History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1, Part 55

Author: Cook, Louis A. (Louis Atwood), 1847-1918, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: New York; Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 644


USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 55


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result of the opposition, Constellation Lodge surrendered its charter about 1842. Five years later the Church Street building was sold.


The lodge was reorganized under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge dated February 9, 1871. Frederick D. Ely was the first worshipful master after the reorganization. The lodge is now in a prosperous condition and holds meetings regularly on the top floor of Memorial Hall.


St. Alban's Lodge of Foxboro was chartered in 1818 and is still in existence. It has a well furnished hall and holds its regular meetings on the Monday evening on or before the full moon in each month.


Blue Hill Lodge at Canton is the outgrowth of the removal of Rising Star Lodge back to Stoughton in 1817. The Masons living in Canton a few years later petitioned the Grand Lodge for permission to organize a lodge at Canton. A dispensation was granted and from that time to the present Blue Hill Lodge has had a steady growth.


Orphans' Hope Lodge was instituted on June 8, 1825, at Weymouth Landing, the charter being granted to "John Edson and others." John Edson was the first worshipful master and Timothy Gordon the first secretary. During the anti- Masonic excitement, the charter of this lodge was surrendered in 1830, but on September 10th it was reissued and the lodge was reorganized. The reorganized lodge met at North Weymouth for a time, then removed to East Weymouth, where a hall was built about 1884. Regular meetings of this lodge are now held on the third Wednesday evening of each month. A fine, new temple has recently been erected for the use of the Masonic bodies of Weymouth.


Orient Lodge of Norwood was instituted under a charter from the Grand Lodge dated March 16, 1862. Owing to the Civil war, the growth of the lodge was slow for a few years, but it is now one of the strongest Masonic organizations in the county. A handsome temple was completed in 1917, at a cost of over sixty thousand dollars. The regular meetings of Orient Lodge are held on the second Monday evening of each month.


Konohasset Lodge, located at Cohasset, was instituted in June, 1865, with twelve charter members, four of whom lived in the Town of Scituate. George Beal, Jr., was the first worshipful master. About 1892 the lodge erected a build- ing on Elm Street with two store rooms on the main floor and a hall above. Here regular meetings are held on Friday evening on or before each full moon. In 1917 Peter W. Sharp was worshipful master and E. L. Stevens, secretary.


Delta Lodge of Braintree was organized on July 2, 1869, at Weymouth Land- ing .. This lodge is the outgrowth of the removal of Orphans' Hope Lodge to North Weymouth after its reorganization. The first meeting of Delta Lodge was held on May 12, 1868, at which time the Grand Lodge was asked for a dispensation to institute a lodge. The dispensation was granted, with Edward Avery as the first worshipful master and C. G. Thompson as the first secretary. The regular meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday evening of each month.


Beth-horan Lodge was organized at Brookline in 1870 by Masons of that town who belonged to the lodges in Roxbury and Boston. George F. Homer was the first worshipful master. Starting with fifteen charter members, this lodge now has a membership of several hundred and owns its home, one of the best appointed in Eastern Massachusetts. Regular meetings are held on the second Tuesday evening of each month.


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Cassia Lodge was instituted at Medfield in 1823. Academy Hall was pur- chased and fitted up for a lodge room. In 1845, for some reason, the lodge sur- rendered its charter and the building was sold to the town for school purposes. Some of the members of this lodge afterward joined Charles River Lodge at Medway, which is still in existence.


Norfolk Lodge, located at Needham, was organized under dispensation on April 6, 1874, with Emery Grover as the first master. It was instituted under a charter dated July 1, 1875. This lodge has been twice burned out-in May, 1882, and May, 1887. Notwithstanding these mishaps, it now numbers about three hundred members and holds regular meetings on the second Monday evening of each month.


Excelsior Lodge, located at Franklin, holds its regular meetings on the first Monday evening of each month. This lodge has been organized for about half a century and is one of the flourishing Masonic organizations of the county.


The youngest Masonic lodge in the county is Wollaston Lodge, which was instituted on June 2, 1900. It meets regularly on the first Tuesday evening of each month and is in a prosperous condition.


THE HIGHER DEGREES


There are in Norfolk County six Royal Arch Chapters, to wit: Mount Zion at Stoughton, organized in 1821; Keystone at Foxboro, instituted in 1861 ; Pentalpha at East Weymouth, established in 1870; Miller at Franklin, organized some time in the '7os; St. Stephen's at Quincy, and Hebron at Norwood. The latter was instituted on June 12, 1883.


There are also two commanderies of Knights Templar. South Shore Com- mandery, located at East Weymouth, was instituted on October 13, 1871, and Quincy Commandery was chartered on March 29, 191I.


ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR


Connected with Masonry is a degree known as the "Eastern Star," to which the wives, sisters and daughters of Master Masons are eligible. The local organ- izations of this degree are called chapters, of which there are seven in Norfolk County, viz .: Eastern, No. 47, at Foxboro; Mayflower, No. 65, at Weymouth ; Quinobequin, No. 67, at West Medway ; Quincy, No. 88, at Quincy ; Samoset, No. 109, at Norwood; Brookline, No. 112, at Brookline; and Canton, No. 132, at Canton.


INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS


The Independent Order of Odd Fellows dates back to 1745 and finds its origin in a society organized in England in that year under the name of "The Antient and Most Noble Order of Bucks." Some writers have endeavored to establish the fact that the society was founded by some dissatisfied members of the Masonic fraternity, who hoped to make it a successful rival of that order, but the state- ment lacks foundation. The oldest records of the "Antient and Most Noble Order of Bucks" are those of Aristarchus Lodge, which met for some time in


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the Globe Tavern in London. About 1773 the society began to decline, but a few lodges held on and finally succeeded in bringing about a reorganization. George IV, when Prince of Wales, was admitted to membership in the "Bucks" in 1780, and tradition says that in the ceremonies attendant upon his initiation the words "Odd Fellow" were used for the first time.


In 1803 a grand lodge was organized in England, but six years later a lodge at Manchester withdrew and declared itself "independent." As a sort of self- constituted grand lodge it revised the ritual and established a new order. In 1813 the "Manchester Unity, Independent Order of Odd Fellows," was founded. On December 26, 1806, Solomon and John C. Chambers, father and son, who had been initiated into the order in England, organized a lodge of Odd Fellows in New York City, but it was short-lived. Another effort to establish a lodge in New York was made in 1816, under the auspices of the Manchester Unity, but it also was unsuccessful.


In 1818 Thomas Wildey came over from England and located at Baltimore, Maryland. He had been made an Odd Fellow in England and soon after his arrival in this country he began a search for other Odd Fellows with a view to establishing a lodge, even going so far as to advertise in the newspapers. His efforts bore fruit and on April 26, 1819, a lodge was instituted in Baltimore, with Thomas Wildey, John Duncan, John Welch, Richard Rushworth and John Cheatham as the charter members. This lodge was the pioneer of Odd Fel- lowship in America. On September 23, 1842, the American lodges severed their connection with the Manchester Unity and organized a grand lodge for the United States and Canada. In those two countries there are now about two million Odd Fellows.


ODD FELLOWSHIP IN NORFOLK COUNTY


The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is the strongest of all the fraternal societies in Norfolk County, having twenty-one lodges and four encampments. These lodges differ from the Masonic lodges, in that each one bears a number. As the lodges are numbered in the order of their establishment, one would natu- rally suppose that the lodge with the smallest number would be the oldest. This, however, is not true, as the Grand Lodge has adopted the custom of keeping all numbers intact, as nearly as possible. Should a lodge surrender its charter, the next one organized is given the number of the defunct lodge, so that the number is no indication of the age of the lodge. The order was introduced in Norfolk County in 1845. During that year five lodges were organized, located in Stough- ton, Randolph, Quincy. East Weymouth and Foxboro. It is possible that some of the other lodges were also instituted in that year, as the writer has been unable to ascertain the date when some of them were established.


Stoughton Lodge, No. 72, was instituted on May 5, 1845, with nine charter members and Elisha Page as noble grand. It is still in existence and holds meetings every Wednesday evening.


Rising Star Lodge, No. 76, located at Randolph, was organized May 24, 1845, at a meeting held in the law office of John King. The lodge was regularly instituted on June 3, 1845, by officers of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. Hiram Alden was then installed as noble grand and R. W. Turner as secretary. This


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lodge owns the building in which its hall is situated and is a flourishing organi- zation.


On July 18, 1845, Mount Wollaston Lodge, No. 80, at Quincy, was instituted. This is one of the strongest lodges in the county, though some of its members have withdrawn at different times for the purpose of forming new lodges. Reg- ular meetings are held Tuesday evening of each week.


Crescent Lodge, No. 82, was instituted at East Weymouth on August 22, 1845. . During the next quarter of a century its growth was almost phenomenal, as in 1870 it reported nearly three hundred members. It is still one of the leading lodges of the county.


The exact date when Excelsior Lodge of Foxboro was instituted cannot be given. It bore the number 87 at the time it was organized, which would indicate that it was not far behind the lodge at East Weymouth. On October 19, 1887, the lodge was reorganized under its original number, and since then it has made a steady growth.


King David Lodge, No. 71, located at Franklin, is another old Odd Fellows' organization, but the exact date of its institution could not be ascertained.


Eliot Lodge, No. 58, was organized at Newton Upper Falls on January 30, 1845, but at that time was not a Norfolk County lodge. On May 22, 1845, it surrendered its charter and was not revived until February 25, 1870, when it was reestablished and began holding meetings in the Parker Block at Needham. Here it was burned out on May 12, 1887, after which it met for a time in the Masonic Hall. It then moved to Highland Hall, Needham Heights, where it is still located.


Wildey Lodge, No. 21, of South Weymouth, was instituted on March 9, 1875, with eighteen charter members. Ten years later it numbered about one hundred and fifty. About that time, or a little earlier, the lodge erected a building with two store rooms on the main floor and a public hall and lodge room above. The cost of this building was about fifteen thousand dollars.


Sincerity Lodge, No. 173, of Wellesley, was instituted on August 9, 1875, by former members of Eliot Lodge. It has a strong membership and meets regu- larly in a nicely furnished hall of its own.


Puritan Lodge, No. 179, located at South Braintree, was organized on April II, 1877, by Odd Fellows belonging to Mount Wollaston Lodge of Quincy and the lodges at East Weymouth and Canton. Five years later it numbered nearly one hundred members. This lodge has a nice hall and, while it cannot boast as many members as some of the other lodges, is in a prosperous condition.


Tiot Lodge, No. 50, of Norwood, was organized on March 18, 1886, and has made a steady growth from the beginning. Another lodge organized in this year is Cohasset, No. 192, which holds its meetings in the hall over the Cohasset Savings Bank.


John Hancock Lodge, No. 224, located at Wollaston, was organized on October 12, 1893, several members of the lodge at Quincy withdrawing for the purpose of forming the new lodge. Regular meetings are held on Wednesday evening of each week.


The other Odd Fellows' lodges in the county are as follows: Blue Hill, No. 93, at Canton ; Rising Sun, No. 99, at West Medway ; Reliance, No. 137, at Walpole; Medway, No. 163, at Medway ; Wampum, No. 195, at Wrentham;


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Medfield, No. 216, at Medfield ; Lomia, No. 221, at Brookline ; and Samuel Dex- ter, No. 232, at Dedham. Facts regarding the early history of these lodges could not be obtained, but from the Grand Lodge reports it is learned that a majority of them are active and enjoying a state of prosperity. Several of them own buildings, the lodges at Medfield and Walpole being especially energetic in carry- ing out the principles of the order.


ENCAMPMENTS


Wompatuck Encampment, No. 18, was organized at an early date at Hing- ham. On February 2, 1851, it surrendered its charter and on October 27, 1875, was reorganized at East Weymouth, upon the petition of Stephen Cain and thirteen others. Regular meetings have been held ever since the reorganization.


Mount Hebron Encampment, No. 24. is located at Stoughton. It was organ- ized about 1886 and holds regular meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the Odd Fellows' Hall.


King's Mountain Encampment, No. 71, located at Walpole, and Manet En- campment, No. 75, at Quincy, are both strong in membership and active in the work of the order. The latter holds its regular meetings on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.


DAUGHTERS OF REBEKAH


This is a degree established for the benefit of the wives, daughters and other near female relatives of Odd Fellows. Members are generally referred to as "Rebekahs," and the lodges are called Rebekah Lodges. According to the last available report, there are thirteen Rebekah Lodges in Norfolk County. In the order of their numbers they are: Mount Olive, No. 52, at Canton; Golden Star, No. 65, at Randolph; Lady Franklin, No. 66, at Franklin ; Abigail Adams, No. 90, at South Weymouth; Amana, No. 96, at South Braintree ; Perseverance, No. 97, at Stoughton ; Steadfast, No. 98, at East Weymouth ; Rosalie, No. 116, at West Medway; Columbia, No. 121, at Foxboro; George L. Gill, No. 146, at Quincy ; Arelia M. Stetson, No. 151, at Cohasset ; Boggestowe, No. 168, at Millis, and Bethel, No. 179, at Brookline. These Rebekah Lodges work in conjunction with the men's lodges in giving social entertainments, relief work for the sick and distressed, etc.


There is one Odd Fellows' organization in Norfolk County that affiliates with the Manchester Unity, viz .: Granite Lodge, No. 7058, located at Quincy. It was organized some years ago by stone cutters who came from England, and now holds its meetings on the second and fourth Monday evenings of each month.


KNIGHTS OF PYTIIIAS


On February 15, 1864, five young men in Washington, D. C., met and listened to the ritual of a proposed secret, fraternal organization. They were all clerks in Government offices, members of the Arion Glee Club, and intimate associates. Their names were Justus H. Rathbone, William H. and David L. Burnett, Dr. Sullivan Kimball and Robert A. Champion. The ritual, which had been


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prepared by Mr. Rathbone, was based upon the friendship of Damon and Pythias. It was approved by those who listened to its reading, and the name "Knights of Pythias" was selected for the new order. Four days later Washington Lodge, No. I, was formally instituted in Temperance Hall.


Franklin Lodge, No. 2, was instituted at the Washington Navy Yard on April 12, 1864, and during the next six months several other lodges were established near the national capital. Owing to the fact that the great Civil war was then in progress, the growth of the order was slow. Discouraged by the outlook, all the lodges were disbanded except the one at the navy yard. Upon the restoration of peace a new interest was awakened, and on May 1, 1866, members of Franklin Lodge and some of those that had disbanded organized a grand lodge, with power to issue charters to subordinate lodges. Within two years the order had spread to cover the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. On May 15, 1868, the Supreme Lodge was organized by delegates from the lodges of those states.


. Since the organization of the Supreme Lodge, Knights of Pythias lodges have been organized in every state of the Union and the provinces of Canada. In 1915 the order stood fourth in the list of fraternal societies, numbering nearly one million members. In that year over a million and a half dollars were paid out for relief and charitable work. The Uniformed Rank was established in 1879. The manual of drill used by this rank is that of the United States army. In 1898, a number of officers in the volunteer army in the war with Spain were selected from the Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias. Another feature of the order is the "Dramatic Order of Knights of Khorassan," and there is also a ladies degree, called the "Pythian Sisters."


NORFOLK COUNTY KNIGHTS


Delphi Lodge, No. 15, is the oldest Knights of Pythias lodge in the county. It was instituted at Weymouth Landing on December 17, 1869, with thirteen charter members. On September 15, 1870, the building in which the lodge met was destroyed by fire, causing a loss of some of the records and lodge furniture and fixtures worth about six hundred dollars. A new hall was found and the meetings resumed. Since that time the lodge has had a steady growth and now occupies a fine hall, well furnished. A temple of the Pythian Sisters was organ- ized in connection with this lodge a few years ago.


Roger Sherman Lodge, No. 142, located at Canton, was named for one of the Connecticut signers of the Declaration of Independence who was a resident of Canton in his boyhood, and attended the Canton schools. It occupies a good hall and has a growing membership.


Monatiquot Lodge, No. 83, is located in Braintree and is one of the old lodges of the county. Little could be learned regarding its history, as the early records have been destroyed.


Merrymount Lodge, No. 77, was organized at Quincy in May, 1913, and Merrymount Temple of the Pythian Sisters was organized in May, 1916. The lodge meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month in a well furnished hall and is on the road to prosperity.


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Chemung Lodge, No. 150, is located at Stoughton. It holds regular meetings on the second and fourth Fridays of each month and has a strong membership. Onward Lodge, No. 144, of Dedham, meets on the second and fourth Tues- days of each month in the Odd Fellows' Hall, No. 620 High Street.


GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC


The Grand Army of the Republic is an organization of soldiers, sailors and marines who fought to preserve the Union in the War of 1861-65. As early as the spring of 1864, Dr. B. F. Stephenson and Rev. W. J. Rutledge, surgeon and chaplain, respectively, of the Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, dis- cussed the advisability of organizing some kind of an association of veterans to perpetuate the fraternal relations established during the war. These two men, with a few associates, joined in calling a meeting at Decatur, Illinois, for April 6, 1866, and it was at that meeting that the Grand Army was born. The aims of the order are to collect and preserve historic relics and documents per- taining to the war ; to aid and assist sick and disabled Union veterans, their widows and orphans; to observe Memorial Day by suitable patriotic exercises and the decoration of the graves of fallen comrades ; to keep alive the cherished incidents of the camp and campaign; and to teach lessons of patriotism to the rising generation.


In the plan of organization each state constitutes a "Department" and local societies are called "Posts." The first post was organized at Decatur, Illinois, at the meeting above mentioned, and the first national encampment was held at Indianapolis, Indiana, in November, 1866. The order reached its greatest strength in 1890, when it numbered over four hundred thousand members. Each year since then the number of those who "answer the last roll call" has increased until in 1915 the death rate was about one thousand per month. Many of the posts in the smaller towns have been discontinued. The Grand Army is largely responsible for the establishment of Memorial Day (May 30th) as a legal holi- day, and it has been influential in securing the enactment of laws in the states providing for soldiers' homes and institutions for the care and education of soldiers' orphans.


NORFOLK COUNTY POSTS


The first post in Norfolk County was Lincoln Post, No. 40, which was organized at North Weymouth on January 2, 1868, and was named for the martyred President of the United States. Gen. B. F. Pratt, who had previously joined the order in Boston, was the first commander.


John F. Reynolds Post, No. 58, was organized at East Weymouth on July 14, 1868, with Gen. James L. Bates as the first commander. It was named for Gen. John F. Reynolds, who was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. General Bates was commander of the Department of Massachusetts in 1870, and Col. Ben- jamin S. Lovell of this post was senior vice commander of the Department in 1881. In August, 1873, Lincoln Post surrendered its charter and united with Reynolds Post.


Sylvanus Thayer Post, No. 87, was organized at Braintree on June 4, 1869,


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with ten charter members, by Gen. James L. Bates. It was named for one of Braintree's veterans of the Civil war, who gave to the town the public library building and the Thayer Academy. This post is now one of the most active in the county.


Paul Revere Post, No. 88, located at Quincy ; E. P. Carpenter Post, No. 91, of Foxboro; Revere Post, No. 94, at Canton; and Horace Niles Post, No. 110, at Randolph, were all organized in the year 1869. The posts at Quincy and Canton bear the name of a Revolutionary patriot, and the one at Randolph was named in honor of Capt. Horace Niles, who commanded the first company that went out from the town in 1861.


Moses Ellis Post, No. 117, located at Medfield, was established in 1870, with fifteen charter members. It was named for Moses Ellis, of Framingham, who assisted the post financially at the time of its organization.


Charles L. Chandler Post, No. 143, was organized at Brookline in 1871. Starting with sixteen charter members, its growth was rapid and five years later the membership was about one hundred and fifty. This post is still one of the leading Grand Army organizations of the county.


In 1880 the Grand Army of the Republic underwent a reorganization. Some of the posts that had been established previous to that time were also reorganized. Sargent Post, of Medway, was organized in 1882, the first to be founded in Norfolk County after the order was reorganized. It was named in honor of Dr. James H. Sargent, for many years a resident of the town.


Henry Bryant Post, No. 98, located at Cohasset, was instituted on January 15, 1883, and was named for a prominent citizen of the town, who was a brigade surgeon in the Civil war. Cyrus L. Bates was commander of this post in 1917.


George H. Bird Post, No. 169, was organized at Norwood under a charter dated July 21, 1884. A post was organized at Wellesley about this time, but it afterward surrendered its charter and a Soldiers' Club was established in its place.


Other Grand Army posts in the county are: No. 60, at Franklin; St. John Chambre, No. 72, at Stoughton; No. 102, at Milton; George H. Maintien, No. 133, at Wrentham; Charles W. Carroll, at Dedham; and E. B. Piper Post, at Walpole. In the observance of Memorial Day, it has become a custom in recent years for the towns to appropriate money to defray the expenses of the Grand Army posts. These appropriations in 1916 ranged from $25.00 in Westwood to $400 in Quincy and Weymouth. In some of the towns quarters have been provided in the town building for the use of the order.


WOMEN'S RELIEF CORPS


Connected with the Grand Army is a ladies' society known as the Women's Relief Corps, which was founded soon after the order was reorganized in 1880. Almost every post has its associated relief corps, the members of which assist in caring for the needy and in directing social entertainments, the proceeds of which go into the relief fund. The strongest and most active relief corps in Norfolk County are those of Quincy, Weymouth, Braintree, Foxboro, Stoughton, Brook- line and Franklin.




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