SocialHarmony

From MasonicGenealogy
Revision as of 22:22, 5 February 2015 by Hotc1733 (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

SOCIAL HARMONY LODGE

Location: Middleboro; Wareham (1828)

Chartered By: John Dixwell

Charter Date: 03/12/1823 III-437

Precedence Date: 03/12/1823

Current Status: Active

NOTES

  • Note: Another lodge, Agawam, received a dispensation to meet, but this was returned when Social Harmony's charter was restored.

PAST MASTERS

  • Isaac Kimball, 1823, 1824
  • Isaac Steven, 1825-1827
  • Jabez Williams, 1828
  • Eliphalet W. Harvey, 1829-1834
  • DARK 1834-1855
  • Henry Boyd, 1856-1860
  • William H. Borden, 1861, 1862
  • James G. Sproat, 1863-1865
  • Nicholas James Sherman, 1866-1868
  • Edward A. Gammons, 1869, 1870
  • George F. Wing, 1871-1873
  • John M. Besse, 1874, 1875
  • Joseph Jessup, 1876-1879
  • John Huxtable, 1880, 1881, 1890, 1891, 1896, 1897; Memorial
  • Frank W. Kingman, 1882, 1883
  • Gifford H.G. McGrew, 1884, 1885; SN
  • George H. Griffen, 1886
  • George W. Warr, 1887
  • George H. Earl, 1888, 1889
  • Robert T. Delano, 1892-1894
  • Benjamin Waters, 1895
  • Lysander Gibbs, 1898
  • Joseph Jessup, 1899
  • Charles S. Hathaway, 1900, 1901
  • William T. Kirkby, 1902, 1903
  • Louis C. LeBaron, 1904, 1905
  • Fred H. Jessup, 1906, 1907
  • Ezra R. Bumpus, 1908, 1909
  • John C. Makepeace, 1910, 1911; N
  • William G. Woodruff, 1912, 1913
  • Charles A. Anderson, 1914, 1915
  • Benjamin P. Waters, 1916, 1917
  • H. Fred Proctor, 1918
  • Edward L. Bartholomew, 1919
  • Ruel S. Gibbs, 1920
  • Henry D. Freeman, 1921; SN
  • Coleman H. Gould, 1922
  • Frank M. Robbins, 1923
  • Alonzo T. Stringer, 1924
  • Homer L. Gibbs, 1925
  • LeRoy L. Eldredge, 1926; SN
  • Charles L. Francis, 1927
  • William E. C. Perry, 1928
  • Ralph T. Stringer, 1929
  • Milton R. Thompson, 1930
  • George L. Brigham, 1931
  • Joseph F. Hanley, 1932
  • Francis P. Reed, 1933
  • Sayward H. Gilbert, 1934
  • Elmer W. Maxim, 1935
  • Charles S. Gurney, Jr., 1936
  • Edwin L. Morse, 1937; N
  • Otto E. Kumpunen, 1938
  • Lester W. Fisher, 1939
  • Harold L. Eldridge, 1940, 1941
  • Thomas E. Ferris, 1942
  • C. Hammett Cowell, 1943, 1944
  • Benjamin O. Perry, 1945
  • James N. Allaire, 1946
  • Otto A.S. MacKinnon, 1947; N
  • Ellsworth R. Doll, 1948
  • Walter I. Lyle, 1949
  • Eugene K. Baker, 1950
  • Clifford R. Wallace, 1951
  • Robert B. Macomber, 1952
  • Leslie P. Cross, 1953
  • Robert L. Sanford, 1954
  • James S. Salfas, 1955
  • Fred W. Braun, 1956
  • Kenneth J. Bruce, 1957; SN
  • Elmer P. Tribou, 1958
  • Charles W. Huff, 1959
  • Leon Davidson, 1960; N
  • Newton I. B. Crocker, 1961
  • Channing W. Howard, 1962
  • Ronald J. Wood, 1963
  • Dana C. Keyes, Sr., 1964
  • Winston H. Cushman, 1965
  • Edwin A. Trench, 1966
  • Robert W. Weller, 1967
  • Phillip M. Strawn, 1968
  • Arthur H. Hillier, 1969
  • Richard DeBoer, Jr., 1970
  • Cedric O. Mader, 1971
  • John P. Reese, 1972, 1973
  • George J. Shaw, 1974
  • Gardner S. McWilliams, 1975; PDDGM
  • Leon J. Johnston, Jr., 1976, 1979
  • Raymond L. Pattee, 1977, 1978
  • Cedric O. Mader, 1980
  • Peter G. Richter, 1981; PDDGM
  • Curtis M. Connor, 1982, 1993
  • Richard J. Resendes, 1983
  • Stephen E. Reams, 1984
  • Robert B. Mitchell, 1985
  • Phillip B. Marcosa, 1986
  • Gerald W. Fihlman, 1987
  • William E. Fihlman, 1988
  • Donald O. Hartson, 1989, 2011; PDDGM
  • Harold J. Gerard, Jr., 1990; PDDGM
  • David L. Maxim, Sr., 1991; PDDGM
  • William W. Elliot, 1992
  • Richard F. Murphy, 1994
  • Wally C. Therrien, 1995, 1996
  • Richard B. Pierce, 1997, 2000
  • Keith L. Amorin, 1998
  • Christian W. Butler, 1999
  • Mark R. Lindsay, 2001, 2002, 2005
  • John T. Lobo, 2003, 2004
  • William C. Munson, 2006
  • Michael A. Resendes, 2007, 2008
  • Mark E. Hartshorn, 2009, 2010
  • Samuel S. Hartson, 2012

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

  • Petition for Charter: 1823
  • Petition for Restoration of Charter: 1858

ANNIVERSARIES

  • 1923 (Centenary)
  • 1948 (125th Anniversary)
  • 1998 (175th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

BY-LAW CHANGES

1858 1870 1873 1875 1908 1916 1921 1922 1925 1931 1949 1955 1965 1976 1981 1997 2000 2001 2004 2007

HISTORY

  • 1948 (125th Anniversary History, 1948-33; see below)
  • 1964 (Notes on early history, in centenary history of May Flower Lodge, 1964-92)
  • 1973 (150th Anniversary History, 1973-33)

125TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORY, MARCH 1948

From Proceedings, Page 1948-33:

By Right Worshipful John C. Makepeace.

On March 12, 1823, one hundred twenty-five years ago this day, the Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts did constitute Isaac Kimball, Calvin Murdock, Alanson Witherell, Jabez Williams, John N. Pierce, Jeremiah Keith, Jr., George Sturtevant, Timothy Drew, Avery Forbes, Philip Colby and Job Allen, Jr., a regular Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons under the title and designation of Social Harmony Lodge within the Town of Middleborough to perform the work of the craft; to receive and collect funds for the relief of poor and distressed Brethren and widows or children and in general to transact all matters relating to Masonry which may to them appear to be for the good of the craft, according to the ancient usages and customs of Masons. The charter was signed by John Dixwell, Grand Master, and attested by the Wardens and Secretary. In commemoration of that event we gather tonight, and we do well by ourselves, the Grand Lodge and the Craft, to honor it and observe it with appropriate ceremonies.

Then, in 1828, the Lodge moved to Wareham. The motivating factors and the preliminaries attending this move are somewhat obscure, but some interesting memoranda have come down to us which I will quote in abstract.

The petition to the Grand Lodge was adopted by unanimous vote of the Lodge and sets forth,

  • That said Town of Middleborough contains no village of any considerable size but its population is pretty evenly scattered over its whole territory.
  • That at the time the charter was granted there were a number of active and spirited Masons living here and who flattered themselves too much, as the event has proved, with the prospect of the success of Masonry in this place, and that most of those who have taken the degrees have resided from three to five miles from the place of its meetings.
  • That a large proportion of its members now reside in the Town of Wareham of whom the present Master (Jabez Williams) is one.
  • That the Town of Wareham contains a commercial and manufacturing village which is flourishing and whose population is rapidly increasing and the best interests of the institution would be greatly promoted by removing said Lodge to that place.

The prayer of the petitioners was granted, and in his endorsement of the petition, the Past District Deputy Grand Master added this line: "The Middleborough Lodge has little prospect of increase and I think much of extinction, whereas the translation of the name and duties of this Lodge to Wareham would give it fresh and gradually increasing vigor and effect."

At this time Isaac Colby, who appears to have been a minister in Middleborough and Secretary of the Lodge, asked for dimission from the Lodge and gave as his reasons "that a great excitement has been produced, aided by the press, and other active exertions of anti-Masons is widespread; that the order of society is disturbed and the harmony of churches affected, and ministers of the gospel belonging to the fraternity are involved in perplexing difficulties."

While the Craft was apparently prospering, but because it did not and never had published its entire ritual, there arose a feeling that there must be something sinister in its teachings and practices which should be suppressed, and properly fanned on both sides of the controversy, worked itself into a frenzy to the extent that it affected churches and politics and elections in several eastern states. Thus we had the legendary anti-Masonic era. The agitation may have had something to do with the moving of the Lodge to Wareham.

Nor did affairs move too smoothly in Wareham. In December, 1829, it was voted to settle with the Widow Tobey for the use of her hall and to agree with Thomas Savery for the use of his hall and to move the furniture. I assume that was a notice of quitting — a year after leaving Middleborough. The finesse in this vote will be appreciated only when it is understood that Thomas Savery had no hall and that the furniture and paraphernalia and records were moved to his barn in East Wareham for storage.

The record ceases for a period of twenty-five years. The charter was surrendered, but we may surmise that the members continued to meet informally and to maintain their familiarity with the rites and ceremonies and to perform their Masonic duties as one to another.

In May, 1855, Agawam Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons met in Odd Fellows Hall in Wareham and organized under dispensation granted by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts issued in January of that year. The officers were listed as John M. Kinney, Henry Boyd, William A. Caswell, C. W. Harris, Thomas Savery, Simeon Perkins, James F. Lincoln and N. W. Shedd. These are mostly names of families well-known in Wareham at that time. The records of Agawam Lodge ceased on June 18, 1856. On the following day, June 19, 1856, a meeting of old members of Social Harmony Lodge was held in Town Hall, Middleborough (note the return to Middleborough, if only for a day). Brother Henry Boyd was admitted a member and was chosen Master. Other Brothers admitted to the meeting as members were William A. Caswell, Nathan W. Shedd, Charles W. Harris, William H. Borden, Samuel T. Sherman, James F. Lincoln, William T. Leach, Lewis D. Perry, Rufus Lincoln II (all members of Agawam Lodge). It was voted to adjourn to meet at Odd Fellows Hall in Wareham on Wednesday, June 26, 1856. The original charter of Social Harmony Lodge was presented and the Lodge resumed its career which has been uninterrupted to this date.

The intervening ninety-two years seem to me to be quite routine. The most notable recorded event is the observance of its centennial in 1923 under the guidance of Brother Frank M. Robbins as Worshipful Master. On March 12th, the 100th anniversary of the charter, we were favored with a visit by the Most Worshipful Dudley H. Ferrell, our beloved Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts, accompanied by Right Worshipful Brother Frank H. Hilton, Grand Marshal. The Grand Master delivered an inspiring address which was enthusiastically received and appreciated by all. On August 19 and 20, marking the 100th anniversary of the constitution of the Lodge, there was a parade of four hundred Masons led by the Sutton Commandery Band. The parade ended at Warr Theater where the anniversary address was delivered by Worshipful Brother R. Perry Bush of happy memory, and a history of the Lodge prepared and delivered by Worshipful Brother George W. Sutcliff. On the following evening there was a social gathering at Bournehurst, at which it is estimated that there were present four thousand members and guests.

During the anniversary year a successful campaign was conducted for the purchase of a lot for a Masonic Temple. The Temple was not built and the lot was sold and the proceeds invested. The lot is at present occupied by the Wareham post office.

Such in brief is the chronological story of your Lodge during its one hundred twenty-five years.

What of the times through which it passed?

In its early days the Lodge must many times have carried on both in Middleborough and in Wareham with as few as a dozen members, and we cannot but admire their tenacity. (I have frequently remarked that a Lodge in the country should have at least one hundred members to draw from and to function effectively.)

What kind of a town was Wareham in the 1820s? It was an iron manufacturing town and that may be called its principal activity. Glen Charlie and Agawam were operating, Tihonet Rolling Mill was new, as was Washington Furnace (later known as Tremont); Parker Mills and the mill at the Poles (South Wareham) were busy. Franconia came later. Even previous to this, seventy-five years previous if you will, bog ore was mined, smelted with good charcoal from our forests and sea shells for flux, from which a very creditable product was made. Every little stream had its water wheel (Mosquito Dam had two, Rose Brook and all the rest), to run the blast to heat the iron for hand-hammered nails, such as may now be found bright and tough after 150 years in our oldest buildings.

Products from the iron mills (mostly nails) had to be transported to market and, there being no railroad, this gave rise to a considerable commerce carried on in sailing vessels. There was not only no railroad; there was no bridge at the Narrows. The Tremont dock, the Ellis and Tobey dock, the Agawam dock, the Parker Mills dock, the Franconia dock were busy unloading ore and coal, grain and lumber and departing loaded with products of our mills and forests. An old resident has told me of seeing schooners so thick that it was possible to walk across their decks from one shore of the river to the other while they were waiting for favorable sailing weather.

Water power was all important. The owner of the town grist mill was an important personage and his prerogatives were so highly regarded that in his lease in 1827 to I. & J. Pratt, Benjamin Fearing stipulated that no grist was to be ground there by the lessees. Where there is grist, there must be corn and rye to grind, so we had a farming population with oxen and sheep and other elements of self-sufficiency.

Our forests were good and the sound of the woodman's ax rang out in the preparation of timber and charcoal and household fuel. (Those of you who travel the woods north of Tihonet and Agawam and into the Miles Standish Forest know the frequency with which you come upon the site of wood choppers' cabins and charcoal pits.)

Life was rugged, frequently solitary and travel not easy. When the members of our Lodge gathered with their fellows around the hearth and later the air-tight stove, we may rest assured that there was genuine fraternity and fellowship; Lodge night was an experience to be looked forward to and en-Joyed, and enjoyment must last a long time.

In my own early association with my elder Brothers, I learned much of Masonry in a recital over the dying embers of a wood fire and cherish the memory. Where did the Lodge meet? It first met in Academy Hall in Middleborough. At its first meeting in Wareham the Lodge voted to pay Widow T. Tobey the sum of $30. for use of her hall for the term of one year, she to furnish fire when wanted and one light. This location was what is now called The Tavern at South Wareham.

Agawam Lodge met in Odd Fellows Hall in Wareham, as did Social Harmony Lodge when it resumed activities under its charter in 1856. I assume this location to have been the I. & J. Pratt Store, an imposing building on the site of what is now known as the old town office at Parker Mills. The building had in its day housed a company store, the town high school and the lodge rooms. The building burned flat in October 1889.

Temporary Lodge quarters were established in the rooms of Wareham Social Club. The present (perhaps I should say former) Odd Fellows Hall was built in 1894 and there Social Harmony Lodge established itself and it was there that I was initiated. At its February meeting, 1909, the Lodge met in its present quarters, which it has occupied continuously since that time.

There is one piece of your furniture which I admire and is worthy of note. I refer to the historic oil painting hanging over the chair of the Junior Warden. It is dimmed with grime and age. I haven't been able to find on it all of the symbols of the three degrees, but most of them are there and I find more every time I examine it. I would like to know the name of the competent artist. Legend has it that it went under ground during the anti-Masonic excitement and that the tear in the lower right corner was made by the inadvertent stroke of a pitch fork when it rested in a hay mow. It is an interesting and valuable relic and I hope it may be always with you.

The impact of war on Masonry is worthy of note. There seems to be much greater interest and activity just previous to or during or immediately following an active war. To me this signifies the inner craving for companionship, fraternity, sympathy and support of his fellowmen in times of great stress and danger. After persistent but not noteworthy existence during the 1850s and early 1860s, the Lodge must have been startled to receive a class of fourteen in a couple of meetings.

World War I and World War II each brought its notable influx greater than that of the 1860s. The list of Lodge members who served in World War II is as follows:

  • Clyde Francis Akins, Jr., Navy
  • Harrison Ellis Bailey, Army
  • Sherod Leroy Bourne, Navy
  • Ernest Philip Butler, Army
  • Ellsworth R. Doll, Navy
  • Horace E. Dunkle, Jr., Army
  • Howard Raymond Eldridge, Army
  • Carleton Duroy Hudson, Navy
  • Lorenzo Charles Judge, Army
  • Preston S. Lincoln, Navy
  • Donald J. Macomber, Army
  • Joseph Leonard Macomber, Navy
  • Robert Bradford Macomber, Navy
  • Channing H. Morse, Army
  • Edwin Lewis Morse, Navy
  • Earl Leslie Parker, Navy
  • Lawrence Laken Richardson, Navy

Reading our records objectively over the lapse of time is interesting, instructive, amusing and time consuming. There are lapses. Occasionally a man crops up as a member, but the records seem not to disclose how he got there. Membership has been what I call a selective cross section of the older town. Beginning with the 1850s, we find family names which are familiar, and the familiarity increases as we approach the present time. Spittoons were introduced, presumably used, and finally removed.

I must mention a few names of Brothers whose activities seem to me to have contributed substantially to our history. I like to feel that their names will be continued. When the Lodge celebrates future anniversaries, perhaps someone else Will pick up where I am leaving off.

  • Henry Boyd was instrumental in the restoration of the charter and was Master for four years when the Lodge resumed its meetings in Wareham.
  • William A. Caswell was Treasurer from 1857 until his death in 1890.
  • Edward A. Gammons, just back from war in 1864, was immediately given important work. He rose through regular stages to the office of Master and thereafter did yeoman service in the arduous, persistent and somewhat thankless job of Secretary for more than thirty years. His hand writing appears on the records for more than forty years, and the changes that took place in the writing during that time are interesting and notable. The records were written and read before the close of every meeting.
  • John M. Besse, Master in 1874 and 1875, was a long time member. I think he must have been janitor in the old Pratt building because of the regularity of refreshment bills presented. In my early days he was in the sidelines, regular in attendance, a good mentor, ever alert for a misplaced word or mispronounced syllable.
  • John Huxtable, thrice Master, and District Deputy Grand Master, was letter perfect in the ritual. He was always ready to prompt and to help, his charge was impressive, and he installed more officers here and hereabouts than any I know of.
  • Robert T. Delano and Charles Sumner Hathaway were always patient and helpful.
  • Fred H. Jessup gave me my first steps.
  • Louis C. LeBaron, our present senior member, was Worshipful Master when I joined.

At one time the Lodge had five brothers who were members. It seems to me that this is worthy of note. They were in the order of joining — Walton Crocker, Samuel Crocker, Harvey Crocker, Zenas Crocker and George Crocker. Zenas was a seafaring man and became a member by affiliation. The others were raised here.

By-laws, according to the record, have frequently been the source of annoyance — they were adopted, approved, amended, repealed, printed, called back, all in meetings quite close together and all in an effort to be accurate and keep up-to-date — a good sign.

The subject of refreshments occupies much space and apparently fluctuates with the state of the treasury. I entered upon a diet of crackers and cheese and that was mandate. In an effort to stimulate interest, once while occupying the chair in the South I brought a half dozen loaves of hot, thick, shiny gingerbread, served with strong coffee and thick cream. It was relished and disposed of, but I was sternly reminded that it was not according to the book.

It appears embellished upon the imperishable records of this institution that following a public installation there was presented to the Lodge, overflow or surplus of the cash as it were, the munificent sum of eighty cents — by the Narrator of this evening duly named.

On this March 12, 1948, for the observance of our 125th Anniversary, we had a reception for guests at the lodge-room in the afternoon and adjourned to the Town Hall for supper, speeches and entertainment, with 170 members and guests.

As the commentators say, that's the story of our first one hundred twenty-five years. A historian should not be a prophet, but I can do little about what has gone before. Those of us who are here today can do much about the future. Times change and habits change with them, but the lessons of Speculative Masonry, the cardinal virtues of Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice remain imperishable; the simple tenets of your profession, brotherly love, relief, truth, are everlasting. The need for their practice in human relations is enduring. Their cultivation and practice is e-njoined upon you. There can be no lessening of these teachings.

To you youngsters — we pass the torch. Carry it. Don't let it flicker. Keep its flame bright as a beacon. Hold it proudly and high. You need strength and character and loyalty. Select and practice strength and character and loyalty. Be able and ready to give as well as to receive succor.

OTHER

  • 1823 (Constitution of lodge, III-477)
  • 1828 (Petition to remove to Wareham, IV-138)
  • 1896 (Jurisdictional dispute, 1896-111)

GRAND LODGE OFFICERS

DISTRICTS

1823: District 3

1856: District 5

1867: District 14 (New Bedford)

1870: District 15 (Barnstable)

1871: District 14 (New Bedford)

1883: District 27 (Nantucket)

1911: District 31 (Nantucket)

1927: District 31 (Nantucket)

2003: District 16

2011: District 19

LINKS

Massachusetts Lodges

Retrieved from "http://masonicgenealogy.com/MediaWiki/index.php?title=SocialHarmony&oldid=53770"