can anyone identify this belt buckle?

[geajr]

this buckle is brass and measures 3"X2" and was found at a once was railroad station on marylands eastern shore. i've come up empty researching this and was hopeing someone might reconize the symbol.

 

[geajr]

thank you, this thing has been driving me nuts since i found it! george

 

[geajr]

when i first found it i asked mark parker. he told me that the two large letters were "U" and "R" and the small letters were "R" and "K". because of the clasped hands and intertwined letters he felt that it was a union merge. george

 

[PBK]

Hmm... I guess that is a second R rather than a P. Thanks for pointing that out, George.

It's also true that the clasped hands symbol was widely used by unions as well as fraternal orders in the late 1900's and early 1900's.

I'll pull my earlier "URKP" post to keep down the clutter.

 

[savant365]

This one is pretty tough, there doesn't seem to be any conbination of those letters (URRK) out there either. I'll recend my previous guesses also.

Charlie

 

[geajr]

thanks for all the help on this! i'm setting a great example of the old saying "misery loves company" couldn't be satisfied with just driving myself nuts over this!!! george

 

[johnnyi]

PBK, If that is in fact another "r" then I guess I must clean out my congratulations to you also. After searching all twelve possibilities of a monogram with two "r's" nothing shows up It makes you wonder if maybe that p is actually a symbol within a symbol and is a p. At any rate the guy who designed this monogram was deviously unclear (don't usually need these yellow guys, but this one deserves them!)

 

[savant365]

PBK, I think you nailed it again. The URKP had encampments in the Washington D.C. area also near the period that it seems this buckle was made.

So what is the "URKP"?

 

[DCMatt]

I would guess the clasped hands indicate a fraternal order. Maybe R K stands for Royal Knights?

Plenty of "Royal Knights" organizations back then. I couldn't find any with R U or U R initials with them, though...

DCMatt

 

[PBK]

PBK, I think you nailed it again. The URKP had encampments in the Washington D.C. area also near the period that it seems this buckle was made.

So what is the "URKP"?

Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias— the paramilitary branch of that fraternal order. They typically marched in parades, served as honor guards at various events, etc.

But again, it appears that this belt plate bears the letters URRK rather than URKP, although it's unclear in which order they ought to be read. (Relative size of letter is not always a reliable indication of order.)

 

[Monty]

Well dang! Looks like RRKUA to me! Give us time and it will spell a word! Monty

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I dont know if this helps but the R and the R have strange dots on them and the other letters (K & U) do not.

Two R's together usually signify RailRoad but these R's are not the same size.

 

[intimer]

PBK, I think you nailed it again. The URKP had encampments in the Washington D.C. area also near the period that it seems this buckle was made.

So what is the "URKP"?

Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias— the paramilitary branch of that fraternal order. They typically marched in parades, served as honor guards at various events, etc.

But again, it appears that this belt plate bears the letters URRK rather than URKP, although it's unclear in which order they ought to be read. (Relative size of letter is not always a reliable indication of order.)

you were 'right on' pbk-----------here is picture showing URKP with the description

"The large Vice Chancellor's Jewel is from the 1800’s. The size of Pythian jewels was reduced in the 1900’s. The Pythian/Odd Fellows chatelaine is probably unique and possibly a widow’s piece. The buckle and watch fob are both from the Uniformed Rank. The latter contains just over an ounce of 14K gold."

 

[intimer]

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...uniform&hl=en&gl=us&ei=z_eOStWlJdurmQfL_8GYDA

above is the website that the following is from as well as the picture above. it explains the 'hand shake' on the buckle. that's the symbol from the 'odd fellows'


"the Uniformed Rank (UR) came into being in 1878. A great many Pythians were Civil War Veterans and some lodges formed their own military drill teams. This would in time evolve into the Uniformed Ranks, not just for the Pythians but for quite a number of other fraternal orders as well. The Pythian UR was sometimes known as the Army of the Lily.

In many ways, the UR was simply a logical outgrowth of the K of P. The order, having been founded in the midst of the Civil War and by men working for the government--and effectively enlistees--had always had a military flavor to it. Its ranks of Page, Esquire, and Knight emulated those of Medieval knighthood. The UR was seen as sort of an unofficial reserve force, maintaining a military readiness should the Nation need them--its Manual of Drill was that of the US Army. In reality, the UR was more of a fancy drill team suitable for parades and other official functions. As Civil War veterans died off in the early 1900’s, the UR went into decline and was effectively defunct around the time of World War Two. Major General James Carnahan’s hope for an everlasting UR was not to be and it had entirely ceased to exist by the 1950’s."

 

[intimer]

now i'm seeing all my work is not conclusive because the initials are URRK.

but it's got to be close!

 

[intimer]

here is a tie in with royal knights and uniform rank

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache...ank&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

scroll down to item part of #43 all of #44 and #45. i've included it below in quotes...

The Royal Knights of King David

"In 1883, three years after Mr. Merrick had moved his little family to Durham, an organization was formed which was called The Royal Knights of King David was purchased from Rev. Morris, a Georgia preacher, September 24, 1883, by John Merrick, John Wright, W. A. Day, J. D. Morgan, T. J. Jones. Rev. Morris came to Durham to sell them the right to operate in the State of North Carolina; they purchased the order and all rights in it from him."

this next part must be in first person of john merrick...

"In 1886, I took charge as Supreme Grand Secretary and changed some of the features and
methods of the order. Collections were only v$14 per month from all sources when I came into
office and we were operating only in North Carolina. In 1887 we took out a charter in Virginia
and established lodges in Norfolk and Portsmouth. In 1910 we went into South Carolina
and Florida; 1916 saw the order in Georgia again and 1918 in the District of Columbia and
Pennsylvania."

''Within twelve months our collections had increase from $14 per month (for North Caro- lina) to $430 per month (for North Carolina and Virginia). Present collections from the seven states in which we are operating are $8,000 per month. Our membership is 21,000. We have recently formed a Uniform Rank which is growing rapidly."

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Nice work intemer!

 

[traderoftreasures]

RU rk IMO.

 

[AKiwi]

I have no idea........... as I get about a quarter of a pic on my browser

 

[intimer]

RU rk IMO.

R