BROTHERHOOD OF THE UNION (Fraternal) Document, confers EXALTED WASHINGTON DEGREE

Description

- 1868 “BROTHERHOOD OF THE UNION” (Fraternal) Signed Document -
- “Letter of Brotherhood” conferring Degree of EXALTED WASHINGTON -
- GRAPHIC engraving of GENERAL George Washington, SWORD drawn -
- EARLY Patriotic Native American SECRET Society / LOW Membership -
VERY RARE
,
fraternal document dated 1868 from the “Brotherhood of the Union”
, a
patriotic native American secret society founded in Philadelphia in 1850
by George Lippard, a popular lecturer and journalist who was an advocate of social justice.  Lippard’s own title in the organization was "Supreme Washington" and
membership grew to only 25,000 by 1917, primarily in Pennsylvania
, and declined thereafter.
Document is partly-printed and
titled
along the top,
“LETTER OF BROTHERHOOD -- S.C.”
(
Supreme Circle
).   It is addressed to the “Chiefs, Officers and Brothers of Morning Star Circle, No. 24 of Pennsylvania.
This “Letter of Brotherhood” document confers “Chas H. Miller” late Chief Washington of said Circle, with the Degree and Office of EXALTED WASHINGTON
.  There is an
attractive, large
wood block engraving
(by Jamison) of PRESIDENT George Washington, with sword drawn, in the center of the document
.  To one side of General Washington’s image is the picture of an
American flag and shield
, behind him a
wooden cross
.   Just to the right of this image, there is an attached
red silk ribbon / round gold foil seal
(“the symbol of the Exalted Washington Degree, consisting of a scarlet ribbon and a gold impression of the Great Seal”).
The document is also
SIGNED
along the bottom by
three officers
from the
SUPREME CIRCLE
– “J. Martin McFarland
(S.W.)
”, “S.A.H. Marks Jr.
(S.S.K.)
”, and “John Wise
(G.C.W. of PA)
”.  Online sources indicate “S. A. H. Marks, Jr.” may have been a Captain in the Washington Light Guard during the Civil War.   To the left of these three signatures is a
second
, SQUARE gold foil seal
measuring about 2 ½ x 3 inches in size.
“BROTHERHOOD OF THE UNION”
(later renamed the Brotherhood of America) was originally formed as a secret benevolent society that sought to eliminate poverty and crime by removing the social ills underlying them.  The society encouraged reading of the Gospel of Nazareth and the Declaration of Independence, and was organized with the motto "Truth, Hope, and Love".  It had the smallest membership of any of the Patriotic orders of that time. The government of the Brotherhood was similar to that of other Patriotic secret societies, with subordinate and State Circles, instead of Camps, and also a Supreme Circle. The three officers of a circle were respectively called, Chief Washington, Chief Jefferson, and Chief Franklin; and in the Supreme Circle they were addressed as Supreme Washington, Supreme Jefferson, and Supreme Franklin.  The Brotherhood of the Union conferred a degree entitled the "Grand Exalted Washington".
CONDITION:
document measures about 10 x 13 7/8 inches in size and is in fine overall condition with some light toning and handling wear.  There are three horizontal folds, with a small fold split (about 1 3/8’s of an inch in length) along the right side of the center horizontal fold.  The top horizontal fold has two small areas along the fold where the paper is slightly thinned (see scans).
Winning bidder to pay
for shipping, postage & INSURANCE
.   Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
PLEASE READ:
I have been buying + selling American historical autographs & documents for over 30 years and a former member of both the “Manuscript Society” and the UACC.  We ship everything INSURED (thru the USPS) with a value over .  This helps us know that the item you took the time to purchase arrived safely.  We have not had a package turn up lost in over 25 years, though one package went rogue about 15 years ago but eventually turned up.  Packages are shipped out within 1 – 3 business days, but typically the next day.  Please understand, we do not make any money on shipping costs, but rather run a deficit over the course of a year.  Most people don’t realize that ebay deducts 13.5% from my stated shipping charges (leaving me about 87% of that amount for actual postage + insurance).  Everything we sell is packaged with the utmost care.  Please read my ebay feedback over the last 20 years.  The comments are often – the best packaging I have ever seen, “bullet proof” packaging, etc.