Town of Clubs
Harry McClarran talks about the secrets of secret societies--including a skeleton left over from secret rituals found downtown. For an HD version of this video, click here.
The Knighs of Pythias practicing drills downtown.
This is a symbol of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The Staub graves feature several symbols representing secret societies. On Theo Staub's grave, societies represented include Knights of Pythias (FBC stands for Friendship, Benevolence, Charity), Odd Fellows (FLT stands for Friendship, Love, Truth) and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. His wife was a member of the Pythian Sisters (PLEF stands for Purity, Love, Equality, Fidelity).
The Grand Army of the Republic pledging allegiance to the flag in 1912.
By the 1870s, dozens of clubs existed within Wooster, most prominently the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias (an English and a German division), the Improved Order of Red Men, The Royal Arcanum, and the Grand Army of the Republic.1 Many of these organizations had branches for women, including the Order of the Eastern Star which was associated with the Freemasons and Rebekah which was associated with the Odd Fellows. At this time, Temperance Societies, mostly made up of women, started to appear as well. Most of these clubs drew on the elite population. Members shared common values and clubs held them to an ethical code with higher standards than the community at large. The records of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Ohio describe members all over Ohio being suspended for drunkenness, profanity, and abuse.2 Clubs provided an important place for social interaction among like-minded people. Certain among them, especially immigrant clubs, created tight-knit groups within the community, helping men and women to find a place for themselves in Wooster. Secret societies continued to offer economic protection to members and their families throughout the nineteenth century as well.
Although the Freemasons overcame their reputation as murderers in the 1840s, a stigma against secret societies still lingered in Wooster in the 1870s. Some members of the community felt that the admission of only the wealthy caused tension between social classes, or even that it caused social inequality. The exclusive nature of secret societies alienated those who were unable to join, highlighting the divide between the working class and the upper class of Wooster. Many churches also took issue with initiation and other rituals associated with secret societies, calling them disrespectful or blasphemous.3 However, the sense of belonging that men and women found in these clubs outweighed the threat outsiders believed them to pose, allowing secret societies to continue to exist.
1 Ben Douglass.History of Wayne County, Ohio. Indianapolis, Ind: Robert Douglass, 1878, 577.
2 Allen E. Roberts.Frontier Cornerstone. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Ohio, 1980, 50.
3Wooster in 1876, ed. Arnold Lewis. Wooster: Wooster Art Center Museum, 1976, 98.