USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 1 > Part 39
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The second lodge chartered in the county was Sylvan lodge of Southwick, in 1807. Three years later the lodge removed to West Springfield, and changed its name to Friendly Society lodge. In West Springfield the lodge met in rooms on the second floor of the old tavern building which stands near the western end of the common. After its removal, for a few years the lodge grew in membership, but several members withdrew in 1817 to form Hampden lodge of Springfield, and from that time the lodge lost ground. Very few members were admitted after 1817, and when the anti-Masonic sentiment became pronounced in 1838 the few members who had labored for the life of the lodge were forced to give up the struggle, and the charter was surrendered.
Hampden lodge of Springfield, the third lodge chartered in the county, was the outgrowth of a feeling that there was a field for such in the rapidly growing town. Col. Roswell Lee, com- mandant at the United States armory, was an enthusiastic Mason and he was instrumental in bringing about the formation of the new lodge. The initiative was taken in 1816, a petition for a charter was signed and forwarded to the Grand lodge, and a dispensation was granted for work. The charter was granted in 1817, and the first meeting under it was held March 11, 1817. The charter members whose names appeared on the charter were Roswell Lee, George Colton, John Hawkins, Warren Church, Diah Allen, John Newberry, Chester C. Chappell, Joseph Hop- kins, Ezra Osborn, jr., Alba Fisk, Joel Brown, John Burt, Will- iam H. Foster and Stephen Coally, jr.
Colonel Lee was elected the first master of the lodge, Justice Willard, senior warden, Elisha Tobey, junior warden, George Colton, secretary, John Hawkins, treasurer.
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The meetings of the lodge were held in the old Hampden house, which stood at the corner of Main and West Court streets. Later the Carew building was erected at the southeast corner of Main and State streets, the site of the present Masonic temple, and to this the lodge removed, the building being erected princi- pally for its accommodation. This was the first building in the county and possibly in the state, erected for a Masonic home.
In 1827 the Masonic hall at the corner of State and Market streets was completed and was occupied by the lodge and the other Masonic bodies in the city. On May 12, 1874, the lodge held its first meeting in the rooms which the Masonic bodies had fitted up in the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance company's building on Main street. These rooms were occupied until the removal to the temple, the present home.
In common with other Masonic bodies in the country, Hamp- den lodge felt the effect of the anti-Masonic sentiment, which, beginning in 1826, grew more bitter during the following years, ' until it required no little moral courage to proclaim one's self a Mason, and in full accord with the teachings and practice of the order. As an illustration of the effect of this sentiment, Hamp- den lodge admitted twenty-four members in 1826, nine in 1827, only three in 1828, one by affiliation in 1829, and one each in the following two years. It is, therefore, little wonder that the lodge ceased to work. For fourteen years, from 1832 to 1846, no work was done. A few members met once a year, in secret, and elected officers.
In 1834 the Grand lodge ordered that the charters of all lodges not working be surrendered. Several of the members of Hampden lodge favored complying with the demand of the Grand lodge, but the majority of the faithful were of a different opinion. At a meeting held September 17, 1834, the lodge passed the following resolution :
"Resolved, That we will never consent to be deprived of our rights and privileges, which belong to us as free citizens of a free country, and in our opinion it is not expedient or necessary that the Masonic charter should be surrendered and cancelled."
Some of the members held that this resolution was an act of insubordination, and it was feared that the charter would be
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stolen and forwarded by some of these to the Grand lodge. Ocran Dickinson, one of the staunch members of the fraternity, who was opposed to the surrender of the charter, secured posses- sion of it and secretly placed it in the vault of one of the Spring- field banks. The secret of its hiding place was faithfully kept and it is doubtful if he took any one into his confidence in the matter.
A few faithful members held secret meetings during the fourteen years of Masonic darkness, but these meetings were solely to keep alive the love of each member for the order. The time and place of meeting was known only to the few, and those not informed supposed that Masonry was dead.
In 1846 the lodge began holding regular meetings. The charter long hidden was brought to light and placed in the hands of the master. With the revival came renewed life for the lodge. Men prominent in public and business life enrolled as members of the society. Forty-four members have been elected to the office of master of the lodge. Of these eighteen are now living. On the evening of March 11, 1901, the lodge celebrated its 84th birthday, and the occasion was graced by the presence of the Grand lodge. Grand Master Charles T. Gallagher, on behalf of the lodge, presented to the living pastmasters, pastmasters' jewels. This was something unique in the history of Masonry in the country, and an occasion long to be remembered by the mem- bers, and by the many visitors present on the occasion.
The fourth lodge in the county was not chartered until 1848. Anti-Masonry was dead. It had died a lingering death, but like a storm it had cleared the atmosphere. Masonry had outlived the bitter sentiment which raged against it, and was no longer under the ban of popular condemnation. Chicopee lodge was the fourth lodge chartered in the county.
Two years later, in 1848, Mt. Holyoke lodge was chartered. S. K. Hutchinson, Hez Hutchins, R. S. Buss, U. W. Quint, Sam- uel Oliver, Samuel Flinn, Charles Mason and William Gevat signed the petition for the charter. S. K. Hutchinson was elect- ed the first master of the lodge. In all twenty-six brothers have been elected to the chair. Five years ago the lodge rented quar-
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ters on High street for a term of ten years. Two floors of the block are used for lodge purposes. The charter bears the names of Edward A. Raymond. Grand Master, and Charles W. Moore, Grand Secretary.
In 1855 a movement was set on foot for a lodge in Westfield. P. H. Boise, a member of Mt. Tom lodge, E. V. Greene, W. A. Johnson, L. B. Walkley, Henry Loomis, C. H. Rand, A. Camp- bell, 2d, G. L. Laflin and John Avery, all members of Hampden lodge, and F. Fowley, a member of Apollo lodge of Suffield, Ct., petitioned for a charter, which was granted for the lodge to be known as Mount Moriah lodge. The lodge was instituted Feb- ruary 12, 1856. P. H. Boise was elected master. Of the ten charter members, two, W. A. Johnson and L. B. Walkley, became masters of the lodge. In all twenty-two members have been elected to the chair. Since its institution the lodge has made 523 Masons and its present membership is 308. Its pleasant lodge rooms are situated on the fifth floor of Parks block.
Thomas lodge having removed from Monson to Palmer at the revival, the Masons of Monson felt the need of a lodge more easy of access, and in 1862 a charter was granted for Day Spring lodge. This lodge, which has a membership of over eighty, occu- pies the field formerly held by Thomas lodge, but its jurisdiction is much smaller.
Hampden lodge of Springfield having grown with years, in 1864 a second lodge was instituted in the city. This lodge adopted the name of Roswell Lee in honor of the first master of Hampden lodge. Ezekiel Clarke was elected the first master. Hampden lodge had favored the institution of the new lodge and aided it in many ways during its first years. The lodge thus started under the most favorable circumstances. From its start to the present time there has been a constant acquisition of mem- bers, until to-day it is the largest lodge in the state, its member- ship being over 560. Twenty-two masters have presided over the lodge. Among the treasures of the lodge is a Bible which was presented to it by the late O. H. Greenleaf. On this over seven hundred members had been obligated at the time it was placed in a cabinet for preservation, a new Bible having been purchased by active members of the lodge and presented to it in 1899.
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Belcher lodge of Chicopee was chartered in 1870. The same year Rev. Dr. E. Cooke and eighteen other Masons in Wilbra- ham were granted a charter for Newton lodge. Brother Cooke was elected the first master.
The first meeting of the Masons of Wilbraham to consider the matter of forming a lodge was held at the office of Dr. Steb- bins Foskit, October 6, 1870. Other meetings were held there and at the office of Rev. Dr. Edward Cooke, principal of Wes- leyan academy. The first meeting after the dispensation was held in Binney hall, one of the academy buildings, on November 2, 1870. The first meeting in the present lodge rooms was held January 4, 1871. The charter members of the lodge were Rev. Dr. Edward Cooke, Dr. S. Foskit, C. G. Robbins, W. H. Day, J. W. Green, J. S. Morgan, E. Jones, E. B. Newell, W. F. Mor- gan, L. J. Potter, W. L. Collins, A. Boothby, C. M. Parker, W. M. Green, W. Kent, D. A. Atchinson, H. H. Calkins, and W. T. Eaton. About one-half of the charter members withdrew from Hampden lodge of Springfield to form Newton lodge. The lodge started with nineteen charter members and received by affiliation thirteen and has made 131 Masons. The present membership is, however, but fifty-three.
One night in 1875 there was considerable excitement in New- ton lodge, caused by a fire in the barn of one of the charter mem- bers, Dr. Foskit. The barn was near the lodge rooms and the fire threatened to spread to the nearby buildings. About forty brothers were in the hall and most of these were excused at once and rendered efficient service in putting out the fire. After they withdrew the lodge was regularly closed in form with only the traditional number present.
In 1891 the Masons in Ludlow applied for a charter for a lodge and a dispensation was granted and meetings held. In 1892 the charter was issued and the lodge instituted. It took the name of Brigham in honor of the long time superintendent of the Ludlow mills. Of the charter members about twenty-seven with- drew from Newton lodge to form Brigham. The other charter members were members of the Springfield lodges.
The two lodges in Springfield had grown to such member- ship that in 1894 a movement was set on foot for a third lodge
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and several Masons applied for a charter. This was granted and in 1895 Springfield lodge was instituted. Harry W. Haskins, who had been senior warden of Roswell Lee lodge, was elected master of the new lodge. Brother Haskins is now the district deputy grand master for the sixteenth Masonic district, receiv- ing his appointment from the hands of the Grand Master.
The organization of Hampden lodge of Masons in Spring- field was the signal for further advance in organized Masonry in the county. As numerous Masons had received their Master Mason's degree in Boston, so several had advanced in the higher degrees in the same city.
At a meeting of Chapter members held on September 15, 1817, it was voted to apply to the Grand chapter for a charter. The petition for a charter met with favor in the Grand chapter and a dispensation was issued forthwith. Morning Star chapter was organized under this dispensation and worked under it until June 29, 1818, when the charter was granted. This charter, the first issued for a chapter in Hampden county, was signed by Andrew Sigourney, Grand High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch chapter. The charter members were Rev. Dr. Samuel Osgood, for many years pastor of the First Congregational church in Springfield, Roswell Lee, commandant at the United States armory, Warren Church, John B. Kirkham, Alexander Stocking, Gideon Burt, jr., Arnold Jenckes, Joseph Bucklew, Thomas Knight and William Sizer.
Dr. Osgood was elected the first high priest and held the office two years, when he was elected chaplain, an office he filled with zeal for a period of twenty-seven years, from 1819 to 1847. Col. Roswell Lee was the second high priest and he served five years with an interim of one year.
Ocran Dickenson, than whom no Mason was more zealous, served the chapter as high priest twenty-two years, first from 1832 to 1846, in 1848, 1851, 1852, and 1853, 1857, 1858 and 1859. Joseph Carew, the first treasurer of the chapter, served fourteen years, and his successor in office, Charles Stearns, served sixteen years. Thus it will be seen that in the early days of Masonry in the county it was customary to give the officers as many terms as
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they would accept, and that the workers did not drop out of har- ness with passing the chairs.
In 1817, the first year of its life, and while working under dispensation, the chapter conferred the degrees on twenty-six candidates. In 1818 thirteen were made Royal Arch Masons in the chapter. From 1827 to 1847, or during the twenty years of Masonic trials, the chapter conferred degrees on only three can- didates.
It was not until 1863 that the second chapter was instituted in the county. Morning Star chapter had exclusive jurisdiction over the capitular work in the county and when the petition for a charter for Mount Holyoke chapter at Holyoke was referred to the old chapter by the Grand chapter, Morning Star voted in favor of it. Accordingly in 1865 the charter issued. The new chapter started off with twenty-one members, and its present membership is 210. Since its institution it has made 396 Royal Arch Masons. Its first meeting was held June 13, 1865. Seven- teen companions have been elected to preside over the chapter as high priests.
Six years later, in 1871, Evening Star chapter was instituted in Westfield, twenty members of Morning Star chapter with- drawing from the mother chapter to form the new. The charter bears the date of June 5, 1871. Only six of the charter members are living. The present membership is 138. Since its institu- tion the chapter has exalted 202 companions. Unity chapter was instituted in Chicopee Falls four years later. The year follow- ing the institution of Mount Holyoke chapter, in 1864, Hampden chapter was instituted in Palmer.
Springfield Council Royal and Select Masons was instituted in 1818, one year after Morning Star chapter Royal Arch Masons. The charter bears date of May 28, 1818, and is signed with the name of Jeremy L. Cross, Deputy Grand Puissant. It was issued under authority of the Northern Masonic jurisdiction of North America at Baltimore, Md. The charter authorized Roswell Lee to act as the first Thrice Illus- trious Deputy Grand Master, John Newbury Illustrious Deputy Grand Master, and Warren Church Principal Conductor of work.
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The council has a membership approaching 500, and has con- ferred the degrees upon over 800.
Holyoke council was the second instituted in the county. This council was organized May 27, 1873, and its charter was granted January 7, 1874. The council started with twenty-six charter members. George Herbert Smith was appointed first Thrice Illustrious Master, William Sumner Perkins first Deputy Master and William Grover first Principal Conductor. The first two are still living. In 1895, twenty-four members with- drew to form William Parsons council in Northampton. The present membership is 135.
Washington council was organized in Palmer the same year as Holyoke council. A. Bryson was the first Thrice Illustrious Master, and six other members have held this high position.
Springfield Commandery Knights Templar is the only com- mandery in the county. Its present membership is more than six hundred and it has numbered among its members many of the leading citizens of the county. The movement for its organi- zation was set on foot in the fall of 1825, there being a number of Knights in Springfield and vicinity who had received their knighthood in New York or Boston. On February 22, 1826, the movement took shape, and a meeting was held in the old Masonic hall which stood at the corner of Main and State streets in Springfield, the site of the present Masonic temple. At this meeting it was decided to petition the Grand Encampment for a charter. A petition already prepared was thereupon signed by Roswell Lee, Henry Dwight, Alpheus Nettleton, John B. Kirk- ham, Abiram Morgan, Major Goodsell, Arnold Jenckes, Amasa Holcomb and Hezekiah Cady.
Village Encampment of Greenwich, having jurisdiction over the territory in which the new encampment desired to be created, was requested to sanction the granting of a charter and its sanc- tion was given. In June following the charter was granted, but for some reason, unknown to the present generation of Knights Templar, the charter was not signed until June 19, 1830, four years later. However, the delay in signing the charter did not operate to the disadvantage of the new organization, which has
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always ranked as of June 19, 1826. Its relative position in order of precedence was retained when the change was made from en- campments to commanderies of Knights Templar.
Henry Dwight was the first Eminent Commander of the com- mandery or encampment. The commandery flourished until 1831, when in common with Masonic bodies it felt the anti-Masonic sentiment so strongly that it apparently abandoned work. From January 5, 1831, until July 4, 1851, the records are blank. In 1851, Sirs James W. Crooks, John B. Kirkham, Ocran Dickin- son, Daniel Reynolds, Amos Call and James H. Call succeeded in reviving interest in the work, and from that date in July when the first meeting for twenty years appears to have been held, the interest in the knightly degrees has never flagged. But it was in 1861, when the late Judge W. S. Shurtleff was elected Emi- nent Commander, that the commandery took up the work with enthusiasm, his incumbency of the high office marking an epoch in the history of the commandery.
It was not until 1866 that the Scottish Rites degrees were conferred in Hampden county. With so many enthusiastic Masons it was but natural that several should seek for added Masonic light in the higher degrees as conferred in the Scottish Rites bodies. Twelve 32d degree Masons secured a dispensation to form a lodge of Perfection and confer the fourth to fourteenth degrees inclusive, and the first meeting under this permission was held February 1, 1866. The following month three candi- dates were given degrees in the body. The first Thrice Potent Grand Master was W. H. Spooner. The lodge has a member-
ship of more than 200. The charter, which was dated May 18, 1866, was destroyed by the fire in the Masonic home in the Massa- chusetts Mutual Life Insurance building in 1891.
Massasoit Council Princes of Jerusalem, which confers the fifteenth and sixteenth ineffable degrees, was formed in Spring- field by eight 32d degree Masons, who met in the fall of 1867 and petitioned for a charter. The first meeting under a dispensa- tion granted then was held January 8, 1868. The charter which was granted by the Supreme council of the 33d degree of the Northern jurisdiction of the United States was dated May 19,
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1868. This was lost in the fire of February 9, 1891. The coun- cil has been prosperous since its organization and now has over 100 members. The late Albert E. Foth was the first Most Equitable Sovereign Prince Grand Master.
The seventeenth and eighteenth degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, N. M. J. U. S. A. are conferred in Springfield chapter of Rose Croix. This chapter was instituted in 1894, its charter being granted September 20 of that year. Ed- mund P. Kendrick, a 33d degree Mason, is at the head of this chapter.
There are in the county a large number of Masons who have received the 32d degree, and a smaller number who have received the high Masonic honor of the 33d degree, a degree conferred for special zeal or signal service for the institution of Masonry, and accordingly prized as the summit of Masonry.
In the early days of Masonry in the county the meetings were held in the day time. Usually the full of the moon was selected as the time of meeting, that the members who came from a distance could have its light to guide them on their way home after the meeting. Probably the first evening meeting was held in Springfield, but then 9 o'clock was set as the hour for closing the lodge and the member who lingered was fined, the fine going into the treasury of the lodge.
Another old custom was the charging of a fee for attend- ance. This method was employed to raise the funds necessary for the support of the lodge and its charities. After the adop- tion of the plan of annual dues, in many of the lodges visitors were required to pay a small fee.
Under the present system regular annual dues are paid by the members, excepting that in several of the bodies the retiring presiding officer is made an honorary member and exempt from future payment of dues. Some of the bodies also provide that members who have for a term of thirty years paid dues shall thereafter be exempt from payment.
The charity disbursed by the Masonic bodies is wide, but no record of it is written, the scriptural injunction "Let not your right hand know what the left doeth," being literally carried out in this connection.
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A lasting monument to the society is the beautiful Masonic temple which graces the corner of Main and State streets in Springfield. On February 9, 1891, the rooms occupied by the various Masonic bodies in the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insur- ance company building on Main street were partially destroyed by fire. The loss included many of the records, the parapher- nalia and other property of the bodies. The loss suggested the idea of a Masonic temple and steps were taken at once to this end. The estimated expense of the building was $125,000. The build- ing cost $72,000. The corner-stone was laid by the Grand lodge October 21, 1892. The building fronts 105 feet on Main street and 68 feet on State street, and is five stories high. Beside two lodge rooms, an armory, ample ante-rooms and banquet hall with kitchen annexed, there are club rooms occupied by the Masonic club, an organization supported by the several bodies.
ODD FELLOWSHIP !
On April 26, 1819, in the monumental city of our land, five men gathered in the upper chamber of a tavern now known as the "Seven Stars," and there and then with a few preliminary arrangements the era of American Odd Fellowship had its be- ginning. The lodge they organized was known as Washington lodge, No. 1, with Thomas Wildey as noble grand and John Welch as vice-grand. A charter was received Oct. 23, 1819, from the Duke of York's lodge in the county of Lancaster, Eng- land. On Feb. 7, 1821, a meeting of the committee of past grands was held to consider the organization of a Grand lodge, and Washington lodge was requested to surrender its charter. This was done on Feb. 22, 1821, and the organization of the Grand lodge was effected Feb. 9, 1822, with Thomas Wildey, grand master ; John P. Entwistle, deputy grand master; W. S. Couth, grand warden, and John Welch, grand secretary.
1Compiled by Charles L. Young, Past Grand Master, from records of the order and from data furnished by officers of subordinate lodges in Hampden county. Col. Young's work has been largely that of collation and compilation, and in many cases he has been supplied with meager data.
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The grand lodge of the United States was formed Jan. 15, 1825, from the Grand lodges of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, and the first officers were chosen as fol- lows : Thomas Wildey, grand master; John Welch, deputy grand master ; William Williams, grand secretary. At the an- nual convention, April 25, 1826, the titles of officers were changed to grand sire and deputy grand sire.
The numerical strength and condition of the order of Odd Fellows on December 31, 1900, was as follows: Sovereign Grand lodge, 1; Quasi Independent Grand lodges (Australasia, Den- mark, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland) 6; Grand lodges, 66; Grand encampments, 55; Subordinate lodges, 12,347 ; Subordinate encampments, 2,683; lodge members, 944,- 372 ; encampment members, 135,209 ; Rebekah lodges, 5,605; Re- bekah lodge members, 351,526. In the year 1900 there was ex- pended for relief the aggregate sum of $8,989,063.52.
The Grand lodge of Massachusetts was instituted June 11, 1823, by Thomas Wildey, then grand master but later grand sire, in the city of Boston. The first officers of the grand lodge were : Daniel Hersey, grand master; Henry Solomon, deputy grand master ; James B. Barnes, grand warden; William Bishop, grand secretary.
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