CalebButler

CALEB BUTLER LODGE

Originally named Excelsior Lodge.

Location: South Groton; Ayer (1871)

Chartered By: Winslow Lewis

Charter Date: 03/14/1860 VI-300

Precedence Date: 03/28/1859

Current Status: Active

PAST MASTERS

need list of living PMs

Edmund D. Bancroft, 1859 (U.D.)
Oliver N. Wing (U.D.), 1860
Benjamin F. Taft, 1861, 1862
John N. Roberts, 1863
Charles C. Bennett, 1864
Henry A. Brown, 1865, 1866, 1868, 1869, 1873, 1880
Charles E. Morrison, 1867
George V. Barrtett, 1870, 1871
John Q. A. McCollister, 1872
Ezra C. Chapin, 1874
Benjamin H. Hartwell, 1875, 1876; SN
Arthur Fenner, 1877, 1878
John E. Parsons, 1879
Leonard A. Buck, 1881
Frederick Whitney, 1882, 1883
Jason Cole, 1894
Frederick Whitney, 1895, 1896
Elson H. Bigelow, 1887
Ellixia D. Martell, 1888
Robert Hume, 1889, 1891
Albert A. Fillebrown, 1890; Mem
Edward Lawton, 1892
Oliver K. Pierce, 1893
George H. Bixby, 1894, 1895
Ruben L. Fillebrown, 1896
Frank S. Pierce, 1897
Ruben C. Parker, 1898
William N. Cowles, 1899
Philip A. Carlton, 1900
Benjamin Taft, 1901
George A. Sanderson, 1902
Ira G. Dwinell, 1903
Alan A. Claflin, 1904
Walter F. Dickson, 1905
Charles F. Johnson, 1906
Edward A. Richardson, 1907
Elisha D. Stone, 1908
Clarence H. Kenney, 1909
Robert H. Irwin, 1910
George O. Fillebrown, 1911
Warren L. Preble, 1912
Warren H. Fairbanks, 1913
Bertrand H. Hopkins, 1914
Philip E. Andrews, 1915
Harrison E. Evans, 1916
Charles E. Perrin, 1917
Ellis B. Harlow, 1918
Kimball W. Martin, 1919
Herbert H. Proctor, 1920
Timothy Cleary, 1921
Herbert B. Priest, 1922; SN
Theophilus G. Smith, Jr., 1923
Frank A. Cash, 1924
Frank B. Crandall, 1925; N
Kendall V. Pierce, 1926
Walter A. MacNulty, 1927, 1928
Everette J. Fowler, 1929
Richard Drew, 1930
Philip R. Andrew, 1931
Lyman C. Sprague, 1932
Frank C. Harmon, 1933
Thomas A. Manktelow, 1934
Harvey Q. McCollester, 1935
Edwin F. O’Brien, 1936
Herman T. Allen, 1937
Edgar W. Harrod, 1938
Anthony Perina, 1939
John G. Strachan, 1940
Ralph B. Bowmar, 1941
Howard H. Ferguson, 1942
John G. Strachan, 1943
Philip R. Andrew, 1944
H. Arnold Wilder, 1945; SN
William G. Bogg, 1946
Frederick H. Brown, 1947
Morrill E. Stephenson, 1948
Leslie N. Athorn, 1949
Chester B. Wheeler, 1950
Willard K. Noddin, 1951
Carl A. Black, 1952
Hugh H. Thompson, 1953
Wellman Ernest Parker, 1954
Clarence F. Dobson, 1955
Henry Harris Dennis, 1956
Clifford W. McNulty, 1957
W. Howard Pike, 1958
George C. Saul, 1959
Clark Weston Paige, 1960
John Leslie Bemis, 1961; N
Chester V. Lloyd, 1962
William E. Wilkins, 1963; SN
Ernest Arthur Cregar, Jr., 1964
Eldon Morton Strickland, Jr., 1965, 1988
Robert A. Hippler, 1966
Alf B. Montgomery, 1967
Kenneth A. Young, 1968, 1969
R. Howard Wylie, Jr., 1970
Bertrand E. Cote, Sr., 1971
Walter F. Dickson, 1972
Milton Lane, 1973
Charles Stillman Fitch, 1974
Milton E. Starr, 1975
John Robert Oliverson, 1976
Ronald C. Strickland, 1977
John Marshea Hamilton, 1978
Robert D. Barclay, 1979
Robert Frank Hippler, 1980
Anthony Ralph Mario Caprio, 1981
David Joy Dakin, 1982, 1992
Raymond E. Waterman, 1983
Eugene Clayton Wixom, 1984
Frederick J. Butler, 1985
Timothy Gilbert Bemis, 1986, 1993
James Edward Farr, 1987
Ronald Clyde Strickland, 1989
Robert Vernon Stafford, 1990, 1994
Wilbur Horr, 1991
Stephen Andrew Reynolds, 1995
Kenneth Edward Lewis, 1996
Paul Alfred Poirier, 1997
Walter Ernest Gerstenlauer, 1998
Rafael Ponce Quinones, 1999
Charles Howard Jones, 2000, 2005
Kurt Daniel Staven, 2001
Richard Wayne Skoczylas, 2002
Thomas James Stapleton, 2003
Michael James Chambers, 2004
Dennis John Rinki, 2006
Geoffrey Kromer, 2007; PDDGM
David C. Winters, 2008
Ernest A. Bean, 2009; PDDGM
Harold H. Sargent, Jr., 2010
Walter F. Dickson, Jr., 2011
Joshua E. Garfinkle, 2012

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

Petition for Dispensation: 1859
Petition for Charter: 1860

ANNIVERSARIES

1910 (50th Anniversary)
1934 (75th Anniversary)
1960 (Centenary)
1985 (125th Anniversary)
2009 (150th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

1860 (Deputy Grand Master James V. C. Smith; Constitution of Lodge and installation; see below)
1873 (Nickerson; Hall dedication)
1882 (Lawrence)
1898 (Deputy Grand Master Albert L. Harwood; Corner-stone laying for Bank and Middlesex District Court Building)
1899 (Hutchinson; Hall dedication)
1903 (Sanford)
1910 (Flanders; 50th Anniversary)
1918 (L. Abbott)
1925 (Ferrell; 2 visits, including installation)
1928 (Simpson; corner stone laying in Lowell)
1934 (Chipman; 75th Anniversary)
1960 (Eaton; Centenary)
1985 (Richardson; 125th Anniversary)
1990 (Darling; Hall dedication)
1999 (Bauer; Hall dedication)
2008 (Pageau; 75th Masonic anniversary of Rt. Wor. H. Arnold Wilder)
2009 (Pageau; 150th Anniversary)
2011 (Stewart)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1873 1886 1906 1912 1914 1921 1924 1951 1952 1955 1961 1967 1978 1982 1984 1988 1993 1995 2003 2004 2007 2010

HISTORY

1910 (50th Anniversary Historical Address, 1909-115)
1934 (75th Anniversary History, 1934-98)
1960 (Centenary History, 1960-125)
1985 (125th Anniversary History, 1985-105)
1999 (History at hall dedication, 1999-125)

OTHER

1871 (Definition of jurisdiction; also dispensation to meet in Ayer)
1918 (Address by Bro. and Maj. Reginald Barlow on Camp Devens)

EVENTS

DISPENSATION, APRIL 1859

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. XVIII, No. 6, April 1859, Page 192:

A dispensation has been issued for a new Lodge at South Groton, in this State, under the name of Excelsior Lodge, and will, we understand, go into immediate operation under favorable auspices. We could have preferred a different name, — one more suggestive.

CONSTITUTION OF LODGE, MARCH 1860

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. XIX, No. 6, April 1860, Page 185:

This new Lodge which has been working the past year under Dispensation at South Groton, by the name of Excelsior Lodge, was constituted and its officers were installed on the evening of the 26th ult. The ceremonies of Constitution and Consecration were performed by the Dep. Grand Master, Dr. J. V. C. Smith, and the installation by R. W. Bro. Wm. D. Coolidge, J. G. Warden, to the great acceptance of the Brethren present. The following are the officers for the current year:—

O. N. Wing, W. M.
B. F. Taft, S. W.
A. Dicke, J. W.
A. Fenner, Treas.
W. F. Goulding, Sec.
J. N. Roberts, S. D.
G. H. Champney, J. D.
Leander Ring, Marshal.
J. Q. A. McColIister, Chaplain.
Danl. Ring, S. S.
John Gleason, J. S.
H. P. Nichols, Tyler.

At the conclusion of the ceremonies the Brethren sat down to an elegant and excellent supper, provided at the new hotel in the village. There an hour was spent in a very agreeable manner.

The Lodge has a convenient hall and the prospect before it most encouraging. Its officers are competent and zealous, and the members interested in its success.

MEMORIALS

LEANDER G. KING 1830-1863

MM 1858, St. Paul (Groton)
Charter Member of Caleb Butler Lodge

Killed in the battle of Gettysburg, Pa. July 2d, 1863, Bro. Leander G. King, Capt. of Company C, 16th regt. Massachusetts Volunteers.

Bro. King received the three degrees of Freemasonry in St. Paul's Lodge, Groton Centre, during the year 1858, and subsequently became a member of that Lodge. In March, 1859, he was one of the petitioners for Caleb Butler Lodge, at Groton Junction; afterwards became a member, and remained a firm supporter of the Lodge while he lived. Soon after the commencement of the present war, Br. King commenced raising a company in this place to aid in suppressing the rebellion. His kind and courteous deportment enabled him to rapidly recruit a Company, mostly from Groton and Westford, who remained devotedly attached to him to the day of bis death. Our Brother was a superior drill officer, having had some experience in that capacity, in one of the Cambridge companies some years since. He, with his company, had been in from fifteen to twenty battles and skirmishes, previous to the battle of Gettysburg, in which bis bearing and conduct, as an officer, had received the commendation of his superiors. Previous to the departure of the regiment for the seat of war, Bro. King was honored by M. W. Bro. Coolidge in being appointed Master of the Army Lodge connected with the 16th regt., and, though the Lodge held but few meetings, his conduct afforded no reproach to the high position to which he had been called by that appointment. His remains were recovered by Bro. O. N. Wing, and returned to his home in Groton, Junction, where they were deposited in their final resting place, with Masonic honors, by the Brethren of Caleb Butler Lodge.