RufusPutnam

RUFUS PUTNAM LODGE

Location: Rutland

Chartered By: Everett C. Benton

Charter Date: 06/11/1913 1913-45

Precedence Date: 05/04/1912

Current Status: Active

PAST MASTERS

Arthur Peebles, 1912
Walter C. Brown, 1913
Charles E. Carroll, 1914
Frederick W. Moody, 1915
Maurice Menges, 1916
J. Warren Moulton, 1917
Robert C. Ferguson, 1918
Lawrence L. Strong, 1919
Joseph E. Ware, 1920
Olin C. Blaisdell, 1921
William E. Hunt, 1922
Frederick M. Ela, 1923
Charles J. Campbell, 1924
Robert Brown, 1925
John N. Dickson, 1926
John B. Coffin, 1927
Walter J. Bell, 1928
Frank Carroll, 1929; N
Mark L. Read, 1930
Edward R. Nyberg, 1931
Robert Dea, 1932
Mark A. Putnam, 1933
Robert F. Adams, 1934
Lloyd H. Campbell, 1935
G. Edgar Fay, 1936
Dominic V. Spiotti, 1937
George M. Campbell, 1938; N
T. Emmett Myers, 1939
Donald M. Lincoln, 1940
Albert J. Thomas, 1941
Russell H. Gray, 1942; N
Rodney E. Gray, 1943
Henry L. Howe, 1944
Clifford L. Adams, 1945
Raymond D. Libby, 1946
Edwin H. Johnson, Jr., 1947
Harold E. Anderson, 1948
Robert W. Carr, 1949
William O. Wylie, 1950
David C. Robertson, 1951
George F. Scheckleton, 1952
Rudolph W. Lindgren, 1953
F. Wyman Rogers, 1954
Carl W. Olson, 1955
Carl Gunnard, 1956
Andrew R. Annala, 1957
Rollins L. Hale, 1958
Sumner E. Taylor, 1959
Andrew G. Horne, 1960
William T. Auger, 1961
Klaus F. Helle, 1962
Otto W. Hakkila, 1963
Phillip G. Nichols, 1964
Richard W. Barakian, 1965
Robert S. Hansson, 1966
Elwood E. Williams, 1967
Kenneth F. Locke, 1968
Joseph S. Jennette, 1969
David H. Eddy, Jr., 1970
Franklin Lang, Jr., 1971
Virgil L. Gardner, 1972
Robert J. Hoover, 1973
Robert E. Strand, 1974
Lawrence P. Storm, 1975
Donald G. Chisholm, 1976
Lee F. Merlin, 1977; N
John H. Pepper, 1978
Roger D. McCauley, 1979
Joseph M. Schwartz, 1980
Robert G. Buthen, 1981
John K. Andrews, 1982; PDDGM
Carl E. Enberg, 1983
Steven G. Olson, 1984
Bradford L. Hendrickson, 1985, 1986
Jay A. Jolicoeur, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001
Elwood G. Johnson, 1988
Edward E. Wilkins, Jr., 1989
Daniel T. Craig, 1990
Charles A. Craig, Jr., 1993
Timothy D. Pierce, 1995, 1996
David W. Eaton, 1997
Charles J. Gove, 1999, 2000
Edward E. Wilkins, Jr., 2002
Christian M. Stevens, 2003, 2004
Paul K. Michalczyk, 2005
Lee F. Merlin, Jr., 2006
Thadeus J. Owoc, Jr., 2007, 2008
Raymond W. Clinton, 2009
Gary H. Riggs, 2010
Mark H. Campbell, 2011
Adam J. Jolicoeur, 2012
Leo D. Forget, 2013

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

Petition for Dispensation: 1912
Petition for Charter: 1913

ANNIVERSARIES

1932 (20th Anniversary)
1938 (25th Anniversary)
1963 (50th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

1913 (Benton; Constitution of Lodge and installation; Special Communication)
1932 (Chipman; 20th Anniversary; Special Communication)
1938 (Perry; 25th Anniversary; Special Communication)
1963 (Osgood; 50th Anniversary; Special Communication)
1993 (Lovering)
2008 (Pageau)
2009 (Pageau)
2010 (Pageau; 3 visits, including installation and reception for Deputy Grand Master Jay A. Jolicoeur)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1924 1952 1953 1956 1961 1978 1980 1981 1982 1983 1990 1996 1998 2007 2008 2010 2011

HISTORY

1932 (Masonic History of Rutland, 1932-54)
1938 (25th Anniversary History, 1938-179)
1963 (50th Anniversary History, 1963-166)

MASONIC HISTORY OF RUTLAND, JUNE 1938

From Proceedings, Page 1938-179:

By Worshipful Charles E. Carroll:

"As in a building Stone rests on stone, and wanting the foundation
All would be wanting, so in human life
Each action rests on the foregoing event,
That made it possible."

So with Rufus Putnam Lodge, the vitality and strength of the organization today rests upon a foundation of foregoing events that made it possible. These events which trace back through the past twenty-five years show a sustained devotion to Masonry difficult to equal. Not a year has passed that lagged in enthusiasm. Not a year has closed without some progress being shown.

I will not attempt to record the events previous to our twentieth anniversary. A hand now stilled has done this much better than any effort I might make. Only the story of the past five years remains for me to relate, and this must be brief and largely statistical.

The sands have run swiftly, and were it not that we are gathered here to close this brief chapter of our history, the rapidly changing years would have expressed themselves only in the "increasing streaks of gray o'er our foreheads."

As we pause to mark the occasion with suitable exercises there are those among us whose thoughts will carry back to our first years, and the men whose names are engrossed on our Charter. Twenty-three Brothers comprised our first roll of members. Only six remain with us, three of whom reside in Rutland, and one each respectively in California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

The recent passing of Brother Louis M. Hanff, whose foresight with that of our late Brother Dennis A. Smith, envisioned the possibilities of Masonry in Rutland, brings to this occasion a touch of sadness. He was our first Secretary, our guide in the acquiring of our property and the rebuilding of our Temple, a sincere friend, an honored citizen. His life's work is a story of service for the town he loved. The late Most Worshipful Brother Ferrell said of a friend, "We will never think of him and never speak of him without the picture coming before us of this man going out of his way to help his fellow men. In the knowledge of men there are recorded only a few of the many deeds of kindness he performed." This might be very well said of Brother Hanff.

The first six Worshipful Masters of Rufus Putnam Lodge came from its Charter members. Of these, two have died, three live elsewhere than Rutland, and the historian of this twenty-fifth anniversary is the lone home-town representative of this pioneer group.

There have been twenty-five Worshipful Masters. Each one marks a period in the history of this Lodge. It stands to the credit of each of these men, that "they fought the good fight, they finished the course, they kept the faith." Each year the wonderful spirit of Rufus Putnam Lodge has been preserved, each year the Lodge has grown better because of its Master, and each year the Master has become a better man because of the Lodge.

Three of our Past Masters have died. Of the remaining twenty-two, all of whom are still members of our Lodge, eight reside in various parts of the State and Country, and the four who reside in Holden, together with ten of Rutland, remain actively interested in the welfare of the Lodge.

Closely associated with us from the beginning of our Lodge, has been our first District Deputy Grand Master, Henry H. Dyke, of Quinsigamond Lodge, Worcester. Our history would be incomplete if it did not record his devotion to us, and our esteem and respect for him. He made it possible for us to receive our Dispensation, and has confidently travelled with us down these many years. He is an Honorary member of our Lodge, and with every one of us he bears that grand old name of gentleman.

No great events have marked the past five years. We have carried on the orderly routine of Lodge activities, gone our way as we have deemed that Masons should, struggled for no achievements, but with Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth lived in harmony with ourselves and neighbors. During the past five years, twenty-four Brothers have been raised and two have become members by affiliation, there have been fourteen deaths and twenty-three have left for various reasons. Our present membership is 188.

There remains but one thing more to record, and that the recent appointment by the Grand Master, of Worshipful Brother Frank Carroll as District Deputy Grand Master. We appreciate the honor that has come to Rufus Putnam Lodge, and consider it the outstanding event of our short history. In that little group of Brothers who carried the burden during those early years of our Lodge, there was a love of Masonry, a spirit of enthusiasm and progress that has become a tradition which has carried through all the intervening years, and we like to think that it was the loyalty and high standard ot work of all these Brothers that has made Rufus Putnam Lodge worthy of this honor.

In closing I am reminded of these lines:

Still on it creeps,
Each little moment at another's heels,
Till hours, days, years, and ages are made up
Of such small parts as these, and men look back,
Worn and bewilder'd, wond'ring how it is.

And I am "wond'ring how it is" the sands have run so very swiftly. I guess we view things this way as we grow older, but as we turn the glass tonight for the beginning of another period in our history, and see our members standing alert and ready for the burdens of oncoming years, I know the traditions of Rufus Putnam Lodge will be carried on, and the wonderful and brotherly love of Masonry will continue the help and comfort of not only our present Brethren, but many yet unborn in this beautiful hill-town of Rutland.