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THOMAS WILDEY :: FOUNDER OF NORTH AMERICAN ODD FELLOWSHIP
Thomas Wildey, founder of Odd Fellowship in North America, was a man of immense vitality, humor, and warmth.
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| Thomas Wildey was born in London, England, in 1782. He was left an orphan five years later - and the Odd Fellow pledge to "Educate the Orphan", |
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sprang from his personal childhood experiences. At the age of 14, Wildey went to live with an uncle. After he had 9 years of schooling, he became an apprentice to a maker of coach springs. He joined the Odd Fellows in 1804.
When restlessness brought Thomas Wildey to America in 1817, the British were still unpopular in the States because of the War of 1812. In that year Baltimore was suffering both a yellow fever epidemic and mass unemployment. An outgoing personality, Wildey missed
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