USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 51
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Monday evening, January 8, 1844, the first Grand Lodge held in Iowa City closed its session as follows: "The even- ing session closed and on invitation of Brother Ballard the members of the Grand Lodge and visiting brothers joined in procession to the hotel where Brother Chauncey Swan, the landlord, provided a banquet." Commenting on this the writ-
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er said: "It is to be ever regretted that a reporter was not included at this initial feast of Iowa Masons, that the menu and the toasts might have been preserved to give us knowledge of appetite and post-prandial sentiment." On Tuesday morn- ing, January 9, 1844, the Grand Lodge met again, when the Grand Master was authorized "to appoint a brother to convey to the Grand Lodge of Missouri, at its next annual communi- cation, official knowledge of the constitution of a Grand Lodge in Iowa."
In accordance with his instructions, Grand Secretary T. S. Parvin notified the Missouri Grand Lodge of the action taken. He was one of the founders of the first lodge in Iowa, No. 1, at Burlington, in 1840; also of the second lodge, No. 2, at Muscatine in 1841, when the town was called Bloomington. He became the Grand Secretary in 1844 and held this office until his death, with the exception of one year, 1852, when he was Grand Master.435
White Marble lodge No. 238, A. F. and A. M., of North Lib- erty, was instituted by Judge W. E. Miller, deputy grand master, in June, 1868, the charter members and first officers including the following: A. J. Miller, W. M .; M. F. Snively, S. W .; Jacob Zeller, J. W .; William Green, Treasurer; David Stewart, Secretary; N. W. Owens, S. D .; T. N. Roberts, J. D .; J. E. Bealer, S. T. McDonald, Stewards. Thirty or more years ago the order here had a membership of nearly fifty.
In the town of Solon a Masonic lodge was established or instituted by dispensation issued in June, 1868, the date of the charter reading in the same month. The charter members and first officers were as follows: E. M. Burgess, W. M .; I. B. Grant, S. W .; A. Medowell, J. W .; R. A. Keen, Secretary; R. P. Mulock, Treasurer; John Chisman, R. C. Caldwell, A. O. Lake and Charles W. McCune. The charter was soon sur- rendered as the lodge was not able to sustain an organization. This was called at the time of its existence, Wayfaring lodge No. 385, A. F. and A. M.
On June 27, 1870, a dispensation was granted for the or- ganization of Canopy lodge No. 290, A. F. and A. M., of Ox- ford. The charter members were Thomas Heifner, Geo. W. Dunham, E. R. Wallace, Cyrus N. Carson, J. H. McFarland, J. W. Clark, James Remley, and Joseph O'Brien.
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July 9 of that year the first meeting was held when the officers chosen were J. H. McFarland, W. M .; E. R. Wallace, S. W .; Geo. W. Dunham, J. W .; J. W. Clark, S. D .; Thos. Heifner, Treasurer, and James Remley, Secretary.
John E. Douglas was the first initiate to be raised to the degree of a master mason, which work was accomplished on December 31, 1870. By the last of April the next year the tenth man, C. T. Estabrook, had been added to the master masons of the village, and Mr. Estabrook remained a member of this lodge until his death, December 31, 1910, the very last day of the old year when he was called from his labors to that rest which must come to the oldest member of the lodge. Other members who have served long and faithfully are these : J. H. Nesmith, who took up the work in 1877; R. J. Miller, 1881; J. H. Christy, 1881; J. H. Cook, 1883; Al. Yenter, 1886; J. A. Klump, 1887; G. Crissinger, 1889; A. T. Cook, 1889; G. W. Cook, 1890; H. A. Frank, 1891; E. D. Jones, 1892.
This lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons has been wise in its financial management since it owns its own build- ing and three adjoining buildings which are valued at $15,000, a record that is worthy of mentioning as it often happens that fraternities are struggling with debt. The officers of the present year have been named: R. I. Clearman, W. M .; R. K. Luse, S. W .; O. L. Karsten, J. W .; F. E. Burbank, S. D .; E. G. Cotter, J. D .; R. P. Jones, secretary ; E. D. Jones, treas- urer; G. W. Cook, tyler. The membership on the first of January, 1911, was sixty-five.138
By virtue of a dispensation issued by the Grand Lodge of Iowa on June 14, 1894, the petitioners for Abner lodge No. 535, A. F. and A. M., assembled in Lone Tree for organization on July 17. In the dispensation William Sweet was named as W. M .; H. B. McCullough as S. W., and A. H. DeLano as J. W., and these with the other petitioners, Charles Fern- strom, John M. Kelso, W. A. Pullen, Geo. J. Peppel, J. C. Newton, C. D. Booth, J. A. Willert, A. B. Wescott, J. H. Krider, M. J. Sims, and William Sims, proceeded to establish a lodge under the usual regulations. The dispensation was authorized by L. E. Fellows, then Grand Master, and T. S. Parvin, Grand Secretary.
It happened that the first petition for membership came
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from William Zimmerman, and this was offered at the first meeting under the dispensation. At a called meeting in June, 1895, the reading of the charter was heard and Abner Brad- ley, M. W. G. M., installed the officers June 25. The officers for 1911 are: Ernest Rehm, W. M .; F. W. Zimmerman, S. W .; David Jayne, J. W .; William Zimmerman, Secretary, and H. C. Buell, Treasurer. Fifty-six members support this or- ganization.
The charter members of Kosciusko lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows were S. M. Ballard, A. H. Palmer, William Patterson, M. L. Morris, Elzy Lindsay and Thomas Hughes. However the names of Geo. W. McCleary and J. R. Hartsock were in the charter although they were not present at the formation of the lodge.
The lodge was organized through dispensation from the Grand Lodge of the United States on the tenth day of October, 1846, when Dr. S. M. Ballard was chosen N. G .; A. H. Palmer, V. G., and M. L. Morris, Treasurer, and the lodge became known by its present name and as number six. On this day in October afternoon and evening sessions were held, three petitions for membership being presented in the evening. It was then also that a committee to make arrangements for the securing of rooms and the furnishings of a lodge room was appointed.
It was in the February following, or in 1847, that the first steps were taken to form a grand lodge in the state, Kosciusko lodge commencing the correspondence for that purpose. On March 24, 1847, the records indicate that P. G. Ballard was appointed to represent the lodge at a meeting in Bloomington to consider the organization of a Grand Lodge. It appears that soon after this a lease was obtained from the Masonic lodge of a room in the second story of Mechanics Acadamy for twenty dollars a year, which was used for probably twelve months when a room on Clinton street in the second story of a brick building was rented from John Brown, located evident- ly not far south of the Saint James hotel. This was used for several years when a hall was obtained from Samuel Work- man in what was afterwards known as the Powell Block. In writing of the history of this lodge H. W. Lathrop said: "I cannot but contrast the present meeting place with the one
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THE ELES BUILDING, IOWA CITY
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occupied by the lodge forty years ago. That was then un- finished, the walls and ceiling being only first coated, with an ante room only lathed, the floor uncarpeted, and the doors and window frames unpainted. Here in place of rough brown mortar, we have walls beautifully frescoed; instead of dim and feeble tallow dips we have now a chandelier whose bril- liant gas jets almost rival the light of day ; instead of emblems of the rudest construction we have them in perfection from the hands of the most skillful artisans."
It is interesting to note here that on May 19, 1847, William Downard of Manchester, England, applied for admission to the lodge on a card from what was called Manchester Unity. This it appears was a different branch of the order with which the lodge as established here did not affiliate and he was ac- cepted in the usual way. It was on May 26, 1847, that the man who wrote the sketch of the lodge in 1887, H. W. Lathrop, from Unea lodge No. 201, New York, was present as a visitor for the first time, and November 10, 1847, S. Magill, of Chosen Friends lodge No. 34, Maryland, was first recorded as present.
In December following this the resolution here given was adopted: "Resolved, That the secretary of this lodge official- ly inform the several lodges of this state that a convention, constituted as required by the constitution and by-laws of the M. W. Grand Lodge of the United States, will be held at Iowa City, on the 17th of January next for the purpose of consider- ing the subject of petitioning said M. W. Grand Lodge for a charter for a Grand Lodge of Iowa, and of forwarding said petition if desirable."
What came of this resolution is not stated for the following April or at the eighty-fourth meeting of this lodge a com- munication was read from District Deputy Grand Sire John J. Potts, of Galena, Illinois, who had instituted the lodge in 1846, instructing the lodge to send the proper officers to meet in convention at Bloomington on the first day of May. This it is said was for the purpose, so far as the records show, of organizing a Grand Lodge for the state.
As a most worthy feature of all the honest fraternities the consideration of the widow and orphan is of the first im- portance, and this was provided for in 1848 by an assessment of twelve and one-half cents per member for each quarter.
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To enumerate all the charitable acts of any lodge of this char- acter would be impossible, but it is uncommon to find such an organization going beyond its membership to aid the dis- tressed, yet such an act occurred more than fifty years ago when a member called the attention of the lodge to the needs of a widow and her family in distress in the days when the county, as mentioned in a following chapter, had not become able to care for its poor. Ten dollars in money were ordered paid to the needy one, although neither she nor any of her family had any claim on the lodge as an organization.
It was in October, 1848, that the lodge made its first pro- vision for a purchase of a building lot, when part of lot two in block eighty-one, which lies on the south side of Washing- ton street between Clinton and Dubuque, was bought by the lodge for $82.50. After being held for several years by the lodge and the railroad talk became common, the lot was sold at an advance, and another and larger one was purchased on Clinton north of Jefferson street, this being sold in 1871 for $500.
In 1850, at the time of the first movements of the Washing- ton Monument Association, Kosciusko lodge was asked for a contribution to aid in its erection, when a donation of ten dollars was sent to the proper authorities, the receipt acknowl- edging the same with a cut of the completed monument, oc- cupying a place on the walls of the lodge room in later years. It is well known that the ten dollars so subscribed was used in the first work and then a long interval occurred before the desired completion as represented in the cut sent to the lodge.
The connection of the organization with the Iowa Female Collegiate Institute has been mentioned in the chapters on education, but it appears that the entire subject was thorough- ly investigated by the officers of this lodge before the project was abandoned and had the right man appeared at the time it might have succeeded, according to the suggestions as found in the account of the building, and of its final dis- position. At the time of the laying of the corner stone of the Institute there were the names of thirty-three members listed on the roll as placed in the receptacle, which in a later day, was left in the care of the State Historical Society. That stone was laid on October 24, 1854, and it may be said that
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not only this lodge, but those that have taken up an independ- ent organization from the parent lodge, had a part in the final deliberations that settled the future of the undertaking in 1858.
Like many other groups for special purposes, in organiza- tion this lodge became the parent of others, and it is stated that in 1848 "a few brothers at Marion, desirous of forming a lodge, and not a legal number for that purpose, it was resolved that any two members of this lodge wishing to withdraw therefrom for the purpose of forming a lodge at Marion, be permitted to do so without forfeiting their rights to benefits in this lodge, and that they be received again without the usual fees of admission."
It is further stated that in February, 1853, "some twelve or more members took final cards and formed Eureka lodge No. 44. . . I do not know how many members we then had, but probably seventy-five or more, and the events of succeeding years showed that we had work enough for two lodges, and I doubt whether Kosciusko No. 6 was ever envious of her proud young daughter during her teens, nor should she be now that that daughter has reached mature years." It was in March of 1853 that the rooms of the older lodge were leased to the new one for $24 a year, and the parent lodge attempted to secure new quarters 'in Workman's new building.' In May, 1855, an invitation was received from Eureka lodge 'to be in attendance at the dedication of their new hall, which was accepted.' "
Eureka lodge No. 44 now owns property in Iowa City valued at approximately $40,000. It is located at the corner of Col- lege and Dubuque streets, the chief building of three stories, now furnishing a home for the Citizens Savings and Trust Company with the lodge-rooms on the third floor.
According to the sketch of Mr. Lathrop it was on August 2, 1848, that "the treasurer [ of Kosciusko No. 6] was authorized to loan twelve dollars to the brothers applying for a charter for an Encampment, and at the next regular meeting the hall was granted in which to organize it." However, it appears from another source that Good Samaritan Encampment No. 5 was finally organized in October, 1869, with nine charter mem- bers. It may be mentioned here that for forty-two years J. Norwood Clark held the office of scribe in Good Samaritan En-
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campment since he was chosen to the office in 1851 and declined reëlection in 1900.
Mr. Lathrop said in his historical address, read before Kosciusko lodge on its fortieth anniversary on October 10, 1886, that "twenty-seven years ago last month a communica- tion was received from brothers Bloom and Brimmer in regard to the establishing of a lodge to work in the German language, and its establishment was recommended by a vote of the lodge, and the use of the hall granted for that purpose."
Somewhat less then forty years ago, Penn lodge No. 282 was instituted in North Liberty, its charter dating from 1874. Among the original membership were J. Madden, Henry Hackett, J. Bealer, Peter Eberly, and E. H. Peffer.
Acme lodge No. 505 I. O. O. F., of Oxford, now having a membership of forty-eight, was organized in March, 1890, with J. W. Oxier, Thomas Franter, W. H. Poole, J. W. O'Brien, John Hardy, and James Cropley, as charter members, the first four of these constituting the chief official membership. At this date they are well established in a building of their own, valued at $5,000.
April 11, 1895, District Deputy Grand Master A. C. Howell and acting Grand Secretary J. Norwood Clark instituted Solon lodge No. 610 I. O. O. F. The first officers chosen and installed included Joseph W. Paula, Frank Mekota, J. S. Ulch, A. E. Bulichek, and C. H. Palmer. For more than ten years since that time Frank Mekota has acted as recording secretary of this lodge, and he also held the chief office in the lodge during the second year of its organization. W. A. Paula served in the same offices as well as J. W. Paula, while C. H. Palmer has held the office of treasurer during the entire time of the ex- istence of the lodge. Since its organization it has paid in benefits and donations about $600.187
A more recent organization of the Odd Fellows is found in Omega lodge No. 728, of Lone Tree, which was instituted in 1909 by Grand Master L. W. White. On May 13, of the year of institution, the lodge initiated the large number of seventy- six candidates. The charter members and first officers with the present officers are here given :
Dayton M. Riggs, N. G .; Milo S. Albright, V. G .; Max S. Skolnik, treasurer; James W. Lux, secretary; Peter Benson,
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Ernest Rehn, John McGinnis, Anton Swanson, H. L. Skolnik, M. F. Simitz.
Present officers : Austin A. Hines, N. G .; Leon B. Hague, V. G .; F. P. Vondraska, recording secretary; M. F. Simitz, financial secretary ; Milo S. Albright, treasurer.438
C. S. P. S. stands for the full name of the Bohemian Slavon- ian Benevolent Society. The Iowa City branch of the order is known as Lodge P. J. Safarik No. 75 C. S. P. S., organized in 1882, and some of its work is stated here. At that time a society existed in Iowa City which was composed of Bohemian members who recognized the dangers that con- fronted a stranger in a strange land. When any member was stricken by sickness or by death the members of the organiza- tion always lent assistance and made the sorrow less in all possible ways. Besides this sympathetic action the organiza- tion was in fact an educational society, where its people were instructed in the laws and usages of their adopted home. It was the society which furnished a nucleus about which a great organization might have been formed, that gave the impetus to the C. S. P .S .. The society then numbering about thirty-five became part of the national order in 1882. The parent society of the United States dates its organization from 1854, when it was perfected in Saint Louis. The particular occasion of this history came about through the plans for the building that was erected for a school and meeting place for the several organiza- tions of the people concerned, which was to be begun in 1899. The sum of five thousand dollars or more was spent on this building before completion. Library, social and educational organizations were provided for and rooms for the school were part of the plan.
The dedication of this new home occurred February 19, 1901. Six hundred people crowded the hall. Addresses were made by prominent citizens and leading members of the society, among them, the president of the organization, Paul A. Korab, Mayor F. K. Stebbins, and Judge M. J. Wade, who complimented the order on its success in completing a home of its own.439
The first representatives of the Bohemian people came to this vicinity about fifty-seven years ago. Their leading repre- sentative for many years was Anton Sulek. The pioneers of
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these people spoke a language that neither American nor German understood, but this did not prevent the early exhibi- tion of qualities of citizenship which were of great value in developing a new land. The number of these people in this county had reached three thousand during the first eighteen years of their immigration, and there were many more in ad- joining territory. Accustomed to using the poorer lands in the rough parts of the county in the beginning and clearing the ground from which the timber had been cut they made gardens where before was a waste of stumps. One who rode through Jefferson township as long ago as 1870 remarked on the pros- perity of these people. Not only were they skillful in making the soil produce where it had been going to waste, but they soon became the mechanics of the town, the business men, and prop- erty holders, adapting themselves to the new conditions of a country where men were not under despotic rule.
Educational advantages were accepted at the very first op- portunity not omitting the item of current events found in the paper published in their own language.
Eleven years ago, approximately the lodge that now con- trols the fine building on the corner of Gilbert and Washington streets, the B. P. O. E. No. 590 was not yet organized, for it was on May 24, 1900, that the district deputy, L. C. Bolton, of Oskaloosa, assisted in establishing the order here. In the work then done there was a total of sixty-four charter mem- bers, only thirty-nine of whom are now left upon the rolls, in a total membership of nearly 380.
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At the first election of officers, Judge Wade, presiding, Henry Louis was chosen to the chief office, while the other officers included O. L. Keith, Eugene Epstein, S. A. Coldren, G. T. Reddick, Henry Evers, A. W. Ely, O. H. Carpenter, G. W. Schmidt, Homer Hughes, J. M. Cash, H. A. Strub, and Max Mayer.
For one and a half years the organization held its sessions in the rooms over the Johnson County Savings bank, and then traded with the Knights of Pythias, since that gave more room. Remaining in the latter quarters for five years the next move was to the Freeman property, which the lodge purchased, where it remained for three years, or, until the present hall was completed, the dedication occurring in November, 1909.
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The estimated value of the present home of this organization is placed at $50,000. Below are the names of the men who have served as past exalted rulers : Henry Louis, W. P. Hohen- schuh, L. A. Clearman, F. H. P. Edwards, George T. Borland, George T. Reddick, George W. Schmidt.
Twelve camps of the Modern Woodmen of America are found in Johnson county. Probably O. K. camp of Iowa City was the first organized since its date in 1886, when it began with eighteen charter members. As most people understand, the chief purpose of this organization is for protection through fraternal insurance, this body being one of the most popular of the assessment companies. The camp here mentioned has a membership reaching to nearly five hundred, the total mem- bership in the county running above twelve hundred. Organi- zations of this fraternity are found at Tiffin, Oxford, Frank Pierce, Hills, Lone Tree, Oases, Morse, Solon, Shueyville, North Liberty and Iowa City with two camps, the one men- tioned, and another organized in 1900.
The Knights of Pythias also are represented in the county, the oldest lodge dating probably from 1883, when Corinth Lodge was established in Iowa City. This order is also found in a prosperous form in the town of Lone Tree.
There are a number of recent fraternal groups that have something, doubtless, of individual local interest, but the future will place them in their relative historical setting since details cannot be furnished here. Many of the older organiza- tions have auxiliaries composed of women who are privileged to join by virtue of belonging to families, where the fraternity is represented. Of such a nature is Jessamine Chapter No. 135, O. E. S., of Iowa City, organized October 5, 1893. It was therefore the first chapter in the county. The past chief of- ficers are here given:
Past matrons: Mrs. Sarah Bloom, 1893; Mrs. Kate D. Allin, 1894-95; Mrs. Estelle Ball, 1896; Miss Irene Parsons, 1897-98-1901; Mrs. Alice Lytle, 1899; Mrs. Kittie Reddick, 1900; Mrs. S. M. Graf, 1902-03; Mrs. Panene K. Lindsley, 1904-05; Mrs. Inez G. Moore, 1906-07; Miss Emma Watkins, 1908-09; Mrs. Inez G. Moore, 1910.
Past patrons : W. E. Shrader, 1893-94; Bruce Moore, 1895- 96-97-1901-02-03; W. F. Cramer, 1898; A. J. Younkin, 1899-
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1900; Dr. S. S. Lytle, 1904-05-06; A. C. Howell, 1907-08-09; R. L. Dunlap, 1910.
The Eastern Star of Oxford bears the name of Agnes Par- vin, for the widow of T. S. Parvin, for so many years the Grand Secretary of the Iowa Masons. The chapter No. 272 was organized about ten years ago with twenty-five charter members and now has a membership of sixty-nine. Mrs.Edith Clearman is the W. M., L. Karsten, W. P., Mrs. Carrie Jones, A. M., Mrs. Leona Karsten, secretary, and E. D. Jones, treasurer.
Fern Leaf chapter No. 199, O. E. S., of Lone Tree, Iowa, dates its organization from October 28, 1896, having eighteen charter members : Mrs. Anna Smith, Mrs. Elsie De Lano, Mrs. A. N. Kalb, Miss Helen Fernstrom, Mrs. Ida Howell, Mrs. Rose Mccullough, Miss Sade J. Pettis, Mrs. Francis Peppel, Mrs. Rose Zimmerman, Mrs. Mary Sweet, Mrs. Lou Salade, Ace Kalb, A. H. De Lano, P. L. Smith, C. A. Fernstrom, Henry Mccullough, Wm. Sweet, and Wm. Zimmerman. At this date there are eighty-four members of the chapter, a membership suggesting the effort they are making to furnish their chapter room.
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