Ancient Order Of United Workmen

The 'Ancient Order Of United Workmen' (abbreviated AOUW or A.O.U.W.) was the first fraternal group to offer death benefit life insurance to its members. The group dwindled over the years and exists in extremely small pockets today.

Origins

On October 27th, 1868 in Meadville, Pennsylvania, John Jordan Upchurch, a railroad worker, assembled 13 of his friends and coworkers and established the AOUW. The group would be a fraternal organization with rites of initiation and membership, like the Freemasons, but it would take one further historic step by offering death insurance to its members. Fraternal groups often took care of members in need, but at the discretion of other members. Establishing an organized death-benefit insurance for all members had not been done before, and Upchurch believed it would be an additional incentive for members to join.

To join the AOUW, new members paid $1 in insurance premium. This created a fund which would pay a minimum $500 benefit to a deceased member's family, at which time all surviving AOUW members would have to contribute another $1 each to re-fund the account. Each separate Great Lodge managed its insurance for its local members.

Decentralized Organization

The decentralized nature of the AOUW focused on each individual Lodge's immediate neighborhood, and thus did not benefit from a nationwide level of exposure. Each Grand Lodge then managed their insurance benefits and fraternal organization independently, but within the guidelines of the AOUW's rules.

As the regional groups grew, administration changed in scope and each Grand Loge began to move in a different direction. The Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota Grand Lodges joined during the late 1800s, and the Grand Lodge of the Dakotas absorbed the Grand Lodge of California in 1932. In the early 1940s, the Grand Lodges of Maine, Massachussets, and Rhode Island joined with another fraternal group, the New England Order of Protection. In 1948, the AOUW of the Dakotas and California changed its name to Pioneer Mutual Life Insurance and ceased their fraternal operations.

Women's Auxillary

Much as the Freemasons have the Order of the Eastern Star, the all-male AOUW offered an alternate membership for women. The Degree of Honor was the "ladies auxillary" of the AOUW, working in much the same way and structure regarding ritual, membership, and insurance. Also, much like the AOUW, during the period of falling interest in the fraternal qualities of the group, the Degree of Honor removed the Masonic trappings and became a fully-fledged fraternal insurance company, still in operation today.