RESEARCH
One website offers the following description of the Odd Fellows organization: "The Order of Odd Fellows is a benevolent and social society, sometimes classified as a friendly benefit society having initiatory rites and ceremonies, gradation or degrees in membership, and mystic signs of recognition and communication."
This organization, known as the "odd fellows lodge" is defined at multiple websites. See three at the right.
On December 5, 2018, Darrtown native, Marvin Russell, informed the Darrtown.com webmaster that the existence of a Darrtown Odd Fellows lodge is corroborated by two entries in a historical publication, titled the "A History and Biographical Cyclopedia of Butler County, Ohio."
LEFT: This quotation appears in a paragraph about Darrtown schools on page 566 in the text cited above.
LEFT: This quotation appears in the eighth paragraph, beneath the quotation cited above.
If you have information about the Darrtown Odd Fellows lodge, please use the link in the footer below to contact the Darrtown.com webmaster.
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The History and Biographical Cyclopedia URL is: http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohbutler/cyc/388.htm
Webmaster note: The phrase "the present brick" refers to the two-story stucture that stands in the NW corner of Shollenbarger Road and Walnut Street. See the 2023 image below.
Webmaster note: The phrase "the hall where the society meets," is another reference to the two-story brick structure at Shollenbarger and Walnut.
The two "Odd Fellows" entries are replicated below.
RIGHT: This 2023 image shows the structure that once served as a school and the meeting hall for the Darrtown Odd Fellows Lodge No. 47. It is currently used as a private residence.
has this building been used as a private residence?
We don't have a definitive answer to that question; however, ... we do know, from the newspaper article below, that this structure was advertised as a "9-room brick house in Darrtown" ... in March, 1924.
RIGHT: This 1924 newspaper advertisement describes the rental property (the brick house) as being "opposite the centralized school."
RIGHT: This illustration shows the proximity of the two locations ... the rental property and the centralized school.
The rental property was on the west side of Walnut Street and the centralized school was on the east side of Walnut ... hence, the phrase in that ad that read "opposite the centralized school."
FYI: The school that operated in the red brick building, with the Odd Fellows Lodge, predated the centralized school.
Jack Wendel was Anna Wendel's brother. Anna married Lewis Shuck, who owned "Shuck's Corner." See more info at: Shuck's General Store and the Shuck Family page.
Agricultural (Farm Bureau & Grange)
Music groups
K.U.W.L. & Progressive Club
Pals & Priscilla Club
Tallawanda Garden Club
Knights of Pythias
Odd Fellows Lodge
Semper Fidelis Club
Miscellaneous
A newspaper item, printed on May 20, 1871 announced that an International Order of Odd Fellows charter had been granted to the Darrtown IOOF lodge. The article, which appears at the link at the right, includes information about the location of the lodge and the planned installation of officers.
Click the links below to see more about the Darrtown chapter of the IOOF: