Independent Order of Odd Fellows
American fraternal organization
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd Fellows founded in England during the 18th century, the IOOF was originally chartered by the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity in England but has operated as an independent organization since 1842, although it maintains an inter-fraternal relationship with the English Order. The order is also known as the Triple Link Fraternity, referring to the order's "Triple Links" symbol, alluding to its motto "Friendship, Love and Truth".
While several unofficial Odd Fellows Lodges had existed in New York City circa 1806–1818, because of its charter relationship, the American Odd Fellows is regarded as being founded with Washington Lodge No 1 in Baltimore at the Seven Stars Tavern on April 26, 1819, by Thomas Wildey along with some associates who assembled in response to an advertisement in the New Republic. The following year, the lodge affiliated with the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity and was granted the authority to institute new lodges. Previously, Wildey had joined the Grand United Order of Oddfellows (1798–) in 1804 but followed through with the split of Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity (1810–) before immigrating to the United States in 1817.
In 1842, after a dispute on authority, the American lodges formed a governing system separate from the English Order, and in 1843 assumed the name Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Like other fraternities, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows began by limiting their membership to white men only. On September 20, 1851, the IOOF became the first fraternity in the United States to include women when it adopted the "Beautiful Rebekah Degree" by initiative of Schuyler Colfax, later Vice President of the United States.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Independent Order of Odd Fellows” is american fraternal organization. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Independent, Order and Fellows, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1425508. VIAF identifies the subject as 152374100. The Library of Congress control number is n85244181. Authority coordinates are 36.099, -80.246. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1819, 1842, 1806 and 1818.
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