Order of Railway Conductors of
America
A secret trades union founded in Chicago in 1868. It pays total disability
and death benefits. Beneficiary membership is obligatory, and the Order has paid
more than $2,000,000 to relatives of deceased members. More than 20,000
conductors on railways in the United States, Mexico, and the Canadian Dominion
belonged to this Order, which in its ceremonials and ritual suggests Masonic
influence. Local bodies pay sick benefits, and the Order at large is assessed to
meet death benefits, which range from $1,000 to $5,000. The Ladies' Auxiliary of
the Order of Railway Conductors is separately organized. The organization of the
Conductors' Order was naturally suggested by the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers formed five years before, in 1863. The only serious check to the
growth of the Order was in 1894 and 1895, which has since been overcome. Its
chief emblem is characteristic of the employment of the members, and to the
student of secret societies is sufficiently suggestive. In July, 1897, a
coalition was formed between the conductors, engineers, firemen, trainmen, and
telegraphers, for the protection of joint interests.
Ritual of the Order of Railway Conductors
Ritual of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the order of Railway
Conductors