One of the interesting things about this little medallion, which I photographed the other day while updating catalog data for memorabilia related to Chariton's fraternal organizations, is the fact that so much of its story is engraved on the back.
It's Henry H. Day's 25-year anniversary award, commemorating his membership, 1865-1891, in Chariton Lodge No. 64, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.).
Henry (1824-1901) was a Chariton businessman, county supervisor and one-term state legislator whose principal memorial today is the "Good Luck" building on the southwest corner of the square that features a giant recently restored horseshoe-shaped window as the centerpiece of its second-floor facade. He built it during 1883 after a December 1882 fire had destroyed the frame structure that preceded it.
The lodge itself was organized with seven charter members on Oct. 11, 1855. By 1874, membership had grown so large that a second lodge, Orion No. 302, was organized to handle the overflow. The two lodges consolidated during January of 1888 and by 1904, as plans were being made for a grand new building on the north side of the square, membership stood at 240.
But time and circumstances have not been kind to fraternal organizations in general and today only Masonic organizations --- the first to be organized in Chariton during the 1850s, continue to meet. All the others have vanished, except for a few souvenirs like this one.
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