Independent Order of Rechabites
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The Independent Order of Rechabites was a friendly society established as part of the temperance movement to promote total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Always well connected in upper society and involved in financial matters, it gradually transformed into a financial institution which still exists, and still promotes abstinence.
The name comes from Rechab the father of Jehonadab.
The initials IOR on a tombstone may indicate that the deceased was a member of the organisation.
External links
- History of the Rechabites (http://sites.scran.ac.uk/shelf/friend/12.php)
- Another history (http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/history/socs/rechab.htm)
- History of the Rechabites on the Isle of Man (http://dbweb.liv.ac.uk/manninagh/sm/theses/franklin-abstract.htm)
- More notes from the Isle of Man (http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/history/socs/oddflws.htm), linking the formation of the Rechabites to the Order of Oddfellows and therefore indirectly to Freemasonry.