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FRANKLIN LODGE

Originally named Ben Franklin Lodge

Location: Grafton

Chartered By: George M. Randall

Charter Date: 03/10/1852 V-372

Precedence Date: 03/15/1851

Current Status: Active

PAST MASTERS

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

• Petition for Dispensation: 1852 originally named Ben Franklin Lodge.
• Petition for Charter: 1852

ANNIVERSARIES

• 1942 (90th Anniversary)
• 1952 (Centenary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

• 1882 (Lawrence)
• 1942 (Schaefer; 90th Anniversary; Special Communication)
• 1952 (Roy; Centenary; Special Communication)
• 1964 (Osgood; reception for Senior Grand Warden Leonard Rawn; with Level Lodge)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1881 1917 1919 1920 1924 1929 1931 1935 1949 1957 1967 1979 1993 2003 2006

HISTORY

• 1942 (90th Anniversary History, 1942-48; see below)
• 1952 (Centenary History, 1952-136)

90TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORY, MARCH 1942

History of Franhlin Lodge - 1852-1942
by Worshipful Edward E. Taft

Ninety-one years ago, nine members of Olive Branch Lodge of Sutton, Massachusetts, petitioned the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts for a dispensation to form a new Lodge in Grafton, this new Lodge to be known as Franklin Lodge, A. F. & A. M. This petition was dated March 15, 1851, and was signed by the following: E. W. Ellsworth, A. P. Benchley, Royal Leland, Levi Rawson, Thomas Harris, Hiram Fernald, William B. Fenner, John W. Slocomb and Hilliel Baker. Approximately a year later, on March 10, 1852, ten members of Franklin Lodge, all of them from Olive Branch Lodge, petitioned for a Charter as follows: Levi Rawson, John W. Slocomb, Charles B. Jencks, Robert W. Flagg, Royal Leland, Hilliel Baker, James Merriam, Jr., George A. Field, E. W. Ellsworth and Hiram Fernald. Ninety years have passed since these Brethren, through their desire to build and expand the Temple of Freemasonry, affixed their signatures to the document which, by recognition of the Grand Lodge, created Franklin Lodge of Grafton.

We are here assembled to commemorate that event.

Ninety years is a considerable period of time, particularly here in this country which is so young in comparison with the other nations of the world. Much has been accomplished in that period of time, and Masonry has been no exception. Franklin Lodge was founded by men of high ideals, as evidenced by the report of the District Deputy Grand Master of 1857, which says:

"During the year 1857 Franklin Lodge at Grafton has not made a Mason. The Lodge is small and has but twenty-two members. They occupy their time in acquiring a knowledge of the ritual and perfecting their work, that they may, when they have work, do it as directed by the Grand Lodge. Though few in number, they perhaps justly pride themselves on the worth and character of their members, which they think of more consequence to sustain than to increase their numbers."

In 1862, a fire destroyed the town hall in which the Lodge met, together with all the Lodge regalia and records, so that we have no history to draw upon until October 21, 1862, when the members met to reorganize their affairs and prepare to continue in the work that they had started. Until they could find a suitable place in which to meet, they met at the home of Brother George F. Slocomb and at the Hotel Kirby, now known as the Grafton Inn. They later procured a hall from Captain Warren for fifty dollars per year, this building being later sold to the town and is the one in which we are now assembled. The lodge room, I understand, is the same, although the rest of the building has been remodeled, in that the factory space which occupied the west end of the structure has given way to town offices.

On January 8, 1863, Franklin Lodge opened on the third degree, waiving all ceremony as was the custom during this period, and proceeded to elect officers, by virtue of a dispensation from the Grand Lodge, as follows:

• George F. Slocomb, Worshipful Master
• Fred Waterman, Senior Warden
• Richard R. Crane, Junior Warden
• Rufus E. Warren, Treasurer
• Hiram Fernald, Secretary

On January 29th they received their first application for the degrees in their new quarters.

Worshipful Brother Levi Rawson, who was our first Master, was appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the Fourth Masonic District and served in that office during the years 1857, 1858 and 1859. Not until December, 1935, was Franklin Lodge again favored by recognition of Grand Lodge in the appointment of Worshipful Brother William L. Macintosh as District Deputy Grand Master for the Worcester Twenty-Second Masonic District. Franklin Lodge has also been included in the Twelfth, Twentieth and Twenty-First Masonic Districts.

The affairs of Franklin Lodge have been, with few exceptions, in capable hands, as evidenced by the long terms of some of its officers, the most outstanding being the office of Treasurer. There have been only four Brethren who have held that office, the present incumbent now serving his forty-third consecutive year. Other instances which were out of the ordinary was the election to the office of Master of Brother Benjamin F. Gibson, who served Franklin Lodge in no other office, being elected nine months after affiliating with Franklin Lodge from Montgomery Lodge of Milford, and the election of John W. Bigelow as Master. This Brother had been elected and installed as Senior Deacon on January 5, 1865, by Right Worshipful Charles C. Dame, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, and on November 11th of the same year was elected and installed Master.

Many instances of how the members of Franklin Lodge have upheld the traditions of Masonry may be found in going over the records. The most striking example, however, is recorded in the year 1866, and Franklin Lodge is on the receiving end. One of our Brethren, Augustus Slocomb, became ill and died in Natchez, Mississippi. The correspondence between Franklin Lodge and Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 2 of Natchez follows:

March 7, 1866

"To the Worshipful Master of Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 2 of Natchez, Miss.,

My Dear Sir and Brother:

As the Secretary of Franklin Lodge, F. & A.M., it becomes my duty to transmit herewith to you a copy of the resolutions passed by this Lodge on the death of Augustus Slocomb.

Permit me also, in behalf of our Brethren here, to tender through you, the most sincere and heartfelt thanks of our Lodge to those whose kindness and sympathy were bestowed upon our late Brother, but whose names it was impracticable to embody in the resolutions. I trust that the truly Masonic deeds recorded in the accompanying resolutions will have their due influence in convincing the uninitiated that Masonry is not influenced by sectional prejudices or party animosities; and I am sure I do but express the sentiments of our Brethren here, when I say that those deeds will never be forgotten by us, or by those who shall follow us in days to come.

Truly and Fraternally yours,

G. Cummings

Secretary of Franklin Lodge, F. & A.M.

Natchez, April 25, 1866.

My Dear Sir and Brother:-

Your letter of the 7th March together with the resolutions of thanks to the members of Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 2 and other Masons for their attention to our late Brother Augustus Slocomb, a member of your Lodge, was received and read in open Lodge. In answer to your letter permit me to say, it matters not how widely we may have been politically separated, we have never known and I hope we shall never know any difference when called upon to discharge any of those great duties we owe to each other as Masons, and if doubtful in all else, place full confidence in us as Masons. I have the pleasure of introducing to your kind attention Brother C. Tyler who will hand you this letter, he is a good and true Mason.

Yours Fraternally,

S. M. Stewart, W. M.,
Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 2.

This bit of correspondence has been incorporated in every history of Franklin Lodge, but it seems to so aptly demonstrate the tenet of Brotherly Love that I have again used it in these pages.

On February 2, 1871, the family of the late Brother Hiram Fernald presented the Lodge with a small book containing the names of the petitioners for Dispensation and the Charter members of Franklin Lodge. It also contained the names of all the members made in the Lodge to that time, the dates when they were entered, passed and raised and all the names of members admitted and when. This gift was accompanied by a request that this book be placed in the hands of some Brother,'so that in case of fire it would be preserved. This book is still intact and was evidently the work of Hiram Fernald, who was our first Secretary. It was placed in the hands of Brother William S. Wood and was evidently passed on by him to others, as the last entry reads, "William Gillespie raised Sept. 8, 1908."

Another item of interest is recorded on July 18, ,1872, when a communication was received from Hiram Lodge No. 10 of Washington, D. C., informing the members of Franklin Lodge of the death of Brother C. A. de la Mesa, a member of our Lodge. It stated that he had died in the Military hospital there and that Hiram Lodge No. 10 had buried him with Masonic honors in Arlington Cemetery. The members of Franklin Lodge voted to reimburse Hiram Lodge for their expenses in connection with the Brother.

In 1882, on November 9th, Franklin Lodge was honored by a visit from the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Samuel Crocker Lawrence, on the occasion of the installation of officers. The Master-elect was installed into office by the District Deputy, Right Worshipful Brother Arba C. Slater. After his installation, the Grand Master "assumed the East and made an earnest speech in regard to the Masonic Temple and of the indebtedness of the Grand Lodge and made a strong appeal for all members to pay the seven dollars commutation tax this year and was followed by Right Worshipful Edwin Wright who explained why it should be paid and the benefit derived by so doing by both Grand and Subordinate Lodges also to individual members after which Right Worshipful Brother Wyseman Marshall assumed the East and installed the Officers for the ensuing year." This matter had been a bone of contention for some time and on previous occasions had been laid on the table without even very much discussion. At the close of the above mentioned meeting, the Brethren adjourned to the banquet hall for a collation and were entertained by Right Worshipful Brother Marshall, who recited several poems) "to the delight and edification of all present and a cordial good time was enjoyed by all."

A special communication was called on Nov. 21st for the express purpose of acting on the Grand Lodge commutation tax, and after much discussion, a motion was made and carried that the members assume this tax. Whether the "cordial good time" had anything to do with the acceptance of this tax is not apparent but the Lodge voted to borrow the money to pay Grand Lodge; the members to reimburse the Lodge as they could.

Another matter that did not meet with the approval of the Lodge was an appeal for funds from the Trustees of the Washington Masonic Memorial Temple. This was first brought before the Lodge in 1890, again in 1908, and finally the Lodge voted to contribute five dollars in 1909. This might lead one to the impression that the members of Franklin Lodge were what might be termed "tight Yankees" and by the way, I have been told that a "generous Yankee is tighter than a tight Scotchman" but there are numerous instances recorded where Franklin Lodge has come forward to the assistance of individual members, other Lodges, and even some who were not members of the Craft.

As has been mentioned before, William L. Macintosh was installed District Deputy Grand Master for the Twenty-second (Worcester) Masonic District Dec. 27, 1935. On October 29, 1936, Franklin Lodge had what I believe to be the largest meeting in its history in point of attendance. It was the occasion of the official visit of Right Worshipful Brother Macintosh, but the real thrill of the evening was the conferring of the Master Mason Degree on Brother George Paul Zarynoff, better known in sporting circles at least, as "The Count." A dinner was served that evening at 6:30 at which 286 were seated. This dinner, like the one tonight, had two halls for the accommodation of the Brethren, the town hall and the vestry of the Unitarian Church. Later at the meeting, the official count was as follows: eighty on the Suite, 259 visitors and ninety members of Franklin Lodge. All in all, it was the kind of a meeting that we like to remember.

This is the condensed history of Franklin Lodge for the past ninety years. To complete the record, it only remains to set down the events of this evening. Tonight, two of our members have been honored by receiving from the hands of the Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts their Veteran's Medals, signifying fifty years of membership in the Masonic Fraternity. They are Jefferson Henry Lyford and Theodore Francis Smith. It has also been our privilege and pleasure to welcome and be host to the Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts, Most Worshipful Albert A. Schaefer, and his Suite. It has been a pleasure also to have the many friends of Franklin Lodge present and to share this evening with them.

In closing, permit me to say something which does not affect Franklin Lodge, except as Franklin Lodge is a small part of the whole Masonic picture. Freemasonry is as a house that is builded upon a rock. There it stands. "The lapse of time, the ruthless hand of ignorance, and the devastations of war, have laid waste and destroyed many valuable monuments of antiquity on which the utmost exertions of human genius have been employed. Freemasonry notwithstanding still survives." Let each one of us vow to uphold the principles of Brotherly Love and Affection, one for the other, so that when the final chapter is written there shall be for all men the reality of a democratic and a peaceful world.

OTHER

• 1869 (Complaint by a Brother left off the charter; VII-406)

GRAND LODGE OFFICERS

• Clifford O. Brown, DDGM, District 22 (Worcester), 1985, 1986; N
• Clifford F. Howe, DDGM, District 22 (Worcester), 1968; N
• Wallace E. Lowe, DDGM, District 22 (Worcester), 1967; N
• William L. MacIntosh, DDGM, District 22 (Worcester), 1936, 1937; N
• Leonard Rawn, 1951, 1952; N
• Levi Rawson, DDGM, District 4, 1857-1859; SN

EVENTS

CONSECRATION, JUNE 1852

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly, Vol. XI, No. 9, July 1852, Page 288:

Franklin Lodge, Grafton, Mass., was consecrated on the 2d of June, by R. W. Horace Chenery, Dist. Dep. G. Master for the sixth District,-after which rhe following Brethren were installed as the officers for the present year,-

• W. Levi Rawson, M.
• C. B. Jencks, S. W.
• R. W. Flagg, J. W.
• J. W. Slocumb, Treas.
• J. W. Leland, Sec.
• A. P. Benchley, S D.
• H. Fernald, J. D.
• J. Merriam, Jr. and J. Robinson, Stewards
• W. F. Slocumb,Mar.
• Rev. H. Baker, Chaplain; and
• C. R. Leland, Tyler.

DISTRICTS

1851: District 4

1867: District 12 (Milford)

1883: District 20 (Milford)

1911: District 21 (Worcester)

1927: District 21 (Worcester)

1931: District 22 (Worcester)

2003: District 23

LINKS

Lodge web site

Massachusetts Lodges