by Paul R. Spitzzeri
Another article in the special section of the 12 February 1909 edition of the Los Angeles Times on African-Americans in the Angel City concerned Black fraternal societies and was penned by one of the most prominent of its community, Simon P. Johnson (1875-1951). He was born in Texas but spent most of his early life in Emporia, Kansas, which is roughly halfway between Kansas City and Topeka and where the Rev. Jordan Allen, profiled here a few months back, once lived and worked.
Raised by his paternal grandparents, Johnson was educated in local schools, worked as a laborer and married Clara Taylor with whom he had three sons and two daughters. In 1901, as the 20th century dawned, the family migrated to Los Angeles where, as one account stated, he had $56 in debt and no job until he found work in construction. After a couple of years, he joined the International Building Trades Union and then became its business manager.
Johnson was elected a vice-president at the Union’s national conference in 1906 and, the following year, became its general, or national, secretary, while serving as the Los Angeles local’s manager until 1927. In 1918, he joined forces with Charles Conner to open the Conner-Johnson Mortuary, which Johnson ran for about three decades before ill-health forced him to retire, though his second wife, Daisy Taylor, formerly married to the prominent attorney and civic leader, Edward B. Cerruti, and his namesake son continued the enterprise.
In 1924, Johnson was a founding director of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, a pillar of the Los Angeles Black community for 85 years until its closure, and he served on the board for about a quarter century. He was also a director of the Broadway Federal Savings Association, was a board member of the Black Y.M.C.A., and was heavily involved with the Second Baptist Church.
Three years after settling in the Angel City, Johnson became grand master of the Black local lodge of the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) and served in that position for seven years, following that with 13 more as grand secretary. He also gave five years of service as grand patron of the Eastern Star Grand Chapter, so small wonder he contributed this fraternal article.
In his entry in the 1948 edition of the Negro Who’s Who in California, it was said of Johnson, after summing up his busy, notable life:
Thus, this man who came to Los Angeles in 1901, who worked as a common laborer until he found his stride, has been for many years one of the most outstanding figures in Southern California. He is regarded by everyone in every walk of life as a courageous leader and an inspiration to every Negro youth.
The opening to his essay on Black fraternal societies, titled “Secret Orders Among Negroes,” began with his remarks that,
I consider it not only an honor, but a privilege, to have been requested to write for the Times a review of the fraternal and other societies among the colored people of Los Angeles. Being acquainted with the tenets of a great many fraternal organizations, I can say authoritatively that their nobility of purpose cannot be questioned, and the good they have done will be a lasting monument to the spirit of brotherhood on which they are founded.
It is not surprising that Johnson began with the Odd Fellows and Lodge 2639 was formed nearly a quarter century before. What he termed a “peculiar irregularity” left the lodge out of funds, but the matter was resolved and a two-story structure built on 8th and Wall streets, with three stores on the ground floor and the lodge quarters upstairs. A recently founded lodge, the Golden Rule, Lodge 5959 paid out sick benefits and was praised for its work in its five years of existence.
A woman’s auxiliary to the older lodge and known as the House of Ruth #561, including wives, daughters, mothers and the unmarried sisters of the male lodge members and was formed in 1888. With 72 women involved and weekly assistance benefits and burial subsidies, the order had a surplus of cash and a good meeting space. Household Lodge #3309 was instituted not quite a year prior and had 28 members “and is building a splendid treasury.
On the Masonic front, St. John Lodge #5 of the Free and Associated Masons “was instituted some years ago,” though it is notable that no date was provided, while it was observed that the lodge “says but little to the public” as it was apparently more secretive than usual. In any case, recent leadership meant it “has made wonderful progress” and had the third highest level of membership in California among Black Masonic lodges,” while it did “great work for the relief of the widow and orphan.”
B.F. Talbot Lodge #8 organized at the start of the decade and was mainly composed of younger men with rapid growth in members and was “the banner lodge of the State.” Its worshipful master, banker William H. Stovall, whose wife Kate provided an essay for the special issue as we’ll soon see, was cited as “a brilliant young man and a credit to the race.”
A pair of woman’s auxiliaries included the Electa Chapter #5 of the Order of the Eastern Star, formed just after the St. John lodge, with Kate Stovall an officer, while the Queen of Sheba Chapter #17 was organized in 1904. As with the Odd Fellow auxiliaries, these included wives, mothers, sisters and daughters, as well as widows, of Masons.
The Ancient Order of Foresters, now the Foresters of America, included the Court Solomon #8677, which was established in 1897 and was considered “foremost of all lodges among colored people in Los Angeles. At dues of a dollar monthly, benefits were $7.50 per week for half a year and $5 beyond that for ill members, while a burial benefit of $75 was also provided.
More than 100 men were members, with an income of almost $2,000 annually and, notably, the lodge met with white Foresters lodges and participated in the high court convention of the Foresters where “all nationalities meet.” Its deputy was attorney Gustavus W. Wickliffe, who was the subject of a post on this blog earlier this year and had the distinction of being the first Black attorney in Los Angeles to be admitted to the bar, distinct from being admitted to practice.
The Pride of the West Circle #207 was established as the 19th century came to a close by Wickliffe and Nannie Loving, the wife of Julius, the first African-American deputy sheriff in Los Angeles County. Why this was considered distinctive is unclear, but Johnson wrote that “this organization being allowed to receive into membership all women of good character,” it grew rapidly and had nearly 130 members. There was $1,000 in the treasury, a good meeting space and sick benefits were $3 weekly with a burial benefit of $100.
Formed in 1903, the Rose of Los Angeles Circle #231 began with 40 members and grew to 70 at the time of printing. It was added that it and the Pride of the West Circle were to have an election later in February to send delegates to a May general convention to be held in San Francisco.
The Knights of Pythias were not as prominent as the Masons or Odd Fellows and the Pacific Lodge, #2, was inaugurated as the century dawned. Johnson reported that “this lodge, with others of the same order, has adopted a splendid endowment that is meeting with much success.” The lodge had 40 members and $450 in its treasury, while it was added that “there is a uniform rank connected with this order, consisting of thirty-three members.”
Damon Lodge #6, so named because the order drew its inspiration from the Greek myth of Damon and Pythias, whose powerful friendship and loyalty in the face of Pythias facing death and Damon offering to sacrifice his life instead led to both being freed by the tyrant Dionysius of Syracuse, organized with 20 members in 1904 and it grew to nearly four times that number in five years with $450 in cash.
Leon A. Watson, then a law student, who did practice, but also owned a hay, grain, wood and coal business and was president of a Black-owned life insurance company was chancellor commander and called “a young man of high character.” His sister, Vada, briefly attended the University of Southern California, married dentist John Somerville, and then earned her own dental degree at that school and practiced with her husband. Together they built the Hotel Somerville, best known as the historic landmark, the Dunbar. His half-brother, they shared a mother, Bert McDonald, became the first African-American lawyer in the district attorney’s office and rose to be an assistant D.A.
Julius Loving was the founder of California Lodge #1, organized in 1897, had 45 members, and possessed $1,000 in property and close to $700 in cash with $7.50 weekly payouts for sick members. Loving headed the lodge for the entirety of its existence and, Johnson wrote, “can look back with pride upon the work it has accomplished.” The woman’s auxiliary was established by the Lovings at the same time and had 50 members, as well as “an inviting bank account.” Mrs. Loving also established Court Herimon #4 less than two months prior as 1908 came to a close and it had 21 members.
Julius also founded the first Black Elks lodge, organized in 1906 and including 75 members and approaching $1,000 in its account. McCullough Lodge #1 of the United Brothers of Friendship started in 1888, making it the second oldest society among the African-American community in the Angel City. It had 75 members, some $800 in its treasury and paid out $5 weekly in benefits to sick members.
The second lodge, the Golden West, began in 1903, counted 50 members, paid the same in weekly sick benefits and had $300 in its reserves. A woman’s auxiliary, Hill Temple #1, was called the Sisters of the Mysterious Tens and launched when the McCullough lodge got started. Remarkably, it had 145 members, had property in the Black neighborhood on Newton Street near Central Avenue and valued at $4,000 where it considered building a hall and had $1,000 in its account. Beyond sick and burial benefits, it was stated that the Sisters were concerned with “the proper training of the boys and girls” in the African-American community.
The second auxiliary, Jackson Temple, launched in 1904 with Mrs. Loving at its head and counted 70 members, with $3 weekly sick benefits and $60 for burials. A third, the Rosetta Temple was said to have formed in 1903, though that may have been a misprint. It had 55 members, more than $300 in the bank and paid $50 for burials and $3 sick benefit with monthly dues of 50 cents.
Lastly, there was the Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers, of which Johnson remarked that it “had its origin among colored people in the Southland some years ago,” though the Los Angeles chapter launched three years previously. Despite its relative newness, he continued, “for the great good it is accomplishing, its presence has been strongly felt” through its lodges, termed fountains.
Moreover, it was observed that one of the main objects of the Reformers “is to own and control businesses,” with a Richmond, Virginia bank cited as a preeminent example, while it was noted that “it expects in the very near future to own and control a mercantile business in the city of Los Angeles.” The Richmond bank, however, collapsed in 1910 due to an embezzlement scandal and the organization was badly damaged, though it continued operating on a much smaller scale for almost another quarter-century.
Fraternal societies were immensely popular and influential in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, though most attention has focused on white orders and lodges and not nearly as much is known about those run by African-Americans. The goal of assisting members through sick and burial benefits, as well as other charitable work, was a reflection of the felt need for uplift in Los Angeles’ black community, which is why Johnson’s essay is so notable, especially as the Angel City’s African-American population grew significantly during the period this special issue was published.
We’ll return soon with part six, including an essay on “How Negro Soldiers Fought For The Flag” by Lt. Col. Allen Allensworth, so be sure to check back for that.