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SAMUEL D. SHERWOOD LODGE

Location: Springfield

Chartered By: Arthur D. Prince

Charter Date: 03/08/1922 1922-43

Precedence Date: 03/24/1921

Current Status: in Grand Lodge Vault; merged with Esoteric Lodge to form Esoteric-Sherwood Lodge, 06/16/2006.

PAST MASTERS

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

ANNIVERSARIES

• 1946 (25th Anniversary)
• 1971 (50th Anniversary)
• 1996 (75th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

• 1931 (H. Dean; Special Communication)
• 1946 (Wragg; 25th Anniversary; Special Communication)
• 1971 (Jaynes; 50th Anniversary; Special Communication)
• 1973 (Vose, 05/25)
• 1996 (A. Johnson; 75th Anniversary; Special Communication)
• 2006 (Hodgdon; Consolidation of Esoteric and Samuel D. Sherwood, 06/16; Special Communication)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1925 1926 1928 1931 1936 1938 1951 1952 1968 1970 1973 1975 1978 1982 1987 1988

HISTORY

• 1921 (Petition for Dispensation, 05/25)
• 1922 (Lodge constituted, officers installed, 04/20; Special Communication)
• 1946 (25th Anniversary History, 1946-139; see below)
• 2006 Petition for Charter; Consolidation with Esoteric Lodge; Granted)

25TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORY, MAY 1946

From Proceedings, Page 1946-139:

By Brother Herbert F. Payne.

Prior to the time our Lodge was organized, the Grand Lodge had advocated and urged the forming of new Lodges to relieve the burden on overtaxed officers who were attempting to confer the degrees on an extraordinary number of candidates who were admitted during and following World War I.

In 1921, there were four Chartered Lodges in Springfield, with a total membership of 3,763. Roswell Lee Lodge initiated 94 in 1920 and 124 in 1921, making their membership 1,362, the largest Lodge in Massachusetts. Hampden Lodge raised 134 in the year 1920 and 115 in 1921, ending the year with a membership of 1,139. Springfield Lodge had candidates of 61 and 89 in the two years and a membership of 590, while Esoteric Lodge, instituted in 1909, had a membership of 580, with candidates numbering,-97 and 62 in the two years. Samuel Osgood Lodge was instituted on April 12, 1921, and was working under dispensation, making the fifth Lodge.

It was felt there was room for another Lodge, and Worshipful Dwight H. Keyes received plenty of encouragement on his proposal to form a Lodge in honor of Right Worshipful Samuel D. Sherwood - an outstanding Mason in Springfield.

Samuel D. Sherwood was born in Redding Ridge, Connecticut, on November 26, 1853, and died in Springfield, Massachusetts, on May 5, 1920. When sixteen years of age, he began teaching school and taught for six years, at the same time preparing for college. He graduated with honors from Wesleyan University in the year 1881. After teaching in Connecticut for five years, he came to Springfield and was principal of the Worthington Street School from September, 1886, to June, 1890, when he resigned and entered the insurance business. He served as Alderman in 1891-1892 and was a representative citizen who upheld high ideals of civic responsibility. His Masonic career was as follows: Raised in Roswell Lee Lodge June 6, 1890; served in various stations and was installed Worshipful Master in 1897. In 1899 and 1900, he served as District Deputy Grand Master for the Sixteenth Masonic District. He was a member of the York Rite Bodies and served as Eminent Commander of Springfield Commandery in 1916-1917. He served several years as head of each of the Scottish Rite Bodies; was a member of Massachusetts Consistory and a charter member of Connecticut Valley Consistory. On September 19, 1911, he was made an honorary member of the Supreme Council, 33rd Degree. His many fine qualities made him sincerely beloved, and it seemed fitting that a Masonic Lodge should be a means of perpetuating his name.

On March 24, 1921, a formal meeting was called by Worshipful Dwight H. Keyes, and a petition for a dispensation was drawn, with seventy signatures secured. The first officers chosen and approved by Most Worshipful Arthur D. Prince were Wor. Dwight H. Keyes, as Worshipful Master, Wor. Marcus H. Smith, as Senior Warden, and Brother Hugh V. Keiser, as Junior Warden.

Our dispensation was received from the hands of Right Worshipful Hiram I. Dillenback, District Deputy Grand Master for the Eighteenth Masonic District on June 3, 1921. It was a gala occasion, with an attendance of 231, including many distinguished Masons and sixty of the petitioners. The following officers were seated:

• Wor. Dwight H. Keyes, Worshipful Master
• Wor. Marcus H. Smith, Senior Warden
• Bro. Hugh V. Keiser, Junior Warden
• Wor. George A. Deane, Treasurer
• Bro. Herbert F. Payne, Secretary
• Frank N. Seerley, Chaplain
• Wallace E. Dibble, Marshal
• Frederick E. Sparrow, Senior Deacon
• John E. Jones, Junior Deacon
• Malcolm C. Sherwood, Senior Steward
• Glenn W. Hamilton, Junior Steward
• George R. V. Cary, Inside Sentinel
• William R. Hamilton, Tyler

Our first Worshipful Master, Dwight Harley Keyes, has a Masonic record of which he may justly be proud. Raised in Roswell Lee Lodge in the year 1909, he received an appointment of Inside Sentinel that same year and each year advanced, when in 1917 he was installed Worshipful Master. He joined all York and Scottish Rite Bodies in Springfield, serving in various stations and, with the exception of the Royal Arch Chapter, has been elected to the highest station in each order. He was deeply interested in the Springfield Chapter of DeMolay, serving as Chairman of the Advisory Board. He is a member of Melha Temple Shrine and the Representative of the Grand Lodge of Illinois in the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. He served as Worshipful Master of Samuel D. Sherwood Lodge until December, 1921, when he was relieved by the Grand Master in order that he might be appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the Thirty-third Masonic District. In the year 1935, he was crowned an honorary member of the Supreme Council, 33rd degree. He has been a pillar of strength in Samuel D. Sherwood Lodge, ever ready to assist whenever necessary for the welfare of the Brethren and the Lodge. He has fully justified the title of Illustrious Brother that was conferred with the last degree of Masonry.

On the completion of the institution ceremony, the first communication of Samuel D. Sherwood Lodge was held and seventeen applications were received.

CONSTITUTION

The Charter was granted by the Grand Lodge on March 8, 1922, and on the evening of April 20, 1922, our Lodge was constituted and officers installed, with full form and ceremony, in accordance with the Ancient Usages of the Craft, by Most Worshipful Arthur D. Prince, Grand Master, assisted by the following Grand Lodge Officers:

• R. W. Dudley H. Ferrell, Deputy Grand Master
• R. W. Herbert W. Dean, Senior Grand Warden
• R. W. Olin D. Dickerman, Junior Grand Warden
• R. W. George W. Bishop, Past Grand Warden
• R. W. D. Edward Miller, Past Grand Warden
• R. W. Clarence A. Brodeur, Past Grand Warden
• R. W. Charles H. Ramsay, Grand Treasurer
• R. W. Frederick W. Hamilton, Grand Secretary
• R. W. Archibald A. Brooks], D. D. G. M. 17th District
• R. W. Hiram I. Dillenback, D. D. G. M. 18th District
• R. W. Dwight H. Keyes, D. D. G. M. 33rd District
• R. W. Dan J. Kimpton, Past D. D. G. M. 33rd District
• R. W. Frank O. Hartwell, Past D. D. G. M. 33rd District
• R. W. Albert F. Crowther, Past D. D. G. M. 33rd District
• R. W. Frank W. Dobson, Grand Marshal
• Wor. Rev. Edward A. Chase, Grand Chaplain
• Wor. Frank H. Hilton, as Senior Grand Deacon
• Wor. Arthur L. Beals, Junior Grand Deacon
• Wor. Charles Dennee, Senior Grand Steward
• Wor. Winthrop J. Cushing, Junior Grand Steward
• Wor. Walter A. Ladd, Grand Standard Bearer
• Wor. George W. Chester, Grand Tyler

The officers installed were as follows:

• Wor. Marcus H. Smith, Worshipful Master
• Bro. Hugh V. Keiser, Senior Warden
• Bro. Malcolm C. Sherwood, Junior Warden
• Wor. George A. Deane, Treasurer
• Bro. Herbert F. Payne, Secretary
• Bro. Frank N. Seerley, Chaplain
• Bro. Glenn W. Hamilton, Marshal
• Bro. John E. Jones, Senior Deacon
• Bro. Wallace E. Dibble, Junior Deacon
• Bro. George R. V. Cary, Senior Steward
• Bro. Charles A. Reynolds, Junior Steward
• Bro. Edward T. Harwood, Inside Sentinel
• Bro. Robert W. Field, Organist
• Bro. William R. Hamilton, Tyler

The Charter was delivered to Worshipful Marcus H. Smith. The actual hour of constitution was announced as 8:50 o'clock. In the Grand Master's address he referred to the inspiration of the memory of Right Worshipful Samuel D. Sherwood who had been a loved and honored associate of many present, and commented on the unusual but pleasing fact that Right Worshipful Brother Sherwood's son was the Junior Warden of the Lodge.

Additional Brethren had signed as Charter Members, making the total eighty-five, and seventy-five were present to witness the ceremony. The total attendance was 340.

During the evening, Right Worshipful Clarence A. Brodeur, of Westfield, Massachusetts, a Past Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge, was presented a Henry Price Medal by the Grand Master, in recognition of his faithful and very valuable service to the Craft. The Charter Members were as follows:

Forty-three Charter Members were from Roswell Lee Lodge, six from Hampden Lodge, four from Springfield Lodge, three from Esoteric Lodge and twenty-nine from nineteen Lodges outside the city.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Grand Lodge Officers had constituted Samuel Osgood Lodge and the following day journeyed to East Longmeadow to constitute Charles C. Spellman Lodge and dedicate their Masonic Temple. It was a triple occasion and a very unusual event.

GIFTS

Samuel D. Sherwood Lodge was most fortunate in the receipt of many gifts. The most cherished of all was the beautiful Bible you see on our Altar. It was presented by Brother Malcolm C. Sherwood on behalf of his mother, Mrs. Samuel D. Sherwood. This Bible was made in England especially for this Lodge, and the first pages contain an engraved photo of Right Worshipful Brother Sherwood, his history, and the names of the first officers and Charter Members.

Worshipful Lewis S. Nash, a Charter Member, gave the sterling silver Square and Compasses to complete the Great Lights. From Roswell Lee Lodge, Worshipful Harry G. Robertson presented a set of Officers' Collars and Jewels, and Worshipful Joseph Taylor presented a set of Working Tools, consisting of a gavel, three batons, twenty-four inch gauge and Fellow Craft Tools. Worshipful Brother Taylor made the presentation on behalf of a group of Masons called the Novelty Club.

Cash contributions from the Charter Members purchased staffs for the Junior Officers.

Our American flag, always displayed during our meetings, was received from the Anchor Club members, at their visitation in November, 1921.

SPECIAL EVENTS

The Master Mason Degree was conferred for the first time on September 26, 1921, with 221 in attendance. The candidates were Fellow Craft Brothers Leonard Ackerman, Albert A. Naumann, Charles F. Jahnig and Robert L. Brown. A special group from the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, where the last two candidates were employed, were present to honor them and assist in conferring the degree. This was the first Westinghouse Night," of which we have had one or more each year of the twenty-five. A beautiful inlaid gavel made by one of the members is always presented to the Worshipful Master on the first yearly visit of this group. Their degree teams are made up of Past Masters and other officers of various Lodges, and the work of these groups cannot be surpassed.

Our second special occasion was the visit of members of the Anchor Club, a group of Masons employed by the Boston & Maine Railroad. Their degree team, with Right Worshipful Marshall E. Locke, President of the Club, serving as Worshipful Master, conferred the Master Mason Degree upon Fellow Craft Brother Lester Don Allen Ball, one of their co-workers. The attendance was 310, with 100 of the Anchor Club members present.

Annual Members Night, which consists of a dinner and entertainment, was established on February 22, 1922. At our first, Rev. Brother J. Burford Parry, Pastor of Wesley Church, delivered an excellent address on "George Washington, the Mason." Another year we secured Rev. Garfield Morgan of Lynn, Massachusetts, who was an authority on the life of Abraham Lincoln. He delivered a very fine address, and for his fee, would accept only a book on the life of Lincoln.

Many of our members have entertained at these annual parties and we found we had some very good talent. Some of you will recall Worshipful Malcolm Sherwood and Charles Reynolds in a two man minstrel skit; Don and Harry Hitt in songs; Wally Dibble as Old Man Mystery; and the musical Hill Family Trio, just to mention a few.

Professional talent has been secured in recent years, and the entertainment has been of the finest quality. Brother Frank Workheiser was the caterer up to the time of his death in 1933 and his chicken pie or steak and onion dinners were famous.

Past Masters' and Charter Members' Night has been an annual affair. Our first was on May 2, 1923, and although there were only two Past Masters of our Lodge, the stations were filled by Charter Members who were Past Masters of other Lodges.

Visitations have been exchanged with many Lodges both in and outside our jurisdiction. The outside Lodges were from Troy, New York; Hinsdale, New Hampshire; Brattleboro, Vermont; Westerly, Rhode Island; and from West Haven, New Haven, East Hartford, New Britain, Branford, Windsor Locks and Thompsonville, in Connecticut.

One pleasant evening took place on July 27, 1925, when three hundred Masons and their wives attended a performance of the Poli Stock Company at Court Square Theatre. Through courtesy to a Connecticut Lodge, our officers had conferred the Master Mason Degree upon two of the theatre personnel. The company also included one of our members, Brother Harry Fischer, and three more members of the Fraternity. During the evening, bouquets were presented to the women members of the company and leather wallets to the men. Brother Holman, Director of the group, responded for all, his remarks being in verse, which had been handed down to him from his father and grandfather, who were Masons, and which had a special meaning for Masons and a surface meaning for others.

On November 6, 1931, Most Worshipful Herbert W. Dean made us a fraternal visit and delivered an address on "Activities of the Grand Lodge."

On May 26, 1939, Most Worshipful Thomas H. Desmond, Grand Master of Masons in Connecticut, accompanied the members of Orient Lodge of East Hartford, at the time of their fraternal visit to our Lodge.

One member has received a fifty year medal. He is Rev. Brother Joseph Garden, who affiliated in 1932. Brother Garden was raised in Phoenician Lodge, Lawrence, Massachusetts, in the year 1885, and at our Lodge meeting on May 10, 1935, received the fifty year medal from the hands of Right Worshipful Frederick W. Cope, District Deputy Grand Master. Brother Carden is a retired Episcopal Minister, now eighty-seven years old, and resides in Andover, Massachusetts.

The highlight of the year 1935 and 1936 was the successful Minstrel and specialty show, named the "Fashion Plate Review." Over fifty members were in the cast, with many friends assisting in various capacities. Two performances were given each time in Consistory Hall. A souvenir program arranged under the supervision of Worshipful Harlan T. Pease, which included advertisements secured from local concerns, boosted the profits and netted our Charity Fund a tidy sum. - Shortly after the first show, a group journeyed to the Masonic Home in Charlton, where a picnic lunch was enjoyed and a group from the cast entertained the guests of the Home. This was one of several trips to Charlton. In 1940 we took part in the planting of Memorial trees and dedicated a tree in memory of Right Worshipful Brother Samuel D. Sherwood.

Our annual installation of officers, with the exception of one, has been an occasion to which our members have been privileged to invite their families and friends. These ceremonies have been well attended and enjoyed. In the early years, the burden of ritual work, fell on the shoulders of Worshipful Brother Keyes, but as our Past Masters became available, they all participated and installed one or more new officers.

MEMBERSHIP AND OTHER STATISTICS

Up to and including April 5, 1946, we have had 880 communications and the average attendance has been 57.

Six hundred and eighty-six petitions have been received, with six hundred and four elected. I have been privileged to be present at the regular communications to present all new petitions.

Degrees conferred as follows: Entered Apprentice, 600; Fellow Craft, 590; Master Mason, 585; Affiliations numbered 32, with reinstatements 49. Members deceased were 62; dimitted, 68; and suspended, 156, making the membership 465 as of April 5, 1946.

PAST MASTERS

Worshipful Masters of the Lodge, with their term of service, is as follows:

• R. W. Dwight H. Keyes, June 1921 - December 1921
• Wor. Marcus H. Smith, Dec. 1921 - October 1922
• Wor. Hugh V. Keiser to October 1923
• Wor. Malcolm C. Sherwood to October 1924
• Wor. John E. Jones to October 1925
• Wor. Wallace E. Dibble to October 1926
• Wor. Glenn W. Hamilton to October 1927
• Wor. Harry W. Hitt to October 1928
• Wor. Hassan S. Thomas to October 1929
• Wor. Harlan T. Pease to October 1930
• R. W. Clifford A. M. Weber to October 1931
• Wor. Frank M. Atkinson to October 1932
• Wor. Phineas M. Randall to October 1933
• Wor. Howard S. Sanderson to October 1935
• Wor. George S. Hulse to October 1936
• Wor. James H. Hague to October 1937
• Wor. Charles W. Hayden to October 1938
• Wor. Andrew A. Sylvester to October 1939
• R. W. Karl W. Hofman to October 1940
• Wor. Harold H. Hart to October 1941
• Wor. Raymond L. Chisholm to October 1942
• Wor. Frederick W. Egbert to October 1943
• Wor. Oscar J. Carlson to October 1944
• Wor. J. Henry Snyder to October 1945

All of our Past Masters are living except Worshipful Marcus H. Smith. His death occurred on November 27, 1937, at the age of seventy-three. Two have been appointed District Deputy Grand Master for our Chicopee Eighteenth Masonic District. Right Worshipful Brother Weber served in the years 1933 to 1935 and Right Worshipful Brother Hofman in 1943 to 1945. Worshipful Hassan S. Thomas served as Junior Grand Steward in Grand Lodge for the year 1930. Worshipful Brother Sanderson served two years as Worshipful Master.

Samuel D. Sherwood Lodge members are proud of this group of officers. They administered the Lodge affairs in a most efficient manner, and many of them could not be surpassed for their ritualistic ability.

LECTURE CLASSES

A lecture class for candidates was established the first year with Brother Leonard A. Salter as instructor and each group of candidates were examined in open Lodge before allowed to receive the next degree. In 1925 Brother Harry W. Hitt succeeded Brother Salter and in 1927, when Brother Hitt was elected Worshipful Master, the classes were conducted by Brother Charles E. Bartlett.

In 1938, Worshipful Master Sylvester placed the Senior Deacon in charge. He was assisted by the other Junior officers and members who volunteered. This plan worked well for all concerned and has been continued, with no cost to the Lodge.

WORLD WAR II VETERANS

Fifty-nine of our members were enrolled in various services during World War II, and I am pleased to state there was only one reported wounded. Brother Edmund Dowd received shrapnel wounds in the arm, from which he recovered in a short "Many traveled to either the European or Pacific theatres and Brother William Tribelhorn had the distinction of service in both areas. Our Worshipful Master, James A. Steele, Jr was inducted into the Army soon after he was installed Junior Warden in October 1943, and served until June 1944, when he received an honorable discharge. The complete list and their military rank is as follows:

And thus we have completed our first quarter century and stand on the threshold of another.

I leave you with the thoughts of the future, as expressed by our Chairman, Right Worshipful Karl W. Hofman, as follows:

"Many times the success of the future must be prefaced by the things that have come out of the past. Foundations have to be placed deep to keep an Empire State Building from weaving in the winds. Life does not come to full fruition in a day, or a month, or even twenty-five years. We believe that we have enjoyed a past of the right sort and it has given us that foundation worth while, to instill in us an incentive to be worthy of the past in our actions of today. Life is moving ahead of us, and with us, and we must walk ahead. We must keep step; the man who lags behind will be covered with the dust of those who are forging ahead."

Traditions are hard to forget. We do not want to forget them so far as they have built things worth while, but there are things ahead, if we have the vision, that will surpass those things behind us, and we are only in swaddling clothes today. It is to the future of Samuel D. Sherwood Lodge that we as Master Masons have set our forces, and we shall carry on till the end of time if need be, and go forward to bigger and better things.

OTHER

• 1924 (Laying of cornerstone, Springfield Masonic Temple, 06/24; Special Communication)
• 1939 (Reduction of fees authorized, 6/14)
• 2005 (By-Laws, amendments not approved, 12/14)

GRAND LODGE OFFICERS

• Joseph R. Bridge, DDGM, District 29, 2007, 2008
• Raymond L. Chisholm, DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee), 1954, 1955; N
• Robert D. Flint, DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee), 1964, 1965; SN
• Dwight H. Keyes, DDGM, Springfield 33, 1922, 1923; N
• Clarke F. Harrington, DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee), 1978, 1979; N
• Karl W. Hofman, DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee), 1944, 1945; N
• Charles H. Robinson, Jr., DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee)
• Clifford A. M. Weber, DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee), 1933, 1934; N
• Richard E. Young, DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee); N
• Allen G. Zippin, DDGM, District 18 (Chicopee)

DISTRICTS

• 1921: District 18 (Springfield)
• 1927: District 18 (Chicopee)

LINKS

• Massachusetts Lodges

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