There are references to fraternal / charitable organizations here in
Michigan's copper district in the late 1850s with the establishment of a
Miners' Club in Ontonagon County. In _Beyond the Boundaries_ Lankton
describes these early local fraternal groups as mutual aid societies for
miners in advance of other corporate and community charitable
organizations. Members paid monthly dues and if injured could claim $12
per month. Members also paid $2 to the widow or next of kin -- with 216
members in 1857, this translated into a $430 death benefit. Odd Fellows,
Templars, Masons, and ethnic-oriented orders were established in the 1850s
and 1860s.
It's also interesting to note that the Knights of Pythian have a link to
the Michigan copper district as well. Justus H. Rathbone came to Eagle
Harbor in 1859 as a schoolteacher and -- so the story goes -- read the
story of Damon & Pythias and determined to establish a benevolent order.
Of course, the order was officially established in Washington in 1864, so
it may be a bit of a jump to assume that his mining town experience helped
shape his ideas. All the same, one of our local historical societies has
preserved the "Rathbone School" in Eagle Harbor as the birthplace of the
Knigths of Pythias.
Erik Nordberg
Michigan Tech
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|