THE ORANGEMEN'S PARADE

This pre-WWII article was of interest to me because I have Canadian ancestry, many of whom were members of the Orangemen’s Lodge. In 1939, in honor of the 259th anniversary of the Battle of Boyne (in Ireland), a celebration was held in Watertown, N. Y. As a child I heard about this parade many times, so I went to the microfilm and pulled this out. I’m sorry I can’t include the photos here, but from looking at the photos, this must have been a wonderful summer’s day for Watertown, N. Y. Throngs and throngs of people were assembled on Public Square. My Dad’s uncle and aunt, William and Ida Stanley, are mentioned in the article, but I have a question at the end of the article.

And oh....while you're reading this....bear in mind that a parade including the Orangemen in our country now, would be considered politically incorrect -- at least that's the impression I received while researching the organization's existence in our country (USA). When I originally posted these articles on the Internet, I solicited readers' comments about the Lodge. It took until April 14, 2008, to get a response when I had the honor of hearing from Jim Pyke of Ontario - see his insight below the articles and Transcriptionist's Notes. (by Shirley Farone)

 

Watertown Daily Times - Wednesday, July 12, 1939
Jefferson County, N. Y.

Reprinted with Permission
of the
Watertown Daily Times

5,000 Orangemen in
City on Anniversary
Of Battle of Boyne

86 LODGES SEND
DELEGATES HERE

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TRADING IS BRISK AS
THRONGS ARRIVE

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OFFICIALS ATTEND A DINNER

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Lodge Officers are Welcomed By
Mayor David D. Kieff--Five
Hundred Canadians Form Larg-
est Single Group--Special
Trains and Buses Bring Mem-
bers to City.

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Five Thousand Orangemen from 86 lodges in all parts of New York state and eastern Canada converged upon the city today to take part in the 259th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. From early morning to mid-afternoon lodge members steadily streamed into the city in private cars, one special train and 40 chartered buses.

The celebration held in commemoration of the victory by the Protestants who fought at the Boyne in Ireland under King William III of England, was one of the largest such observances in upstate New York in years. Public Square was thronged throughout the day with hundreds of Orangemen attired in colorful uniforms of all descriptions.

Trading was brisk and business establishments were busy throughout the day.

Concert Opens Program.

The program opened at 10 a.m. with a band concert in Paddock Park given by the local lodge band. Among the first arrivals were lodge representatives from New York city, Buffalo and most distant points in Canada, many of whom came late Tuesday evening or in the early hours of this morning. The Orangemen maintained headquarters at the Herald building, the Masonic lodge and the Eagles club.

New York state lodge officers and Canadian lodge officers were honored at a dinner given at noon in the dining room of the Hotel Woodruff. An address of welcome was given by Mayor David D. Kieff. Mayor Kieff expressed his hope that the Orangemen would enjoy their brief stay here and told the lodge officials that they were always welcomed to visit Watertown at any time.

Among the officials at the dinner were: Robert Stewart, New York city, state grand master; John Garland, Rochester, acting state grand master; Rev. Dr. Alexander Katterson, New York city, prominent club member; Rev. Robert E. White, Malone, state grand chaplain, who served as master of ceremonies, and T. A. Kidd of Kingston, past grand master of the British - North America Order of Orangemen. Brief addresses were given by these officials.

The majority of the 5,000 Orangemen attended dinner at the State Street Presbyterian church and the First Baptist church at noon. Arrangements for the dinners was made by the local Orange order, Garland City lodge No.517, of which Elmer Best is the worthy master.

500 By Special Train

Five hundred Canadians formed the largest single group to arrive here by special train at 11:20 a.m. from Morristown. The Canadians crossed the St. Lawrence river by ferry at 9 a.m. They were met at the New York Central railroad station here by a reception committee of local lodge members and the Watertown lodge's band.

Following a band concert at the railroad station, the 500 Canadians headed by the Brockville band, marched down Anthony street to the Square, through the Square

________________________________________________________________

Reprinted with Permission
of the
Watertown Daily Times

 

ORANGEMEN HOLD
COLORFUL PARADE

-----------------

MORE THAN 6,000 PERSONS
      SEE PROCESSION

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EIGHT BANDS ARE IN LINE

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Children's Home Band of This
City Takes Part--Women of
Kingston, Ont., Lodge Are At-
tired in White--Parade Circles
Public Square.

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One of the most colorful parades ever staged in the city was witnessed this afternoon by about 6,000 persons when members of the Orange lodges from eastern Canada and all sections of New York state marched in a mile-long procession.

The parade formed shortly after 2 p.m. at the Masonic Temple. Heading the line of march was a white horse ridden by a Canadian lodge member attired in a uniform reminiscent of the days of King William III. An escort of four policemen, Patrolmen John Killorin, Franklin T. Barnett, George Stumpf and Albert B. Forrest led the 16 participating units.

The Jefferson County Children's Home band, representing Watertown, followed in line. The band was given an ovation as it marched along in perfect unison.

Following the bearer of the Orange lodge banner came members of the Belleville unit attired in orange and red capes. Two bands from the Brockville unit followed. One of the bands, a fife and drum corps, was led by a girl. The Escott unit followed. One of the neatest appearing units was the Kingston lodge. The band members wore bright red and blue plumes.

Women of the Kingston Lodge were attired in white satin dresses. One group carried orange parasols and the other group carried white parasols. Next in line came the Brockville unit, headed by its Highlanders’ Band.

The Prescott unit was headed by an Highland Kiltie Band, in full regalia. The Geneseo Lodge, with its flute and drum corps, followed. Members of the unit were dressed in white. Dressed in white with flowing orange capes, the Rochester unit was next in line. Ten paces back came the Amsterdam unit. The last lodge to march was the Watertown order. There were eight bands in the parade.

The paraders assembled at the Masonic Temple at 1:30 and began their march about 2. They moved down Washington Street to Public Square, then to Franklin Street. The parade moved up that street to Park Street and then to State Street. Moving down State Street, the parade passed through the Square and down Court Street to Coffeen Street and to the fairgrounds.

The program of addresses and drills were given at the fairgrounds this afternoon to complete the celebration.

__________________________________________________________________

Reprinted with Permission
of the
Watertown Daily Times

86 Lodges Send
Delegates Here
(continued from page eighteen)

16 Lodges from State

New York State lodges, numbering 16 in all, were quartered at the Herald building. Lodges from Landsdowne, Malloytown, South Lake, Escott, Addison, New Dublin, Gananoque, Brockville, all in South Leeds County; from Lyndhurst, Athens and Ellisville, of North Leeds County, and from Monreal and Belleville are quartered in the Masonic temple. Lodges from Portsmouth, Stella, Inversary, Woodlawn, Battersea, Dufferin, Sunberry, Kingston, and the Prentice Boys' band, all in South Frontenac County, and from Prescott, So. Hastings, Frontenac County; Shormont and other border counties' lodges made the Eagles Club its headquarters. They are: The Prentiss Boys' Band, the Highland Kiltie Band in full dress, two bands from Brockville and the Gananoque Citizens' Band. Members of each band were in full attire.

Seventy Canadian lodges are represented while sixteen lodges from Buffalo, Rochester, Geneseo, Amsterdam, Brooklyn, New York City and Watertown make up the New York State delegation.

Local merchants displayed American (sic) flags throughout the day. Decorations also were placed in front of the many establishments. Orangemen appeared about the streets with customary orange and purple ribbons. Many Orangemen wore a broad orange band about their shoulder and chest.

______________________________________

Reprinted with Permission
of the
Watertown Daily Times

5,000 ORANGEMEN IN
CITY ON ANNIVERSARY

86 Lodges Send Delegates Here

Trade is Brisk As
Lodges Arrive

Officials Attend a Dinner

Lodge officers are welcomed by Mayor David O. Kieff --
Five Hundred Contingents from
Largest Single Group -- Special Trains and Buses
bring members to city.

Five thousand Orangemen from 86 lodges in all parts of New YOrk State and Eastern Canada converge upon the city today to take part in the 259 anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. From early morning to midafternoon Lodge members steadily stream into the city in private cars, one special train and forty chartered buses. The celebration held in commemoration of the victory by the Protestants who fought at the Boyne in Ireland to King William III of England, was one of the largest observances in upstate New York in years. Public Square was thronged throughout the day with hundreds of Orangement attired in colorful uniforms of all descriptions. Trading was brisk and business establishments were busy throughout the city.

_______________________________________________________________

Reprinted with Permission
of the
Watertown Daily Times

Celebrations Close
Orangemen’s Day

__________________

Program at Fairgrounds
Concludes Celebration

_______________________

Degree Team Moves Drill

Brockville Lodge gets first place for outstanding unit in parade --
Speakers cite Canadian-American friendship --
Canadians will support America in future,” says T. A. Kidd.

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The celebration of the 259th anniversary of the Battle of Boyne was concluded Wednesday afternoon with a program of addresses and degree team drills at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. The celebration opened at 9:30 a.m. and was featured by a mile-long parade at 2 in the afternoon.

Orangemen 5,000 strong, participated in the observance.

Announcement was made at the Fairgrounds program that the Brockville Lodge No. 17 was given first place for being the outstanding unit in the parade. Second place went to the Kingston Orange Lodge No. 980 with third place to the Amsterdam Lodge No. 263. Parade judges were Rev. Edgar O. Spaven, pastor of the Bethany Methodist Church and Mr. Robert Wright of North Bangor. The Black River drill team was awarded first place in the drill sessions at the Fairgrounds. The unit gave a colorful exhibit of unison march. Rev. Robert Wright of Norrh Bangor, acted as master of ceremonies.

Brief addresses were given by C. G. MacOdrum, Mayor of Brockville, Harold C. Shipman, Ottawa, past grand master of the Province of Quebec, Robert Stewart, New York city, state grand master; Rev. Dr. Alexander Katterson, pastor of the Protestant Church of Times Square, New York city; Mrs. Anna Schulz, New York State grand mistress,;T. A. Kidd, Kingston, past grand master of the British -North American Order of the Orangemen, and member of Ontario Parliament; Rev. James Dawes, Oxford Mills, Ontario, John Garland, Rochester, acting grand master and Mr. and Mrs. William Stanley, of Detroit, formerly of Watertown.

Mayor MacOdrum praised the United States for the reception tendered to the kind and queen on their American visit. In a lengthy address, Mr. Shipman spoke of world conditions and said that the trouble in the world today originated from the failure to recognize the Bible.

Mr. Kidd, in his address, expressed pleasure in being able to attend the celebration here and spoke of the friendliness between the United States and Canada.

Mr. Kidd asserted that President Roosevelt made history in Kingston, Ont., when he uttered the words, “The United States will not stand idly by should Canada be attacked.”

“Roosevelt sold himself to all of Canada with that speech,” said Mr. Kidd.

He pointed out that the motto of Canadians is that if England is at war, Canada is at war.

“No one wants war,” he said, “but we want our mother country to know just where Canada stands.”

A hope that the flags of the United States and Canada will always fly together was expressed by Rev. Dr. Katterson. The speaker presented a brief picture of the propaganda going on in the United States and warned against those trying to undermine the constitution.

He discussed the persecution of the Jews in Germany and of the religious conflict there and added that “Hitler is the most despicable character in Europe.”

“May God bless this great United States, the land of freedom, the land of today and the land of tomorrow, and may it always be the land of our Pilgrim Fathers,” he said in closing.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley who left Watertown 29 years ago for Detroit, Michigan spoke briefly expressing happiness in being able to return to Watertown for the Orangemen’s parade.

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Transcriptionist’s Note: There were many photos included in these articles, none of which made good scanning material. However, there was one photo of an Orangeman member riding a large white horse. If there is anyone out there who knows the identity of that person, I’d love to hear from you. Reason: Since childhood I’d always heard that my Dad’s Uncle William Stanleyof Detroit, rode that horse in this parade. However, the man in this photo looks too young to have been Uncle Will. The caption under the photo: “Heading the Orangeman’s parade Wednesday afternoon was a Canadian member of the lodge on a white mount. The Orangeman, shown above, was attired in a uniform which is a replica of one worn by King William III in the Battle of the Boyne."

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April 14, 2008 - a message from Jim Pyke, a Recording Secretary of an Orange Order Lodge in Ontario wrote giving thoughts and positions regarding the Orange Lodges. In part here are Jim’s comments:



“First off, the Orange lodge is still around, both in Canada, the United States as well as the European Continent.

“The Orange Orders numbers are not what they were years ago, but then again, no fraternal order has the mystic draw that they once did. As for the Lodge not being politically correct, I find zero difference between a catholic joining the Knights of Columbus and a protestant joining the Orange Order. Both are for males, masonic in basis with a religious flavour. I presume that the K of C spends a lot of time raising money for children’s charities as we do. It is strickly forbidden for us to state ill feelings due to one’s religious beliefs. Just a few years ago, in one of the counties here in Ontario, the largest gift given to any one charity was St Paul de Vincent, a Catholic charity. We don't have Protestant only charities, it is wrong.

“The Glorious Revolution as it became known was cultimated in the British Bill of Rights, there was no intent to persecute Catholics that were defeated at the Boyne but to extend to them the freedom of religion that was denied to Protestants during the reign of James II who converted to the Catholic faith and sought to enforce a zero tolerence of other faiths.

“The Orange Lodge still has lodges in New York state today as well a half dozen others within the Union including Michigan. Many people like yourself with an interest in the past and a desire to preserve some of the neighbourly qualities of a time gone by have begun to revitalize the fraternal orders. My own father was never a member of the Lodge but I, with an interest in geneology, was naturally drawn to it and have never looked back.

“A lot of people talk about the mass immigration of the Irish to this continent but they forget that during the 1920's and 1930's it was the Protestants leaving the new Republic of Ireland so that they could maintain their freedom of religious beliefs which were frowned upon by a quasi church state.

“The Baptists of the Appalachian's are called 'Hill Billies' due to their twangy lyrics of songs, they used to sing old melodies of King Billy, William of Orange, of whom their own ancestors had once followed. Many of those old tunes came from the same music, even old Johnny Horton music is the same old stuff.

“I would love to see some of those old photos that you mention. I personally collect the old ribbon badges which I use for historical displays, they help draw attention to the shear number and importance that the Loyal Orange Lodge carried and shall continue to, for all time.

“I hope that this helps give you a little insight.”


Jim Pyke
County Lodge Rec Sec


Jim wrote on April 16, 2008, and gave additional, interesting information. I feel fortunate Jim has taken the time to enlighten my readers with his knowlege. (by Shirley Farone)

“You would be astounded at the actual number of people who are related to an Orangeman. I get contacted regularly by those who would like info on a deceased relative; it is very tough and it is not very often that we are successful in finding out things.

“The Orange Lodge was designed as our first governments were, the branch closest to the people did the most, the lodge that did the least was the highest, although it was stronger, but it had more defined responsibilities. About the same time as the lodges lost their flare the governments went crazy, hence our BIG Brother, Big Governments.

“As lodges lost their halls due to government mandated building codes, mandatory insurance and spiraling heating costs plus an aging membership it became ever more difficult to keep the primary lodges open. Plus, almost all of our lodges start the year with zero money, whatever is left at the end of the year, we give away. That is what it is all about, right?

“An awful lot of the records were disposed of when primary lodges closed. This is one of the reasons that I took it upon myself to attempt to gather as many old primary lodge ribbon badges for display purposes, people seem to forget just how important the lodge was to these small communities.

“We ran homes for orphans along with the Loyal True Blues for years before the governments ever got involved. There is a sense of pride for us in that, to this day, there has never been an abuse allegation from any of our homes. We still run a subsidised seniors residence here in Ontario.

“No one knows how long it all will last, but as long as the Orange Lodge beats in the heart of a single man, the battle cry will remain just as in the Derry Boys of old, NO SURRENDER.”

(signed by Jim Pyke, W Durham & Victoria County Loyal Orange Lodge recording secretary)


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October, 2009 - Jim Pyke has shared with us photos of Loyal Orange Regalia. This is indeed a delightful historical display. Jim welcomes hearing from anyone who may have items which would enhance his collection. Jim may be reached at Jim Pyke

Jim tells me that he was fortunate enough to get another ribbon this past summer--this time from Gardiner, Maine. He stated that makes 18 men's lodges and 2 additional ribbons from the Ladies Loyal Orange Lodge of the USA. I am fast approaching 400 ribbons in total.

To guide us through the photos, I have included Jim's comments:

"I took this picture of the USA Orange Lodge ribbons that I have been able to aquire. There are 16 from the men's lodge 2 from the ladies' ....."

"In the display case in the 2nd picture are a Grand Lodge of Penn, watch fob, a 1924 Grand Lodge session badge from Boston and a 1812-1816 jewel that was aquired in N Carolina, the eagle and American flag denote its origins. The flag has 18 stars."

"The 3rd pic is of the display, (that I could take) with kids and a wife space was limited in the van."

In closing, Jim comments on the article your sitehost posted several years ago about the Orangeman's Lodge Parade in Watertown, N. Y. in 1939: "I will have you know that members of my OYB Orange Young Briton lodge fondly remember the travels to Watertown and such as children for celebrations on the US side of the border."

We thank Jim for his kindness in providing us more insight on this subject. He closed with a motto "Orangeism has no borders, as long long as it beats in the heart of one man it will never die."

Here are the three photos Jim sent me, granting me permission to show these on my site. (by shirley, sitehost)

lodgeribbonno1
lodgeribbonno2

lodgeribbonno3
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