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The Knights of Honor (K. of H.), were a fraternal order and secret society in the United States in the late 19th and early twentieth century. The Knights were one of the most successful fraternal beneficiary societies of its time.〔Alvin J. Schmidt ''Fraternal Orders'' (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press), 1930, p.178〕 == History == The origin of the order goes back to disputes in the state of Kentucky among members of the Order of United American Mechanics and the Ancient Order of United Workmen in Kentucky in the early 1870s. Dr. Darius Wilson was a Louisville physician and avid fratalnalist. In addition to being a Freemason and an Oddfellow, in 1872 he was elected State Council Secretary for OUAM of Kentucky. According to his own account, his work leading the OUAM made him so well known that he was approached by the leadership of the AOUW to help organize lodges for that Order as well. After being initiated in 1873 by Grand Master Workman Handy and the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, Dr. Wilson successfully organized Louisville Lodge #6, the sixth lodge of the order in Kentucky, with twenty four of Louisville's most prominent citizens as members and himself as Master Workman.〔Sackett, Myron Ward, 1841-''(Early history of fraternal beneficiary societies in America )'' Meadville, Pa., The Tribune publishing company p.220〕 While Dr. Wilson was studying the ritual of the AOUW he learned the national leadership of the OUAM had refused to charter a new Council of its youth affiliate, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics because they had adopted the name "Robert E. Lee". After becoming aware of this "intolerance", Dr. Wilson resigned as Secretary of the Kentucky Council and withdrew from the Order. A local chapter of the JOUAM had also surrendered its charter in protest over the senior Orders actions. This posed a problem, as the members of the Junior Order were only eighteen to twenty ones years old and none of the existing fraternal orders would accept them, other than a few temperance groups. At the request of Council president J . A. Demaree, Dr. Wilson drew up a constitution and helped the Council reorganize as the Gold Lodge #1, Knights of Honor at a meeting held on June 30, 1870.〔Sackett pp.220-1〕 Dr. Wilson never intended to create further lodges of the Knights of Honor and was devoting his time to the organizing more lodges of the AOUW when his commission from the latter was revoked on October 24, 1873. That night Grand Master Workman Handy went to Louisville Lodge #6 and had charges drawn up against him for creating a new fraternal order and copying the AOUWs constitution. A committee was set up to investigate the charges. According to Wilson, the members of this committee were, like him, also Freemason and Oddfellows, and could see that the constitution of the AOUW was a copy of the constitution of the Oddfellow Grand Lodge of Ohio, itself a copy of the constitution of a Masonic Grand Lodge.〔Sackett pp.221-2〕 Grand Master Workman Hardy maintained that the creation of a rival order while holding a commission from the AOUW was a breach of trust on the part of Dr. Wilson. Other have questioned whether the constitutions and laws of the Oddfellows or Masons.〔Sackett pp.222-3〕 In any event, Dr. Wilson ignored Handys opposition, abandoned his medical practice and devoted his energies to organizing the Knights of Honor. The meeting he had called to organize Lodge #8 of the AOUW, he instead made Louisville Lodge #2 of the Knights. By his own account he secured all the members and organized eighty of the first eighty one lodges. He also tried early on to get the group on a graded assessment formula. However, his associates disagreed, feeling that people would not want to join an order that charged more than the $1 flat assessment and wanted to set the age limit for membership at forty four. A compromise was reached with all members under forty four paying the $2 flat assessment rate and a graded assessment forty-four to forty five.〔Sackett p.222〕 Sick benefits were paid out by the local lodges, but death benefits were managed by the Supreme Lodge. Members could buy certificates of $500, $1000 or $2000 plus assessments. The Knights differed from other orders such as the AOUW by using a graded assessment plan for its death benefits. Members between forty five and fifty five paid more than those between twenty one and forty five. Soon the society admitted men eighteen to twenty one years old and expanded its graded assessment plan for all new members under the age of forty five. By the mid 1890s, however, it became clear that this system of paying a fixed assessment year after year, based on the date the member joined the society would eventually be "found wanting". After prolonged investigation the Knights adopted a new insurance system with each age paying a different rate of assessment from 18 to 61, the effect being that each member in any one year will only pay out the benefits for the other members his age based on mortality tables.〔Stevens, Albert Clark, 1854- ''(The Cyclopædia of Fraternities: A Compilation of Existing Authentic Information and the Results of Original Investigation as to More than Six Hundred Secret Societies in the United States )'' (New York: Hamilton Printing and Publishing Company), 1899, p.146〕 Unfortunately, when the Knights changed to a more actuarially sound financial basis in 1895 membership declined as insurance began to cost more. The group disbanded in 1916.〔Schmidt p.179〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Knights of Honor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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