Joec03
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2015
- Messages
- 28
Was digging a river bank today looking for bottles and relics and this popped out! Didn't even need a detector. It's a Knights of Maccabee badge. It cleaned up really nice! The Knights of Maccabee were a fraternal organization that was very popular in Michigan in the 1890's and onward. I attached a photo of a man wearing such a badge.
History on the Knights:
The Knights of the Maccabees were a fraternal and benevolent "legal reserve society". Families of deceased members received benefits in the form of legal-reserve insurance. All white persons of sound health and good character, from birth to 70 years of age, were eligible for membership. The name comes from the Biblical Maccabees. The order was founded in London, Ontario in 1878 and reorganized in 1883. Before 1914, it was known as the Knights of the Maccabees. Subsequent to 1914, it has been simply been called "The Maccabees".
The Maccabees were one of the more successful of fraternal benefit societies which sprung up after the Civil War. Many insurance companies were not interested in sales to ordinary people and there was little in the way of "safety nets". Groups like the Maccabees, Foresters, Woodmen, and so on provided a safety net along with pleasant social meetings and other gatherings. Each had its own ritual legend -- the Foresters, Robin Hood, for example, and the Maccabees the story of Mattathias Maccabee and his sons, the leaders of the Jewish revolt against Syrian desecration of the Temple.
History on the Knights:
The Knights of the Maccabees were a fraternal and benevolent "legal reserve society". Families of deceased members received benefits in the form of legal-reserve insurance. All white persons of sound health and good character, from birth to 70 years of age, were eligible for membership. The name comes from the Biblical Maccabees. The order was founded in London, Ontario in 1878 and reorganized in 1883. Before 1914, it was known as the Knights of the Maccabees. Subsequent to 1914, it has been simply been called "The Maccabees".
The Maccabees were one of the more successful of fraternal benefit societies which sprung up after the Civil War. Many insurance companies were not interested in sales to ordinary people and there was little in the way of "safety nets". Groups like the Maccabees, Foresters, Woodmen, and so on provided a safety net along with pleasant social meetings and other gatherings. Each had its own ritual legend -- the Foresters, Robin Hood, for example, and the Maccabees the story of Mattathias Maccabee and his sons, the leaders of the Jewish revolt against Syrian desecration of the Temple.
