1906 adv SIGN metaL PORT HURON Michigan MODERN MACCABEE TEMPLE Nathan S. Boynton

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1906 adv SIGN metaL PORT HURON Michigan MODERN MACCABEE TEMPLE Nathan S. Boynton:
$405.30

PLEASE READ BEFOREBUYING: I sell ORIGINAL items ONLY and NOT ANY reproductions.

TWO IMAGES ARE SHOWN (front and back).

This sale is forone

ADVERTISING steeL SIgN

forthe

MODERN MACCABEES TEMPLE

PORT HURON, MICHIGAN.

Theupper left corner shows an image of its founder,

N. S. BOYNTON

( NATHAN S. BOYNTON ).

This signis approximately 28" x22 1/2" in size.My guess is this sign is from circa 1906. The date is up to you. The lower right corner of this sign has listed: "Organized 1881, Dedicated July 12, 1906. Patented Oct. 10, 1905".

Very tiny, on the lower left corner, themanufacturer of this sign is listed as

the H. D. BEACH COMPANY

Coshocton, O. ( Coshocton, Ohio ).

The back of this sign has a wire for hanging the sign.

CONDITION: For the most part and for its age, this sign is in good condition. Use the magnifier to closelyexamine the condition. Sign has tiny nicks and scratches throughout and the colorful center has a few nicks and smudges wheresmall areas of paint are missing. Sign is a bit warped. Back of sign is rusty looking.This sign is SOLD AS IS.

HISTORICAL NOTES:

Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal organization formed in 1878 in London, Ontario, Canada. Most active in the U.S. state of Michigan, the group's fraternal aspects took a backseat to providing low-cost insurance to members. In the society's early years it also provided other final-expense related benefits such as society cemeteries.

The motto of the Knights of Maccabees was the Latin phrase "Astra Castra Numen Lumen" which means "The stars my camp, the Deity my light".

The Knights of the Maccabees was founded in London, Ontario by members of the Order of the Foresters. They based their name, ceremonies and rituals on the Maccabees, a group of Jewish rebels against the Seleucid Empire whose exploits are described in the Books of the Maccabees, considered part of the Biblical canon by Catholics, but included in the Apocrypha by Protestants. The first convention was held on August 7, 1878.

The group grew rapidly in Canada and several US States, reaching 10,000 members by 1880. The organization was not on an actuarially sound basis - no medical exams were required of new members, and assessments of death was 10 cents for each member. As death claims began piling up, the organizations expenses began to outweigh its income. A group of business men in Michigan, where the order had a number of members, endeavored to put the Maccabees on a sound financial basis. To this end a "grand review" was held in Buffalo, New York in 1880 to reorganize the society, drawing up a new constitution and laws. Major N. S. Boynton was elected the new Supreme Lieutenant Commander. This created a brief schism with the Canadian group seceding under a man named McLaughlin. In 1881 a meeting of the two factions representatives met at Port Huron, Michigan, and they agreed to reconcile their differences. A committee was appointed, chaired by Boynton, to draft a new constitution acceptable to both factions, and this was agreed to in February 1881.

Under the new constitution, Great Camps could be formed in states or provinces with more than 1,000 members and the Supreme Tent (overall organization) operated the beneficiary aspect of the organization. The Great Camp of Michigan was incorporated in that state on June 11, 1881, which was considered the foundation date of the reorganized order. Organizational stability remained elusive. At the Supreme Tent in July 1881 the Michigan delegates obtained an amendment to allow individual Great Camps to establish their own beneficiary programs, anticipating that the national organization would become defunct. By 1882, the order had indeed become dormant outside of Michigan, and Boynton became Great Record Keeper and then Great Commander of the state. The Supreme Tent was then revived, again, in September 1883.

In 1914 the organization changed its name from the Knights of the Maccabees to simply The Maccabees.

In terms of finances and benefits, the Maccabees adopted the National Fraternal Congress Tables in 1911 and the American Mortuary Table of Rates in 1920. A "Supreme Review" conducted in 1958, the Macabees became a mutual life insurance company effective 1961, though still kept some fraternal features.

Organizationally, the group suffered a split in 1905, when a group called the Western Bees seceded in 1905. This group eventually merged with the Highland Nobles in 1911. In the 1930s the Maccabees began absorbing some smaller fraternal benefit societies, including the Brotherhood of America in 1935, the Slavic Progressive Beneficial Union in 1937 and the Michigan Union Life Association in 1941.

The group was structured on a three tiered modal, with local Subordinate Camps, Great Camps at the district level and the whole considered the Supreme Tent. By the 1970s the local groups were called "Subordinate Units". Head offices were traditionally in Detroit, but in 1965 they were moved to Southfield, Michigan.

Membership was open to all white persons between 18 and 70, though those over 52 were ineligible for the beneficiary features. Applicants had to be of good moral character, bodily healthy and socially acceptable. Furthermore those engaged in extra-hazardous occupations, such as coal miners, electric line men, aeronauts, people engaged in blasting, the manufacture of highly flammable or explosive material and submarine officers were excluded from membership. Also, no one who was involved in the liquor trade or an alcoholic was admitted. Certain classes of railway employees, expressmen, miners (excluding coal miners) and firemen had to pay an additional 25 cents assessment per each $1,000.

On December 1, 1896 the Knights had 182,000 members in 40 states and provinces, though a third of the membership was in Michigan. The death rate among the membership was 5.54 per 1,000, which was considered exceptionally low. They also had a permanent headquarters in Port Huron, which had opened in 1892. By 1915 membership had reached 331,756. However, by 1978 membership was down to about 10,000. There were 3,500 members in the US and Canada in 1994.

Nathan Smith Boynton (June 23, 1837 – May 27, 1911) was a Michigan politician, inventor, investor, hotel owner, and a Civil War Major . He was born in Port Huron, Michigan, the son of Granville Boynton and Frances Rendt Boynton. Frances Rendt was the daughter of Captain Ludwig Rendt, a Hessian soldier who fought for the British in the War of 1812; his wife was from Spain. Boynton was educated in Waukegan, Illinois and briefly attended medical school in Cincinnati, Ohio where he married Anna Fidelei. Together they had five children.

After his service in the Civil War, Boynton returned to Port Huron where he served in many capacities, including postmaster, newspaper publisher and mayor. He held patents related to fire fighting equipment and commemorative badges. He also founded the Order of the Maccabees, a national social fraternity that served as a form of life insurance. His failing health caused him to seek a warmer climate; Boynton visited South Florida in 1895 with Congressman William S. Linton. Boynton purchased land along the beachfront from Linton and built a wooden two-story hotel, The Boynton, later called the Boynton Beach Hotel. The associated town west of the hotel was named for Major Boynton on the plat filed by Byrd S. Dewey and her husband Fred S. Dewey on September 26, 1898. The town incorporated in 1920. Major Boynton died on May 27, 1911 at his home in Port Huron.

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