Oak Grove #18 of the Woodmen Circle (North Baltimore, Ohio) records

The Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle was affiliated with the Sovereign Camp of the Woodmen of the World (WOW) and both were secret fraternal societies organized primarily to provide life insurance for members, and secondarily, to serve social purposes.

Fraternal life insurance groups grew out of a distrust for commercial insurance companies in the latter half of the nineteenth century and had the added appeal of mutual aid, cooperation, social features, ritual, and secrecy. Many were based on the occupational, moral, racial, or religious similarities of members and were connected with skilled trade unions. They fostered a feeling of solidarity, especially for immigrants and uprooted Americans who had moved to the West or to the industrial centers of the East, filling a social void and providing group unity and personal bonds.

The first fraternal insurance group was organized in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1868 and was called the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Most in their original form had no reserve, and members paid as they went. When a member died, each other member paid a set amount, often $1, as a death benefit to survivors, or an annual assessment was levied to cover the year's estimated benefit needs.

The fraternal groups proliferated in the late 19th century and by 1895 their insurance in force surpassed regular insurance companies. By 1910 they had decreased to 2/5 of all insurance and from there declined rapidly, particularly during the Depression years. Many suffered financial problems and had to adopt such commercial methods as reserve funds and full-time agents. By 1933, only 6% of the country's insurance was written through fraternal insurance groups.

The Woodmen Circle was founded in 1891 by Joseph Cullen Root, and incorporated in 1895 with headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. Root had founded Modern Woodmen in 1883, which has its headquarters in Rock Island, Illinois, and severed ties with that group to found WOW and Woodmen Circle.

The Woodmen's Circle's stated objectives were to combine white males and females of sound health and moral character between ages of 16 and 52 into a secret, fraternal, beneficiary, and benevolent order. Members were to provide funds and comfort for relief of the sick; help educate members in moral, social, and intellectual matters; promote fraternal love and unity; create a fund for death benefits; and erect a monument at the grave of each deceased member with a certificate of $500 or more. Additionally, members were not to be engaged in the sale or making of alcoholic beverages. WOW was for men and the Woodmen Circle originally for women, with male members of WOW being allowed to participate. Juvenile membership was added to the Woodmen Circle by 1921.

The national organization was known as the Supreme Forest and was comprised of national officers and delegates from the states. National officers included the Supreme Guardian (presiding officer), Supreme Advisor (vice president), Supreme Clerk (recording, corresponding, and accounting secretary), Supreme Banker (custodian of funds and payer of warrants), five Supreme Managers (examiners, auditors, and in charge of all property), Supreme Chaplain, Supreme Inner and Outer Sentinels (greeters and sergeants-at-arms), and Supreme Physician (examiner of Grove physicians' qualifications, approver of beneficiary and death benefit applications, and keeper of records of applicants and deceased members). Biennial national meetings took place in odd-numbered years at the same time and location as the WOW.

The State Conventions were composed of state officers, committee members and delegates from the Groves. Officers were addressed as "Grand" on the state level, and officers' positions conformed to the national pattern.

Local groups were known as Groves, whose members were addressed as "Sovereign." Ten members were needed for organization and fifteen for charter. Groves were required to meet at least once a month. When youth were added, they could form Junior Circles, or be included in Grove membership. Groves usually sponsored drill teams which competed at state and national conventions. Officers again conformed to the national pattern, with three Sovereign Managers, instead of five, and a Sovereign Attendant, whose duty was to see that costumes and ceremony met prescribed form.

Applicants to Groves were given "careful investigation" before approval. Three negative votes within membership denied approval of any applicant. A $5 admission fee was charged, plus a $1 physical examination fee for the Grove physician. After approval by the local membership and Grove physician, final approval came from the Supreme Physician. Monthly assessments for insurance benefits were based on age at the time of membership.

Little is known of Oak Grove #18 of North Baltimore, Ohio, except for what can be gleaned from the records. They were found in the garage of the donor in an old suitcase, and Mrs. Foltz had no idea from whom or where they came from.

Modern Woodmen of America, Joseph Cullen Root's first insurance endeavor, still functions as a fraternal life insurance group with quarterly local camp meetings. The Camps, which correspond to Groves, now serve social and charitable purposes, often conducting fund-raising activities at meetings for donation to health and social organizations.