Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
MYSTIC WORKERS OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC WORKERS OF THE WORLD. The Mystic Workers of the World was founded in Fulton, Illinois in 1896 as a fraternal benefit society. The organization was founded to offer insurance alternatives to the growing middle class in the Midwest and northern states. In 1930, Mystic Workers of the World changed its name to Fidelity Life Association. (1)
The Dubuque lodge organized on January 30, 1899 while the organization had been present in Iowa for several years and had lodges throughout the state. The lodge insured members against accidents as well as death without additional cost. Officers included Milton Howe, master; Dr H R. Hitchens, vice-master; Joel F. Nelson, secretary and banker, Dr. T. H. Heffernan and Dr. F. C. Walsh, physicians; Thomas B. Thompson, conductor; Miss Esther Sparkes, sentinel; George F. Sheldon, picket and S. H. Shields, J. W. Cushing, and J. F. Gauthier, managers. (2)
By February 1902 the Dubuque lodge had 125 members while the entire organization had a membership of 25,000. (3) In 1903 officers of Key City Lodge, No. 477 included Patrick J. QUIGLEY, vice-president. (4)
In January 1922 the local lodge was presented with a sixteen inch loving cup following the initiation of twenty-five new members. The cup was presented by Supreme Secretary Hammerlund in appreciation of the local lodge initiating the largest number of candidates during the past year. In the party that followed over two hundred members participated. (5)
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Source:
1. "Mystic Workers of the World," Busy Beaver Button Museum, Online: http://buttonmuseum.org/buttons/mystic-workers-world
2. "A New Order," The Dubuque Herald, January 31, 1899, p. 8
3. "Mystic Workers," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, February 21, 1902, p. 2
4. "Officers Elected," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, December 14, 1903 p. 3
5. "Mystic Workers Get Loving Cup," Telegraph-Herald, January 29, 1922, p. 11
