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Vermont Odd Fellows History

The Odd Fellows have a long history in Vermont from 1844 to today. Here we will try to lay out the histroy as taken from a variety of documents including historical records found at Queen City Lodge 1 in Burlington.

Creation of Odd Fellows in Vermont

A petition to create Green Mountain Lodge, No. 1  in Burlington was submitted on December 12, 1844 as part of the Grand Jurisdiction of New York by T.D. Chapman, L Jno. Starke, Jno. C. House, Lemon Barnes, A. R. Lemon and William Wheeler.  The Lodge was first opened with the installation of offices on April 30, 1845 and 29 members. (pg 10-11)  

 

The Second lodge was Vermont Lodge No. 2 in Montpellier with a petition to the Grand Lodge on April 4th, 1845. The lodge opened on May 5th (or 15th depending on the record) of 1945 and began a period of competition between Burlington and Monteplier in opening new lodges in Vermont.  pg11-12

 

Windsor Lodge No. 3  was petitioned Feb 5, 1846 by members from lodges from New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massahusettes, and formally opened on April 17, 1846 but was closed by 1859. 

 

White River Lodge No. 4 followed at Bethel on June 4th, 1846 by members from Vermont Lodge No. 2 (Montpellier) with Benjamin C. True, the first Grand Master for Vermont. This followed by Wantastiquet Lodge No. 5 petitions July 3, 1846 and instittuted on August 3, 1846.  

 

There were 11 lodges formed in Vermont over a period of a little more than two years, often by members of Burlington and Montpelier Lodges before the creation of a Grand Lodge of Vermont. These include:

 

  • Green Mountain Lodge No. 1 (Burlington) - Petition:  December 12, 1844 Instituted: April 30, 1845

  • Vermont Lodge No. 2 (Montpelier) - Petition: April 4, 1845  Instituted: May 5, 1845

  • Windsor Lodge No. 3 (Widsor) - Petition: Feb 5, 1846  Instituted: April 17, 1846 

  • White River Lodge No. 4 (Bethel)  - Petition: 1846  Instituted: June 4th, 1846 

  • Wantastiquet Lodge No. 5 (Brattleboro) - Petition: July 3, 1846  Instituted: August 3, 1846

  • Caledonia Lodge No. 6 (Danville) - Petition: October 30, 1846  Instituted: Jan 1, 1847

  • Social Lodge No. 7 (Wilmington) - Petition:  November 25, 1846 Instituted: Jan 16, 1847

  • Vergennes Lodge No. 8 (Vergennes) - Petition: January 5, 1847  Instituted: February 17, 1847 from GML

  • Stark Lodge No. 9 (Bennington) - Petition: December 10, 1846 Instituted: February 11, 1847 

  • Otter Creek Lodge, No. 10 (Rutland) - Petition: Jan 29, 1847  Instituted: March 10, 1846

  • Lake Dunmore Lodge No. 11 (Middlebury)  - Petition: February 1, 1847  Instituted: March 9, 1847

 

Formation of the Grand Lodge of Vermont was petitioned by members of the Vermont Lodge No 2 (Montpelier), Windsor Lodge No. 3 (Widsor), White River Lodge No. 4 (Bethel) and Wantastiquet Lodge No 5 (Brattleboro) on Jan 14, 1847, and was instituted on December 29, 1847 in Montpelier.

 

The First Semi-Annual Session of the Grand Lodge was held February 9-10, 1848 in Montpellier with Samuel H. Price as Grand Master. At this session two more lodges were formed:

 

  • Indian River Lodge No. 12 (West Rupert)  - Petition: February 9 ,1848 Instituted: May 25, 1848

  • Mount Anthony Lodge No. 13 (North Bennington) - February 9 ,1848 Instituted: June 22, 1848

 

Additions lodges were formed of the following years in this order, in some cases dates were not given for petitions or institutions of lodges but rather noted in the semi-annual meetings of having been creating between sessions, exact dates are given when possible:

 

  • Woodstock Lodge No. 14 (Woodstock)  - Petition: August 8, 1848 Instituted: Before Feb 14, 1849 

  • Battenkill Lodge No. 15 (Manchester) - Petition: August 8, 1848 Instituted: January 11, 1849

  • Skitchawaug Lodge No. 16 (Springfield)  - Instituted between 1849-1850

  • Champion Lodge No. 17 (Bradford)  - Instituted between 1849-1850 

  • Washington Lodge No.18 (Dorset)  - Petition: February 12, 1850 Instituted in 1850 

  • Northfield Lodge No.19 (Northfield) -  Instituted in 1850

  • Petawa Boquee Lodge No. 20 (Benson)  -  Instituted in 1850 

  • Graywacke Lodge No. 21 (Pownel) - Instituted in 1851

  • Eureka Lodge No. 22 (Fairhaven) - Instituted in 1851

  • Bellows Falls Lodge No. 23 (Bellows Falls) - Instituted in 1852

  • Brandon Lodge No. 24 (Brandon) - Instituted in 1852

  • Netis Lodge No. 25 (Poultney) - Instituted in 1853

  • Aurora Lodge No. 26 (Monteplier?) - Instituted in 1853

  • Marble Lodge No. 27 (Danby?) - Instituted 

  • Phoenix Lodge No. 28 (Brookfield?) - Instituted   

  • Center Lodge No. 29 (?) - Instituted   

  • Burlington D of R Lodge No. 30 (?) - Instituted    

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Lodges in 1913

There were 76 Lodge by the time a recording was made of all the lodges in the Directory of Subordinate lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows on the Continent of North America recorded in 1913 with only a handful of the original continuing to exist:

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  • Green Mountain, No. 1 Burlington 

  • Vermont No. 2 Montpelier 

  • Deerfield Valley No. 3 Readsboro 

  • Union No. 4 Lyndonville 

  • Wantastiquet No. 5 Brattleboro 

  • Caledonia No. 6 St. Johnsbury 

  • Connecticut River No. 7 Barnet 

  • Winhall River No. 8 Bondville 

  • Stark No. 9 Bennington 

  • Temple No. 10 Wells River 

  • Lake Dunmore No. 11 Middlebury 

  • Indian River No. 12 West Rupert 

  • Essex No. 13 Island Pond 

  • Hamilton No. 14 Burlington 

  • Ridgely No. 15 Jacksonville 

  • Valley No. 16 Waitsfield 

  • Champion No. 17 Bradford 

  • Richford No. 18 Richford 

  • Northfield No. 19 Northfield 

  • Hiawatha No. 20 Barre City 

  • Colfax No. 21 Mechanicsville 

  • Mt. Sinai No. 22 Proctorsville 

  • Bellows Falls No. 23 Bellows Falls 

  • West River No. 24 So. Londonderry 

  • Netis No. 25 Poultney 

  • Lamoille No. 26 East Hardwick 

  • Myrtle No. 27 White River Junction 

  • Alpine No. 28 West Burke 

  • Killington No. 29 Rutland 

  • Altimont No. 30 Ludlow 

  • St. Albans No. 31 St. Albans 

  • Pico No. 32 Wallingford 

  • Saxton's River No. 33. Saxton's River 

  • Crystal Lake No. 34 Post Mills 

  • Bethel No. 35 Bethel 

  • Bristol No. 36 Bristol 

  • Evening Star No. 37 Newport 

  • Missisquoi No. 38 Swanton

  • Chester No. 39 Chester 

  • Depot Brandon No. 40 Brandon 

  • Crescent No. 41 Barton 

  • Springfield No. 42 Springfield 

  • Concordia No. 43 Concord 

  • Bliss No. 44 Hyde Park 

  • Friendship No. 45 West Pawlet 

  • Quechee River No. 46 Woodstock 

  • Beaver No.  47 Proctor 

  • Randolph No. 48 Randolph 

  • Cabot No. 49 Cabot 

  • Hope No. 50 Manchester 

  • Depot Mentor No. 51 Waterbury 

  • Fair Haven No. 52 Fair Haven 

  • Arcadia No. 53 Plainfield 

  • Fraternity No. 54 Weston 

  • Windsor No. 55 Windsor 

  • White River No. 56 Sharon 

  • Gill No. 57 East Barre 

  • Champlain No. 58 Vergennes 

  • Samaritan No. 59 Richmond 

  • Mt. Pleasant No. 60 Warren 

  • Rutland No. 61 Rutland 

  • Felchville No. 62 Felchville 

  • Enosburg No. 63 Enosburg Falls 

  • Williamstown No. 64 Williamstown 

  • Rochester No. 65 Rochester 

  • Unity No. 66 Groton 

  • Milton No. 67 Milton 

  • Hardwick No. 68 Hardwick 

  • Highgate No. 69 Highgate 

  • Wardsboro No. 70 Wardsboro 

  • Shaftsbury No. 71 So. Shaftsbury 

  • Newfane No. 72 Newfane 

  • Orleans No. 73 Derby 

  • Royalton No. 74 So. Royalton 

  • Washington No. 75 Washington 

  • Mansfield No. 76 Cambridge

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