National Haymakers' Association

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" You are not to act as mere drivers, but as advisors; you are servants, not masters"^[1]

The National Haymakers' Association was a side degree^[2] of the Improved Order of Red Men, similar perhaps to the Shriners within Freemasonry. It was founded in 1879, but may be completely inactive and defunct today.

Meeting places were titled Haylofts. Sometimes the meeting halls of the Redmen served as Haylofts.^[3] Offices had titles like "Collector of Straws" and "Guard of the Barn Door", and candidates for initiation were styled "Tramps" and were overseen by a "Boss Driver".

The Organization is very mysterious and poorly known.

1 Hay, Why?
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Hay, Why?

It's impossible to know why the founders of the appendant degree choose to model themselves after the business (or dare one suggest, art?) of Hay making. However, hay, as forage, is a vital component of the world's agricultral system, especially within the United States and at the time that this order flourished. In 1912 in Texas, for example, 387,000 acres of Hay were harvested, yielding a total value of $3,557,000 (unadjusted). ^[4] 1912 is also the year that the Texas Haymakers Association, apparently a purely agri-industry interest group, was founded. Other State Haymaker commercial groups existed at various times too, and it is tempting to speculate that the National Haymakers Association derived its name as a reference to this vital and ubiquitous activity.

[edit] References

^ Ritual Ceremony. Berger Bros. Philadelphia. Adopted at the Annual Convention, January 9, 1888.
^ Ritual of the Haymakers Degree of the Improved Order of Red Men. National Haymakers. Berger Brothers Printers. Philadelphia PA. 1901
^ IOR Wenonah Tribe Records
^ Hay Culture