ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN (A.O.U.W.)

ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN (A,O,U.W.). On October 27th, 1868 in Meadville, Pennsylvania, John Jordan Upchurch, a railroad worker, assembled thirteen friends and coworkers and established the AOUW. The local lodge of The League of Friendship, a different 'workingman'-focused brotherhood, had disbanded due to a falling out with their supreme lodge, leaving a group of members without a lodge.

The AOUW 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, called an 'assessment.' Each separate Great Lodge managed its insurance for its local members.

The Iowa Lodge No. 11 of the AOUW was organized on December 17, 1874 in Dubuque. Meetings were held every Friday evening in the hall on the corner of Main and Fourth STREETS.