CharlesAWelch

CHARLES A. WELCH LODGE

Location: Maynard

Chartered By: Sereno D. Nickerson

Charter Date: 03/12/1873 1873-26

Precedence Date: 03/01/1872

Current Status: Active

NOTES

At the granting of the charter of the Lodge: "Selecting its title in honor of the District Deputy Grand Master who presides over the Fourth District, may it grow up in honor and usefulness, to dignify and perpetuate its name." (1873-26)

PAST MASTERS

Leonard Frost, 1873
John Hickland, 1874, 1875, 1876
John Proudman, 1877
Adelbert Mossman, 1878
Theodoric Jones, 1879, 1881, 1882, 1887
John Hillis, 1880
William Little, 1883
Thomas Lees, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1888
Thomas Deane, 1889; SN
Theron F. Newton, 1890, 1891, 1892
Frank H. Salisbury, 1892, 1893, 1896; SN
Sidney B. Shattuck, 1894
Gustavus V. Bowen, 1895
Harris A. Clement, 1897, 1898
Robert W. Carter, 1899, 1900
Walter B. Currier, 1901
Ernest Hosmer, 1902, 1903
Harry H. Whitney, 1904, 1905
Gavin Taylor, 1906, 1907; SN
Daniel Goodenw, 1908
George H. Gutteridge, 1909, 1910; N
Samuel Lawton, 1911
Fred L. Chandler, 1912
Wilder X. Macurda, 1913
Oswald C. Drechsler, 1914, 1915
Samuel R. Garland, 1916
Charles Greenheigh, 1917, 1918
William Naylor, 1919, 1920
William H. Johnston, 1921
Frederick G. Sims, 1922
Lowell H. Cram, 1923
Harry E. Burnham, 1924; N
Charles A. Stockbridge, 1925
Roderick D. MacIver, 1926
Bradford M. Parker, 1927
Wilber Hamlin, 1928
Everett N. Montague, 1929
Frank E. Sanderson, 1930
Frank R. Rowe, 1931
Gavin A. Taylor, 1932
Theron A. Lowden, 1933
Harold A. Merriam, 1934
Harvey N. Fairbank, 1935
Edmund S. MacPherson, 1936
Charles L. Gray, 1937
Albert A. Tallant, 1938; N
William K. Walters, 1939
Elwyn L. Young, 1940
George H. Gohlke, 1941
William Henry Soar, 1942, 1943
Lossie E. Laird, 1944, 1945
Frederick S. Kennedy, 1946
Ralph B. Smith, 1947
Arthur W. Lee, 1948
E. Clayton Steeves, 1949; N
E. Everett Putnam, 1950
Richard F. Deane, 1951
John E. Manchester, 1952
William F. Edwards, 1953
Wentworth Prentiss, 1954
Earle B. Hoyle, 1955
Ole Garthe, 1956
Reed B. Parks, 1957
Bruce W. Hamblin, 1958
Winthrop H. Fairbank, 1959
Alvin R. Piper, 1960; PDDGM
John A. Dingee, 1961
Clarence E. Wormwood, 1962
William A. McKelvie, 1963
Joseph A. Fraser, Jr., 1964
Toivo J. J. Erkkinen, 1965
Roger W. Tansey, 1966
Roy W. Reach, Jr., 1967
Charles E. Bartlett, Jr, 1968
Jack Scott, 1969
Gerald A. Horne, 1970
Meldon E. Niemi, 1971; PDDGM, PDGM
Lester L. Fanning, 1972
Robert H. Cook, 1973
Raymond F. McCarthy, Jr., 1974
James R. Branche, 1975
Edward M. Saari, 1976
Edward C. Poole, 1977
William J. Vitkauskis, 1978
Allan R. Amoling, 1979
Allen M. Kough, Jr., 1980
Donald A. Foss, 1981
Gordon J. Illausky, 1982
William C. Floyde, 1983
Edwin E. Sarvela, 1984; PDDGM
James B. Beauvais, 1985
John E. Erb, 1986
Warren P. Garlick, 1987
George S. Bailey, 1988, 1994, 1995
Richard A. Ellis, 1989, 2011; DDGM
Leonard C. Horne, 1990
Thomas H. Hillery, 1991
Robert W. Larkin, 1992, 1993
Michael D. Chautin, 1996
Frederick L. Elliott, 1997
Forrest E. Shaw, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004
Stephen Ziobrowski, 1999, 2000
David W. Bailey, 2001
Charles F. Williams, Jr., 2005, 2006
Christopher J. Belmont, 2007
Donald F. Boas, 2008, 2009, 2010
Dean H. Strom, 2012

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

Petition for Dispensation: 1872
Petition for Charter: 1873

ANNIVERSARIES

1898 (25th Anniversary)
1923 (50th Anniversary)
1948 (75th Anniversary)
1973 (Centenary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

1873 (Nickerson; Constitution of Lodge and installation; hall dedication; see below)
1898 (Hutchinson; 25th Anniversary)
1923 (Ferrell; 50th Anniversary)
1940 (Perry; District meeting)
1948 (Deputy Grand Master Eugene B. Hamilton; 75th Anniversary)
1973 (Vose; 2 visits, including Centenary)
1977 (Maxwell)
1979 (Melanson)
1982 (Berquist)
1983 (Berquist)
1988 (Ames)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1874 1882 1900 1910 1912 1914 1925 1933 1940 1948 1961 1963 1979 1980 1982 1988 1992 2003 2011 2012

HISTORY

1923 (50th Anniversary History, 1923-4)
1948 (75th Anniversary History, 1948-47)
1973 (Centenary History, 1973-64)

50TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORY, MARCH 1923

From Proceedings, Page 1923-4:

by Rt. Wor. George H. Gutteridge.

We have arrived at our fiftieth milestone, and as I look back over the fifty years that have passed I will endeavor to call to your recollection some of the most important happenings.

While we cannot boast of such names as Paul Revere on our Charter, as our sister Lodge at Concord can, we are proud that our Charter bears the honored names of Sereno Dwight Nickerson, G. M. Percival Lowell Everett, D. G. M. Henry Endicott, S. G. W. Joseph K. Baker, J. G. W. John McClellan, Grand Treas. Charles H. Titus, Rec. Gr. Sec., also that the selection of the name

Charles A. Welch

was made for the Lodge, a name which is synonymous with all that is good and true, a name that was carried through a long life of ninety-six years of usefulness and devotion to the uplifting and betterment of mankind. It is well when a, special anniversary milestone in the march of life is reached to pause and glance back over the past, review its success and its failures, and seek to profit by their lessons for us in the forward march into the future.

Today we meet to celebrate the fifty-first anniversary of the institution of Charles A. Welch Lodge and the fiftieth anniversary of the granting of the Charter. In doing this we also celebrate in a wider sense an added milestone in the progress of the larger institution—Universal Freemasonry. In the year 1872 (one month before the town of Maynard celebrated its first anniversary) there were a number of Masons in Maynard who felt the need of the establishment of a Lodge, and after the usual preliminaries a Dispensation was granted March 1, 1872, by the Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts to work.

The first record that we have is that a meeting was held and organized as follows:

Rev. Leonard P. Frost, W. M.
Leonard R. Mitchell, S. W.
James L. Phillips, J. W.
Wm. Maxwell, Treas.
Dr. Geo. P. Ramsdell, Sec.
Charles F. Flint, Chaplain
Henry Hurst, S.D.
James M. Green, J.D.
Hiram Butters, Tyler, who was succeeded at the second meeting by Hugh McGowan as Tyler.

Bro. Green, the Junior Deacon, is still living at South Acton.

No record is made of in what hall or room the first meeting was held, but I am informed that it was held in a room in the house of Bro. Maxwell who lived in the long block known as the Railroad Block opposite the railroad station. We next find they met in Riverside Hall, which they rented for two dollars a night, and the upper hall for lecturing at forty cents a night, both furnished with heat and light.

March 12, 1873, a Charter was granted to James L. Phillips, Geo. P. Ramsdell, Charles F. Flint, Joseph W. Reed, John R. Graham, John Broadman, John Hickland, Eli R. Chase, George Darling and Thomas E. Trampleasure. Of the thirty-eight Brethren who signed the By-Laws of the Lodge during the year 1873 only two are members at the present time, namely, Warren S. Peters and Abel C. Haynes.

The first official visitation to the Lodge was made while under Dispensation, September 5, 1872, by R. W. Charles A. Welch, D. D. G. M. for the Fourth Masonic District. The work of the evening was the Entered Apprentice degree on Bro. John W. Flood.

The first meeting held after the Charter was granted was April 10, 1873, at which time the Grand Lodge was present for the purpose of Constituting the Lodge and Dedicating the Apartments (to use the language of the Grand Lodge Records) "to Freemasonry, to Virtue, and to Universal Benevolence" in accordance with the forms and usage and ritual of the Grand Lodge.

The hall that was dedicated as Masonic Hall is the one at the corner of Summer and Nason Streets formerly known as Darling's Block. Here the Lodge resided until March 1, 1887, then the present block was built by Lorenzo Maynard. I find an item in the records which states that Bro. Hickland is recognized as the first Worshipful Master and was thrice elected. Why they used the word "recognized" I do not understand, unless there was some doubt. (Probably because Worshipful Brother Hickland was the first Master under the Charter, but did not serve during the Dispensation period. He would, therefore, be the first Master, but some might suppose that the Master under Dispensation should be so regarded. — F. W. H.)

October 9, 1890, Bro. Isaiah Hutchins addressed the Lodge in regard to changing the time of our regular meetings from the second Thursday in each month to the Thursday on or before the full of the moon. He stated that the Brethren who lived in the surrounding towns found it very dark a great many times and no doubt stayed away from the Lodge meetings oftener than they would if they could come and go in the moonlight. It was so voted December, 1890, and holds good today, but in looking over the records I find the moon did not help the attendance very much, for then with a membership of one hundred and fourteen their average attendance was thirty, while at the present time with a membership of three hundred and twelve we have an average attendance of sixty.

Bro. Harris A. Clement was Master at the twenty-fifth anniversary and we are happy to say that he is with us today. The membership twenty-five years ago was one hundred and twenty-four. Today it is three hundred and twelve. We have a charity fund to which R. W. Bro. Charles A. Welch has been a heavy contributor. We have held a Masonic Ball nearly every year until the World War, when so many of our Brethren were away, and the proceeds have been added to the charity fund. We received a gift of $1,000 from Bro. Francis C. Welch, son of Charles A. Welch, and after the usual vote of thanks he was made an honorary member. He later made another contribution of $1,000 to the fund on the anniversary of his father's one hundredth birthday.

In 1911 the Lodge presented Bro. L. D. Wilson with a lambskin apron of a Chaplain's design for his long and faithful service of twenty-one years-as Chaplain.

February, 1912, Mrs. Margaret Nelson was admitted to the Masonic Home, where she passed the last eleven years of her life in peace and quiet, and always thanking Charles A. Welch Lodge for the blessing. She passed away only a few days ago. April 13, 1913, we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the Lodge by entertaining our lady friends. January 8, 1914, Wor. Bro. Harris A. Clement was presented with a Past Master's apron in recognition of the many years' service lecturing candidates.

March 5, 1914, it was voted that members who have paid all dues and assessments to the Lodge for thirty consecutive years shall become life members and shall not be liable for any further payment of dues. We have been constant contributors to the Rainy Day Fund since the start and have doubled our contribution in the last few years. We also were strong for the War Relief and went over the top on the George Washington Memorial.

In 1914 R.W. Bro. Thomas Deane was presented with a Past Master's apron in recognition of his services to the Lodge.

In June, 1915, the new United States flag which the Lodge had purchased was formally presented by Bro. L. D. Wilson and Bro. C. D. Holmes, two veterans of the Grand Army. Bro. Wilson with a few well-chosen remarks formally presented it to the Lodge. Bro. Holmes gave his favorite recitation, "Old Glory," and the flag was passed to the East, where Bro. Drechsler received it and responded with fitting remarks. The Lotus Quartette was present and sang patriotic selections.

In 1915 R.W. Bro. Deane in behalf of the Lodge presented Bro. L. D. Wilson with a large bouquet of chrysanthemums; the occasion being the twenty-sixth time he had been installed Chaplain of this Lodge and this day being his seventy-sixth birthday.

January 4, 1917, a reception was given to R.W. Bro. Gutteridge, the newly appointed District Deputy Grand Master.

In April, 1918, we purchased a Service flag, which was unfurled on June 27, 1918, with twenty-seven stars. A patriotic address was given by Rev. Bro. Luther G. Morris.

October 31, 1918, a Past Master's apron was presented to District Deputy Grand Master Gutteridge, it being his last official visit to his home Lodge, and a gala night was enjoyed by all.

November 13, 1919, a reception was given to the World War Veterans of the Lodge. Out of the twenty-seven, thirteen were present, the rest not having returned from abroad at the time. There were no deaths among our veterans.

We have listened to Wor. Bro. Putnam on two occasions when he addressed us on the subject of the "Morgan Episode," and another evening for the Masonic Service Committee. He also installed our officers one evening at a Public Installation and has endeared himself to all our members.

"We also listened to R.W. Edward C. R. Bagley on "Brotherly Love."

We have been the recipient of notices from the landlord several times that our rent was to be raised, first from $450 to $600, then $900, finally to $1200, which drove us to purchasing the building, and today we are the owners of this Masonic Building, so called, at a figure under $30,000. We are soon to renovate the apartments and will have a fine hall for Lodge use. A corporation was formed to take over the property which is now held by the Maynard Masonic Corporation consisting of every member of the Lodge.

During the last twenty-five years but two Grand Officers ever visited our Lodge, namely, R. W. Bro. Frank E. Swain and R. W. Herbert W. Dean, both Senior Grand Wardens.

During the fifty years of our existence we have had three District Deputy Grand Masters from our Lodge, namely, R. W. Bro. Frank H. Salisbury, R. W. Bro. Thomas Deane, and R. W. Bro. George H. Gutteridge.

As I close this short history of Charles A. Welch Lodge, I would say that the member who should have written this history, but on account of his modesty or for some other unknown reason would not, was elected Secretary of this Lodge in October, 1887, and held the office thirty-five consecutive years until October, 1922, which is a record to be proud of. All honor to Bro. Lucius H. Maynard!

The members of Charles A. Welch Lodge think that he is entitled to the Henry Price medal, if it is service that is required. The Lodge is undecided whether to present him with a gold watch and chain or a house on Summer Hill.

EVENTS

CONSTITUTION OF LODGE, APRIL 1873

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. XXXII, No. 5, May 1873, Page 143:

The above Lodge bears the name of an estimable brother, the Deputy Grand Master for the District in which it is located, and starts off with a fair promise of rivaling the best of its sister Lodges in the county. It is composed almost wholly of young men, and when it is said that the petition for its charter bears the names of eleven brethren only, and that during the year it has been working under its dispensation it has admitted twenty-seven candidates, and built and richly furnished one of the most tasteful and inviting halls in the interior of the State, little more need be added in evidence of the zeal, enterprise and liberality of its founders. It was regularly constituted by Grand Master Nickerson on the 10th of April last, when its hall was dedicated and its officers installed. The Grand Officers present were, the Grand Master; D. G. M.; S. G. W.; Parkman as J. G. W.; P. G. M. Lewis, and Bros. Moore; W. W. Wheildon; R. M. Field; Titus; Chessman and others.

The ceremonies were all conducted in private and to much greater advantage and acceptance to the brethren than could have been done in the presence of a mixed assemblage. At the conclusion of them, G. M. Nickerson delivered one of his most happy and effective addresses to the brethren of the new Lodge, when the Grand Lodge retired, and soon after met the brethren at the dinner table in the excellent hotel kept by Bro. Wm. F. Wood. The dining room was beautifully dressed with flowers and trailing vines, and the tables were literally loaded with the best the market afforded. Among the visitors present was Bro. Ebenezer Wood, an initiate of Corinthian Lodge, Concord, Mass., aged 81 years, having been a Mason 54 years. Short speeches were made at the table by several of the brethren; at the conclusion of which the Grand Lodge took the cars for Boston. The officers of the Lodge are:

Joseph W. Reed, Master.
Jas. L. Phillips, S. W.
John Hickland, J. W.
Eli B. Chase, Treas.
T. E. Trampleasure, Sec.
John B. Graham and John Proudman, Deacons.

We have not the names of the other officers.

GRAND LODGE OFFICERS

Harry E. Burnham, DDGM, District 24 (Marlborough), 1939, 1940; N
Thomas Deane, DDGM, District 21 (Framingham), 1908, 1909; SN
Richard A. Ellis, DDGM, District 15 (North), 2015
George H. Gutteridge, DDGM, District 24 (Marlborough), 1917, 1918; N
Meldon E. Niemi, DDGM, District 24 (Marlborough), 1978, 1979; Deputy Grand Master 1983
Alvin R. Piper, DDGM, District 24 (Marlborough), 1971, 1972
Frank H. Salisbury, DDGM, District 21 (Framingham), 1898, 1899; SN
Edwin E. Sarvela, 1990, 1991; deceased
E. Clayton Steeves, DDGM, District 24 (Marlborough), 1959, 1960, 1961; N
Albert A. Tallant, DDGM, District 24 (Marlborough), 1949, 1950; N
Gavin Taylor, DDGM, District 24 (Marlborough), 1929, 1930; SN