Knights of Honor
Encyclopedia
The Knights of Honor a fraternal organization, was founded in 1873. Its principles differ little from those of other beneficent societies, the objects being to care for the sick and pay certain sums to the heirs of deceased members. Some lodges paid sick benefits from the local treasury, but all death benefits are paid by the Supreme Lodge, which was headquartered in St. Louis
. The Knights of Honor also held to the theory that true charity should not be confined to any society or creed, and during the yellow fever
epidemics in the 1870s and 1880s, large sums of money were disbursed by the agents of the order to sufferers outside of the organization.
The first lodge in Kansas was instituted at Winfield
, Cowley County, February 20, 1877. The following September, the grand lodge was instituted at Winfield, with W. G. Graham as grand dictator. Two years later, at the annual meeting in June, 1879, the grand dictator announced that there were then 43 lodges in the state, with a total membership of about 1,200. Sixteen of these lodges had been organized within the preceding year, and during the same period the membership had nearly doubled. After a few years there came a lull in the growth, and finally the order actually declined. On January 1, 1910, there were only 1,234 subordinate lodges in the United States, with a membership of 21,603. Up to that time the order had disbursed $94,945,399 in benefits.
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. The Knights of Honor also held to the theory that true charity should not be confined to any society or creed, and during the yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemics in the 1870s and 1880s, large sums of money were disbursed by the agents of the order to sufferers outside of the organization.
The first lodge in Kansas was instituted at Winfield
Winfield, Kansas
Winfield is a city situated along the Walnut River in the west-central part of Cowley County, located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,301...
, Cowley County, February 20, 1877. The following September, the grand lodge was instituted at Winfield, with W. G. Graham as grand dictator. Two years later, at the annual meeting in June, 1879, the grand dictator announced that there were then 43 lodges in the state, with a total membership of about 1,200. Sixteen of these lodges had been organized within the preceding year, and during the same period the membership had nearly doubled. After a few years there came a lull in the growth, and finally the order actually declined. On January 1, 1910, there were only 1,234 subordinate lodges in the United States, with a membership of 21,603. Up to that time the order had disbursed $94,945,399 in benefits.