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THERLO E. BURRINGTON 1894-1951

Grand Master of South Dakota, 1932-1933

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BIOGRAPHY

From "The First 100 Years of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of South Dakota, 1875-1975", Page 132:

Therlo E. Burrington was born at Sun Prairie, Dane County, Wisconsin, January 25, 1894 He started his elementary education in Sun Prairie later Grand Meadow, Minnesota, where he completed high school. He graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and immediately entered into the practice of his profession in Dodge Center, Minnesota. In 1919 he located in Rapid City, South Dakota.

On May 26, 1917, he married Mis Mary Josephine Nissen at Grand Meadow, Minnesota. They had three children, two daughters and one son. He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church.

He received his Master Mason Degree in Grand Meadow Lodge No. 121 at Grand Meadow, Minnesota, on April 28, 1916. He affiliated with Rapid City Lodge No. 25, Rapid City, on December 16, 1919. He received his Royal Arch Degrees in Black Hills Chapter No. 25, the Templar Degrees in Schrader Commandery No. 9, both of Rapid City, and the Council Degrees in Black Hills Council No. 3 at Lead. He was a member of Naja Shrine Temple at Deadwood.

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1933

As Grand Master Burrington opened the fifty-ninth Annual Com­munication at Aberdeen in 1933, the records showed a loss of 969 members for the year. Adverse economic conditions, financial reverses, unem­ployment, and low agriculture prices made it impossible for many to pay their dues.

Many problems faced the lodges but the Grand Master said, "The greatest dangers which we face at this time are not the great losses which we are sustaining in membership but rather the ultimate result of our in­ difference. Our dangers come from within rather than from without. There is no cause for real alarm, rather there is a challenge for activity, and a warning against mistaken courses for the future. It seems to be the unanimous opinion of American Freemasonry that greater attention must be given the problems of Masonic Education."

The Grand Master recommended that "South Dakota again become identified with the Masonic Service Association." After an address by Brother Carl H. Claudy, Executive Secretary of the Masonic Association of Washington, D.C., the Grand Lodge unanimously approved membership in the Association.

During the year a dispensation had been issued for a new lodge at Martin. A duplicate charter had been issued to Red Stone Lodge No. 102 as a result of a fire. A cornerstone had been laid for a new Masonic Temple at Lead and temples had been dedicated at Parker and Lead.

Due to prevailing conditions, an abnormal number of pleas for assistance was being received by the Temporary Charity Fund. Such requests were in excess of the Charity Fund's income. Proposals to increase the amount of funds to meet these requests were considered but no action was taken.

Because South Dakota was 49th out of the fifty jurisdictions in financial support of the George Washington Memorial, a special committee was authorized to devise plans for increasing such support and to report back to the next Annual Communication.

Grand Masters of South Dakota