The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was started in Baltimore around the 1840's. There is a very handsome monument, with a full-size statue, of the founder, whose name escapes me at the moment, in the median of Broadway, near Lombard Street.

It is said that the original Odd Fellows were all men who had been rejected for membership by the Freemasons; I don't know if this is true. At any rate, by the end of the 19th century they had become second only to the Masons in popularity among men's fraternal organizations, of which there were quite a few -- that was an era when such activities were very popular indeed.

The Odd Fellows, along with a few other fraternal organizations, had a system of death benefits; i.e., from contributions paid in by each member during his membership, on his decease his estate or family received an immediate cash payment, which was intended to cover funeral and burial costs and tide his widow and orphans over for the short run. The organization began losing members in the 1920's and 1930's when life insurance became very common (it was not in the 1800s) and Social Security provided relief for widows and orphans. Today there are very few Odd Fellows lodges left.