The German
Friendly Society 
of Savannah, Georgia
Organized on July 26, 1837
History
The
German Friendly Society of Savannah was organized on July 26, 1837, for
the relief of indigent members, their widows and orphans, and to promote
social and friendly harmony among the German community of
The
church has played and important role in the history of the society.
Of the 18 charter members, eleven were members of the
During the War Between the State (1861-1865) members of the society
served in the German Volunteers. The unit occupied
The German Friendly Society of Savannah prospered until 1918 when the
When the
Currently the society is carrying on the tradition of social and friendly harmony in a charitable manner.
Further Note to Friendly Society;
Definition: (Friendly Society), mutual-aid
organization formed voluntarily by individuals to protect members
against debts incurred through illness, death, or old
age.
Friendly societies arose in the 17th and 18th centuries and were
most numerous in the 19th century.
A friendly society (sometimes called a mutual society, benevolent
society or
fraternal organization) is a mutual association for
insurance, pensions or savings
and loan-like
purposes, or cooperative
banking.
It is a mutual
organization
or benefit
society
composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or
social purpose. Before modern insurance,
and the welfare
state,
friendly societies provided financial and social services to
individuals, often according to their religious or political
affiliations. Some friendly societies, especially in the past, served
ceremonial and friendship purposes also.
Before large-scale government and employer health insurance and the
development of other financial services, friendly societies played an
important part in many people's lives. In some countries, half of the
population was covered by such societies. Many of these societies still
exist. In some countries, they developed as large mutually run financial
institutions, typically insurance companies, and lost any social and
ceremonial aspect they may have had; in others they have taken on a more
charitable or social aspect.
In some cases, especially in
In the more social type, each lodge was generally responsible for its own affairs, but it was often associated with an order of lodges such as the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, or the Independent Order of Foresters. There were typically reciprocal agreements between lodges within an order, so that if members moved cities or countries, they could join a new lodge without having to serve any initiation time. The ceremonies were also fairly uniform throughout an order. Occasionally, a lodge might change the order that it was associated with, or a group of lodges would break away from an order and form a new one, or two orders might merge. Consequentially, the history of any particular friendly society is difficult to follow. Often, there were unassociated orders with similar names.
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