Knights of Pythias Ceremonial Sword Donated to the Harrison District Library

By ANGELA KELLOGG-HENRY

Cleaver Managing Editor

Anthony Rogers, nickname Tone, was a resident of Harrison in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His descendant Chip Rogers, a loyal subscriber to the Cleaver and with fond memories of Harrison, has recently donated a priceless heirloom to the Harrison District Library; the Knights of Pythias sword, belt, and leather holder of Anthony Rogers.

In Chip’s words, “Tone is home”.

Anthony Rogers was born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1846 and lived in Wisconsin before coming to Michigan at age 10. He grew up during the lumber era and worked the camps in Manistee, Clare County and surrounding areas where he was dubbed “Uncle Tone”. After the big lumber was timbered off Rogers worked in farming and was a prominent citizen in Clare and Missaukee Counties. He was county treasurer of Missaukee County for two terms. He briefly lived in British Columbia, again lumbering before coming back to Michigan to run the Clare County Infirmary, also called the Poor Farm in Harrison from 1914 to 1919.

Rogers married Jane Elizabeth Miller in 1870, and they had seven children, six girls, Margaret, Martha, Jennie, Adelaide, Jessie, and Joy and one boy, Charles.

He owned 80 acres in Norwich Township, Missaukee County and the 1905 edition of the “Biographical History of Northern Michigan” his farming skills are described as, “Forty acres of which he has improved and on which is grows abundant crops of all the products in his methods and has achieved a distinctive success in his operations” and further about his character as, “All movements looking to the betterment of the community along with moral, social or educational lines find warm supporters in Mr. and Mrs. Rogers and because of their many eminent personal qualities they have won and retain the friendship of all who know them.”

Most men in the late 1800s through the early 1900s were a member of a fraternal organization and Rogers was no exception. He was a member of Free and Accepted Masons, Knights of Pythias, Knights of the Modern Maccabees and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was also a member of the Presbyterian faith.

Roger’s daughter Martha married into the prominent Morrissey family of Harrison. She married Francis “Frank” Morrissey, Clare County Clerk and Register of Deeds. They had three children: Burke, Everett and Charles. I’ve written about this family before and published photos of Harrison shared by the family. Notably, photos that were taken by a teenage Burke in Harrison in the 1910s.

Local newspapers reported the comings and going of the family over the years such as this clip from a 1913 Clare Sentinel, reprinted from the Lake City Republican just before the Rogers took over the Infirmary, “Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Rogers of Harrison are greeting old friends here today. They were accompanied here and to their farm at Moorestown by Mr. and Mrs. F.M. Morrissey, and they are making the trip in Mr. Morrissey’s car.”

Many newspapers carried news items and obituaries about Roger’s death in 1921. The Grand Rapids Press, January 31, 1921, reported, “Anthony Rogers died Sunday afternoon at the home of his daughter Mrs. Alfred Van Voorst after an illness of six months. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and eleven grand children. The deceased was a member of the Masonic order, an ex-county treasurer of Missaukee County and very well known and highly esteemed in Northern Michigan.” His wife Jane passed away in 1935, and they are buried together in the Lake City cemetery in Missaukee County.

The sword and accessories represent not just a piece of Roger’s family history but a symbol of American fraternal culture which was popular after the civil war and still exists today. The Order of Knights of Pythias was established in Washington, DC, on February 19, 1864, by Justus H. Rathbone. It was the first fraternal order to be chartered by an Act of Congress. The organization exists today but not in Clare County.

The Clare and Farwell lodges of the Knights of Pythias were active throughout the 1950s according to the local newspapers. Specific lodge records and membership lists are hard to come by. The Pythian Sisters were founded in 1888 as an auxiliary to the Knights of Pythias. Their motto and guiding principles were Purity, Love, Equality, and Fidelity (P.L.E.F.). The sisters also had chapters in Clare County.

Many fraternal organizations are active today in Clare County such as the Loyal Order of the Moose, Masons, and organizations supporting veterans of the armed forces such as the VFW or American Legion. While typically of male membership most organizations have a Women’s Auxiliary.  Organizations like the Kiwanis, which began as a fraternal organization opened their membership to men and women in 1987.

These organizations strive to do the same things Anthony Rogers did over 100 years ago, improve the community in which we live.

Currently, the sword is in storage at the Harrison District Library while Dick Lipovsky of Dick’s Woodworking of Harrison creates a special case to display the unique artifact of Harrison’s history.