On Fri, 22 Feb 2002 15:47:22 -0800, Ron wrote: :This is a long shot, but I'm looking for a James Brooks that was a :member of the IOOF in the late 1700s or early 1800s. He lived in :either Orange County or Sullivan County, NY. (Perhaps the town he :lived in changed counties, I don't know). "The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded on the North American Continent in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 26, 1819 when Thomas Wildey and four members of the Order from England instituted Washington Lodge No. 1. This lodge received its charter from Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows in England. "dd Fellowship became the 1st national fraternity to include both men and women when it adopted the beautiful Rebekah Degree on September 20, 1851. This degree is based on the teachings found in the Holy Bible, and was written by the Honorable Schuyler Colfax who was Vice President of the United States during the period 1868-1873. Odd Fellows and Rebekahs were also the first fraternal organization to establish homes for our senior members and for orphaned children." >From http://norm28.hsc.usc.edu/IOOF.shtml If the order first arrived here in Baltimore in 1819, it seems like it would take a decade or more to reach New York state. I know that later-day lodges keep membership records, so you might get hold of the national leadership and inquire what records are available from 19th century New York. I used Google with a search string of "IOOF history" as a starting point. Chris