In 1898, when a group of theater owners met to form a social organization, which they called the “Seattle Order of Good Things,” they laid the beginnings for the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Chief founder John Cort and the other theatrical people in the first lodge, met on the stage of a local theater to conduct business. In a few years, they adopted the eagle as their animal model. The early lodges emphasized conviviality.
Gradually, the order has broadened its original objectives of providing a good time for its members to that of offering a social, and to some extent an economic program for the member, his wife and children, An Eagle pamphlet explains: “The emphasis has shifted from solely recreation to a more balanced program of wider scope. The accent is no longer on secrecy but rather service. Being abandoned are the elements of secrecy, the colorful regalia of trappings, the secret password, and the roughhouse initiation.”
Subordinate Aerie 1062 of Hayward, Wis., was founded about 1905. Its officers consisted of a president, vice president, chaplain, secretary, treasurer, conductor, two guards, three trustees, and one or more doctors. In order to be chartered, its membership had to consist of fifty or more beneficial members, who, in turn, receive sick and funeral benefits.
