Mergers with other fraternal benefit societies were important to Woodmen of the World's dramatic growth during the 1960s and beyond. Organizations merging with Woodmen of the World included:

• The United Order of the Golden Cross, Knoxville, Tenn., 1962
• The Mutual Benefit Department of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers, St. Louis, Mo., 1964
• The Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle, Omaha, Neb., 1965
• The New England Order of Protection, Boston, Mass., 1968
• Neighbors of Woodcraft, Oregon City, Ore., July 1, 2001

United Order of the Golden Cross - 1962

• 3,753 members
• $2,650,861 of life insurance in force
• $1,077,972 in assets

United Order of the Golden Cross Merges with Woodmen of the World. Pictured signing the merger documents are, from left, John O. Riggs, James A. Hubbs, Frank J. Barrett, Woodmen of the World Secretary William H. Martin and Woodmen of the World President J. Richard Sims.

Woodmen of the World's first merger with a fraternal benefit society was with the United Order of the Golden Cross (UOGC) on January 1, 1962. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., the UOGC was founded by Dr. John H. Morgan and 13 associates on May 9, 1876.

The UOGC had a storied history that included being the first fraternal benefit society to admit man and women on an equal basis. The order consisted of 71 local lodges called "Commanderies" and operated in the states of Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Its governing body was called the "Grand Commandery."

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Order of Railroad Telegraphers - 1964

• 7,933 members
• $5,354,394 in assets

The merger with the Mutual Benefit Department of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers became effective July 1, 1964. Founded in 1886, this organization had formed its Mutual Benefit Department in 1896 to provide life iInsurance for members. The MBD was separately organized as a fraternal benefit society, with headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Its membership spanned the United States and Canada, but at the time of the merger was shrinking because of the decline of the railroads as a means of transportation and the telegraph as a method of communicating.

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Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle - 1965

• 135,000 members
• $122 million of insurance in force
• $57 million in assets

The Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle occupied an important place in Woodmen of the World history from the time of its incorporation in 1895 until it merged with the organization on January 1, 1965.

For 70 years, the Circle and Woodmen of the World worked closely together. Woodmen of the World founder Joseph Cullen Root, who was also instrumental in founding the Circle, had envisioned it as a women's auxiliary to Woodmen of the World and made provisions for its existence when he created Woodmen of the World.

The Circle was created in 1891. May Falkenburg, wife of Woodmen of the World co-founder F. A. Falkenburg, served as president of the women's auxiliary from 1891 to 1895. But, it was not until Root and Secretary John T. Yates took personal control of the organization's planning that the Woodmen Circle was born on September 5, 1895, and incorporated as a separate fraternal benefit society.

The Circle's laws and ritual were written by Root, who also started its magazine, Tidings. Offices were located with Woodmen of the World in the Sheely Building. When the new Woodmen building was erected in 1912, the Circle occupied the first two floors.

Biennial and jurisdictional conventions were scheduled by the Circle at the same time and in the same city as Woodmen of the World's. Many Woodmen of the World camps and Circle groves even held joint meetings. Members of the Field Force usually held contracts with both organizations, allowing them to write insurance for men and women.

One of the Circle's greatest achievements was the construction of the Woodmen Circle Home for orphans and aged members in Sherman, Texas. The Home was built on a 254-acre site. The first building constructed,The Pennsylvania Building, which was payed for by Pennsylvania members, was finished in 1932 and used by the children.

The Circle's merger with Woodmen of the World brought Alaska, Montana and Colorado as new areas of membership for Woodmen of the World.

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New England Order of Protection - 1968

• 5,256 members
• $4,413,954 of insurance in force
• $3,595,053 in assets.

On June 1, 1968, an agreement was signed with the Supreme Lodge, New England Order of Protection, merging that organization with Woodmen of the World. The effective date of the merger, approved by the Insurance Commissioners of Massachusetts and Nebraska, was July 1, 1968.

Founded November 12, 1887, the N.E.O.P. had acquired even earlier roots when in the early 1940s, it merged with the Grand Lodges of the Ancient Order of United Workmen in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The A.O.U.W was the first fraternal benefit society in America, having been founded in 1868 by John Jordan Upchurch at Meadville, Pa. Each Grand Lodge in this organization functioned as a separate entity, a fact that may have contributed to its being outdistance by societies with central control. None of the A.O.U.W. Grand Lodges exist today. Those that did not merge with other organizations became defunct.

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Neighbors of Woodcraft - 2001

• 7,000 members
• $40 million of life insurance in force
• $14.2 million in assets

On July 1, 2001, Neighbors of Woodcraft (NOW) , a fraternal benefit society based in Oregon, City, Ore., merged with Woodmen of the World. The merger of Neighbors and Woodmen of the World was more than just a joining of two fraternal benefit organizations; it was a reunion of two organizations that shared a common past.

Founded in 1897, NOW can trace its beginnings to Joseph Cullen Root, who founded Woodmen and the Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle.

Originally named Women of Woodcraft, NOW grew out of the Woodmen Circle, serving as a women's auxiliary to Woodmen's Pacific Jurisdiction, which operated in the states of Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and California. Circle President May Falkenburg and her successors, Mary J. Huse and Emma B. Manchester, worked hard to establish the Circle in the states of the Pacific Jurisdiction.

In 1897, however, members from Colorado and Oregon wanted to leave the Woodmen Circle's Pacific Jurisdiction, and created a new organization called the "Pacific Circle, Women of Woodcraft" and established its headquarters in Portland, Ore. In 1917, the Women of Woodcraft changed its name to Neighbors of Woodcraft to reflect the organization's acceptance of both men and women for membership.

By 1905, Women of Woodcraft had grown substantially in membership, and the organization was about ready to occupy their new headquarters building in Portland, Ore. when the San Francisco earthquake put the young organization to a difficult test.

The earthquake devastated the San Francisco bay area. Members of the California organization had been on the ground for three days by the time the help arrived - by train from Portland - and they had already begun the task of providing aid to the victims of the disaster, and locating members. Claims brought about by the earthquake were paid promptly and the organizations efficient and selfless reaction to one of the greatest disasters in American history did much to solidify the reputation of Women of Woodcraft.

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