08/02/2026
Happy 185th Anniversary of Saint Louis Lodge No. 5 I.O.O.F. 🥳🎉❤️🔥✋☠️ ⚒️
From the Blacksmith’s Forge to the Triple Links: Brother Thomas Wildey!
Did you know that Brother Thomas Wildey, the founder and father of organized American Odd Fellowship, was a blacksmith?
Before Thomas Wildey became known throughout the fraternity as the founder of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in North America, he earned his living working with iron and steel. Historical accounts describe him more specifically as a coach-spring maker, a highly skilled branch of the blacksmithing trade.
Born in London, England on January 15th, 1782, Wildey was orphaned at an early age. He later became an apprentice in the coach-spring trade. This occupation required strength, patience, precision and the ability to transform unrefined metal into something strong and useful.
Those same qualities would eventually characterize Wildey’s work in building American Odd Fellowship.
Wildey immigrated to the United States in 1817 and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. Missing the fellowship he had known among the Odd Fellows of England, he placed a newspaper advertisement seeking other members of the fraternity.
A small group answered his call, and on April 26, 1819, Washington Lodge No. 1 was instituted in Baltimore. Brother Wildey was elected its first Noble Grand.
Thomas Wildey Comes to Missouri!
Brother Wildey did not remain in Baltimore. He traveled extensively across the growing United States, personally assisting with the institution of Lodges and spreading the principles of Friendship, Love and Truth.
His direct connection to the history of Odd Fellowship in St. Louis is particularly meaningful.
On June 12, 1838, Past Grand Sire Thomas Wildey personally instituted Wildey Lodge No. 2 in St. Louis. The Lodge was appropriately named in his honor, preserving his name and legacy within Missouri Odd Fellowship.
The influence of Wildey Lodge No. 2 would later become part of the founding story of Saint Louis Lodge No. 5.
Henry Doellner met with W. S. Stewart, John L. Pointer, Harvey R. Curtis and Augustine Kennedy to discuss forming another Lodge. They were joined by members of Germania Lodge No. 3, Oliver Harris of Travelers Rest Lodge No. 1 and Charles DeBrueill of Wildey Lodge No. 2.
Together, these Brothers petitioned for a charter, and Saint Louis Lodge No. 5 was chartered on August 21, 1841. Its first officers were Augustine Kennedy, Noble Grand; Henry Doellner, Vice Grand; Harvey R. Curtis, Secretary; and William S. Stewart, Treasurer.
Brother Thomas Wildey’s presence and personal work in early Missouri Odd Fellowship therefore helped forge the fraternal foundation from which Lodges such as Wildey Lodge No. 2 and Saint Louis Lodge No. 5 grew.
The connection is especially significant as we celebrate the anniversary of Saint Louis Lodge No. 5. Our Lodge’s history is linked through its founding Brothers to the earliest development of the Order in Missouri and to the founder of North American Odd Fellowship himself.
Forging a Fraternity
It is fitting that a blacksmith helped forge the foundation of American Odd Fellowship.
A blacksmith takes separate pieces of iron, heats them in the fire and joins them together through skill, effort and determination. In a similar manner, Brother Wildey brought people from different occupations, communities and backgrounds together in a common bond of fraternity and service.
Many early Odd Fellows were tradesmen, craftsmen and working men who understood the importance of mutual assistance. In an age before modern insurance, public welfare programs and organized social services, Lodge membership provided companionship and a dependable network of support during sickness, unemployment, hardship and death.
The obligations of Odd Fellowship, to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan, spoke directly to the struggles faced by working families.
By the time of Brother Wildey’s death in 1861, American Odd Fellowship had expanded into dozens of jurisdictions and included approximately 200,000 members.
We should therefore remember Brother Thomas Wildey not merely as the founder of an organization, but as a working craftsman who understood hardship, fellowship and the dignity of honest labor.
From the ringing of the blacksmith’s hammer came a fraternity whose influence would eventually be heard throughout North America and around the world.
Brother Wildey forged more than coach springs.
He helped forge a chain of Friendship, Love and Truth, a chain whose Triple Links remain unbroken more than two centuries later.
Happy 185th Anniversary to Saint Louis Lodge No. 5, chartered August 21, 1841!
May we continue honoring the legacy established by our founding Brothers by practicing Friendship, extending Love, defending Truth and serving humanity.
In Friendship, Love and Truth,
Bro. Casey Alan Brizendine
Noble Grand(2026-2027)
Saint Louis Lodge No. 5 I.O.O.F.
