Introduction
The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS, "Loyal Legion") was founded in 1865. Membership was restricted to officers, their direct male descendents, and a small number of civilian males. It grew significantly in the 1880's and 1890's (after the death of its first recorder, Samuel Mitchell, whose recordkeeping was imperfect), and had about eight thousand members in 1900. It stressed patriotism, and apparently began the practice of standing when the National Anthem was played.
Members from the 91st Pennsylvania
(Click on the heading to sort by that column)name | insignia number | commandery | date | "original member" on MOLLUS web page | comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Keyser, Peter | 2 | Pennsylvania | 1865 April 15 | yes | founding member |
Gilbert, Franklin B | 3 | Pennsylvania | ? | yes | dropped by 1882 |
Houghton, Charles Woodman | 2435 | Pennsylvania | 1882 May 3 | ||
Weeks, John Huey | 2445 | Pennsylvania | 1882 May 3 | yes | |
Donnelly, James Joseph | 5491 | Pennsylvania | 1887 May 4 | ||
Gilbert, Joseph | 5494 | Pennsylvania | 1887 May 4 | yes | |
Shipley, Howard Wheatley | 5996 | Pennsylvania | 1888 Feb 1 | yes | |
Closson, James Harwood | 6758 | Pennsylvania | 1889 Feb 6 | son (father died 1864) | |
Hall, Matthew | 6767 | Pennsylvania | 1889 Feb 6 | yes | |
Matlack, Lewis Taws | 7648 | Pennsylvania | 1890 Feb 5 | yes | |
LeTourneau, William | 11020 | Pennsylvania | 1895 May 1 | yes | |
Lentz, David H | ? | California | ? | ||
Bowman, Alpheus | ? | Washington DC | ? | ||
Diehl, James B | ? | ? | ? | yes |
Bibliography
- Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Register of the Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania. From April 15, 1865, to July 1, 1882. Philadelphia, 1882.
- Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Register of the Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania from April 15 1865 to May 5 1887. Philadelphia, 1887.
- Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Register of the Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania April 15, 1865--September 1, 1902. Philadelphia, 1902.
- Register of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Compiled from the Registers and Circulars of the Various Commanderies by J. Harris Aubin. Boston: Published under the Auspices of the Commandery of the State of Massachusetts, 1 January 1906.
- Their web page has some information about their history
- Dana B Shoaf. '"For every man who wore the blue": The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the charges of elitism after the Civil War'. In Union soldiers and the northern home front, pages 463-481. Edited by Paul A Cimbala and Randall M Miller. New York: Fordham University Prss, 2002.
- Memorial circulars, Commandery of Pennsylvania. 4 bound volumes, covering 1880-1899, 1899-1906, 1907-1911, and 1912-1918. including memorial circulars for Howard Wheatley Shipley (circular 2, series of 1896, whole no. 305), Peter Dirck Keyser (circular 15, series of 1897, whole no. 340), John Huey Weeks (circular 2, series of 1909, whole no. 642), Joseph Gilbert (circular 25, series of 1910, whole no 691), and James Joseph Donnelly (circular 31, series of 1911, whole no 730)