First District Deputy Grand Sire of Odd Fellows Philippines

-
Judge Charles Burritt, First District Deputy Grand Sire of Odd Fellows Philippines

O.W. Coursey, History and Geography of the Philippine Islands.
The earliest record of the existence of the Odd Fellows Fraternity in the Philippines goes back in 1872 when the country was still a colony of Spain. Many Odd Fellows Associations, military lodges and unofficial Odd Fellows' clubs existed in many parts of the country, particularly in Manila, Cebu and Leyte. Several brothers served as leaders during the early days of the Fraternity in the country such as "brother Badley" who was a Sergeant of the U.S. Army based in the Philippines.

When the Spanish-American war ended, the Odd Fellows Association of Manila which existed as early as 1898 received an official charter from the Sovereign Grand Lodge and was instituted as "Manila Lodge No.1" in 1902. Annually, a District Deputy Grand Sire was appointed by the Sovereign Grand Lodge to serve as liaison officer between the Lodges in the Philippines and the Sovereign Grand Lodge based in the United States.


Brother Hon. Charles H. Burritt was appointed as first District Deputy Grand Sire of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F) Philippines in 1902 because of his leadership background. He served as the first Chief of Philippine Mining Bureau and Judge of Regional Trial Court (previously CFI) of Leyte from 1898-1907. He is the author of the Coal Measures of the Philippines and the Spanish Mining Law.

His leadership background in the United States included serving as Mayor of Buffalo, Wyoming, U.S.A. from 1881-1897. He was active in political and social circles, serving in the Wyoming House of Representatives in 1890 and from 1897 to 1899 and the Wyoming Constitutional Convention. He was also a Past Master (1892-1893) of Anchor Lodge No.7 of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons in Buffalo, Wyoming, U.S.A.

He died on June 1, 1927 and buried at the Masonic Memorial Gardens in Reno, Nevada.


 Further Reading:
1. Journal of Proceedings of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows
2. http://www.philstar.com:8080/freeman-opinion/2015/01/09/1411086/judge-charles-h.-burritt
3. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88617849
4. https://wyomingstatearchives.wikispaces.com/Charles+H.+Burritt
5. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=mYbauXu48FcC&pg=PA40&dq=charles+burritt+judge&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCq-jRwpLXAhXHlJQKHfeADR8Q6AEILjAC#v=onepage&q=charles%20burritt%20judge&f=false



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Odd Fellows Fraternity in Dumaguete receives Charter

-
Image
November 21, 2010 DUMAGUETE CITY, PHILIPPINES - Sovereign Grand Master George Glover III and Past Sovereign Grand Master Paul Cuminale of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows visited the City to turn-over the charter of Odd Fellows, Kapatirang Watchdog Lodge no.1, Dumaguete Encampment no.1 and Canton Dumaguete no.1. At around 6:00pm, a program was held at C&L Suites Inn function hall. Inspiring thoughts, intermission numbers and a fellowship dinner was prepared along with the turn-over of the charters. Brother Kahlil Reu Reyes, as Noble Grand, received the charter of Watchdog Lodge no.1. Brother Anatoly Karpov Buss, as Chief Patriarch of Encampment, was the one to receive the charter for Dumaguete Encampment no.1. On the other hand, Louie Blake Sarmiento, as department Captain, received the charter of Canton Dumaguete no.1. An award was also given by SGM Glover III to members of Odd Fellows Philippines in general, for their enthusiasm and dedicat...
Read more

HISTORY OF ODD FELLOWS PHILIPPINES

-
Image
HISTORY OF ODD FELLOWS IN THE PHILIPPINES By Louie Blake S. Sarmiento Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology; Juris Doctor The origin of Odd Fellowship is already lost in the shadows of antiquity but fragmentary records do prove that there were Odd Fellows Lodges in England on or before the year 1730. The North American branch, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), was officially established on April 26, 1819 in Maryland, USA, by Thomas Wildey and four other English Odd Fellows. From there, the fraternity first reached the Philippine Islands long ago before the country even gained its independence. Many world conflicts, wars, and unfortunate events occurred along the course of time. A number of the early records were destroyed and only a few survived in the hands of several lodges and collectors today.   Early History According to Major O.W. Coursey, author of the  History and Geography of the Philippine Islands , the awakening of the Filipinos...
Read more

HOW FRATERNITIES STARTED IN THE PHILIPPINES

-
Image
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE  FRATERNITIES By Louie Blake S. Sarmiento Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology; Juris Doctor Introduction        In all times and among all nations which have reached a sufficient level of cultural development, there have always been fraternal associations formed for higher purposes. The origin of fraternity, as a principle, is as old as humankind. Humans always have that natural desire to associate with each other for a common purpose – either for social, philosophical, political, religious, charitable, mutual-benefit, or business purposes. Fraternities or so-called brotherhoods existed since the early civilizations, first among sworn kinsmen, Roman  collegias , Orders of Knighthood, craft guilds, and burial clubs. Although ordinary men did not yet have a recognized “right to association” during the days of monarchy, fraternity as an idea existed in so-called ‘secret societies’ or ‘secret brotherhoods’- w...
Read more