The Order of DeMolay was founded on March 18, 1919 by Frank Sherman Land
and 9 boys. It all began with a phone call in January of 1919. A mason
named Sam Freet called Frank Land asking for a favor. A mason at his
lodge, Elmer Lower, had died a year back and Sam Freet was asking if
Frank Land could find a job and be a mentor for Lower's oldest son Louis
Lower, whom Elmer claimed was one of the finest young men he'd ever
met. Given Frank Land's own history he was glad to take this boy under
his wing and give him a job, which led to one of the greatest
friendships between two people. Frank land was like a father to Louis
and because of that Louis always called him "Dad." This tradition is
also carried along in DeMolay today. All advisors are called "Dad" and
there last name.
About 2 months later Dad Land was thinking of starting a club for Louis
and his friends, because his belief was that the best thing for boys is
association with other boys. So Dad Land asked Louis to bring some
friends over and by the end of the night they had conceived a club they
were going to call "DeMolay," after the heroic knight and martyr Jacques
de Molay. It was originally just a baseball team, but 5 years later
there were 1,171 active chapters with 114,798 members.
DeMolay was a household name up into the late 50s and 60s until
popularity in community organizations and fraternities overall dropped
off. But DeMolay is as strong as ever, we have over 1,000 active
Chapters and 18,500 plus members worldwide. All over our nation and
throughout the world DeMolay is actively involved in our communities,
serving our nation in the armed forces, and our Senior DeMolays are
leading citizens in our communities from Senators, Governors, and
Presidents, to Pastors and religious leaders, to our chapter advisors
who are leading a new generation of young men to be great citizens and
people.
