Irregular Secret Society Blogging - The Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur
"The Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur" sounds like it might be quite an interesting and racy organisation - perhaps one of the Jewish-American crime syndicates that caused so much trouble in turn-of-the-century New York, or the paramilitary wing of "Jews for Jesus" or something. In fact, while fascinating in its own way, the STB-H was rather more prosaic in nature; it was basically a life assurance company.
It was founded in 1880, which was close to the high point of the fraternal society boom in the USA. It's interesting to me because it was actually a spin-off deal; the novel "Ben-Hur" by Lew Wallace had recently become a hit, and although the licensing industry was in its infancy, American capitalism was already far enough advanced for a couple of promoters to buy the secret society rights to the novel from its author.
Weird huh? It's one of the little ephemera of 19th century finance that there were such things as "secret society promoters" in the USA at this time. Recall that there was no Social Security at the time, and certainly no welfare state. The USA had also not really developed any equivalent of the Equitable Life Assurance Society or the Scottish mutual societies. There were a few life assurance firms, but they did not have much presence in the West and tended to be quite up-market in terms of the clientele they served.
Instead, life assurance for the working man was typically provided by fraternal organisations. The Odd Fellows (descendants of the journeymen's organisations which succeeded the medieval guilds early in the development of capitalism) were the biggest fraternal benefit society, but there were lots of others, often organised on industry or similar lines - the Elks, Eagles, etc.
These fraternal organisations provided benefits to their members - basically, everyone paid a monthly subscription and the society then paid sickness and death benefits on behalf of all. They tended to founder somewhat because they didn't make sufficient use of actuarial science to calibrate the benefits (and of course, they were terribly vulnerable to the effects of an aging membership, which is why so many of them no longer exist), but in their early days at least, they provided a useful service.
The secret society aspect came in partly in order to exclude non-members from gaining benefits, and partly because this sort of thing was very fashionable in the USA at the time. There was a general fascination with rituals and secret societies, and a really well-written set of initiation rites, or a unique selling point like an association with a popular novel, could really give a boost to a fraternal benefit organisation. Going into the twentieth century, many of them set up proper life assurance companies to handle the financial side, but kept the secret society aspect going alongside. (here's a description of the initiation ritual of what was by then called the "Ben Hur Life Association". Note the number of patriotic loyalty oaths - these were also very standard for American secret societies of the period)
And so it was that the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur came into being - they were strongest in Indiana, which was one of the most secret-society-joining states of the Union (at one point, 25% of all adult males in Indiana were members of the Ku Klux Klan!). They never really made much of a mark on history, other than in the Supreme Court case of STB-H vs Cauble, which established an important point about federal jurisdiction in class action lawsuits, and a rather nice building in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The society struggled on and might still be in existence today, though its life company changed its name to "USA Life Insurance" in 1988 and became a commercial company. But they never did anyone any harm as far as I can see and I have something of an affection for their slightly odd story.
Secret Society Trivia Quiz!: Whose ancient mystic secrets did the "Ancient Mystic Order of the Bagmen of Bagdad" swear to preserve, and why is it so hilarious that they vowed to never defile the chastity of womanhood?
Incidentally, Daniel, have you ever read Charles Portis' Masters of Atlantis? It's a fictional history of the rise and fall of an American secret society, though more of your hermetic order type than the odball versions of working men's clubs like the Elks or whatever, and a generally wonderful bit of Americana.
ReplyDeleteno, I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.
ReplyDeletebtw, the answer is that the "Ancient Mystic Order of the Bagmen of Bagdad" was the secret drinking society of the United Commercial Travellers of America. They claimed to be preserving the ancient secrets of travelling salesmen in the same way in which the Masons preserved the secrets of medieval builders. Since the only conceivable secrets a guild of commercial travellers might have that anyone would care about would relate to the procurement of prostitutes (and indeed this was the reason for their oath of chastity; they wanted to make the profession seem a bit more respectable than its rather louche reputation), they were quite a hilarious bunch.
“fascinating in its own way”
ReplyDeleteEr, indeed.
" ‘The Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur’ sounds like it might be quite an interesting and racy organisation - perhaps one of the Jewish-American crime syndicates that caused so much trouble in turn-of-the-century New York, or the paramilitary wing of ‘Jews for Jesus’ or something.”
Or how about a clique of rich rakehell dissolute heirs addicted to high stakes, frequently fatal chariot racing. The secrecy would have been required to foil the constabulary’s efforts to suppress the sport.
“In fact, while fascinating in its own way, the STB-H was rather more prosaic in nature; it was basically a life assurance company.”
While a company that insured life could, (and can), be fairly characterized as prosaic, I suggest that one in the business of assuring life would be something else entirely, at least if it were even occasionally successful. I’m surprised that such enterprises seem to have been consigned to the dustbin of history. There has always been a robust demand, exceeding supply by many orders of magnitude, for that particular service.
I would think that a life assurance company could make a go if it even in today’s sluggish economy. I suppose I don’t understand the market, or business, or whatever.
"The Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur" sounds like it might be quite an interesting and racy organisation - perhaps one of the Jewish-American crime syndicates that caused so much trouble in turn-of-the-century New York, or the paramilitary wing of "Jews for Jesus" or something. In fact, while fascinating in its own way, the STB-H was rather more prosaic in nature; it was basically a life assurance company.”
ReplyDelete[...]
“These fraternal organisations provided benefits to their members - basically, everyone paid a monthly subscription and the society then paid sickness and death benefits on behalf of all. They tended to founder somewhat because they didn't make sufficient use of actuarial science to calibrate the benefits (and of course, they were terribly vulnerable to the effects of an aging membership, which is why so many of them no longer exist), but in their early days at least, they provided a useful service.”
The organizations you describe are in many ways like landsmanshaftn, except the latter had no secret rituals. I do think the similarities are striking, considering the different origins.
“ Landsmanshaftn , associations of immigrants from the same hometown, became the most popular form of organization among Eastern European Jewish immigrants to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Organized variously as independent mutual aid societies, religious congregations, and fraternal lodges, landsmanshaftn provided their members with valuable material benefits and served as arenas for formal and informal social interaction. Estimates of the number of landmanshaftn in New York range from 1,000 to 10,000. Surveys in the 1910s and 1930s calculated the number between 2,000 and 3,000.”
[...]
“New arrivals on the Lower East Side would almost immediately visit the landsmanshaft to help order the chaos of immigrant life. Rooted in a centuries-old tradition of community, the fraternal organization drew on that tradition provided a startling range of services: from medical care to unemployment insurance, from shiva benefits to wedding gifts.”
[...]
“Four general categories may be distinguished among the landsmanshaftn. ... Before 1900 religious congregations and fraternal lodges predominated. Secular mutual aid societies became more popular after about 1900, as did ideologically committed societies made up of immigrants who had been revolutionaries in Russia. Still, the older more religious societies continued to attract members, while absorbing a sizeable amount of secular American customs.”
[...]
“The most important function of the landsmanshaft was the maintenance of funeral practices. The first thing that the organization would do after being formed was to purchase cemetery plots. Having a proper Jewish burial was paramount for Jewish immigrants. According to the historian Irving Howe, "the necessities of life might force a Jew to spend his days among strangers, but even if no longer Orthodox, he wanted to spend eternity among Jews."
“Typically, landsmanshaftn were an amalgam of many voluntary associations, known as chevras . The landsmanshaft's chevra kaddisha , or burial society, (literally "holy society") actually took care of providing a physician, the preparation for the body to be buried, a cemetery plot, and a minyan or daily worship during Shiva .” [1]
“Cohen approaches the secretary of the [ landsmanshaft] burial society. "I'm here because my wife is dead, and I have to arrange for her funeral." "Your wife is dead?" asks the secretary. "How can that be? We buried your wife two years ago!" "No, no," says Cohen. "That was my first wife. This was my second." "Really?" says the secretary. "I didn't know you got married again. Mazel Tov!"[2]
[1] ”Landsmanshaftn”, Chapter 14, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum Encyclopedia. Accessed at:
http://www.tenement.org/encyclopedia/lands.htm
[2] “You don't have to be Jewish...to enjoy these jokes,” That’s Rich.com, Accessed at:
http://www.thatsrich.com/jewish.htm
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The chastity of womanhood? What's that then?
ReplyDeleteThomas: "Life assurance" is typically the term used, precisely because on a life policy, the eventual payout is assured.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_insurance#Insurance_vs._assurance
I am reminded of John Hodgman's writing on actuaries, and their one great taboo.
ReplyDeleteBtw, did the KKK pay bennies out of its subs, or did it all go towards the purchase of sheets (white), lynching rope, timber and petrol?
the KKK was not a benefit organisation, but the founder of the 1920s "Revival Klan" was a salesman who had at various times earned a living as a recruiter (ie commission salesman) for insurance lodges.
ReplyDeleteWhile on morphine in hospital, I once dreamed that I was a travelling salesman. I'm not sure why. Is the chap in Coming Up For Air a travelling salesman? That might help explain it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the AMOBB, with a tagline of "More or Less Mirth Some Sentiment and Plenty of Action" I am certain the irony was not lost on the members.
ReplyDeleteLo to behold that Dad, unknown to me, was a Prince and after contacting the record keeper whose name I found in Dad's records after his death, they did fairly aid in his funeral costs.
It does explain his lifelong lessons on respecting women, seriously and earnestly. I've been beaten down more than a few times defending a woman's honor... even if she didn't want it defended.