SOCIAL ORDER OF BEAUCEANT
OCALA Assembly No. 249
At the first official meeting which was held in February 1890, the ladies adopted the name "Some of Our Business Society" and a brief ritual. The S.O.O.B. was organized solely for the purpose of providing aid and sociability for the Sir Knights and ladies who would attend the Triennial. The ladies so enjoyed the work that they never disbanded, but instead continued operating for the purpose of “making life purer, better and sweeter for others”.
The Society remained a small, loyal, local band of ladies, doing good, and assisting their Sir Knights until the 1913 Triennial when they decided to take action to expand. It was then that the first members from other cities were initiated. At that same time, a decision was made to change their name to something more appropriate to Templary while retaining the initials S.O.O.B. Derived from a banner used by the ancient Templars, the “Social Order of the Beauceant” was the result. From that small start, the order expanded to over 15,000 members. There are now about 4,800 with 90 Assemblies in thirty-two states.
Beautiful and impressive, the Beauceant's ritual contains many lessons which are exemplified by a cadre of seventeen officers in the local Assemblies and nineteen officers in the Supreme Assembly.
As the wives, widows, mothers, sisters, daughters and granddaughters of Knights Templars, they are the only ladies' fraternal order whose eligibility is determined by a Sir Knights membership in the Commandery. A new Assembly may be constituted wherever there is an active Commandery of Knights Templar of sufficient size to warrant it, and there are several interested wives or widows.
One of the most basic landmarks of the order is the admonition to "cultivate the spirit of love for and loyalty to each other, and the Order of Knights Templar, and the reciprocal consideration due the order". With that in mind, the Beauceant in 1957 adopted the Commandery's Knights Templar Eye Foundation as their official charity. Since that time they have donated over one and a half million dollars to the Eye Foundation.
Today's Beauceant is an order with a long history of support to the Commandery, one that has proven to be a source of pleasure and benefit both to them and to the Sir Knights. It is a history they are proud of and one they wish to maintain. Therefore, they continue to cheerfully fulfill requests to assist with entertainment and hospitality at any level of their organization.