Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Dayton, Nevada, Lodge No. 5 Records

The records are divided into eight series, the last of which contains a small amount of material from the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Nevada. The remainder consists of correspondence, membership, resolutions, reports, financial, legal, and printed materials.

The correspondence dates from 1863-1896 with the majority pertaining mostly to membership benefits, such as payment of medical bills or death benefits. One folder contains letters from various Grand Lodges in Nevada and elsewhere; these are mostly resolutions and directions to fellow lodge members.

The membership files, 1863-1896 contain applications for membership, membership rolls, and reports listing members who were expelled, rejected, reinstated, or who died. These latter date from 1879-1895.

Two of the more interesting groups of files are the annual and semi-annual reports, and the treasurers' reports. Reports, also called relief reports, provide data on the number of members assisted and the amount spent for their relief, and lists of members names and the rank they attained (the benefit received by each member was determined by this rank). Several of these also provide some information about the Rebekah Lodge of Dayton.

The treasurer was responsible for reporting on the financial health of the lodge; his narratives detail income and expenditures. Occasionally, the reports also include lists of members (in conjunction with dues collected).

This collection provides a useful tool in examining benevolence organizations of the nineteenth century, and to a limited extent, will be helpful to genealogists searching for clues to the existence and activities of relatives.