ORDER OF HEPTASOPHS LODGE ANTIQUE BADGE MEDALS FRATERNAL USA CANADA FLAG 1900

For sale, a very rare original Four badges of The Order of Heptasophs dated from the early 20th to 1937. The badges are in the original old nice wooden frame as found. The badges are dated 1900, 1903, 1937. 
One badge is updated I believe it's from the early 1900's.

(1) Convention Grand Lodge T.M.A. July 27, 1903 Philadelphia - Toronto , at the center  flag of USA and Canada.

(2) Heptasophs OR S.W.M "n God We Trust", Mount Carmel Conclave No. 28, Maryland. W-T-B

(3)Special Aid, Columbus Day Celebration, Oct 12, 1937, Yonkers, NY.

(4) S.A.?, Special Guest , July 2, 1900.


. Overall in good condition. Size:11.25x9.25 inch, 28.5x23.75cm. 

Winning bidder pays $25.00 Postage international registered air mail.
Payment options: Paypal
Authenticity 100% Guaranteed

Please have a look at my other listings.

Good Luck!


The Order of Heptasophs was a fraternal organization established in New Orleans, Louisiana in April 1852. The name is derived from Greek roots meaning seven and wise and means the seven wise men. The Order was founded at New Orleans, April 6, 1852, by Alexander Leonard Saunders, and early members included ex-governors, ex-mayors, etc.[1] Contents 1 History 2 Organization 3 References 4 Publications 4.1 Serials 4.2 Selected pamphlets History The organization was originally called the "Seven Wise Men", and it may have been formed by graduates of the earlier Mystical Seven or Rainbow Society that were popular college fraternities in the South during this period. Albert Stevens noted at least a strong similarity in their rituals and nomenclature.[2] The Heptasophs themselves elaborated an ornate pseudohistory dating back to 1104 BC and "the first Zoroaster". Allegedly the ancient King of Persia would select six Magi who were skilled in both statecraft and occult arts and they would meet in a cavern beneath the royal palace at Ispahan. This was also how princes were trained but they were only admitted "by merit". The philosophy of these "Seven Wise Men" directed the affairs of the Persian Empire until their overthrow by Muhammad in 638 AD.[3] What is known is that after being "introduced" in New Orleans in April 1852, a Grand Conclave of Louisiana was set in June of that year and incorporated in 1854. A "Supreme Conclave", or organization embracing several states was organized in 1857 and had its first "communication" (convention).[4] The early growth of the organization was principally in the Southern states and it lost many members much of its influence during the Civil War. The group was always conservative with little effort being made to extend it into other areas.[5] After the Civil War the group began to grow again and during the early 1870s experienced a rapid growth in membership, reaching a high point of 4,000. The depression of the mid-1870s checked its growth and led to a movement for a general death benefit (local conclaves were allowed to create benefit options, but there were not overall benefits). When the Supreme Conclave rejected this idea the zeta Conclave of Baltimore forced a schism leading to the creation of the Improved Order of Heptasophs. There was an intense rivalry between the two groups for a few years, but this died down after the older order adopted its own benefit plan in 1880[6] During the 1870s, the Order became popular among some German Americans and was said to have spread to Germany by 1877.[7] Organization The order worked four degrees, the initiatory degree where the Persian pseudo-history is described, and three further degrees which illustrated the vicissitudes pursuing the course of duty. Also "[t]o satisfy the modern demand for a military feature" an optional uniformed rank was introduced. A life insurance branch, named the "endowment rank" was established in 1880 and was open to members in good standing who passed a medical exam. The amount paid was $300. Finally, there was the Heptsophian Mutual Benefit fund which gave aid to the widows, heir and assignees of the members, up to $500 on a 25 cent assessment. Wives of members were also eligible for membership in the Fund.[6] Membership was open to white males over 18 who were of good moral character, believed in a Supreme Being, possessed a known reputable means of support, free from any mental or physical disability and were educated enough to fill out their own application. Each local conclave could set its own upper age limit. There was no female auxiliary.[6] The organization was typical of the day with local Subordinate Conclaves, statewide Grand Conclaves and the Supreme Conclave at the top. Grand Conclaves were composed of Past Archons of Subordinate Conclaves and the Supreme Conclave composed of Past Grand Archons. At its height the group was present in 18 states, principally in the South.[8] The Improved Order of Heptasophs was a fraternal order in the United States that existed from 1878-1917. It was distinguished from its parent organization, the Order of Heptasophs in that its main focus was on insurance.[1] Contents 1 History 2 Organization 3 Notes 4 See also History In the mid-1870s there was a dispute within the Order of Heptasophs. While local chapters or Conclaves were allowed to pay benefits at option since 1872, others wanted a general fund for death benefits. Unable to convince the conservative leadership of the group to offer general benefits, the Zeta Conclave #6 of Baltimore initiated a schism and led a number of members out of the group.[2] A call was issued August 10, 1878 by Judge George V. Metzel, John W. Cruett, James Watkins, the Hon. John G. Mitchell, W. F. C. Gerhardt and Herbert J. Thurn, all of Maryland, for a convention to found a new society. It was addressed to fourteen other Heptasophs, six each from Maryland and Pennsylvania and one each from Virginia and Kentucky. The convention assembled on August 27 at the Odd Fellows Hall in Philadelphia. There were only twenty delegates, the six signers of the call and the fourteen addressees. Nevertheless, they organized themselves as the Supreme Conclave of the new Improved Order of Heptasophs, with Judge Metzel as the first Archon [3] The organization grew slowly, with the 83 members of the Zeta Conclave as the core of the membership. At the first ordinary annual session of the order, in 1879, there were only 149 members in nine local conclaves and by 1880 it had 516 in 12 conclaves. This was partly due to intense opposition from the older Order. However, by 1899 it grew to 35,000 members in twenty states, 12,000 in Maryland alone.[4] The organization reached a membership of 676,887 in 1915, at its peak.[5] Two Subordinate Conclaves, the Zeta Conclave in Baltimore and the Grant Conclave at Easton, Pennsylvania, were prosperous enough to build their own fraternal halls.[6] In May 1917 the Improved Order of Heptasophs merged with the Fraternal Aid Union. The Fraternal Aid Union changed its name to the Standard Life Association in 1933.[7] The Standard Life Association in turn became Standard Mutual Life, a mutual company, in 1968.[8] Organization Unusually for a nineteenth century American fraternal order, the Improved Order of Heptasophs dispensed with the state or "Grand" level of organization and consisted only of the local Subordinate Conclaves and the Supreme Conclave, which had control over the groups business and beneficiary activities. The Supreme Conclave consisted of officers and members elected by members of the Subordinate Conclaves, as well as the charter members, who sat as Supreme Past Archons ut your notebooks away - it's time for a pop quiz. In each of the following pairs, one is an actual fraternal organization that exists (or existed) while the other is a fictional fraternity from a TV show. Can you pick out which is real and which is fictional? 1. Mystic Order of Whelks     Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm 2. Royal Order of Camels     Polish Falcons of America 3. Smiling Sons of the Friendly Shillelaghs     Friendly Sons of St. Patrick 4. Regal Order of the Golden Door to Good Fellowship     Grand Link Order of the Golden Chain 5. Fraternal Order of the Bass     Improved Order of Heptasophs Time's up! Pencils down. How'd you do? In each of the pairings above, the first one listed is the fictional group, while the second is real. You can learn more about the fictional groups here. (And for a story from the Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction Department, you can read here how the Order of the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh - a real fraternal organization - took their name from a fictional fraternity mentioned on the The Jackie Gleason Show.) Perhaps one of the best sources for learning more about (real) fraternal organizations whose roots lie in the 19th century is Albert C. Stevens' The Cyclopaedia of Fraternities: A Compilation of Existing Authentic Information . . . of More Than Six Hundred Secret Societies in the United States (New York : Hamilton Printing and Publishing Company, 1899) [Call number: 00 .S844 1899]. Since Stevens's book was published in 1899, there are obvious limitations to its use, but he did a great job in compiling the info available to him at the time, and it's a fascinating starting place for seeking more information about fraternities that you might not have heard of before. Oh, and those men in the photo pictured here? That's the first Supreme Council of the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm in 1890. You may know this group by their more familiar name - The Grotto. The photo is from Sidney Smith's History of the Supreme Council of the Mystic Order Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm, published in 1903 Masonic" and "Freemason" redirect here. For the ghost town, see Masonic, California. For other uses, see Freemason (disambiguation). "Freemasons" redirects here. For the house music producers, see Freemasons (band). Standard image of masonic square and compasses The Masonic Square and Compasses (found with or without the letter G) Part of a series on Freemasonry Masonic SquareCompassesG.svg Overview Grand LodgeMasonic lodgeMasonic lodge officersGrand MasterPrince Hall FreemasonryRegular Masonic jurisdictionAnglo-American FreemasonryContinental Freemasonry History Masonic bodies Views of Masonry People and places Related By country vte Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Freemasonry has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories throughout the years.[1] Modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups: Regular Freemasonry insists that a volume of scripture be open in a working lodge, that every member profess belief in a Supreme Being, that no women be admitted, and that the discussion of religion and politics be banned. Continental Freemasonry consists of the jurisdictions that have removed some, or all, of these restrictions. The basic, local organisational unit of Freemasonry is the Lodge. These private Lodges are usually supervised at the regional level (usually coterminous with a state, province, or national border) by a Grand Lodge or Grand Orient. There is no international, worldwide Grand Lodge that supervises all of Freemasonry; each Grand Lodge is independent, and they do not necessarily recognise each other as being legitimate. The degrees of Freemasonry retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, Journeyman or fellow (now called Fellowcraft), and Master Mason. The candidate of these three degrees is progressively taught the meanings of the symbols of Freemasonry and entrusted with grips, signs and words to signify to other members that he has been so initiated. The degrees are part allegorical morality play and part lecture. Three degrees are offered by Craft (or Blue Lodge) Freemasonry, and members of any of these degrees are known as Freemasons or Masons. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, and are usually administered by their own bodies (separate from those who administer the Craft degrees). The Masonic lodge is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry.[2] The Lodge meets regularly and conducts the usual formal business of any small organisation (approve minutes, elect new members, appoint officers and take their reports, consider correspondence, bills and annual accounts, organize social and charitable events, etc.). In addition to such business, the meeting may perform a ceremony to confer a Masonic degree[3] or receive a lecture, which is usually on some aspect of Masonic history or ritual.[4] At the conclusion of the meeting, the Lodge may hold a formal dinner, or festive board, sometimes involving toasting and song.[5] The bulk of Masonic ritual consists of degree ceremonies conferred in meetings guarded by a "Tyler" outside the door with a drawn sword to keep out unqualified intruders to Masonry. (This officer, the Tyler, is necessarily senior because at the door he may hear the highest degree ceremonies, and often a less affluent elderly Mason is offered the office to relieve his need for Masonic company, refreshments and/or fees, without having to pay a subscription. He takes minor parts at the door of all meetings and ceremonies.) Candidates for Freemasonry are progressively initiated into Freemasonry, first in the degree of Entered Apprentice. At some later time, in separate ceremonies, they will be passed to the degree of Fellowcraft; and then raised to the degree of Master Mason. In each of these ceremonies, the candidate must first take the new obligations of the degree, and is then entrusted with secret knowledge including passwords, signs and grips (secret handshakes) confined to his new rank.[6] Another ceremony is the annual installation of the Master of the Lodge and his appointed or elected officers.[3] In some jurisdictions an Installed Master elected, obligated and invested to preside over a Lodge, is valued as a separate rank with its own secrets and distinctive title and attributes; after each full year in the Chair the Master invests his elected successor and becomes a Past Master with privileges in the Lodge and Grand Lodge.[7] In other jurisdictions, the grade is not recognised, and no inner ceremony conveys new secrets during the installation of a new Master of the Lodge.[8] Most Lodges have some sort of social functions, allowing members, their partners and non-Masonic guests to meet openly.[9] Often coupled with these events is the discharge of every Mason's and Lodge's collective obligation to contribute to charity. This occurs at many levels, including in annual dues, subscriptions, fundraising events, Lodges and Grand Lodges. Masons and their charities contribute for the relief of need in many fields, such as education, health and old age.[10][11] Private Lodges form the backbone of Freemasonry, with the sole right to elect their own candidates for initiation as Masons or admission as joining Masons, and sometimes with exclusive rights over residents local to their premises. There are non-local Lodges where Masons meet for wider or narrower purposes, such or in association with some hobby, sport, Masonic research, business, profession, regiment or college. The rank of Master Mason also entitles a Freemason to explore Masonry further through other degrees, administered separately from the basic Craft or "Blue Lodge" degrees described here, but generally having a similar structure and meetings.[12] There is much diversity and little consistency in Freemasonry, because each Masonic jurisdiction is independent and sets its own rules and procedures while Grand Lodges have limited jurisdiction over their constituent member Lodges, which are ultimately private clubs. The wording of the ritual, the number of officers present, the layout of the meeting room, etc. varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. [12][13] Almost all officers of a Lodge are elected or appointed annually. Every Masonic Lodge has a Master, two Wardens, a treasurer and a secretary. There is also always a Tyler, or outer guard, outside the door of a working Lodge, who may be paid to secure its privacy. Other offices vary between jurisdictions.[12] Each Masonic Lodge exists and operates according to ancient principles known as the Landmarks of Freemasonry, which elude any universally accepted definition Grand Lodges and Grand Orients are independent and sovereign bodies that govern Masonry in a given country, state or geographical area (termed a jurisdiction). There is no single overarching governing body that presides over worldwide Freemasonry; connections between different jurisdictions depend solely on mutual recognition.[22][23] Freemasonry, as it exists in various forms all over the world, has a membership estimated by the United Grand Lodge of England at around 6 million worldwide.[3] The fraternity is administratively organised into independent Grand Lodges (or sometimes Grand Orients), each of which governs its own Masonic jurisdiction, which consists of subordinate (or constituent) Lodges. The largest single jurisdiction, in terms of membership, is the United Grand Lodge of England (with local organisation into Provincial Grand Lodges possessing a combined me