Orangeism reached the United States of America via New York, but the first parade was held in Boston in the year of 1824. The Institution was probably taken to America by Ulstermen, many of whom were to make an impression on the church at the highest level. Ulstermen in the armed forces, business, and in the professions made an incredible impact on the country. Ulster churchmen affected the Christian America so considerably that there has remained a close affinity between the people of Ulster and the United States. There was also a Canadian Orange influence in the early days of American Orangeism. Soon it was to be a two- way thing, for as Orangemen found employment in Canada some of them settled there permanently. From the beginning a number of free born Americans entered the ranks. By 1850 five States had Orange charters and Orangemen had so impressed the American people that they were invited to parade next to the military in front of President Taylor. William Shannon was named as Grand Master.
In 1869, an application was made by the American Orange leaders to the Grand Lodge of Ireland for National Grand Lodge status. The Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, John H Nunn, Dublin, sent this certificate:-
To all whom these presents shall come.
Greetings.
Know ye that we the Grand Master and Members of the Grand Lodge of Ireland hereby certify that there is no objection or impediment on the part of the Loyal Orange Institution of Ireland to the formation of an Independent Association of Orangemen in and for the United States of America. Signed on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. January, 1870 Enniskillen, Grand Master.
The receipt of the certificate was acknowledged by John H Bond, Grand Master, of the Loyal Orange Institution of the United States of America, in correspondence dated May 4, 1870 with thanks to the Grand Lodge of Ireland. At about the same time as the U.S. Grand Lodge application to Ireland for recognition the Orange of New York petitioned the Grand Lodge of Ireland for recognition as a State Lodge. The State Grand Lodge of New York was founded in 1874. It incorporates Irish orientated Lodges, American orientated Lodges, and the American Pro Association.
The early years of American Orangeism were not easy. It was compelled to problems unknown in the British Commonwealth. It had to adapt to republican's. The imperialismof Orangeism elsewhere was suspect to Americans. The disbandment of the Orange Institution in Britain in 1836, meant that it ceased to function in America for a short period in the 1840s. But if the Order was not working, the spirit of Orangeism remained strong. The American Protestant Association, founded in Philadelphia in 1844, after the attempt to prohibit the use of the authorised version of the Bible in public schools was apparently the Orange Order continuing.
Because the Order represented the fight for freedom it had the sympathy of like minded Americans.
There was no trouble in the 1872 demonstration in New York and no demonstration in 1873. At the second sessions of the State Grand Lodge of New York in 1874 there were discussions on a New York Twelfth march. The report contains the prevailing opinion is that parading through the streets on the Twelfth of July was entirely unnecessary, and as the authorities have decided in favour of the societythe same rights extended to them as other societies - the right to parade- it deemed it not at all necessary.... that instead each Lodge should meet at their headquarters and celebrate the anniversary by a social reunion. The Twelfth, being a Sunday, the Brethren attended services at Holy Trinity Church where Rev. S H Tynge was the preacher. He said of the Orangemen: they were American Protestants- no longer Irish Protestants. They did well to remember the brave men of Enniskillen, and the sternness of Prince William.
The Americanisation of the movement was under way. There were no further Orange parades in New York until 1890 when there was a march with a pinic in Jones Wood at which 4,000 were present. The last New York parade was in 1900 when the Imperial Grand Orange Council of the World had its sessions in the city. The Orange and Green were so agreeable together by this time that were no incidents. The Orangemen, by winning the right to parade had ensured civil and religious liberty for all Americans. Their behaviour showed a resoluteness to defend both their inalienable rights, and a respect for the law and so they gained the regard of the American public. This aided the growth of the Institution at that time.
The years, 1894-6, saw the Order in America grow by one-third. The growth was due in part, to the appointment of 19 organisers, with David Graham, Past Grand Master, New York, National Organiser. The organisers were appointed by the Grand Master for States which had no State Grand Lodge. At 1897 there were State Grand Lodges in Connecticut, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont Washington, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Massachusetts, Illinois and Pennysylvania.
There is an account in the report of 1900 of a visit to Grand Lodge of the famous William Johnston of Ballykilbeg, Past Imperial Grand President and Member of Parliament at Westminster for South Belfast. Johnston in 1867, had led 40,000 Orangemen in defiance of the Party Processions' Act in an Orange march at Bangor, Co. Down, on the Twelfth. He had been imprisoned but far from harming the cause his punishment had made him a national hero and discredited his opponents. His efforts were largely responsible for the repealing of the Processions Act.
In the early part of this century the American Institution split through inter-state rivalry and two bodies emerged, each claiming to be the supreme Grand Lodge. One of the incontrovertible facts of Orange history is that the injuries of this division made the Institution in America incapable of recovering its original vitality and strength.
Eventually the two Orange bodies were re-united after a special session of Grand Lodge at the Orange Hall in Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, on November 26, 1930 and of the International Orange Association meeting at the same time in the same hall.
The Lodges settled up their respective affairs and amalgamation was affected when the officers relinquished their posts, and new elections held. The settlement was received with gratitude to those who had brought reconciliation after years of division.
The subsequent history of the Institution has been of a continuing campaign to keep alive the great principles of a society which stands for civil and religious liberty and for equal opportunities for all, special privileges for none. The Orange Institution has been one of the aids to that development for some men. It is an organisation which brings churchmen together, from different denominational strands, and gives them the comfort of a unity which finds its strength in a three-fold confidence - in God; in men who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, and in the Christian duty, to witness to others of the power of God to win them for Christ.
The Orange ideal is a lofty one. It takes a worthy man to subscribe to it.
Today Orange Lodges shall operate in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennysylvania.
One thing can be said about Orangeism in America, it cares about people, their bodies and souls and their rights and privileges. American Orangemen are sensitive, community minded people with a strongly developed sense of service to God and men. In the Grand Lodge report of 1872 there is the Statement that the Institution had more than doubled its membership in the past year, especially in New York.