Death Notices of Members of Fraternal Orders

This index includes over 50,000 individuals for whom a notice of death was published in the proceedings of a fraternal order. Usually, a death notice indicates the person was a member of that order at the time of death. One can utilize this information to seek more about the individual in the organization records, or use the vital information to search other sources such directories, deed records, obituaries, etc. Fraternal orders included and dates of coverage are:

AOUW = Ancient Order of United Workmen, 1879-1908
KP = Knights of Pythias, 1877-1918
IOOF = Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 1873-1970
Rebekah = Rebekah Assembly of the IOOF, 1891-1953

Please note that some information for individuals is incomplete, and errors do sometimes occur.

Surname:		First Name:
Use Soundex?	[Soundex finds names that sound similar, although not spelled the same, as for example Turner, Terner, and Trimmer, or Watson and Whitson.]
City:		County:
Fraternal Order:		Lodge Number:

Additionally, typed indexes to the death notices are on open reference in the research room, and the original proceedings are in the library collections. Library material does not circulate. Please refer to our correspondence policy for further information about the following reference materials or obtaining copies from them.

Kansas. Historical Society. Library. Death Notices from Proceedings of the Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW), Grand Lodge of Kansas, 1879-1908, and Proceedings of the Grand Lodge, Knights of Pythias (KP), 1877-1918. 1973. 120 pp. Call number: Reference/K/366.5/An2i

These are separate and unrelated fraternal organizations. The AOUW was an early fraternal insurance group and the Knights of Pythias was a lesser known secret fraternal order. The annual proceedings of the AOUW have the call number K/366.5/An2, or manuscript collection locator number 05-03-07-05.

Kansas. Historical Society. Library. Death Notices from Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Kansas, 1873-1970. 1972. 3 vols. Call number: Reference/K/366.1/Odli

The original proceedings have the call number K/366.3/Od1.

Kansas. Historical Society. Library. Death Notices from Proceedings of the Rebekah Assembly of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 1891-1953. 1974. 2 vols. Call number: Reference/K/366.3/R24d

Although this is a woman's organization, some men's names are included. The annual proceedings have the call number K/366.3/R24d.