I.O.O.F.! Naval Gun Factory Band?

Join me as I go down a rabbit hole Another family photo, this one of my Great Uncle Charlie,
Charles Jacob Gotwalt, 1874–1967. I grew up with a picture of the Naval Gun Factory Band, Uncle Charlie 3rd row center, hanging in the living room. I posted about it about a year ago.

While unpacking, I came across this picture:


and noticed the banner in it looked familiar. Don’t strain your eyes- the words are “Pax Aut Bellum” “Canton” and “York, Pa.”


Upon closer inspection, it looks strikingly similar to the one in the Naval Gun Factory Band picture:


And I was able to identify it as an International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.). Here’s a similar banner:

We know Uncle Charlie was very active and involved with the IOOF:


I’d wondered why Uncle Charlie was in the Naval Gun Factory Band, but there was/is a lot I didn’t know about him, so I figured it was just something I didn’t know about. Now I suspect it’s very possible he wasn’t.

“Pax Aut Bellum” is the slogan for The Patriarchs Militant (PM) a branch in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

“The Patriarchs Militant was first organized by members of the Encampment who were military men and civil war veterans and was officially adopted as a separate branch of the fraternity in 1885…
the Patriarchs Militant (PM) is Odd Fellowship’s uniformed branch. The name “Patriarchs Militant” conveys the two-fold idea of peace and soldierly valor. It is purely semi-military in its character, organized for chivalric display for local parades and honor guards and is admirably fulfilling its mission through the annual ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers’ ceremony held in Washington DC and Canada.” https://odd-fellows.org/about/odd-fellows/patriarchs-militant/

I’m now wondering if what I’ve always thought of as the Naval Gun Factory Band picture is actually of an IOOF group in Washington DC for the “annual ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers’ ceremony held in Washington DC.”

The inaugural ceremony of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington DC was in 1921.

The NGFB was formed in 1904, and “played and marched in parades, concerts and even played election night soirees throughout the capital region. The NGF Band was reformed in 1922 and that very same year the Department of Navy established the Washington Navy Yard Band composed exclusively of active duty sailors.”
http://genealogytrails.com/washdc/WNY/navyband1906.html

Whew! If you made it this far, thanks, and congratulations on your patience!

 

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

I suggest that you take that wood backing off of the photo frame and replace it with something safer, to preserve the paper on which the photo is printed.