Got a quick answer to that one! Debbie Wade had asked the same question
of the Vigo Co. Librarian, and here is the answer she received:
The Knights and Ladies of
Honor and the Tribe of Ben Hur were fraternal organizations. According
to
Fraternal Organizations by Alvin J. Schmidt, The Tribe of Ben Hur was
founded
in 1894 in Crawfordsville IN. General Lew Wallace, the author or the
popular
book Ben Hur, was one of the founders, and the ritual was based on the
book.
From the beginning the organization was a "fraternal
beneficiary"
order.
Members could obtain insurance and scholarships from the organization,
which
probably reached its highest membership about 1920. It still existed as
the
Ben Hur Life Association in 1979. The 1901 Terre Haute city directory
lists
the Vigo Court, the Esther Court, and the Bismark Court.
Paul Kasameyer
Livermore, CA
Paul and Ann Kasameyer wrote:
I have an obituary for Mts. Elisabeth KAASMEYER (sic) from the March 19
1903 Terre Haute Express, which states that she was well-known in German
circles and was a member of the Bismark Court of Ben Hur.
Does anyone know what that organization might be?
...
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