Watuppa

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WATUPPA LODGE

Location: Fall River

Chartered By: Frank L. Simpson

Charter Date: 09/14/1927 1927-246

Precedence Date: 12/04/1926

Current Status: surrendered charter, 03/05/2002; no reference in Proceedings.


PAST MASTERS

  • Alonzo T. Wonson, 1927, 1928; Mem; N
  • Walter E. Dow, 1929
  • Henry B. Waring, 1930, 1931
  • Randolph P. McBeath, 1932-1934
  • Charles W. Holt, 1935, 1936
  • Walter E. Marston, 1937, 1938
  • Leslie B. Coombs, 1939, 1940
  • John E. Trott, 1941, 1942
  • John F. Johnson, 1943
  • Jacob H. Sundell, 1944, 1946
  • Henry Mason, 1945
  • Donald F. Lambert, 1947
  • Dana S. Chadwick, 1948
  • Sidney Reitzas, 1949
  • Neilson Caplain, 1950
  • Harold V. Davis, 1951
  • Edward Schwartz, 1952
  • Charles S. Zalkind, 1953
  • Joseph A. Barry, 1954
  • William R. Meyer, 1955
  • Leonard Lechan, 1956
  • Gerhard S. Lowenstein, 1957
  • Maynard P. Freeman, 1958
  • Sam Bauman, 1959
  • Paul Greenberg, 1960
  • Sidney S. Lechan, 1961
  • Ralph L. Keyes, 1962
  • Abner Kravitz, 1963
  • Myron Rubinstein, 1964, 1979; N
  • Ronald J. Mandel, 1965
  • Joseph Linden, 1966
  • Samuel Cleinman, 1967
  • Bernard J. Poritz, 1968
  • Israel Z. Lipson, 1969
  • Richard P. Treiff, 1970
  • Jerome L. Spinner, 1971
  • David H. Rachlin, 1972
  • Harvey I. Treiff, 1973, 1977
  • Louis J. Bittolo-Bon, 1974
  • Albert G. Zusman, 1975
  • Walker C. McBeath, 1976
  • Russell M. Borden, 1978
  • Stafford Sheehan, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987-1988, 1991, 1992; PDDGM
  • Roger E. Legault, 1981
  • Paul E. Petit, 1983
  • William A. Lake, 1984
  • Henry F. Dennis, 1989
  • Wayne W. Ward, 1990, 2001, 2002
  • Kimberly J. Pavao, 1993, 1994
  • John A. Veloza, 1995, 1996
  • Anthony P. Nunes, 1997, 1998
  • Richard E. Dufour, 1999, 2000

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

  • Petition for Dispensation: 1926
  • Petition for Charter: 1927

ANNIVERSARIES

  • 1952 (25th Anniversary)
  • 1977 (50th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

BY-LAW CHANGES

1933 1950 1961 1974 1977 1979 1985 1988 1990

HISTORY

  • 1952 (25th Anniversary History, 1952-236; see below)

25TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORY, OCTOBER 1952

From Proceedings, Page 1952-236:

by Worshipful Myron S. Hillman.

In most Masonic Lodges the reason for its creation bears no importance at any of its anniversaries.

We of Watuppa Lodge feel differently. We can never forget why our Lodge was organized. This reason or ideal is constantly before us and has been clearly, albeit modestly, put into words by Dr. Everett C. Herrick, whose ideals of brotherly love caused this transition from a dream to a powerful, living, working example of true Masonry! These are his words:

I am not able to recall just when the idea of organizing Watuppa Lodge started. It was not a definite and dated decision. It was rather an indefinite and slowly growing thought that gradually took shape in the minds of a few Masons a little more than twenty-five years ago. I have neither the material nor the memory therefore to write of the beginnings in detail. When I left Fall River in 1926, the Lodge had not received its charter and had only recently begun to meet under dispensation. We had discovered that the Grand Lodge is a slowly moving body and we had to wait with hope and patience for its final action.

I can, however, recall some of the incidents and still more the sentiments which started the feeling in our minds. These led us to believe that there was not only room for a new Lodge in the city, but also a Masonic reason for it. It is always difficult to trace the story of an organization back to its initial start. It is a thought in someone's mind. The thought becomes a desire. The desire becomes a motive. So an idea is communicated from mind to mind and finally it takes shape in some movement and organization.

If I had any part in the beginnings of Watuppa Lodge, it was in the sharing with some Masonic Brethren these thoughts and desires which did motivate the group that finally secured the charter. Insofar as I was connected with it, the first suggestion came in the Men's Class in my church. More than twelve of the charter members belonged to this Class. The Class was not confined to my parish. It was made up of men from various parishes and in some cases from none. It was democratic and fraternal in its ideals. It was quite unconventional in its programs and meetings. It attracted a rather large number of men throughout the city. During my pastorate, Fall River like all industrial cities was undergoing social and racial changes. The fact that the Men's Class did not resist these changes but welcomed them and sought to adjust itself to them explains, I think, certainly in some measure, its growth and popularity.

Naturally there were many men in the Class who were Masons, and there were likely to be frequent allusions to the Order in class sessions. And quite naturally, there were men in the Class who desired to become Masons. It happened, as I recall, that some of us were approached from time to time by some of these men who wished to join the Masons. When we believed them to be worthy and well qualified, we put in their applications, and to our disappointment, we found that in certain cases our applicants were voted down. These experiences and others like them led a few of us to dream of a Lodge which recognized in practice, as well as ritual, the universality of Freemasonry. We dreamed of a Lodge which would not only receive and welcome men of different races, cultures and traditions, but would make this basis of membership its primary aim. Little by little we found kindred spirits and so there gradually came to be a substantial group of Masons who were committed to the idea and ready to work for its achievement. There were some who even wanted to give the Lodge a name that would suggest its purpose. This, however, was not done and probably wisely so. It was not the name that was important, but the idea.

So it will be clear, I think, that in the minds of the originators Watuppa Lodge was started, not so much because we thought the community needed another Lodge, but because we believed it needed a different Lodge, a cosmopolitan Lodge in which, to quote that beloved and immortal Mason Bobby Burns, "A man's a man for a' that." I am sure if anyone would look over the list of early initiates he would see evidence that the Lodge began at once to fulfill the purpose which was in the minds of its founders.

The list of charter members brings to my mind many crowding memories. These are so many indeed that there is neither time nor space for me to dwell upon them. They were not only Brother Masons, they were in many cases intimate and devoted friends. I will mention one or two who were especially helpful at the start because they are among those to whom the Lodge owes most for its inception. Alonzo T. Wonson was a deacon in my church. He was a Past Master, if I remember correctly, and became Watuppa's first Master. His familiarity with Masonic procedure made him most helpful in directing our early steps. We should be proud that the list of charter members includes the name of Thomas Chew. He was for many years the director of the Boys' Club and a man whose humility, charity and kindness, together with his love for boys, made him one of the finest and most beloved citizens of Fall River. Only one, Henry B. Waring, is living who went through the chairs and is now a Past Master. No one can be more familiar than he with the beginning and the early developments of the Lodge. A goodly number of these charter members have already joined the Celestial Lodge. I could speak in detail of almost everyone on the list. It was a privilege to have known them and to have worked with them in the institution of this Lodge and in many other worthy causes. It is a great satisfaction to come back to the Lodge after twenty-five years and observe its strength and growth. It has become a Lodge of which we may be justly proud.

After a quarter century of history which has brought this strength and stability, it may be well for us to remind ourselves of the idea which in so large measure gave birth to the Lodge. This Masonic principle is no less sound and important today than it was then. Freemasonry does not regard a man for his outward station, but for his inward integrity. It does not seek to promote exclusiveness and pride, but charity and humility. We must guard against growing forgetful as we grow strong. The idea that gave inception to Watuppa Lodge should become a fixed and living tradition. It should ever be a Lodge where the good man and true", whatever his name or race, should find no unmasonic barriers and prejudices erected against him.

/s/ Everett C. Herrick.

At first Watuppa Lodge grew slowly. For almost fifteen years it remained a small group of thirty to thirty-five Masons. It survived through a period of time when men were economically oppressed. There were many occasions when the business on hand was only to find ways and means to survive. Candidates were few. During the years 1930, '31, '34, '37 and '38, no one knocked at our doors. But the basis of growth was not forgotten, and soon many men of faith and character and of many creeds knocked at our doors and were admitted, so that today we are proud of the one hundred seventy-eight Masons who are members of Watuppa Lodge.

The fact that so many of our Brethren have taken Masonry to heart and have practiced these wonderful ideals outside of the Lodge and that our meetings have been so well attended and so successful speaks well for the ideals and dreams of that great man whom we regard as the Father of Watuppa Lodge.

We regard the tenets of Freemasonry so highly that the membership sought more concrete ways to express them, and in 1948, Watuppa Foundation was born. This Foundation is composed wholly of the membership of Watuppa Lodge. Its charitable functions are noteworthy and non-sectarian in scope. It helps Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Boys' Club Camp; it assists worthy students with free scholarships; it has donated much needed equipment to hospitals. Each year sees an increase in the scope of its heart-warming work and every Mason may point with pride and say "This is true Masonry!"

And so, to Dr. Herrick, Watuppa Lodge is a dream fulfilled; and to its membership a place to joyfully practice brotherly love, relief and truth. And may it grow in time and be an inspiration to those who will follow us and may they constantly be reminded that "A man's a man for a' that."


GRAND LODGE OFFICERS

OTHER BROTHERS


DISTRICTS

1926: District 30 (Fall River)

1927: District 30 (Fall River)


LINKS

Massachusetts Lodges