According to Patriarchs Militant literature, occasionally a war would erupt and the men would be summoned to fight, but someone would have to stay behind to take care of the children, the orphans, women who were left alone, and the elderly who still needed care.
The Patriarchs Militant are the uniformed branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.), established in 1886 by the Sovereign Grand Lodge, the international governing body of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows [REF].