Thomas Wildey (1782–1861) was an Englishman who was the founder of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) in North America.

In that year Baltimore was suffering both a yellow fever epidemic and mass unemployment.

An outgoing personality, Wildey missed companionship and advertised in the newspaper to determine if there were any other Odd Fellows in Baltimore; he requested them to meet him at the Seven Stars Inn.

Other Englishmen who were Odd Fellows had grouped in the states along the Eastern Seaboard, and Wildey gathered them all into the newly formed fraternity.

[citation needed] In April 1865 a monument was erected to Wildey in Baltimore, consisting of a statue on a Doric column that is 52 feet in height.