At Century’s ASHS Museums treasures abound. Although the monetary value of almost everything here is minimal, the historical merit of many items cannot be measured because they offer unique windows to our past. One artifact placed on a glass shelf among several other trinkets here is a small ring of keys. It is typical of most, attached are a few keys to unknown doors and locks. But, also on the ring is a brass fob, and engraved on the fob is a simple epitaph: Levi Sampley 1935 I.O.O.F. Lodge. Such things stir my curiosity and make me think “Huh”.
Levi Sampley was a sawmill man. Records show that Levi managed to complete a year of college before he began his trade. He worked across Alabama, had married Jessie Slayton of Elmore and seen his first daughter born before the turn of the century. Then, he came to help start a new mill at Century, Florida and soon saw his first son born here in 1903, and over the years three more children. At the Alger-Sullivan mill he held the job of gang saw operator.
Levi was a Methodist. He probably was one of the congregations’ volunteers who built the small church here, and it is most likely that he became involved with the I.O.O.F. through his church.
The I.O.O.F. is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization whose history is rooted in England around 1813. Soon after its birth small groups of members in the new country began to meet and to wonder if there was interest in America for their society.
In 1819 calls were published for membership meetings in Baltimore, and by 1822 the first American charter had been granted. Built on the Cardinal Tenants of Friendship, Love and Truth, the organization grew rapidly. In 1851 the Odd Fellows further expanded by organizing women into the new Rebekah Branch, which greatly aided their mission of helping the less fortunate.
The Odd Fellows were welcomed Into West Florida around 1834. Early newspapers indicate that Pensacola was the main area of interest after Statehood; by 1882 the organization had a local hall at the corner of Palafox and Government Streets in that city. However, the organization also spread across the Panhandle during this time, and in 1894 a Diamond Jubilee meeting of the West Florida lodges was held at Pensacola with delegates arriving from as far away as DeFuniak Springs.
This event was followed in 1906 with the organization’s state-wide annual camp meeting at the city. Annual meetings were grand events which lasted for a couple of days, with an attendance between 1910 and 1940 of 1000 to 2500 members. These trips were easily and inexpensively accomplished by train at this time because Odd Fellow members who traveled to the yearly camp meetings were given a greatly reduced fee. Sometimes train cars were set aside just for members, and the state officers of the organization often traveled fare free.
In 1910, the Odd Fellows Grand Master of Florida was hosted by Pensacola lodges at several grand parties and banquets in the town. He later visited the Odd Fellow’s Bagdad lodge, the Powelton Lodge #47 at Molino and the Yellow Pine Lodge of Century.
After 1910 membership and influence of the southern part of the state began to grow as that in the Panhandle declined. This is shown through some of the later camp meetings which were at Sanford in 1916, Orlando in 1923, Tampa in 1925, Fort Myers in 1932 and Jacksonville in 1940. In 1923 the state organization also began to build a large indigent home, deciding on a state-wide central location near Gainesville. The mission and influence of the Odd Fellows was later greatly reduced nationwide as their welfare efforts coincided with national government programs during the Great Depression. Though weakened, the I.O.O.F. continued on and today boasts of a membership of 2,000,000 nationwide.
By 1917, 15 years at Century had been enough for Levi. Now he was working the saws at the Bagdad Land and Lumber Company mill in Bagdad. In 1920, at the age of 46, he was working away from the saws as a millwright. During his years at Bagdad, Levi’s involvement with the Odd Fellows grew and he gained influence at the state level. By 1931 he held the office of State Secretary.
In 1933 the I.O.O.F. West Florida Lodge held a great picnic on the grounds of the Andrew Jackson Hotel at Floridatown. Now as Grand Conductor of Florida, Levi is remembered giving a stirring speech on the efforts of the organization before a crowd of more than 200 members.
The Great Depression ended the time of the Sawmill Era in West Florida. After the company’s failure and mill closing at Bagdad around 1937, Levi again followed his work, this time to Plant City and now holding the title of machinist.
Levi’s work with the Odd Fellows continued, and before 1938 he was advanced to Grand Warden. Then he gained the most powerful position of the state organization, a position that seems very unusual for a working man, one historically reserved for industrial titans and former military standouts. In 1939 Levi Sampley became the I.O.O.F. Grand Master of Florida. But, it seems that he held the post only long enough to oversee the state meeting of 1500 delegates at Jacksonville in 1940. At this time he was 65 years old.
Little is known of Levi after this, except that he lived to the age of 96, died in 1971 and was buried in Plant City. His life’s efforts left a substantial legacy of service to his fellow man. He also left 13 great-grandchildren in the towns of Plant City, Panama City and Pensacola. And, he left an interesting trinket at Century that makes you think, “Huh”.
