HISTORY OF ODD FELLOWS PHILIPPINES
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 to a deep sense of