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The Tribe of Ben-Hur was a fraternal organization based on the novel ''Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'' by Lew Wallace. In 1930 it became the Ben-Hur Life Association. ==History== The idea of starting a fraternal organization based on ''Ben-Hur'' had first been broached by D. W. Gerard and F. L. Snyder, both of Crawfordsville, Indiana. In November 1893 they held a conference with Lew Wallace asking for his consent to form the order. Wallace consented and secured the permission from his publishers, but objected to the proposed name, "Knights of Ben-Hur", saying "there were only tribes in those days", and suggested "Tribe of Ben-Hur" instead. The Order was incorporated in the state of Indiana on January 9, 1894 and held the first meeting of its "Supreme Tribe" on January 16. Ex-governor Ira Joy Chase was elected the first Supreme Chief.〔Stevens, Albert C. ''Cyclopedia of Fraternities: A Compilation of Existing Authentic Information and the Results of Original Investigation as to the Origin, Derivation, Founders, Development, Aims, Emblems, Character, and Personnel of More Than Six Hundred Secret Societies in the United States''. E. B. Treat and Company, New York. p. 190〕 The popularity of ''Ben-Hur'' helped spread the order, and it gain members quickly in its early years. By January 1, 1895 it had 1,701 members. By the same date in 1896 it had 5,050 and on January 1, 1897 it counted 12,322, 12,000 of whom had join in December 1896 alone.〔Stevens pp.190-1〕 In 1910 the order counted 106,216 members. However in 1979 it was down to 31,000〔Schmidt p.52〕 and counted only and 15,000 in 1990.〔Alan Axelrod, ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders''. New York; Facts on File, Inc. 1997. p. 31〕 As state the Tribe spread quickly in its early years and by 1897 it was present in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, California, Oregon and Washington state.〔Stevens p.191〕 In the 1920s it operated in thirty states. In 1979 it was licensed to sell insurance in only sixteen states and the District of Columbia.〔Schmidt, Alvin J. ''Fraternal Organizations'' Westport, CT; Greenwood Press pp.51-2〕 The Ben-Hur Life Association became a commercial company, USA Life Insurance, in 1988.〔(NAME AND STATUS CHANGES OF FRATERNAL BENEFIT SOCIETIES )〕 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「Tribe of Ben-Hur」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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