Category:Benevolent Societies

BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES. Benevolent societies were social groups formed in the 1800s to aid their members by caring for the ill, burying the dead, and serving as social clubs with weekly meetings. The German Benevolent Society, founded on August 5, 1847, is considered the oldest of its type in Dubuque. Membership applications required evidence of nationality and good character. Initiation fees, ranging from eight to fifteen dollars, were dependent upon the age of the candidate. An additional tax of thirty cents per month supported a fund for beneficiary purposes including caring for the sick and a payment of five hundred dollars to surviving relatives of deceased members. Among the earliest members was Anton HEEB.

Before the worldwide Burns' celebration in 1859, there was a Burns Club in Dubuque for Scottish people. After the celebration, a meeting of Scots living in Dubuque was called to establish an organization. The resulting St. Andrew's Society gave assistance to the unfortunate and poor whether or not they were Scottish. The Society also encouraged sociability among Scottish residents of Dubuque and celebrated Burn's birthday or St. Andrew's Day. On December 24, 1859, the Society split over the issue of temperance. The majority organized a new St. Andrew's Society supporting temperance. The minority group gradually ceased to exist.

The German Mechanics Benevolent Association was founded in the spring of 1866.

The DUBUQUE CATHOLIC BENEVOLENT SOCIETY was established on January I, 1872.

The initiation fee of five to fifteen dollars for the ST. ALPHONSUS SOCIETY was supplemented by weekly dues of thirty-five cents to pay four dollars each week to the sick and $150 to the families of deceased members.

The PIUS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, believed founded on February 4, 1855, was an organization of Germans associated with ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. During the 1890s both the Pius Benevolent Association and the St. Alphonsus Society, suffering from lack of membership, merged to become simply the Pius Society.

On November 14, 1879, the Mercy Hospital Aid Society was founded. The goal of the organization included supporting the Orphan Asylum and aiding the completion of Mercy Hospital. Bishop John HENNESSY served as president.