USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 53
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About 1843 Dr. Vanderburg induced Dr. Asahal Hall, of Fishkill, to adopt the new method of treatment. Dr. Hall soon after removed from Fishkill to Hart's Village, in the vicinity of the present Mill- brook, where he practiced for a number of years, finally removing to Rhinebeck ; he remained there only about a year or two, and some- where about 1850 came to Poughkeepsie, where he practiced until his death, which occurred in 1878.
Probably the next homeopathic physician of Dutchess County was Dr. Charles Haight, who was born in the town of Washington, June 6, 1806. After obtaining a good, common school education, he went to New York and studied medicine, returning to Dutchess County and practicing at Clinton Corners. He removed from there to Hart's Village, where he practiced for several years, finally going to Poughkeepsie in 1845, where he enjoyed a large practice until the time of his death, September 26, 1891.
Dr. Haight was succeeded at Clinton Corners by Dr. Ephraim Case. Dr. Case was born in Milan, Dutchess County, in the year 1809, and remained at Clinton Corners until his death in 1880.
The next homeopathic physician in this county was Dr. Jesse F. itt, of Pleasant Plains. Dr. Merritt was a student of Dr. Van- urg's, a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and
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practiced at that place from 1860 to the time of his death, which was in 1870.
About 1858 Dr. William Baxter located at Wappingers Falls, where he practiced for a number of years, and at his death, in 1873, he was succeeded by his son, Dr. William Baxter, Jr., who still is in practice at Wappingers Falls.
About 1860 Dr. G. C. Lansing commenced practice at Rhinebeck, and was succeeded by his nephew, Dr. Benjamin Lansing, who had been in practice at Hyde Park for a short time, and who died at Rhinebeck in 1888.
In 1860 Dr. Ernst Hoffman, a German, came to Poughkeepsie, and for a time was associated with Dr. Hall. He was active in all pertaining to the homeopathic profession, and was a member of the Dutchess County Homeopathic Medical Society.
Dr. Stephen G. Cook was in practice at Stanfordville for two or three years, removing from there to New York City, where he became a police surgeon, and died in 1900.
Dr. George Lorillard was in practice at Red Hook about 1863.
Dr. John Hornby located in Poughkeepsie in the early 60's, after having served seventeen years in the British army in India. He was a voluminous writer, very active in the Medical Society, and in the latter part of his residence in Poughkeepsie made a specialty of the diseases of women. His failing health compelled him to remove to Bermuda, where after a residence of about two years, he died, about 1887.
Dr. Levi Hubbard practiced homeopathy in Poughkeepsie from '65 to "75. He was followed by Dr. I. S. P. Lord. Dr. I. S. P. Lord succeeded Dr. Ernst Hoffman in practice in the city of Poughkeepsie, and was active in medical, temperance and religious circles. In 1872 he removed to California, where he lived until about two or three years ago, dying at the advanced age of 92 years.
Dr. Walter R. Case, son of Dr. Ephraim Case, was graduated from the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1865 and commenced practice at Hart's Village, where he remained until 1868, when he
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removed to Salt Paint; he practiced there until 1885, and then came to Poughkeepsie, in partnership with Dr. John C. Otis, until 1887. He then carried on practice by himself until his death, in 1904.
Dr. Henry N. Avery came to Poughkeepsie in 1865 and remained until '71, when he was succeeded by his brother, Dr. Edward W. Avery, Henry Avery removing to Minnesota. After a year or two Dr. Ed- ward Avery removed to Brooklyn, where he is still in practice.
In 1868 Dr. Anna C. Howland, a graduate of the Women's Homeo- pathic Medical College of New York, a lady from Maine, opened an office in Poughkeepsie, where she remained in active practice until her death, in 1902.
Dr. John C. Otis was graduated from the New York Homeopathic Medical College, and the Medical Department of the University of Vermont, Allopathy, in 1868, and in October of that year located at Hart's Village, succeeding Dr. Case, where he remained until Janu- ary, 1871, when he removed to Poughkeepsie in partnership with Dr. A. Hall. After two years of partnership with Dr. Hall, he commenced practice by himself, and in 1878, took into partnership Dr. Taylor Lansing, a brother of Dr. Benjamin Lansing, of Rhinebeck. Dr. Lansing remained with him until his death in 1880. Dr. Otis is still in active practice in Poughkeepsie. Dr. Otis was succeeded at Mill- brook by Dr. P. A. Banker, who practiced there for three years and then removed to Rhinebeck. Dr. Banker was succeeded at Millbrook by Dr. J. F. Goodell, who removed to Rhinebeck, and was succeeded at Millbrook by Dr. S. I. Jacobus, who after spending a year in post graduate study, located at Millbrook in the spring of 1888, where he is still in active practice.
Dr. Taylor Lansing was a graduate of the Philadelphia Homeo- pathic Medical College. He was born near Fonda, N. Y., and came to Poughkeepsie in 1877.
Dr. G. B. I. Mitchell located in Fishkill in 1869, and practiced there until 1876, when he removed to New Jersey and practiced with his brother, Dr. John J. Mitchell.
. Frederick A. Faust was graduated from the New York Homeo-
c Medical College in 1886. After having practiced in Bern,
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Albany County, for one year, he located in Poughkeepsie, where he remained until 1898, when continued ill health compelled him to remove to Colorado Springs, where he still is in practice.
Dr. Charles E. Lane was graduated from the New York Homeo- pathic Medical College in 1883. After practicing in Clove, Dutchess County, for a year or two he removed to Poughkeepsie, where he is still in practice.
Dr. Charles E. Lane was graduated from the New York Homeo-
Dr. F. Reed Hawley was graduated in 1892 at the New York Homeopathic Medical College. Practiced in Brooklyn and Washing- ton, D. C., and removed to Staatsburgh, N. Y., in 1896.
Dr. J. G. Dawson practiced at Fishkill and Matteawan for three years, removing to New Jersey about 1905.
Dr. Augustus Angell was graduated at the New York Homeopathic Medical College. He practiced at Salt Point for two years, and then removed to Hartford, Conn., where he is still in practice as an eye and ear specialist. He was followed at Salt Point by his brother, Dr. Milton Angell, who still remains there.
Dr. John H. Otis was graduated at the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1894, and immediately commenced practice in Poughkeepsie, where he remained until his death, June 30, 1907.
Dr. A. L. Peckham was graduated at the Hahnemann Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia, in 1899. He immediately commenced practice in Poughkeepsie, where he still remains.
Dr. C. Knight Deyo was graduated at the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1905. After a hospital course he came to Pough- keepsie in 1907.
DERRICK BROWN.
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CHAPTER XXXVII. THE MASONIC FRATERNITY.1
ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY.
T HE earliest authentic record of masonry in New York, or, in fact, in the American colonies, is the deputation appointing Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, to be provincial grand master of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, signed by the Duke of Norfolk, grand master of the grand lodge of England, and dated "this fifth day of June, 1730, and of Masonry 5730.".
From that date and until 1781 there were five different masonic deputations granted to provincial grand masters for New York, by the grand lodge of England.
During this period there were two provincial grand lodges in the State of New York, organized at different periods by authority of rival grand lodges in England, which were termed the "Moderns" and "Ancients." In 1813 these two grand bodies united into what is now the "United Grand Lodge of England."
The provincial grand lodge authorized by the Atholl warrant, dated September 5, 1781, existed from December 5, 1782, to Septem- ber 19, 1783, when the British troops evacuated New York City, and as the grand lodge was essentially a royalist institution, and a majority of its officers and members were connected with the evacuat- ing army, the brethren were in a quandry, the solution of which we find in the minutes of a grand lodge of emergency, held on the nine- teenth of September, 1783, when "The propriety of leaving the grand warrant by which this lodge is established in the province of New York, being fully discussed, it was resolved that the same should be left and remain in the care of such brethren as may hereafter be appointed to succeed the present grand officers, the most of whom being under the necessity of leaving New York upon the removal of
1. We are indebted to Right Worshipful Derrick Brown for the greater portion of the materiai embodied in this chapter.
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his majesty's troops." This necessitated the election of a complete new set of officers, which was immediately done.
The lodges throughout the State which had received charters from the "Modern" provincial grand lodge, in the interim between the dis- solution of that body and the organization of the "Ancient" pro- vincial grand lodge, had pursued an independent existence, and, naturally, under their existing conditions, were loath to surrender their warrants to the new body; therefore it was a number of years before all the lodges were brought under the control of the new grand lodge. This provincial grand lodge, so far as existing records show, made no returns to the parent grand body, and in all matters acted as an independent grand lodge.
This state of affairs caused some of the lodges to question the legality of its proceedings, and the propriety of paying grand lodge dues. This question was settled for all time on the 6th of June, 1787, by the grand lodge adopting the report of a committee which re- ported:
"Your committee appointed at the last quarterly communication, in consequence of certain resolutions of St. John's lodge, respecting the warrant under which the grand lodge is established, report their opinion as follows, viz: That the grand lodge of this State is established, according to ancient and universal usages of masonry, upon a constitution formed by the representatives of the regular lodges, convened under a legal warrant from the grand lodge of England, dated the fifth day of September, in the year of masonry five thousand seven hundred and eighty-one, the most noble Prince John the Third, Duke of Atholl, being the then grand master. And your committee further beg leave to report that in their opinion, nothing is necessary or essential in the future proceedings of the grand lodge upon the subject matter referred to them, but that a committee be appointed to prepare a draft of the style of warrant to be hereafter granted by the grand lodge, conformable to the said constitution. All of which is, nevertheless, most respectfully submitted to the wisdom of the most worshipful grand lodge."
In this manner the grand lodge declared itself an independent grand body, supreme within its own jurisdiction. The date of transition of the grand lodge from a provincial to an independent State masonic organization might be a subject of difference of opinion, but the grand lodge, however, numbers its annual communications from the earlier date, viz., 1781, under the charter issued by the "Ancients." . At different times the grand lodge has been disrupted by internal strife and schisms which continued several years, but since June,
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1858, peace and harmony have prevailed among the fraternity. The severest trial that freemasonry has had to endure was the anti- masonic crusade that began in 1826, which assailed the fraternity throughout the land and resulted in many of the lodges having their charters forfeited.
A political party was founded at the time on prejudice and hatred. Politicians mounted the whirlwind, and rode into power on the storm. Fanatics in the forum, at the bar and in the pulpit inflamed the pas- sions of men, and aroused the bitterest enmity against freemasonry. Men of the highest social and masonic standing were threatened with political ostracism; to be a mason was to be an object of suspicion, and often of persecution; the lodge rooms were deserted, charters were surrendered, and the craft became disheartened at the situation. Some members of the fraternity openly declared their withdrawal, and were known as "seceding masons" in the community. After ten years of bitter feeling and hatred against the society of Free and Accepted Masons, the storm of persecution began to subside; the calmer and better judgment of men prevailed; the craft took courage, and masonic lodges again opened their doors and resumed labor.
WARREN LODGE, NO. 32. The first Masonic lodge organized in Dutchess County, now in existence, was Warren Lodge, No. 32, located at Schultzville in the town of Clinton. It is one of the oldest lodges in this section of the State, and one of the few that did not succumb to the anti-masonic storm of 1826.
The records of the Grand Lodge say that on the 10th of June, 1807, a dispensation was issued to certain members of the order living at Pine Plains, which was then a part of the Northeast town- ship, authorizing them to establish a lodge of Free Masons at that point. Under that dispensation from the Hon. De Witt Clinton, who was then a Grand Master, the lodge was constituted and dedicated on the 24th of January, 1808. At its constitution the following mem- bers of the order acted as grand lodge officers: Worshipful Brother Samuel Edmonds of St. Tammany Lodge, Grand Master; S. Carol, Deputy Grand Master; I Pierson, Grand Senior Warden; Samuel Owen, Grand Junior Warden; Enos Hopkins, Grand Secretary; Aaron E. Winchell, Grand Treasurer; Peter Mills, Grand Senior Deacon ; Jonathan Reynolds, Grand Junior Deacon.
On this occasion the following named brethren were installed as
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officers of Warren Lodge, No. 157: Martin Lawrence, Worshipful Master; Ezra L. Barrett, Senior Warden; Leonard Barton, Junior Warden; Benjamin R. Bostwick, Secretary; Israel Harris, Treas- urer; Joshua Culver, Senior Deacon; Thomas Stevenson, Junior Deacon. At this communication Benjamin Lewis was proposed for membership, and he was initiated as Entered Apprentice on March 8th, 1808.
During the time that the lodge was located at Pine Plains, the meetings were held in a room which might be rented in a private house, and for various reasons the place of meeting was changed almost every year. The meetings were usually held at four o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday preceding a full moon, but changes in the day and hour were very frequent until 1812, when the first Tuesday on or after a full moon was adopted, and still later the time was changed to Thursday on or preceding a full moon, and the third Saturday following.
In those days it was the custom of the fraternity to celebrate the anniversary of St. John the Evangelist on the 24th of June, and Warren Lodge observed the anniversary either by inviting other lodges to be their guests, or they being the guests of some sister lodge. There were four lodges that celebrated this festival together quite frequently ; they were Temple, Lafayette, Hiram and Washing- ton, and they must have been located not very far apart as late as the year 1812. In 1817 Temple Lodge extended an invitation to cele- brate the occasion with them at the house of S. Dakin in the town of Northeast, of which town the village of Pine Plains forms part, but whether Temple Lodge was at that time located in the village of Northeast, it is difficult to say.
In 1823 these lodges and Widow's Son Lodge, located at Clermont ; Montgomery, located at Salisbury, Conn., and Montgomery, located at Rhinebeck, celebrated the festival on the invitation of Warren Lodge.
In 1824 a lodge named Columbia is mentioned, and in that same year Warren Lodge was invited to celebrate St. John's Day with Solomon's Lodge, which was located at Poughkeepsie.
In celebrating these festivals the lodges would meet early in the day, have a parade with a band of music composed of clarionets, bas- soons and drums, and then listen to a sermon, or an address, by a
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minister, to be followed by a dinner. Such a band of music in those days cost $25.00, and as the ministers were not expected to preach for nothing, they received about $20.00 each for their addresses.
It is recorded that in 1826 the lodge met as early as five o'clock in the morning in order to enable it to celebrate the festival with Mont- gomery Lodge at Rhinebeck.
In 1841 an invitation was accepted to celebrate with a lodge in the City of Hudson, which was probably Hudson Lodge, No. 7. In 1844 Warren Lodge extended an invitation to all the regular lodges be- tween Troy and New York City to celebrate the anniversary of St. John the Evangelist.
With the exception of three, all of the lodges mentioned have be- come extinct and others have replaced them. While a lodge existed at Pine Plains village, candidates were received from Ancram, Gala- tia, Stanford, Milan and Clinton, and the record shows that one was received from Connecticut, and another from Kingston.
It is to be noted that originally Warren Lodge was No. 157, and it held that number until 1839, when on June 7th, the Grand Lodge ordered that this lodge No. 157 should be reorganized as No. 32. This certificate is in existence, and it is signed and sealed January 1, 1840.
While located at Pine Plains the original charter was lost, and application was made to the Grand Master for a substitute, and he being absent from the State, the Deputy Grand Master, John L. Lewis, Sr., granted a dispensation for the lodge to continue its work, the dispensation to be in force until the close of the session of the Grand Lodge, when Warren Lodge could be present and present a petition for a new warrant. Accordingly, on the 8th of May, 1856, a new warrant was issued, and Brother Lewis having been elected Grand Master, signed the substitute charter.
Warren Lodge was located at the village of Pine Plains until 1861, when it was allowed to change its place of meeting to Lafayetteville in the town of Milan, and that continued to be its location until 1864, when a masonic hall was built at Schultzville, and in this hall it has since held its communications. The hall was erected on a site be- queathed by the will of Theodore Schultz, who was a devoted member of the lodge, and who died in 1862. He also left the sum of $2,000 for the erection of a building, which with the contributions of the
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members, enabled the lodge to complete the building and furnish the lodge room.
In order that the lodge might receive the bequest of Brother Schultz it was necessary that the Legislature should pass an act to enable Warren Lodge to hold real and personal property. To secure this legislative action Benjamin Thorne and Peter Denny, members of the lodge, were appointed a committee to make an effort to get a special act passed by the Legislature. The enactment was passed, and this secured the validity of the bequest, which was never afterward ques- tioned. It is hardly possible that Warren Lodge was the first to be the beneficiary under a will, yet at that time there was no law on the statute books enabling a lodge to hold real and personal property, which seemed to have been necessary in this instance, so that Warren Lodge may be credited with being the pioneer in this movement, which in 1896 was made general by the Legislature of this State, the act being known as the Benevolent Orders Act.
From its constitution in 1808 until 1856 the lodge was opened and closed on what was then called "The First Step in Masonry." About 1824 the word step was expunged and degree inserted. `All lodge business was regularly transacted in the Entered Apprentice Degree. The Fellow Craft and Master Mason Degrees were simply for the purpose of passing the candidates on. This form must have been proper at the time, for it is on record that on an official visit of the Grand Visitor he presided in the East and the lodge was conducted in this manner.
In the year 1856 the method was changed. The lodge was opened on the Master Mason Degree, business was transacted in that degree, and the lodge was closed upon it. Candidates were proposed in open lodge by the members, and on a motion that must be made and carried. Then the name would be placed upon the minutes, and an investigating committee appointed, sometimes consisting of as many as six members. This was regulated by the maker of the motion. In the course of time a motion would be made that the committee report, and if the committee reported favorably, a motion would then be made that the candidate be balloted for, and, if elected, a motion would then be made that the candidate be initiated. Being an initi- ated Entered Apprentice he could be present at the opening of the
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lodge, and on motion he could be passed to the order of Fellow Craft, or passed to the sublime degree of Master Mason.
At a communication held in 1856 the petitions of twelve candidates were presented. This is notable on account of the large number pre- sented at one time. They were all elected. The first record of a printed petition being used by the candidate was in the year 1823.
The Grand Lodge honors have been bestowed upon Warren Lodge only once. Brother Elias Hicks filled the position of Grand Secre- tary to Grand Lodge in 1822 and 1824.
ROYAL ARCH MASONRY. Royal Arch Masonry in Dutchess County is represented by Poughkeepsie Chapter, No. 172, which is located and holds its regular convocations in the City of Poughkeepsie. This chapter was organized under a dispensation from the Grand Chapter to Royal Arch Masons in the State of New York, and its first con- vocation was held on the 11th day of June in the year 1860. At the following annual convocation of the Grand Chapter, held in the City of Albany in February, 1861, a charter was issued bearing date Feb- ruary 7, 1861. The officers of the Grand Chapter at that time were: James M. Austin, Grand High Priest; Sylvester Gilbert, Deputy High Priest; Augustus Willard, Grand King; George N. Williams, Grand Scribe, and John O. Cole, Grand Secretary.
The charter members of Poughkeepsie Chapter were John Trow- bridge, John Hamlin, Elias G. Hopkins, Albert H. Champlin, William C. Arnold, Lemuel A. Chichester, Oliver W. Doty, John Freeman, Peter B. . Lawson. The Council officers were: John Trowbridge, High Priest; John Hamlin, King; Elias G. Hopkins, Scribe.
The Chapter has been fairly well represented in the Grand Chapter. The first appointment from its members was made in 1877, when Grand High Priest George Van Vliet appointed William Morgan Lee to the position of Grand Principal Sojourner in the Grand Chap- ter. In 1899 Grand High Priest John W. Palmer appointed Derrick Brown to the position of Grand Royal Arch Captain. He held that position for two terms, and then was regularly advanced through the different chairs of the Grand Chapter, and was its Grand High Priest in 1906. He served in that station one year.
William S. Ackert, of this Chapter, was appointed Assistant Grand Lecturer in 1908, and served in that position for two years.
That the Chapter has done efficient work is shown by the fact that
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at the beginning of the year 1909 its membership was 274, and that there are but twenty-one Chapters in the State with a larger member- ship.
Up to June 8, 1909, there had been registered 563 members, classi- fied as follows: Charter members, 9; affiliated members, 31; exalted members, 523.
CRYPTIC MASONRY. Cryptic Masonry in this county is represented by King Solomon Council, No. 31, R. and S. M., which is located in the city of Poughkeepsie and holds its stated assemblies in that city. Its charter, dated February 4, 1868, permits it to hold assemblies in Poughkeepsie or Newburgh, and in its early life it held them at New- burgh. For a quarter of a century or more, preceding the date of this record, its assemblies have been held in the city of Poughkeepsie. It has a membership of 141, and holds its assemblies once in each month.
CHIVALRIC MASONRY. Chivalric Masonry is represented in this county by Poughkeepsie Commandery, No. 43, Knights Templar. It was organized October 16, 1867, and worked under dispensation until October 7, 1868, when a charter was granted by the Grand Com- mandery in annual conclave at New York City.
Sir Knight John Hamlin was the Commander under dispensation, as well as the first Commander under the charter, and the organization began its "history" with the following charter members :
Oliver S. Atkins, of Lafayette, No. 7.
William Baird,
Albert H. Champlin,
"
James H. Cronk,
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