WOODMEN OF THE WORLD
WOW
Brief History
Used With Permission
By
Elaine Stone
Orange, Orange Co., Texas
In 1883, a man by the name of Joseph Cullen Root organized a fraternal society in Omaha, Nebraska, called "Modern Woodmen of America". One of the benefits of being a member was that upon death, the other members would pass around a hat and donate money to the widow. Membership was limited to white males older than 18 years of age. Later when passing around the hat became more frequent and costly, Root decided to sell life insurance to members. Modern Woodmen of America became a fraternal benefit society Later, a women�s auxiliary started up called "Royal Neighbors of America. Both the male and female organizations grew steadily and in five years, Modern Woodmen had a total membership of twenty-four thousand.
In 1899, several members had a "falling out" with the leaders of the society, and separated to form a new society under the leadership of Fred A. Falkenburg, and named it "Woodmen of the World". Shortly after, tensions were high in the new organization, and Falkenburg moved to Denver to form, "Woodmen of the World, Pacific Jurisdiction". Today, the three societies remain as insurance companies. Woodmen of the World created women's auxiliaries called "Woodmen Circle" and "Supreme Forest Woodmen", while the Pacific Jurisdiction created an auxiliary called, "Neighbors of Woodcraft", which still exists as an insurance company in Portland, Oregon.
