Looking Back: 508 Main Street, Royal Neighbors of America

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society

 
Today you know this address as the Iron Kettle. Previously, it was an antique shop with an apartment on the second floor. But I remember that second floor much differently. I remember the stairs leading from the street taking me to the second floor where each Saturday morning in the early 1950s I took tap dance and ballet lessons.
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Mostly I remember the large (when you are 5 or 6 years old, everything is huge) room where my mother, aunt, and grandmother attended meetings of the Royal Neighbors of America. I still have a certificate of insurance with my mother’s name on it. Worthless? Yes! I believe she probably quit paying premiums on it back in the 1940s.

At any rate, Grain Valley’s Old Glory Chapter was chartered on December 28, 1917 with twenty-four members. According to their national website, they were “Founded as a ladies' auxiliary group to Modern Woodmen of America on December 5, 1888, in Council Bluffs, Iowa.”

Royal Neighbors of America was chartered as a fraternal benefit society on March 21, 1895, by a group of nine Illinois women. Members receive free and discounted services for things like prescriptions, legal services, and online shopping. They offer grants and educational scholarships. And they support community improvement projects. The unique mission is that of insuring lives, supporting women, and serving communities. It stems from being a fraternal benefit society and an organization with a dual mission of both providing financial protection through life insurance and “neighbor-helping-neighbor” community service.

As you can see by the date, the Grain Valley Chapter was formed during World War I and it remained active through the Korean War. My recollection is that they supported local men and women serving in our Armed Forces and they also supported their families at home. My grandmother often referred to all of the knitting and quilting they did, sending warm hats, gloves, and afghans to the troops.              

Royal Neighbors of America Original Charter (photo credit: Marcia Napier)
 
Charter Members:  Edith Childers, Lucinda Childers, Edith Costigan, Martha Costigan, Susie Cummins, Bessie Elliott, Emma Elliott, Eva Gowin, Anna Hanson, Carrie Herrington, Nora Hickam, Lillian Hinton, Mary Johnson, Laura Johnston, Kate Mabry, Lucy Morrison, Mary Owsley, Leslie Pool, Nellie Russell, Eddie Shrout, Lula Shrout, Ellen Snodgrass, May Snodgrass and Marie Storms.
             
So next time you visit the Iron Kettle and go upstairs, remember the Royal Neighbors of America and the good work they did there.