Historic Photos and Links

Justus Henry Rathbone, founder & past supreme chancellor of the Order of Knights of Pythias http://www.jeaf.com/newman/history_of_the_newman_museum.htm http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kygrant/secret.htm http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arfrankl/Lodge/knights.htm http://frankfordgazette.com/2009/08/17/knights-of-pythias-greenwood-cemeterybenjamin-rush-house/ http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/marin-fraternities-Appendix01.htm http://ypsiarchivesdustydiary.blogspot.com/2011/04/ypsilanti-knights-of-pythias-1923.html http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kygrant/secret.htm http://arms2armor.com/Swords/pythias4.htm http://www.icollector.com/Two-Post-Civil-War-Knights-of-Pythias-Kepi-s-and-One-Officer-s-Kepi_i10495263

http://www.kophistory.com/ http://onlinestates.com/ipythians/ http://pythias.org/about/rathbone.html http://www.pythias.org/about/about.php http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmgynDk7_w http://www.pythianyouthfoundation.com/ http://www.pythias.org/lodge/lodge.shtml http://www.glkopnc.org/news_events.html http://onlinestates.com/capythians/index.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._West_%28Scouting%29 http://www.pythias.org/scouts/scouts.html http://www.pythias.org/charities/charities.html http://onlinestates.com/capythians/index.htm

The Knights of Pythias gather around an old keg in the backyard. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iaohms/biography/pioneer_knights_pythias.html http://pakofp.org/events.html

This contraption is actually a slide viewer. The long item in the front contains five glass slides, each handpainted with some meaningful image for the Knights of Pythias.

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS Label taken from the sample label book of O.L, Schwencke, a large NYC printer specializing in cigar labels. This was a dramatic stock label offered to customers nationwide. The use of silver ink makes the label stand out, as it was seldom used as it was the most difficult color to print and involved high waste

KP (Knights of Pythias) Factory 12, 1st Dist Ohio Cigars made by F.H. Berning & Sons, Cincinnati Made for F. & L. (whomever and wherever they were) Note the tray insert. This is a box of 25, with a removable tray separating the two rows of cigars. 1901-1909

Knights of Pythias parade passing court house square Date: ca. 1910 Portfolio: Milwaukee

Knights of Pythias, Uniformed Ranks Lodge Group Photo This sword is a representative example of a Knights of Pythias society or lodge sword. The Order of Knights of Pythias "is a great international fraternity which was founded in Washington, DC, February 19, 1864 by Justus H. Rathbone..." The "Fraternal Order of Knights of Pythias and its members are dedicated to the cause of universal peace." The most distinctive feature on this sword is the "Knight's Head" pommel with a lion patiently resting on - or guarding - the crest. A chain is usually found as a knuckle-guard running from the knight's visor to a phoenix bird on the cross-guard finial (both finials are in the likeness of a phoenix bird). Also, the clamshell on the obverse cross-guard is very distinctive in shape in that it is not a true oval but very near a true clamshell. The clamshell may also display the letters "UR" (Uniformed Ranks) which was a militant faction of the Knights of Pythias, now disbanded (believed in the 1950s). On the reverse of the cross-guard is usually found the letters "FCB" (Friendship, Charity, Benevolence).The hilts are cast from a variety of metals but usually the grips are of brown or black leather, wrapped in ornamental brass wire or cord. They are very ornate in appearance and were not intended for combat. Fraternal, Lodge, or Society swords are relatively inexpensive to own and are fun to collect. There are seemingly infinite variations and I have owned many. Most are marked - usually Lilley, Ames, or Pettibone - and are found in infinite degrees of condition. This particular specimen is from the 1890s. http://arms2armor.com/Swords/pythias1.htm

Odebolt Knights of Pythias, 1894. Pictured: John Mengis, Ed Hartman, John Bieser, Albert Jacobe, Kipler, Ralph Graham, Charles Hartman, Oscar Mengis, Fred Bieser, B. Brynteson, Henry Bieser, Lou Starkey, Chas. Lindquist. (from "Fifty Years of Progress", The Odebolt Chronicle, Vol. 51, No. 31, August 25, 1938) http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iaohms/biography/pioneer_knights_pythias.html