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The Irish Ancestral Research Association
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Who Were the Foresters?
In 1879, a group of Irish immigrants founded the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters to provide life insurance benefits for its members. The organization grew from one small group in Boston to branches in cities and towns throughout the state. By 1893, the ninety-five Forester Courts spread throughout Massachusetts included several German Courts. Women were admitted to the Foresters in 1894. By 1930, there were 60,000 members of the Foresters in Massachusetts. There was also at least one Court in Rhode Island. The Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters was renamed the Catholic Association of Foresters in 1960. The Foresters still exists as a fraternal life insurance society. TIARA has been granted ownership of Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters (MCOF) records for the purpose of preserving the history of this organization and making it available to researchers.
What Do the Foresters Records Contain?
Each prospective Forester applying for coverage completed an application. The application included personal data, family information and a physical examination. Subsequent death benefit disbursements named beneficiaries. Any additional correspondence regarding beneficiaries was also included in the Foresters Mortuary Record. This material reveals a wealth of information about family structure, health, mortality, mobility, and occupations of predominantly Irish immigrants and their descendants who settled in Massachusetts.
Do You Have A Forester in Your Family?
Obituaries often provide clues about Forester membership. Look for the letters "MCOF" or the word "Foresters." However, be warned that there were several other "Foresters" organizations operating in Massachusetts and other states during the late 1800s and well into the 1900s. Some other organizations were the Ancient Order of Foresters, the Independent Order of Foresters, and the Irish National Foresters. TIARA only holds the records of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters.Will We Be Able to Locate All Foresters Records?
The Foresters Mortuary Records are numbered consecutively in the order that the death claim was paid out. Volunteers have discovered a few gaps in the numbers indicating that some Mortuary Records are missing. There are also two other categories of applications that will not appear in our death claim indexes. These categories are "Suspensions" and "Cash Surrenders." Some members were suspended when they were unable to make payments on their policies. Other members turned in their policies for the cash value before a death claim was made. We do have many of the applications of these members but have not reconstructed an index to these categories of policies as yet.What Are the Future Plans for the Foresters Project?
Foresters Project volunteers have completed an index of over 27,000 entries that identifies MCOF members who died between 1880 and 1935. See drop down menu item "Foresters Members". Digitization of the Mortuary Records will begin in 2010, and digital images will be available on familysearch.org sometime after 2010.
Volunteers who can commit to a regular weekly or monthly time at the TIARA office in Auburndale, Massachusetts will be trained to enter index information and answer research requests. If you are interested in volunteering please send an email to ForestersProject@tiara.ie.
DEATHS 1880 - 1935 How Can You Request a Record?
YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF TIARA - Click here for membership information.
Search the Index pages for your relatives. Be sure to try all possible spellings. Many women are listed under both their maiden names and their married names.
Copy down the name, date of death, and claim number. Send your name, TIARA member number, land address and email address (if applicable) along with a self-addresed stamped envelope. Make checks payable to TIARA. There is a $10.00 fee for each name, and a limit of three names per request. Additional requests may be made as initial searches are completed.
Mail to:
TIARA
Attention: Foresters Search
2120 Commonwealth Ave.
Auburndale, MA 02466-1909
All requests will be answered in a "first come, first served" basis as volunteer help allows. Thank You!
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