USA > Washington DC > History of the Grand lodge and of freemasonry in the District of Columbia : with biographical appendix > Part 14
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" Hall." This committee entered enthusiastically upon their duties by devising a plan to make the building of a national character and to solicit aid from other jurisdictions. This project meeting with the pitiful response from the outside of a total of $139 in five years was then abandoned.
On the other side of Rock Creek Potomac again, in 1852, changed its quarters, this time selling its building on Wash- ington Street and renting a part of the third floor of Forrest Hall (still standing) on High Street (now Thirty-second), and in the same year a Masonic shrine was erected in the Southwest by the institution of Centennial Lodge, No. 14, which located in Island Hall, Sixth Street and Virginia Ave- nue, S. W., in which building the Grand Lodge occasionally thereafter met.
In 1855 the old Medical College building was abandoned by the Fraternity, and what was thought to be more suitable quarters found in the structure yet standing on the southwest corner of Ninth and D Streets, and in this building, also known as "Central" Masonic Hall, the Grand Lodge and a number of the subordinate lodges met for a term of years.
Crossing over to Georgetown again, for the sake of chrono- logical order, Potomac is again found to be on the move, this time purchasing the site and erecting thereon their present handsome hall, on Thirty-second Street, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1858 and the building completed early in the following year.
On November 2, 1858, was inaugurated the movement that ultimately resulted in the erection of the Temple at Ninth and F Streets, N. W., the initial step being the appoint- ment of a committee by the Grand Lodge to act with similar committees from the various subordinate bodies. This com- mittee, unlike its predecessors, stuck by its guns. On April 22, 1864, Congress passed an act incorporating the " Masonic Hall Association of the District of Columbia," which act was approved April 26, 1864. There were eighteen names on the charter, representing the Grand Encampment of Knights Tem- plar, United States; the General Grand Chapter Royal Arch
JAMES E. F. HOLMEAD, GRAND MASTER, 1864; GRAND HIGH PRIEST, 1867-1868.
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Masons, United States; the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, its several subordinate lodges, and also the chapters and commanderies of the District of Columbia. The charter members, not one of whom is with us in the flesh today, were as follows : B. B. French, G. E., K. T .; Robert McMurdy, G. G. C., R. A. M .; Charles F. Stansbury, G. L., D. C .; J. W. Nairn, Lodge No. 1; N. Acker, No. 7; B. Kloman, No. 9; J. B. Turton, No. 11; L. Gassenheimer, No. 12; J. Van Ris- wick, No. 14; J. C. McGuire, No. 15; F. L. Harvey, No. 16; T. M. Hanson, No. 18; Noble D. Larner, No. 19; W. M., Smith, R. A. Chapter No. 1; W. G. Parkhurst, No. 2; James Steele, No. 3; Z. D. Gilman, Washington Commandery, No. 1. and W. P. Partello, Columbia, No. 2.
The directors appointed pursuant to this act purchased from Gonzaga Church and College a lot on the northwest corner of Ninth and F Streets, N. W., having a frontage of 51 feet 5 inches on Ninth Street and 131 feet 5 inches on F, for the sum of $20,000. The buildings upon the site were put under rental temporarily, but in a few years were demolished, and on May 20, 1868, the cornerstone was laid.
Members of the Fraternity in the several Departments were excused, by Executive order, to take part in the ceremonies, and it is interesting to note that Brother Andrew Johnson, then President of the United States, marched over the entire route of parade in his character as a Master Mason. Unlike the demonstration that marked the laying of the cornerstone at Four-and-a-half and D Streets, the procession on this occasion was strictly a Masonic one, and included in its escort Commanderies 1 and 2, the G. R. A. Chapter and sub- ordinate chapters, and followed closely the arrangement of the present day. The route was as follows: Starting at Ninth and E; down Ninth to Pennsylvania Avenue; to Fif- teenth Street ; to H; to New York Avenue; to Seventh Street and Massachusetts Avenue; Massachusetts Avenue to Fourth Street; to Indiana Avenue; thence to Fifth Street; along Fifth to F, and thence to Ninth. Rather a long route, one may be permitted to observe, to cover two squares.
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The ceremony was most impressively conducted by Grand Master B. B. French and the oration of the day was delivered by Brother H. P. H. Bromwell, Representative from Illinios and Past Grand Master of that jurisdiction. During the exercises appropriate music was rendered by the band and by a specially organized choir. Of the singers on the platform on that occasion there remain with us three: D. L. Burnett, E. E. W. Griffin, and Charles W. Hancock, a trio of still active members of the Fraternity, to whom many honors have come.
As early as December 17, 1868, the Grand Lodge met in the Temple for a public installation, but were not permanently located there until May, 1870, in which month the building was appropriately dedicated according to the ancient usages, the oration on this occasion being delivered by the late Bro. Ben : Perley Poore.
The growth of the Fraternity at this period was not con- fined to the central lodges, for early in May, 1867, Naval Lodge, in the Eastern section, found it necessary to enlarge its quarters, which was done by extending the building at Fifth Street and Virginia Avenue a distance of eight feet, to the building line on Fifth Street, and adding another story.
The dedicatory ceremonies took place October 17, 1867, and gain special importance from the fact that the building had been occupied previously for forty-five years without any such formality. The building is still standing, and is owned and occupied by colored organizations.
Over in the West End another lodge room was dedicated, December 6, 1867, for Hiram Lodge, No. 10, over Redfern's Store, Northeast corner Nineteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. They remained here, however, a comparatively short time, the dedication of their present room, at the southwest corner of Nineteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, tak- ing place October 30, 1872. For some years prior to the completion of the new Temple at Ninth and F, New Jerusalem and Hope were tenants of Hiram.
In Uniontown (Anacostia) Masonry arrived, upon the in-
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stitution, March 8, 1869, of Anacostia Lodge, No. 21, which was located for a number of years in a rough two-story frame structure, on Harrison near Monroe Street, the lower story of which was long a blacksmithing establishment, but later, in 1880, purchased its present site, at that time improved by a two-story frame building, in the upper story of which the lodge met for ten years. In 1890 the present handsome edifice was erected at the corner of Jackson and Pierce Streets, the lodge meeting in Naval Lodge Hall, Fifth Street and Virginia Avenue, S. E., during the period of construction.
Stansbury, No. 24, came into existence November 12, 1873, and occupying an entirely new field, in the northern suburbs, added another meeting place, Brightwood Hall, in which it found a home, and which was dedicated to Masonry in 1874.
While the Fraternity was thus reaching out and including new territory, affairs at the Temple were anything but satis- factory. As early as May, 1876, the financial conduct of that enterprise was becoming a matter of serious moment, and for a period of years a number of abortive attempts were made to ease the situation, among the propositions advanced being one to call on the ladies of the Fraternity to assist in liquidating the debt ; another, to ask the cooperation of other jurisdictions, and a third, to hold a fair. The second only of these experi- ments was tried, and, while a number of encouraging responses were received, substantial aid came not. It was the old story of history repeating itself.
In 1886, a room being dedicated in the Scottish Rite Cathe- dral, 1007 G Street, N. W., and several of the lodges finding quarters there, the revenues of the Temple were still further reduced, and the situation became much more embarrassing.
In 1890, at which time the Fraternity held but one-third of the stock of the Temple, an offer was received to purchase the building. The proposition was then advanced and debated to sell, divide the proceeds, and invest that portion held by the Fraternity in a site, title to which should be vested in the Grand Lodge. No decision was reached, and for the next five
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years a succession of committees labored fruitlessly with the problem.
In the meantime new territory was being opened up, M. M. Parker Lodge, No. 27, being instituted in 1891, and occupying a hall at the corner of Third and H Streets, N. E., where it re- mained until March 22, 1893, when the Grand Lodge dedicated its meeting place, corner of Eighth and I Streets, N. E., its present quarters at Twelfth and H Streets, N. E., being dedi- cated and occupied, in 1897; King David, No. 28, instituted November 8, 1893, locating in Brookland, D. C., and Takoma, No. 29, born in 1895, finding a home, by dispensation, in Odd Fellows' Hall in that suburb, a building which the lodge has since acquired and especially refitted for its use.
Over on Capitol Hill Naval Lodge, No. 4, always progres- sive, had purchased a site at the corner of Pennsylvania Ave- nue and Fourth Street, S. E., and erected thereon a large and imposing Masonic edifice, their present home, and this building was dedicated with great ceremony June 6, 1895. While the building was in course of erection, the lodge met for a short time in Potomac Lodge room, but soon asked and obtained permission to meet temporarily in Odd Fellows' Hall, Eighth Street, S. E.
With the exception of the establishment in 1901 of Wm. R. Singleton Lodge, No. 30, in Tenleytown, and the occupancy of the new Temple, Thirteenth Street and New York Avenue, N. W., this completes the list of the various meeting places of the Fraternity in the District of Columbia to the present.
The home of the local Scottish Rite bodies, on G Street, N. W., having been advantageously disposed of, those bodies, in February, 1910, took possession of the " House of the Tem- ple" (now the Scottish Rite Cathedral) at the corner of Third and E Streets, N. W., for a number of years the headquarters of the supreme body, and this handsome building was formally dedicated to Freemasonry May 12, 1910, by the Grand Lodge, Grand Master George C. Ober officiating.
The near future will witness the completion of three Masonic buildings now in course of construction or contemplated :
0
1111
HARDWARE " AND # HARNESS.
W.T. & F.B. WEAVER. HARDWARE * AND + HARNESS.
MASONIC HALL
MASONIC HALL, THIRTY-SECOND STREET, GEORGETOWN, D. C.
Occupied by Potomac Lodge, No. 5, since 1859, and by George C. Whiting Lodge, No. 22, since institution.
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The new home of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction, in Sixteenth Street, N. W.
The M. M. Parker Lodge Building, in Eighth Street, near F, N. E., and
The King David Lodge Building, at Brookland, D. C.
The present Masonic Temple furnishes material for the chapter which follows.
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CHAPTER XIV.
THE NEW TEMPLE.
TENTATIVE PROPOSITIONS-ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF SUCCESS- FUL PLAN-THE CORNERSTONE-LAYING AND DEDI- CATION-DESCRIPTION OF BUILDING.
"I have surely built Thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for Thee to abide in forever."-I Kings, viii, 13.
As indicated in the preceding chapter, the pressing need of a new Masonic Temple of proportions ample to accommodate the rapid growth of the Fraternity and of a character in keep- ing with the dignity of the Order began in 1890 to occupy the attention of all interested, and for a series of years many tentative propositions looking to such a consummation were advanced and carefully weighed, but an undertaking of such magnitude was not to be lightly entered upon and haste was made slowly. The briefest outline sketch of the various abort- ive movements alluded to is deemed of historical importance as contributing by a process of elimination toward the forma- tion of the plan ultimately undertaken and is as follows :
Especial interest in the subject was aroused by the forcible representation of conditions by Grand Master James A. Sam- ple in his address at the annual communication of 1890, and this was followed in 1891 by the formation of a joint commit- tee, composed of representatives from Washington Com-
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mandery, No. 1; Columbia, No. 2, and De Molay, No. 4, K. T., to investigate a project to purchase a site and erect thereon an appropriate building, and this committee, address- ing Grand Master Thos. F. Gibbs, and asking the cooperation of the Grand Lodge, the latter named a committee of five to act with the above committee conditional upon the approval of the Grand Lodge at the May communication. This joint com- mittee was short-lived by reason of the fact that the Grand Lodge on the latter date passed a resolution directing the appointment of an independent committee to examine into the matter of purchasing a site. This action was predicated on the assumption that the building then used was about to be sold, but such sale not being effected the matter was allowed to rest until attention was again called to it in 1893 by Grand Master L. C. Williamson, who strongly urged the necessity of early action and reported the appointment of a special com- mittee to advise the Grand Lodge in the premises.
This committee not reporting, Grand Master Merrill, im- mediately upon his installation, December 27, 1893, urged interest in the project and appointed a committee of five to select a site. May 9, 1894, this committee reported progress, but asked that the Grand Lodge by resolution approve of the action of the Grand Master in making the appointment and authorize its continuance. The action desired was at once taken, but nothing further being heard from the committee it was, upon recommendation of the Grand Master, discharged at the annual communication of the same year to permit the incoming Grand Master to appoint a new one, should he so desire.
Events thus moving somewhat unsatisfactorily along this particular line, Pentalpha Lodge, No. 23, at its regular meet- ing, January 7, 1895, caused to be appointed a committee of three to " investigate and agitate" the subject of a new Temple and to invite the cooperation of similar committees from the other Masonic bodies.
In view of the fact that at the May communication of the Grand Lodge (1896) Grand Master G. W. Baird, in conformity
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with a resolution then passed, appointed a special committee from the Grand Lodge to consider the matter the Pentalpha Lodge committee was discharged in the latter part of that year to leave the field open for the direction of the governing body.
The special committee reported to the Grand Lodge Novem- ber 11, 1896, on the general subject, and while no further ac- tion was taken on the report than to order it to be printed and distributed, and the powers of the committee amplified so far as to authorize it to recommend a definite site, and while the active cooperation of the Grand Lodge was soon thereafter given to the late successful movement, yet the conclusions arrived at and reported by the committee are of more than passing interest, and an excerpt from that report is therefore given. After enlarging upon the necessity for a new Temple the report says :
A site can now be obtained for from $60,000 to $75,000, which would be ample in its accommodation, and which within two or three years would probably cost twenty-five per cent. more than at present.
It is the unanimous opinion of your committee that any action taken in this matter should be in the name of the Grand Lodge, and if a site be purchased the title should be vested in that body.
We, therefore, recommend that a situation be decided upon and secured on the credit of the Grand Lodge and that the constituent lodges centrally located be asked to pledge themselves to pay to the Grand Lodge for this purpose a sum equal to fifty cents per capita, each month, on their present membership, for a term of three years; this amount to be secured by the lodges in any manner they may consider most expedient.
The lodges centrally located report a membership of about 4,250, which number, in the above-mentioned plan, would produce something more than $76,000.
We believe that the Masonic fraternity of the District of Columbia has as much local pride as the brethren of other cities, and that they are not only anxious to improve the appearance of their place of meeting, but greatly desire the comforts of modern improvement, and will respond with alacrity to a plan which will accomplish those ends. Look around you, brethren, and see what comparatively weak societies undertake and accomplish in this direction, and then say that 4,000 or 5,000 Masons, comprising the active business men of the Capital, cannot build and pay for a Masonic Temple, which shall not only be a credit to the Order and the city but in its interior a convenience to the Craft.
If, in three years, we can show a title in fee-simple to the ground there will be no difficulty in raising money for the building; so that in
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six or seven years from now we may possess a comfortable Masonic home.
Should our recommendations be favorably considered by this Grand body, the proposition might be submitted to the constituent lodges and the result of their action considered at a special meeting of the Grand Lodge. Fraternally yours, THOMAS F. GIBBS, JAMES A. SAMPLE, H. S. MERRILL, WM. BARNUM,
Committee.
While all these efforts were ineffectual they served to pre- pare the way for final concerted action, which had its incep- tion at a stated conclave of Columbia Commandery, No. 2, K. T., February, 1897, when, upon motion of Sir Knight Oscar W. White, a special conclave of that body was called for the 11th of the same month for the consideration of a proposition to build a new Temple, at which meeting the fol- lowing resolution was adopted :
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the Eminent Com- mander to consider the question of the erection of a new Masonic Temple in the City of Washington, and to this end to invite the cooperation of the other Masonic bodies of this jurisdiction through such committees as they may appoint for the same purpose; that this committee shall report to the Commandery at its earliest convenience; that the Re- corder be directed to send a copy of this resolution to all other Masonic bodies of this jurisdiction.
Under the authority of this resolution the following com- mittee was appointed : Sir Knights J. Henry Small, Jr., Chair- man; George E. Emmons, George Gibson, Samuel H. Walker, and Oscar W. White.
The work of this committee of Columbia Commandery re- sulted in the appointment of similar committees from a ma- jority of the Masonic bodies of the jurisdiction, and as early as the following month these committees met in convention, effected an organization, and elected as permanent Chairman of the Association, P. G. Master J. Henry Small, Jr .. and as Secretary Bro. Howard Perry, following which election the chairman appointed a Committee of Ways and Means con-
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sisting of Bros. A. F. Fox, Thomas Somerville, James A. Sample, James L. Norris, and C. C. Duncanson; Committee on Plans, Bros. G. W. Baird, E. G. Davis, T. M. Gale, H. L. Briscoe, and W. O. Roome; Committee on Superintendence, Bros. S. C. Palmer, George W. Evans, C. H. Smith, W. T. Galliher, and Alex. Mckenzie; Committee on Law and Or- ganization, Bros. R. B. Donaldson, S. R. Bond, S. H. Walker, Robt. I. Fleming, and F. H. Thomas; Committee on Site, Bros. Matthew Trimble, Allison Nailor, James B. Lambie, George Gibson, and Thos. P. Morgan.
The representatives to the Masonic Temple Association of the District of Columbia, as the new organization was named, were as follows: Grand Lodge, James A. Sample; Federal Lodge, No. 1, R. B. Donaldson; Columbia Lodge, No. 3, Thos. F. Gibbs; Lebanon Lodge, No. 7, Henry Orth; The New Jerusalem Lodge, No. 9, E. H. Chamberlain; Hiram Lodge, No. 10, James B. Lambie; St. John's Lodge, No. 11, Jesse W. Lee, Jr .; National Lodge, No. 12, R. C. Lewis ; Wash- ington Centennial Lodge, No. 14, William H. Baum; Benj. B. French Lodge, No. 15, Wallace H. Hills; Dawson Lodge, No. 16, Samuel R. Bond; Harmony Lodge, No. 17, Arvine W. Johnston; Acacia Lodge, No. 18, Chas. J. O'Neill; La Fayette Lodge, No. 19, Thos. P. Morgan; Hope Lodge, No. 20, Geo. W. Baird; Pentalpha Lodge, No. 23, Jos. C. John- ston; Osiris Lodge, No. 26, L. C. Williamson; King David Lodge, No. 28, Daniel G. Davis; Grand Chapter, Matthew Trimble ; Columbia Chapter, No. 1, Allison Nailor, Jr .; Wash- ington Chapter, No. 2, J. R. Garrison ; Mt. Vernon Chapter, No. 3, John H. Olcott; Eureka Chapter, No. 4, Saml. H. Walker; LaFayette Chapter, No. 5, Geo. W. Evans; Mt. Horeb Chapter, No. 7, W. F. R. Phillips; Hiram Chapter, No. 10, John C. Chaney ; Grand Commandery, E. G. Davis; Washington Commandery, No. 1, Howard Perry; Columbia Commandery, No. 2, J. H. Small, Jr .; De Molay Mtd. Com- mandery, No. 4, A. W. Kelley; Orient Commandery, No. 5. E. B. Hesse; Mithras Lodge of Perfection, H. K. Simp- son; Evangelist Chapter, Rose Croix, Wm. Oscar Roome;
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Robert de Bruce Council, A. H. Holt; Albert Pike Consis- tory, Mark D. Brainard, Sr .; Almas Temple, Harry Standi- ford.
Death and resignation have since caused the following changes in the above list : Ralph W. Lee and Charles F. Benja- min for Federal Lodge, No. 1; Josiah M. Vale and Frank B. Curtis, Columbia Lodge, No. 3; Walter T. Paine, Lebanon Lodge, No. 7; Wm. G. Henderson, The New Jerusalem Lodge, No. 9; Samuel Hart, Albert W. Bright, Alex. Mckenzie, Morris Hahn, and A. Barnes Hooe, St. John's Lodge, No. 11; H. Kronheimer and Lafayette Leaman, National Lodge, No. 12; Ralph L. Hall and W. B. Pettus, Washington Centennial Lodge, No. 14; John R. Garrison and Jas. A. Wetmore, B. B. French Lodge, No. 15; Heath Sutherland and H. W. P. Hunt, Acacia Lodge, No. 18; J. Harry Cunningham, J. Frank Traz- zare, E. C. Dutton, and J. Harry Cunningham (2d time), Hope Lodge, No. 20; W. A. Kimmel and A. M. Poynton, Pentalpha Lodge, No. 23; C. H. Buchler and Joseph Herzog, Osiris Lodge, No. 26; W. I. Jochum, Columbia Chapter, No. 1; J. G. De Moll, Washington Chapter, No. 2; Roe Fulkerson, Mt. Vernon Chapter, No. 3; Harry B. Mason, Franc. E. Sheiry, and H. K. Simpson, Eureka Chapter, No. 4; Jos. W. Zimmerman, Mt. Horeb Chapter, No. 7; Ira W. Hopkins and Mark F. Finley, Hiram Chapter, No. 10; Thos. M. Gale, ยท Benj. S. Graves, and Chas. T. Caldwell, Washington Com- mandery, No. 1; Wm. H. Wunder, Orient Commandery, No. 5; Samuel E. Aler, Mithras Lodge of Perfection; Harrison Dingman, Evangelist Chapter, Rose Croix; Geo. H. Walker, B. F. Smith, and R. F. Mentzell, Robert de Bruce Council; Frank H. Thomas, Jacobus S. Jones, E. F. Frost, and F. J. Woodman, Albert Pike Consistory, the last named in each case holding at the reorganization. The following representatives were added within the last few years : Wm. F. Meyers, Armin- ius Lodge, No. 25 ; Alex. Mckenzie, Temple Lodge, No. 32; F. R. Underwood, Ruth Chapter, No. 1, O. E. S .; Chas. S. Hyer, Naomi Chapter, No. 3, O. E. S., and George Gibson, Esther
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Chapter, No. 5, O. E. S. The vacancy caused by the death of E. G. Davis, the Grand Commandery representative, has not yet been filled.
Steps were at once taken to have the Association regularly incorporated, and this was done by act of Congress in the spring of 1898, and was consummated by the signature of the President of the United States April 15 of that year.
Section 2 of the Act of April 15, 1898 (30 U. S. Stat., 357), provides :
That the purposes and designs of this corporation shall be the purchase of a site in the City of Washington, in said District, and the erection and maintenance thereon of a Masonic Temple, whereby the mutual im- provement of its members and the tenets and the educational, benevolent, and charitable work and purposes of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons and of bodies related thereto may be promoted and advanced; and for said purposes the said corporation shall have power to take and hold, encumber and convey, such real, not exceeding one-quarter of a block, and personal estate as may be necessary therefor, to erect such buildings thereon, and to rent the same or any parts thereof as a source of revenue for the purposes aforesaid.
Section 7 provides :
That the capital stock of this corporation shall not be less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars nor more than three hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of ten dollars each.
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