RESTAURANT OR SECRET SOCIETY: THE OWL’S NEST

I came across a swizzle stick with a cute white owl on the circle top.  The stick is marked “The Owl’s Nest Poynette, Wisconsin”. As a lover of all things owl..  Before I go on, there’s no way to know if this restaurant, famous of its comfort food, is related to the Owl’s tale below.  But it is scarily possible.  WARNING: This one may be hard to read.

The Order of Owls, a secret fraternal order, was founded in 1904 in South Bend, Indiana by John W. Talbot. Their chapters were called “Nests”.  In 1924 there were over 2,000 nests, mostly in Indiana, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. 

The Owl’s were “men only” as given away by their motto:   “Owls do good, speak kindly, shake hands warmly, and respect and honor their women".  The women were not to be left out and formed the Ladies Order of Owls.  They called themselves “Lady Owls”.  See article from 1931 regarding Nest 1002.

SHAMEFUL PAST The group who was organized “to assist each other in business” and “for  assemble for mutual pleasure and entertainment”, was a “white’s only” group until 1979.To understand the historical context, the Ladies Order of the Owls announcement in the newspaper featured a horrifying article about an African American man burned at the stake (article on right)

JAIL THE OWL CHIEF

In 1921, Owl founder John Talbot was convicted under the Mann Act. He was sentenced to five years in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and a $5,000 fine. This was his second offense.

Two separate newspaper articles reported physical assaults on John Talbot (one an attack with a pipe). Neither article revealed a motive.

OWL FACTIONS

Order of Owls (LimaOhio.com  Posted April 19, 2016 By Greg Hoersten) - For The Lima News “In 1901,” the Detroit News observed in an Oct. 10, 2015, article, “one in five (men) over the age of 21 belonged to one or more ‘secret societies,’ as they were commonly called, whether they were clubs, fraternities, orders, mystical worlds, friendships, tabernacles, temples, nests, lodges, hives, tents, aeries, covens or dens.”

Less than 12 years after the Talbot formed the Owls, the group fell apart and other “spin-off” groups formed.  One was the “Order of Ancient Oaks” who stated "The Order of Owls is governed by one John W. Talbot and four associates, at South Bend, IN who run things to suit themselves and give no account of the moneys received. The Order has no legal standing anywhere in the U.S. and is careless in admitting new members."

After secession from the Owls, (from a 1921 St. Louis Post article) was a group of “dissatisfied Nests” left to form the the Supreme Order of the White Rabbits. Lodges of the White Rabbits were located in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Ohio.

THE END?

In 1924 “the Order” had 643,748 members in 2,148 lodges, was down to approximately 100,000 members and 1,500 Nests in 1951.  By 1970 it had 40,000 members and down to 5,000 in 1989.