Rutherford Hayes, Independent Order of Odd Fellows

A list of Hayes' speeches shows that the 19th president spoke to gatherings of Odd Fellows five times from 1850 to 1887.

In his 1887 speech in Fremont, Ohio, where he ushered in the appointment of new Odd Fellow officers, Hayes discussed his own feelings about the order and other societies like it:

"The beneficial societies, commonly known as secret societies (in fact, they are secret chiefly in name, and secret only to guard against imposture) these societies gather under the same friendly roof in close intimacy persons differing widely in occupation, politics, religion, and conditions of life and fuse them easily and naturally into complete harmony and cordial friendship."