Nashville City Directory, 30).

(Clipping from the Nashville Globe, November 8, 1907. Found in the Newspapers Microfilm Collection, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee).

I hope in the course of this research to find out more about the Immaculates and hopefully to locate lodges associated with the order.

O.F. Hall, Pulaski, Giles County, Tennessee

The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF) is the African-American counterpart of the Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal group. The first lodge of the GUOOF was established in 1843 in New York City by a charter from the English Odd Fellows. A fraternal group complete with regalia and ranks, the GUOOF also offered social insurance benefits to its members. The first lodge in Tennessee, the Memphis Star Lodge #1501, was established in 1872. By the 1910s, the GUOOF had a national membership of more than 300,000 members that represented more than 11% of all African American men. Membership declined after the Great Depression, and there is not currently a Grand Lodge of Tennessee.

The GUOOF were active in Tennessee during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Lodges were located in all three grand divisions of the state, in towns ranging from Chattanooga, Coal Creek, Strawberry Plains, Cowan, Murfreesboro, Memphis, Erin, Jackson and numerous other towns. The picture above is of the "Colored O.F. Hall," the term used to designate the building on an 1891 Sanborn Insurance Map of Pulaski, Tennessee. The lodge was located on the top floor.

(Image courtesy Digital Sanborn Map Collection, Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University)

I have not yet learned how long the GUOOF met at this location in Pulaski. The building is located on the town square, at 100 W. Jefferson.

Sons of Ham Cemetery, Madison, Davidson County, Tennessee

The Sons of Ham Cemetery is located in Madison, Tennessee in Davidson County. A benevolent organization, the Sons of Ham No. 1 of Edgefield Junction was incorporated in 1869 “for the purpose of raising funds for the systematic relief, protection and education of its members; and for the care of the sick and burial of the dead” (Acts of the State of Tennessee, Passed by the First Session of the Thirty-Sixth General Assembly For the Years 1869-1870 (Nashville: Jones, Purvis & Co., 1870), 567). The group purchased land on Old Dry Creek Road in Davidson County for a cemetery which is still in use.

I visited the cemetery in December 2012 and was struck by the beauty of the site and by how well-maintained it is. There appear to be two separate sections to the cemetery. One is located up on a hillside while a second section of graves is located at the foot of the hill. A stacked-stone fence is located at the section of the cemetery that borders Gallatin Pike.

According to the Davidson County Cemetery Project, there were 91 tombstones in the cemetery when it was surveyed in March 2000. When I surveyed the cemetery in December 2012, there were more recent graves. A transcription of the cemetery may be found here.

What is this all about?

My name is Leigh Ann Gardner, and I am a historic preservationist from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. While working on my master's degree in Public History at Middle Tennessee State University, I became fascinated with African-American fraternal and benevolent lodges. There were largely two types of fraternal and benevolent organizations: those that paralleled a white organization (such as the Masons or the Elks) and distinctive orders that did not directly resemble any white organization. Some organizations were part of larger, national or regional groups (such as the Mosaic Templars or Knights of Pythias). Some groups were purely local, such as the Colored Sisters of Charity, the Social Benevolent Society, and the Independent Pole Bearers Association. One group, the Independent Order of Immaculates, started in Nashville and grew to be a national organization. Beginning in early 2012, I began my quest to document and survey sites in Tennessee associated with fraternal and benevolent lodges. Through my research, I have found that there were hundreds of these groups in Tennessee during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While some groups did not survive into the late-twentieth century, some do still survive. Through this blog, I hope to highlight some of the groups I have found, and I hope to hear from people that know more about fraternal and benevolent lodges than I do. In addition to lodge buildings, some benevolent and fraternal groups operated cemeteries for the benefit of their members. I am also working to document these resources across the state.