NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG3970.AM: Sons of Temperance, Louden Division, #27 (Plum Creek, Neb.)
Account book: 1876-1877
Plum Creek, Dawson County, Neb.: Fraternal organization
Size: 1 volume on 1 reel of microfilm
BACKGROUND NOTE
After 1825, the temperance crusade spread over the United States. The Washington Temperance Society, formed in 1840, practiced the ‘salvation of drunkards by reformed drunkards’. In this, leaders relied entirely upon their own ability to persuade drinkers to sign a pledge.
The Sons of Temperance was formed to make up for the lack of coordination of the Washington Society, which did not integrate its local societies. The Sons of Temperance was organized on September 29, 1842 at Teetotaler’s Hall in New York. It was a highly centralized, mutual benefit, semi-secret organization which combined the temperance doctrines of the Washington Society with additional fraternal elements of the Masons and Odd Fellows, providing fraternal care and watchfulness over its members.
The Constitution of the Sons of Temperance provided a national division, which met annually, state divisions, which met quarterly, and subordinate divisions, which held weekly temperance meetings. The popularity of its practice of total abstinence spread and by 1855, the organization had reached its peak with forty-one Grand Divisions, 3,543 Subordinate Divisions, and 134,177 members. Although membership dropped during and after the Civil War, the organization did make a comeback in the 1870s and 1880s.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of one volume, an account book, dating from 1876-1877. The volume contains financial records of one of the subordinate or local divisions of the Sons of Temperance, the Louden Division, #27, of Plum Creek, Nebraska. The entries record dues paid by members of the organization. An alphabetical index of members (and other miscellaneous notes) appears at the beginning. Members’ names, dates of payments, and amount paid are shown.
This volume was loaned for microfilming by the Dawson County Historical Society in September of 1979.
DESCRIPTION
Reel 1
Volume
-
- Account book, 1876-1877
ADDED ENTRIES:
Dawson County (Neb.) — History
Fraternal organizations — Nebraska
Plum Creek (Neb.) — History
Social reform
Temperance
Revised 07-12-2008 TMM
