La Salle Lodge 47, I. O. O. F.
Matagorda, Texas
 

The first lodge of Odd Fellows [in the United States] was organized in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 19, 1819, by Thomas Weldey who had belonged to the organization when he lived England. In February , 1825, he helped institute the Grand Lodge of the United States.

Lone Star Lodge No. 1 was instituted in the Republic of Texas, at Houston, on July 25, 1838.

Matagorda Lodge No. 47 IOOF was organized in the town of Matagorda on November 30, 1854.

In 1903, as members transferred from the La Salle Lodge No. 47 into the Bay City Lodge No. 81, the records indicated T. M. Ramey was initiated into La Salle Lodge on February 13, 1904; Ed Wadsworth, June 10, 1871; George Austin, April 4, 1880; and S. S. Moore, April 4, 1896.

[This article also contained the information in the article below.]

Mary B. Ingram

Historic Matagorda County, Volume 1, p. 451
 

Through the courtesy of Mr. William Walker, active member of the Bay City chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, three age-worn, tattered record books of La Salle Lodge, No. 47, I. O. O. F. lie before us. They are 87 years old. They deserve to be tattered.

One of the volumes is a record of the initiation into La Salle lodge of its various members. A second volume is the minutes of the meetings from Nov. 30, 1854 to 1859, after which the handwriting becomes practically illegible and the latest recordings may be 1869--it is impossible to tell.

We quote from the minutes of the first meeting herein recorded:

The petitioners for charter were called together by Brother W. H. Johnson, acting deputy grandmaster, whereupon all being present the lodge was duly organized and the following brothers elected and installed into their respective offices to serve the ensuing term:

J. C. Perry, N. G.

S. G. Powell, V. G.

J. W. Granger, Sec.

E. B. Condry, Treas.

Bro. W. H. Austin was appointed warden by the N. G.

The business of the lodge being completed it was then resolved into a degree lodge and the five degrees duly conferred on Brother Powell and the Blue, Green and Scarlet degrees on Brother W. H. Austin.

By Resolution this lodge was called La Salle Lodge No. 47 and will be hailed and known by the above title. It was further resolved that the constitution and by-laws of Indianola lodge was adopted for resent use. It was further resolved that the regular meeting nights will be on Tuesday.

The third volume is the treasurer's book. It appears to have been through both fire and flood. Familiar names are jotted on its first pages--William Austin, E. B. Condry, August Duffy, Dr. F. K. Fisher, Galen Hodges, Charles H. Ives, James Selkirk and others. At length, as of December, 1854, entries are more comprehensive and extend more or less completely, it is surmised, to the last, entry, that of Irvin Rugeley, August, 1975.

Then silence.

Matagorda County Tribune, August 23, 1945
 

Bay City I. O. O. F.  Lodge No. 81
Bay City, Texas
 

Bay City IOOF Lodge No. 81 was organized in January, 1903, and the charter was filed April 23, 1903. The charter members were: George Austin, G. B. Culver, A. C. Stewart, S. A. Foote, S. S. Moore, Ed. Wadsworth, William E. Austin, J. H. Selkirk and J. L. Ladd. All were former members of the old Matagorda Lodge No. 47 except for J. L. Ladd.

On January 28, 1903, the following were initiated into the lodge: Amos Lee, J. M. Sims, R. C. Biggs, J. B. Caverley, A. S. Collins, T. W. Bundick, A. R. Benge and E. T. Higgins.

The Bay City Lodge absorbed Palacios Lodge No. 745 on December 12, 1933, and Matagorda Lodge No. 47 on February 14, 1937.

During the first 30 years, some 300 members had signed the register.

The IOOF is a sponsor for the World Eye Bank and Visual Research at Johns Hopkins, the United Nations Pilgrimage for Youth, and the Kidney Foundation.

George Helmecke, 1937

Historic Matagorda County, Volume I, page 458