The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Lodges were all the vogue in 19th century United States and the Odd Fellowship records its beginning when five Brothers of the English Order met in New York City in 1806 and formed Shakespeare Lodge No.1.
The Independent order of Odd Fellows as we know it today began in Baltimore, Maryland, where five members of the Order from England found Washington Lodge No.1 in 1819 by self-institution.
One of these brothers was Thomas Wildey, the first Nobel Grand and the man revered as the founder of Odd Fellowship in North America. A charter was received from Duke of York Lodge in Preston, England, in 1820, a year and a half after its self-institution. Source: www.ioof.com