The New International Encyclopædia/Foresters, Independent Order of

FORESTERS, Independent Order of. A fraternal and benevolent society founded at Newark, N. J., in 1874, and reorganized in 1881. The Order is general throughout the United States and Canada, and has branches in Great Britain, Norway, France, India, and Australia. Its government is vested in a Supreme Court, with delegates from all the countries represented. High Courts, corresponding to the Grand Lodges of other societies, have supervision of the Order in various States and countries. Of these High Courts there were, in 1902, 20 in the United States, 8 in the British Isles, and one in Norway. The local bodies are called courts. The Order has a membership of some 200,000, has paid more than $11,000,000 in benefits since its organization, and has a surplus fund of over $5,600,000.