A large British benevolent society which claims its start in 1834 when several hundred branches of the Royal Foresters society formed the Ancient Order of Foresters 1, 2, 3 . They claim to be the second oldest friendly society in Britain. The society prospered and spread. In 1835 they adopted the ritual of the Ancient Order of Shepherds as a second degree.
The Order first appeared in the USA in 1832 but it was not until 1864 that courts survived. In 1874 the US and Canadian portions separated from the Ancient Order of Foresters to form the Independent Order of Foresters (IOF), now headquartered in Toronto. The switch from AOF to IOF seems to have taken time with individual courts (the local unit) converting at different times. There is a history of the IOF online 4 and a history book 5. In 1889 the remaining American units of the Ancients seceded from the British organization to form the Ancient Order of Foresters of America and changed its name in 1895 to Foresters of America.
There were several other Forester orders 6: the Canadian Order of Foresters 7 , the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Independent Companions of the Forest, among others. All of the above have some history in Ontario but only the Independent Order of Foresters and the Catholic Order of Foresters 8still exist.
Canadian Order of Foresters
The head office for the Canadian Order of Foresters was in Brantford <1890 - 1922>.
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Ancient Order of Foresters
The Ancients continued in Ontario, incorporating on 1874 Apr 9 as the Ancient Order of Foresters Friendly Society for Ontario. They changed name on 1882 Apr 17 to the Subsidiary High Court of the Ancient Order of Foresters in the Dominion of Canada. In 1892 the head office was in Toronto. There was a High Court of Ontario in 1895.
The local unit was called a court. The governing body in Canada was the Subsidiary High Court of Canada. The Order had districts, one, Toronto United District, consisting of 5 courts in Toronto and one in each of: Yorkville, Hamilton, Stratford, Port Perry, Oshawa, Whitby, Uxbridge, St Catharines, Windsor, Ridgetown, Guelph, Ottawa, Bowmanville.
The Ancient Order had a auxiliary called the Companions of the Forest 9, which appears to have covered the ages 15 to 50. Those over 50 could become life members, probably without benefits. Their local unit was called a circle. They appear to have had districts. Their governing body was the High Circle (Supreme Circle in 1921). They had a juvenile unit called the Juvenile Companions of the Forest Federation, which appears to have covered the ages 5 to 16. Its local unit was called a circle. The Companions and Juveniles provided illness and life insurance. It is of interest that: “Lady members are not entitled to receive sick benefits, medical attendance, or medicine, during confinement, or for any illness arising therefrom, nor for any sickness arising from diseases peculiar to women only” 10.
Although in 1874 Canadian and US portions separated to form the Independent Order of Foresters, the Ancient Order continued to exist in Ontario. In 1898 the Insurance Department of the Ancient Order formed itself as Foresters Life, renamed Toronto Mutual Life Insurance Co in 1934 and Unity Life of Canada in 2002. Unity Life was acquired by the IOF in 2008 and renamed Foresters Life Insurance Co in 2012.
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Click for a list of Circles in Ontario
Click for a list of Conclaves of the Knights of Sherwood
Forest in Ontario
Independent Order of Foresters
An early and influential leader of the Independent Order of Foresters was Dr Oronhyatekha, a Mohawk born on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford. Educated at Oxford University, he was the first native medical doctor. He led the IOF from 1879 to 1906, instituting many innovations, such as allowing women to be members although the IOF also had Companion courts.
In 1926 the Ontario section of the Ancient Order of United Workmen (qv) and the Order of Canadian Home Circles (qv) joined the Independent Order of Foresters 11. In 1931 the Royal Templars of Temperance (qv) and the Modern Brotherhood of America joined. The Catholic Mutual Benefit Association (qv) joined in 1952. In 1972 the Order of Scottish Clans (qv) joined. In 1992 the IOF acquired the Canadian Foresters Life Insurance Society and in 2008 acquired Unity Life of Canada (originally the Ancient Order of Foresters in Ontario).
The IOF local unit is called a court.
The IOF had a side or fun degree called the Knights of Sherwood Forest, founded in the US and extinct by 1923. There are examples of the Knights in Ontario.
In 2012 the IOF had over 835 000 members in Canada, the US, and Great Britain.
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Click for a list of Companion Courts in Ontario
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Click for a list of Encampments in Ontario
Catholic Order of Foresters
Established in 1883 in Chicago, USA. The Catholic church had reservations about Catholics belonging to non-Catholic “secret” organizations so created some Catholic equivalents.
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References:
(1) www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/Foresters.html
(2) www.aoforestersheritage.com/index2.html
(3) Stevens p221
(4) Oronhyatekha – History of the Independent Order of Foresters – Hunter, Rose & Co, Toronto
(1894) at https://ia600407.us.archive.org/32/items/cihm_11529/cihm_11529.pd
(5) Potter, Warren and Oliver, Robert – Fraternally Yours – (1967)
(6) www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/fraternalism/foresters.htm
(7) Stevens p130
(8) www.catholicforester.org/Default.aspx
(9) A constitution from 1950 is online at https://archive.org/details/companionsoffore00anci
(10) 1950 constitution, section 20(2)
(11) Information in this paragraph is from the Foresters corporate history appendix at
http://www.foresters.com/Historical-mosaic/index.html#.WWIooFGQy1s