Found this book at a garage sale. It is just nice and heavy, leather bound published in 1904. The lady at the sale stated that it was her father’s. She has a lot of newspaper clippings from a Kamloops newspaper, dated 1936 relating to the Pythias locally in that area of BC. The lady was really nice and talked a bit about her father. Thought it was really nice item. It is sure well made with good edges. Gold embossing. Don’t really know a lot about the organisation. I think it must be a bit like Freemasons or something similar. An item only owned by those in the “know”.
Pythian History – Knights of Pythias
By Wm. D. Kennedy
Dated 1904
Contains the life, death and burial of the founder of the order, Justus H. Rathbone;
The Birth and Progress of the order;
The creation of the Supreme Lodge and a review of its conventions since 1868.
The supreme constitutions.
“The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on 19 February 1864. The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been inspired by a play by the Irish poet John Banim about the legend of Damon and Pythias. This legend illustrates the ideals of loyalty, honor, and friendship that are the center of the order.
The order has over 2,000 lodges in the United States and around the world, with a total membership of over 50,000 in 2003. The order is headquartered in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Some lodges meet in structures referred to as Pythian Castles” : Source wikipedia
