A Member of the Club(s) - George Fred Roe Joins Several

 George Fred Roe was born in Candor, Tioga County, New York on 26 November 1863, the son of George Whitley and Sarah (McPherson) Roe. His father died from illness in June 1864, an illness that he caught while fighting with Company K, 97th New York Volunteers in the Civil War. He was just 30 years old, and George Fred was six months old. Losing his father at an early age likely colored the rest of his life and the organizations he belonged to. George was obviously a joiner.

SONS OF VETERANS

The Sons of Veterans was a part of the Union Sons of Veterans of the Civil War.  This group was organized into "camps," and George was Commander of Wilderness Camp No. 99 when it was formed in March of 1908 in Candor. Besides a Commander and other leaders, the "Camp" had a Principal Musician, a Color Bearer, Camp and Picket Guards, and a Council. It had forty-four members when it was organized, although it was later disbanded. He and the other members were proud of their father's service, and this group was formed to honor that service.

IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN

George Fred was a Senior Sagamore in the improved Order of Red Men (I.O,R.M). This was an organization formed for white men that was supposedly modeled after Native American rituals. Their 1886 member requirement was:

"No person shall be entitled to adoption into the order except a free white male of good moral character and standing, of the full age of twenty-one great suns, who believes in the existence of a Great Spirit, the Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and is possessed of some known reputable means of support." 

Local units were called tribes and presided over by a Sachem (which George was at one point) and the local meeting sites were called "wigwams." The state organization was called a "Reservation" and was governed by a Great Sachem and a board of Chiefs, including Senior Sagamores. There was an active female auxiliary called the Degree of Pocahontas. George served as a "warrior" for that organization, likely a protector of some sort. And as you might expect, members dressed up in what they assumed was Native American garb, including fringed leather pants and shirts and feather headdresses. They justified all this by claiming they were actually preserving authentic Native American traditions.

FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS

Another group that George Fred Roe belonged to was a more common one - Candor Lodge #411 F. & A.M. The Candor Masonic group was started in July of 1856, and a charter was granted the next year by the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. This organization, like many Masonic organizations,  is still active today. 

In his later years, George Fred Roe built "The Ark", a gospel bus he took all around the area, preaching the gospel. It's unclear how this activity impacted his membership in the above organizations, but he was still active in the Order of Red Men in 1925, three years before his death on 20 December 1925.