|
Thomas Wildey
Founder of North American Odd Fellowship
Thomas Wildey, founder of Odd Fellowship in North America, was
a man of immense vitality, humor, and warmth.
Thomas Wildey was born in London, England, in 1782. He was
left an orphan five years later - and the Odd Fellow pledge to "Educate the
Orphan" sprang from his personal childhood experiences. At the age of 14, Wildey
went to live with an uncle. After he had 9 years of schooling, he became an
apprentice to a maker of coach springs. He joined the Odd Fellows in 1804.
When restlessness brought Thomas Wildey to America in 1817,
the British were still unpopular in the States because of the War of 1812. In
that year Baltimore was suffering both a yellow fever epidemic and mass
unemployment. An outgoing personality, Wildey missed companionship and
advertised in the newspaper to determine if there were any other Odd Fellows in
Baltimore; he requested them to meet him at the
Seven Stars Inn.
On April 26, 1819, Wildey and the four men who responded to
the advertisement formed the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in North America,
dedicating the Order to achieve philanthropic goals. Other Englishmen who were
Odd Fellows had grouped in the states along the Eastern Seaboard, and Wildey
gathered them all into the newly formed fraternity. He traveled widely to set up
lodges in the most recently settled parts of the country.
At the time of his death in 1861, there were more than 200,000
members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 42 states.
| 
