Order of Sparta
From Kook Science
| Order of Sparta | |
|---|---|
| Motto | "With It or Upon It" |
| Formation | 1879 |
| Dissolution | 1917 |
| Purpose/focus | Mutual assessment insurance [1] |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, PA |
| Membership | 7000 (in 1899); 2000 (in 1915) |
The Order of Sparta was an American fraternal insurance society, formed by Ancient Order of United Workmen members J.B. Moffitt, Robert A. Welsh, James McConnell, Alexander J. McCleary, and William H. Smith, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1879.[1] By 1915, the Order became embroiled in legal disputes over member assessments and payments,[2] eventually culminating in its being declared bankrupt in late 1917,[3] effectively dissolving the organisation.
Structure
The order was organised into local chapters known as Senates, presided over by elected officers — High Priest, King, Regent, Captain of the Guard, Recording Secretary, Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Page, Herald, Warder, Ephori, Hurtles, and Medical Examiner — which, in turn, were under the executive jurisdiction of the Great Senate.
Initiation into the Order of Sparta was restricted to Christian men of "good physical health", between twenty-one and fifty years of age. The ritual was based on the history of ancient Sparta.[1]
List of Senates
| Senate Name | No. | City/County | State | Founded | Dissolved | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lycurgus | 1 | Philadelphia | PA | 1880 | ||
| Leonidas | 2 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Thermopylae | 3 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Marathon | 4 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Delphi | 5 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Apollo | 6 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Athena | 7 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Dorian | 8 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Corinthian | 9 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Laconia | 10 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Tithonian | 11 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Ionic | 12 | Gloucester City | NJ | |||
| Cleomenes | 14 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Olympian | 15 | Philadelphia | PA | 1882-04-18 | ||
| Minerva | 16 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Plato | 17 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Orestes | 18 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Perseus | 19 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Lysander | 21 | Philadelphia | PA | |||
| Homer | 22 | Allentown | PA | |||
| Socrates | 23 | Baltimore | MD | |||
| Archimedes | 27 | Merchantville | NJ | 1895-08-22 | ||
| St. Paul's | 28 | Philadelphia | PA | 1895-08-19 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Stevens, Albert C., ed. (1899), "Order of Sparta", The Cyclopædia of Fraternities, New York City; Paterson, N.J.: Hamilton Printing and Publishing, p. 175, https://archive.org/stream/cyclopdiaoffra00stevrich#page/174/mode/2up/search/order+of+sparta, retrieved 2016-06-11
- ↑ "TROUBLES OF ORDER OF SPARTA AIRED IN COURT; Fraternal Organization Must Show That Receiver is Not Needs for Its Affairs.", Evening Ledger (Philadelphia, PA): 2, 1915-07-30, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1915-07-30/ed-1/seq-2.pdf, retrieved 2016-06-11, "Judge Staake, in the Court of Common Picas, No. 5, today decided that the Order of Sparta, an incorporated fraternal organization, had become both decadent and unable to meet its maturing death benefit certificates, and granted the petition of members to compel the organization to show cause why its affairs should not be placed on the hands of a receiver."
- ↑ "ORDER OF SPARTA ADMITS LARGE DEBTS; Statement in Court Shows Liabilities of $163,132.39 and Assets of $81,256.78", Evening Ledger (Philadelphia, PA): 5, 1917-10-09, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1917-10-09/ed-1/seq-5.pdf, retrieved 2016-06-11