Difference between revisions of "Essex2"

From MasonicGenealogy
Jump to: navigation, search
(LINKS)
Line 337: Line 337:
  
 
[http://masonicgenealogy.com/MediaWiki/index.php?title=MassachusettsLodges Massachusetts Lodges]
 
[http://masonicgenealogy.com/MediaWiki/index.php?title=MassachusettsLodges Massachusetts Lodges]
 +
[http://massninthdistrict.org/Ninth District Website)
  
 
<hr>
 
<hr>
  
 
'''The curator for this page is Brother [mailto:Dragon-Doc@comcast.net Bob Simoneau]. Please direct informational updates and questions to him.'''
 
'''The curator for this page is Brother [mailto:Dragon-Doc@comcast.net Bob Simoneau]. Please direct informational updates and questions to him.'''

Revision as of 22:58, 12 May 2013

MA_Essex.jpg

ESSEX LODGE

Location: Salem

Chartered By: Joseph Webb (1779)
Chartered By: Moses Michael Hays (1791)

Charter Date: 03/10/1779 I-272

Precedence Date: 03/10/1779 (Backdated in 1928 to date of original charter)

Current Status: Active.


PAST MASTERS

  • Robert Foster, 1779
  • Joseph Hiller, 1780, 1785, 1791, 1793
  • Edward Pulling, 1794, 1798
  • Benjamin Hodges, 1799, 1800, 1803
  • Abel Lawrence, 1804
  • Robert Brookhouse, 1805
  • Thomas Hartshorne, 1806, 1808
  • Edward Lang, 1809
  • Joseph Baker, 1810, 1811
  • James Charles King, 1812, 1815
  • Thomas Cole, 1816, 1819
  • Henry Whipple, 1820, 1822
  • Jesse Smith, 1823, 1845, 1846
  • Benjamin F. Brown, 1824, 1827; SN
  • George Choate, 1828, 1829
  • Caleb Foote, 1830, 1832
  • Stephen Haraden, 1833
  • Samuel B. Buttrick, 1847
  • Robert H. Farrant, 1848, 1851
  • Nathaniel Pitman, 1852
  • George C. S. Choate, 1853
  • Thomas M. Dix, 1854, 1855
  • George H. Pierson, 1856, 1862; SN
  • Henry A. Brown, 1863, 1864
  • Israel S. Lee, 1865, 1866
  • Thomas J. Hutchinson, 1867, 1868, 1874
  • Charles H. Norris, 1869, 1870
  • Charles E. Getchell, 1871, 1872
  • William L. Hyde, 1873
  • William F. Annable, 1875, 1876
  • Arthur S. Williams, 1877
  • William A. Hill, 1878, 1879
  • Oliver D. Way, 1880, 1882
  • Edward A. Daniels, 1883
  • Charles H. Tuttle, 1884, 1885
  • Horace N. Smith, 1886, 1887
  • James F. Johnson, 1888
  • Arthur T. Way, 1889, 1890
  • Charles W. Richardson, 1891, 1892
  • John M. Raymond, 1893, 1894; Mem
  • Andrew J. Wilson, 1895, 1896
  • Thomas G. Pinnock, 1897, 1898
  • Gardner M. Jones, 1899, 1900
  • Charles H. Osborne, 1901, 1902
  • Albert P. Chute, 1903
  • Albert F. Smith, 1904, 1905
  • Charles S. Chase, 1906, 1907
  • George F. Cooke, 1908, 1909; Mem
  • Edward Jenks, 1910, 1911
  • Frederick F. Warner, 1912, 1913
  • Fred A. Norton, 1914, 1915
  • Harry P. Gifford, 1916, 1917; Mem
  • Adelbert Dennett, 1918, 1919
  • Frank T. Goodell, 1920, 1921; N
  • John Danforth, 1922, 1923
  • Roscious S. L. Marsh, 1924, 1925
  • Frederick W. Full, 1926, 1927
  • Theodore R. Marsh, 1928, 1929
  • Everett A. Sumner, 1930, 1931; N
  • Charles E. Bickford, 1932, 1933
  • George W. Curtis, 1934, 1935
  • Edmund S. Cogswell, 1936, 1937
  • William Hilton Webb, 1938, 1939
  • Hatherley A. Stoddard, Jr., 1940, 1941; N
  • Wallace V. D'Entremont, 1942, 1943
  • Edgar W. Nickerson, 1944, 1945
  • John W. Hubbard, 1946, 1947
  • Gordon C. Smith, 1948, 1949
  • Edward S. Averell, 1950, 1951
  • Winthrop F. Doty, 1952
  • Dean E. Cogswell, 1953; N
  • Roy C. Earley, 1954
  • R. Marshall Finniss, 1955
  • W. Keith Butler, 1956; SN
  • John L. Farley, Jr., 1957
  • Robert B. Addison, 1958; SN
  • Hollis M. Buxton, 1959
  • Hyman Goldfarb, 1960
  • Herbert B. Plummer, 1961
  • Allen B. Newton, 1962
  • Harold P. Hadley, 1963
  • Howard H. Young, 1964
  • Philip E. Forsberg, Jr., 1965
  • Sahag Sahagian, 1966, 1967
  • Donald Y. Sellars, 1968
  • William R. Wiley, 1969
  • Clinton T. Macy, 1970
  • John H. Raynes, Jr., 1971
  • Paul W. Lunn, 1972, 1987
  • Ralph E. Noble, 1973
  • Robert S. Randall, 1974
  • Henry L. Berkowitz, 1975
  • Harvey A. Whitmore, 1976, 1989
  • Achille D. Presutti, 1977
  • Robert M. Shimer, 1978
  • Karol John Buba, 1979
  • Ray F. Randall, 1980, 1986
  • Mark C. LeBeau, 1981, 1999, 2007; PDDGM
  • John S. Linehan, 1982, 1983
  • Barry S. Kossover, 1984, 1985
  • Richard E. Haley, 1988, 2008
  • Donald R. Daly, 1990, 2009
  • Judson W. Greene, 1991, 1992
  • Eugene A. Haley, 1993, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2011
  • Myron C. Osterstuck, Jr., 1995, 1996
  • Roger A. Poor, 1997, 1998
  • John D. Linn, 2000, 2001, 2003
  • Scott D. Wells, 2004, 2005
  • Robert E. Simoneau, 2012, 2013

NOTES

About the Charters

~ The Lodge was originally chartered as Essex Lodge #10 by The Massachusetts Grand Lodge on 03/10/1779, however. due to the fact that many of our members were men of the sea, and gone for sometimes years at a time, attendance and receipt of dues became very low. This led to non-representation at the Grand Lodge Quarterlies, and non-payment of Grand Lodge dues, and the Charter was revoked on 06/06/1788. A petition for a new charter was granted on 06/06/1791 under the name of Essex Lodge. At the Communication of 10/02/1928, Wor. Theodore B. Marsh, Master, read a communication from Grand Lodge stating that a request, made by the Lodge, that the date of the origin of the Lodge be backdated to 03/10/1779, the date of the original charter, had been granted. A notation was made on the charter, and Grand Lodge adjusted our date of presidence accordingly. Due to the Morgan Excitement, The Charter was voluntarily returned to Grand Lodge on 03/08/1837, and held until 06/12/1845. Essex, along with Lodges all across the North Shore, were among the last Lodges to surrender their Charters.


HISTORY

A Lodge is Born

The founding of a Masonic Lodge in Salem was met with some resistance and controversy.

Prior to the establishment of Essex Lodge in 1779, if the Brethren of Salem wished to attend Lodge or do any Masonic work, they were obliged to travel to United States Lodge in Danvers, a distance of 5 miles away (A long and potentially dangerous journey in 1779.) So, on Thursday 4 March 1779, local silversmith John Butler invited 13 of the Masons of Salem to his home, for the purpose of discussing the possibility of establishing a Lodge in Salem. After much deliberation, and a certain amount of libation, a petition was drafted to the Most Worshipful Joseph Webb, Grand Master of All Lodges in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The following evening, the Brethren again assembled, this time at the home of auctioneer William Lang, to review and polish the petition, and also to determine the most expedient way of sending it to Boston.It was decided that it should be hand delivered to the Grand Master, and Bro. Butler and Bro George Abbot, a local trader, commenced this arduous undertaking. Upon their arrival, however, they were in for a shock. Somehow, United States Lodge in Danvers got wind of the Salemites plan, and sent their own representative in an attempt to block the establishment of the new Lodge, arguing that the chartering of a Lodge in Salem could be ruinous to the Danvers Lodge and that the Brethren from Salem would always be welcomed as members of United States Lodge. Most Worshipful Webb read the petition from Salem, and listened to the arguments on both sides, then informed those present that the matter would be discussed and debated the following Wednesday at the next regular communication of the Grand Lodge, and that all parties concerned would be notified of the decision.

Brothers Abbot and Butler returned forthwith to Salem and reported on the situation. Having heard of the actions of United States Lodge, on 9 March 1775, seven more Salem Masons drew up a petition to bolster the previous request, they not being present at the original meeting. Brother Abbot was dispatched post hast with the new document, and got it to the Grand Master just as the Grand Lodge communication was about to begin. After a good deal of debate, it was decided that a Charter would be granted to the Salem Brethren, and a new Lodge know as Essex Lodge #10 would be formed and empowered to work. The documents were signed and the Grand Lodge Seal affixed on the 10th day of March, A. D. 1779, A. L. 5779. A letter was immediately dispatched thanking the Grand Lodge, and authorizing Bro. William Carlton, Master and Commander of the privateer sloop Black Snake, to act as the Lodge's agent to receive the Charter and any other edicts or instructions that the Grand Lodge might wish pass on. he arrived at Boston on 12 March 1779, paid thirty pounds to the Grand treasurer for the Charter, six pounds to the Grand Clerk for engrossing, along with an additional three pounds for the cost of the vellum and ink. With that, Essex Lodge #10, Salem, Massachusetts, was born!.

With Charter in hand, the Lodge held its first Lawful and Regular meeting on the night of 14 March 1779, at Bro. Butler's home. Brother Robert Foster, blacksmith and Captain of Militia, best known for holding Col. Alexander Leslie and 250 British troops at bay at the North Bridge on 26 February 1775, preventing them from capturing the cannon that he had been fitting out with gun carriages, was chosen as moderator until such time that a regular election of officers could be held. However, there would be one last, feeble attempt to strangle the infant Lodge in its cradle.

In late March, a letter from United States Lodge arrived. Expecting warm fraternal greetings, instead it contained a proposition. If Essex Lodge would return their newly awarded Charter, United states Lodge would absorb their members, transfer their Charter, Lodge name and number, and By-laws from Danvers to Salem. The range of reactions went from insulted to amused. A polite letter of refusal was drafted, and a committee of five, Brothers Robert Foster, George Abbot, Ebenezer Winship, William Lang, and James Eaton, was formed to deliver it to the Danvers Lodge, along with our fraternal good wishes and a pledge of eternal Brotherly friendship.


EVENTS

INSTALLATION, JANUARY 1850

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. IX, No. 4, February 1850, p. 128:

The officers of Essex Lodge, Salem, were publicly installed at the Lyceum Hall, on the 7th ult. The ceremonies of installation were performed by R. W. Br. C. Gayton Pickman, P. J. G. W., and the address was delivered by R. W. Br. Geo. G. Smith, P. D. G. M. The occasion as represented to us as having been one of much interest.

CHANGE OF MEETING NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 1850

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. IX, No. 12, October 1850, p. 381:

Salem, Sept. 25, 1850.

W. Br. Charles W. Moore: - At the last Regular Communication of Essex Lodge, it was unanimously voted to change the evening of monthly meeting from the First Thursday to the First Tuesday, of each month, which will hereafter be the time of their Regular Communication.

Respectfully and Fraternally,
William Leavitt, Secretary.

FEAST OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, 1851

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. X, No. 10, August 1851, p. 306:

CELEBRATION AT SALEM. (from the Boston Post).

The anniversary of St. John was celebrated at Salem, by Essex Lodge, and several Lodges from other parts of the State, numbering in all some six hundred "Brethren of the mystic tie." During the earlier portion of the day the weather threatened to be unfavorable, but after some faint attempts at sprinkling, the rain held up, and the participants in the celebration, and the thousands of spectators, were favored with a dry time, and air sufficiently cool for processional purposes.

Most of the Lodges rendezvoused in Perkins' Hall, near the Common, and the balance in Phoenix Building and the Essex House, where Mr. Leavitt had made ample arrangements for their reception. The procession was formed on the Common about 12 o'clock, with the DeMolay Encampment, under A. B. Young, Grand Commander, as escort. The Worcester County Encampment of Knights Templars were also there in full regalia. But at the head of the list stood the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, under the Rev. G. M. Randall, Deputy Grand Master, and other Masonic bodies in regular order, according to the date of their Charters.

The Knights Templars had the Boston Cornet band, and the Salem Brass Band discoursed the music for the main body. Thomas M. Dix, Esq., was chief marshal of the day, and formed the procession in good style, as soon as all the component parts had been reported as on the ground.

With such an array, it is hardly necessary to say that the display was imposing and interesting, particularly to the friends of the initiated, male and female, who were among the spectators.

After marching and countermarching about half an hour, the column moved to Mechanic Hall, the galleries of which had been previously filled with the youth and beauty of Salem and the neighboring towns. The services in the hall consisted of a prayer by the Rev. Ebenezer Fisher, the singing of a Masonic hymn by the choir, and an oration by the Hon. Joseph R. Chandler, of Philadelphia, which was a beautifully written discourse, and admirably delivered. It was chiefly devoted to a reply to the objections most commonly urged against the Masonic Institution. It abounded in felicitous expressions, conveying sentiments of morality and religion in language proving him to be a gospel-read gentleman. With graceful playfulness and delicate cornpliments to the ladies, he ingeniously essayed to reconcile the sex to the rule which excludes them from the Order; but in one passage, without perhaps unveiling any secret of the Craft, he rather distinctly disclosed one of the attitudes of a member when at work. The discourse occupied an hour and a quarter in the delivery, and in every particular gave the highest gratification to the Brotherhood.

These services over, the procession was reformed, and marched to Hamilton Hall, in Chestnut Street, where dinner had been provided. Robert H. Farrant, Master of the Essex Lodge, presided at the table, and in the course of the sitting made several brief and happily turned addresses in relation to the incidents of the day.

Charles Allen Brown officiated as toast-master, and announced the regular toasts as follows:

  • 1st. The Day we Celebrate - Commemorative of the great patron of our Order, whose voice from the wilderness proclaimed the coming of Him who taught Faith in God, Hope in immortality, and Charity to all mankind.
  • 2d. Our Country and Our Order - May an all-wise Providence ever preserve us from domestic discord.
  • 3d. The Memory of Washington, Franklin, Lafayette and Warren - names upon the records of our institution, and shining like letters of gold in pictures of silver upon the pages of our country's history.
  • 4th. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
  • 5th. The Orator of our Festival - At home alike in our national councils, in guiding the public mind through the pres, and at the Masonic Trestle Board.
  • 6th. The De Molay Encampment of Knights Templars - Their splendid martial array in our Salem is calculated to remind us of those chivalric Knights whose religious zeal and good swords led them to the rescue of the Holy Temple at the Salem of ancient Palestine.
  • 7th. The Grand Chapter of Massachusetts.
  • 8th. The Christian Clergy - We are ever ready to assist them in their work of Brotherly love with our Square, our Compasses and our Trowel.
  • 9th. The Ladies - Earth has no fairer flowers, Masonry no brighter jewels: - let them be received on all points of social, if not Masonic fellowship.
  • 10th. The Press - Like Masonry, it has transmitted to us the lights of by-gone ages.
  • 11th. New Hampshire Freemasons - From generation to generation, may they enjoy the sweetness of Fraternal communion.
  • 12th. The District Deputy Grand Master of this Masonic District - Venerable in years and honored for his enlightened zeal for our ancient Order - may his remaining days be as peaceful as his life has been virtuous.

Responses were made by Mr. Chandler, the orator, Rev. Mr. Randall, Rev. Mr. Fisher and others, and the dinner passed off very agreeably.


YEARS

1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788

original charter revoked 06/06/1788

1789 1790 1791

second charter granted 06/06/1791

1792 1802 1810 1814 1835 1836 1837

charter temporarily revoked 03/08/1837 due to the "Morgan Excitement."

1838 1839

charter restored 06/12/1845

1845 1850 1868 1871 1873 1874 1879 1881 1882 1884 1886 1889 1890 1895 1901 1908 1909 1912 1916 1917 1920 1923 1924 1928 1933 1939 1940 1949 1951 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1961 1965 1968 1979 1980 1984 1985 1991 1993 2003


GRAND LODGE OFFICERS


DISTRICTS

1803: District 2 (Newburyport and North Shore)

1821: District 2

1835: District 2

1849: District 2

1867: District 5 (Salem)

1883: District 8 (Salem)

1911: District 8 (Lynn)

1927: District 8 (Salem)

2003: District 9


LINKS

Massachusetts Lodges [http://massninthdistrict.org/Ninth District Website)


The curator for this page is Brother Bob Simoneau. Please direct informational updates and questions to him.