SimonWRobinson

From MasonicGenealogy
Revision as of 12:09, 2 December 2014 by Hotc1733 (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

SIMON W. ROBINSON LODGE

Location: Lexington

Chartered By: William Sewall Gardner

Charter Date: 09/13/1871 1871-153

Precedence Date: 08/07/1870

Current Status: Active

Belmont-Beaver Lodge merged here, 06/19/2004.

PAST MASTERS

  • John C. Blaisdel, 1870, 1871
  • George O. Davis, 1872, 1873, 1877
  • Augustus E. Scott, 1874-1876; SN
  • Everett S. Locke, 1878, 1879
  • James C. Crone, 1880, 1881
  • Quincy Bicknell, Jr., 1882, 1883, 1886, 1887; SN
  • Charles G. Kaufmann, 1884, 1885
  • Edwin J. Nourse, 1888, 1889
  • Alfred Pierce, 1890, 1891
  • Herbert T. Richardson, 1892
  • John C. Goodwin, 1893
  • George W. Sampson, 1894, 1895
  • Charles W. Swarn, 1896, 1897
  • Frank H. Locke, 1898
  • Frank Peabody, 1899, 1900
  • John McKay, 1901, 1902
  • George A. Warner, 1903, 1904
  • Charles F. Nourse, 1905, 1906
  • William H. Whitaker, 1907, 1908
  • Arthur D. Stone, 1909, 1910
  • Edward C. Stone, 1911, 1912
  • George F. Smith, 1913, 1914
  • Charles H. Miles, 1915, 1916; N
  • Clifford W. Pierce, 1917, 1918
  • Albert Burnham, 1919, 1920
  • Albert I. Carson, 1921
  • George E. Smith, 1922
  • Joseph R. Cotton, 1923
  • Henry C. Cotton, 1924
  • Robert M. Stone, 1925
  • Howard E. Custance, 1926; SN
  • William S. Scamman, 1927
  • Sheldon A. Robinson, 1928
  • Franklin H. Pike, 1929
  • Hubert E. Broderic, 1930
  • J. Lawrence Miles, 1931
  • George S. Barton, 1932
  • Hazen W. Hamlin, 1933
  • Arthur M. Roberts, 1934
  • William L. Burnham, 1935
  • Everett E. Morrill, 1936
  • Carl Hauck, 1937
  • Pierre A. Northrup, 1938; SN
  • Fred Bailey, 1939
  • Charles E. Mathaurs, 1940
  • William C. Paxton, 1941
  • Leonard F. Foss, 1942
  • Geoffrey L. Pippette, 1943
  • Walter G. Black, 1944
  • George B. Gosbee, 1945
  • James C. Shaw, 1946
  • Harry Knight, 1947
  • Edward L. Mears, 1948
  • Clayton M. Hager, 1949
  • Clyde A. Booker, 1950
  • Elton B. McCausland, 1951
  • Norman H. Royle, 1952
  • Lyle J. Morse, 1953
  • John Maclachlan, 1954
  • G. Laurie Wallace, 1955
  • Charles H. Peirce, 1956
  • Robert W. Custance, 1957
  • Albert B. MacKay, 1958
  • Donald J. Shaw, 1959
  • Kenneth M. Smith, 1960
  • Milton F. Hodgdon, 1961
  • Robert W. Hunter, 1962
  • Edward C. Mann, 1963; SN
  • Mark Moore, Jr., 1964
  • Raymond E. Borden, 1965
  • Alden W. Jefts, 1966
  • Donald E. Legro, 1967
  • Ernest F. Stokes, Sr., 1968
  • Raymond B. Barnes, 1969
  • Norman E. Norcross, 1970
  • William G. Urquhart, 1971
  • Laurence A. Larssen, 1972
  • John E. Airey, 1973
  • Donald F. Albertine, 1974; PDDGM
  • Irving A. Rich, Jr., 1975
  • Stephen G. McConnell, 1976
  • Douglas A. Bryson, 1977
  • Carl M. Hogan, 1978
  • Edward B. Lloyd, 1979
  • Warren C. Hutchins, 1980
  • Keith A. Hutchins, 1981
  • Earl C. Blount, Jr., 1982
  • Paul C. Davidson, 1983
  • Bruce A. Jordan, 1984
  • Jonathan P. Doran, 1985; PDDGM
  • Jeffrey B. Hodgdon, 1986
  • Joseph M. Kurey, 1987; PDDGM
  • Geoffrey Davies, 1988
  • Steven W. Custance, 1989
  • Kenneth M. Cox, 1990
  • Robert J. Bryan, 1991
  • George B. Wilson, Jr., 1992
  • Ronald C. Higgins, 1993
  • David M. Feuerstein, 1994
  • Ernest A. Bean, 1995; PDDGM
  • James V. Neufell, 1996
  • Robert W. Bean, 1997
  • Paul H. Fraser, Jr., 1998
  • Robert R. Corkum, 1999
  • Robert B. Shor, 2000
  • Donald Yankovich, 2001
  • Robert N. Cann, Jr., 2002
  • Andrew T. Barnes, 2003
  • Kenneth Laurence, 2004, 2005
  • Bruce A. Jackson, 2006
  • Jonathan S. Sriberg, 2007, 2008
  • Marc S. Reymone, 2009, 2010
  • Matthew S. Gerrish, 2011, 2012

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

ANNIVERSARIES

  • 1920 (50th Anniversary)
  • 1945 (75th Anniversary)
  • 1970 (Centenary)
  • 1995 (125th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

BY-LAW CHANGES

1887 1888 1890 1894 1895 1900 1903 1909 1910 1917 1919 1921 1926 1927 1928 1933 1935 1938 1941 1945 1947 1948 1951 1952 1957 1964 1971 1979 1981 1987 1988 1992 1994 2001 2009

HISTORY

  • 1920 (50th Anniversary History, 1920-337; see below)
  • 1945 (75th Anniversary History, 1945-300)
  • 1970 (Centenary History, 1970-505)
  • 1995 (125th Anniversary History, 1995-269)

50TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORICAL SKETCH, OCTOBER 1920

From Proceedings, Page 1920-337:

By Wor. Bro. Fred Smith Piper.

We have been hearing considerable, recently, about John Robinson and the lives and purposes of the Pilgrims in relation to the present character and expansion of our great country. So in a similar modest measure we may well consider the character and purposes of the founders of this Lodge and estimate how far their characters and purposes have been realized and expressed by this Institution and how far the underlying principles of Freemasonry have benefited its members and improved this community. Institutions are of doubtful value unless they contribute to our welfare and improve our conditions of life to better advantage than otherwise might be accomplished.

Freemasonry, in one form or another, quite unlike our present Lodges, was centuries old when the first Grand Lodge was formed. The word Lodge is of Norman and Gothic origin and meant originally a shed or lean-to used as a shelter by Operative Masons in the construction of great buildings.

The word Freemason was used in England as early as 1376 in a title,—"The Freemason's Company" of London —and was first applied to a craftsman in a contract written in Latin and dated 1396, where its English origin is apparent.

Freemasons' Lodges, probably consisting of only one degree and that comparatively simple in form, were common in England and Scotland early in the eighteenth century. Each Lodge was then supreme and independent of every other Lodge.

Four Lodges in London formed a Grand Lodge in 1717, which was the origin of the present Grand Lodge of England, the first Grand Lodge in the world.

The first definitely known Freemason in America was Jonathan Belcher, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, who was made a Mason in London in 1704. We have good reason to believe that the first Lodge to meet, as such, in this country was in King's Chapel, in Boston, in 1720. Lodge meetings were held later in Philadelphia and Annapolis, but all these meetings were without warrant from any established authority.

In 1733 Henry Price, of Boston, then sojourning in England, was appointed by the Grand Master of England, Lord Viscount Montague, to be Provincial Grand Master for New England, and the following year Price's Commission was extended to include all of North America. Grand Master Price organized the first Grand Lodge in America at Boston on July 30, 1733, and also on the same day chartered the First Lodge in Boston, now St. John's Lodge.

In 1769 Earl Dalhousie, Grand Master of Scotland, commissioned Dr. Joseph Warren, of Boston, to be Provincial Grand Master over a territory within thirty miles of Boston and in 1773 Warren's Commission was extended, like Price's,to embrace all of North America.

Thus there existed in Boston from 1769 to 1792 two Grand Lodges, independent of each other, having the same territorial jurisdiction, and both were active and prosperous.

Grand Master Warren was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, but his character as a man and a Mason lives in the spirit of America.

In 1792, these two Grand Lodges, having declared independence of their mother countries, united and formed the present Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Inasmuch as both Grand Lodges had chartered numerous Lodges in Massachusetts it was decided to omit Lodge members in order to avoid any conflict or question of priority, and accordingly in Massachusetts, unlike most Grand Jurisdictions, Lodges are known by names only, without numbers.

So much, in outline, for ancient history.

The second phase claiming our remembrance at this time is early Freemasonry in Lexington. Tradition tells us, through our late Brother Albert W. Bryant, that the first assembly of Freemasons in Lexington was on the top of the hill in the rear of Munroe Tavern. In 1797 ten Masons gathered at Munroe Tavern and signed a petition to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts for a Charter. Dispensation was granted December 12, 1797, for the Institution of Hiram Lodge. Colonel William Munroe, well known as the stalwart orderly of Captain Parker's Minute-Men, was the first Master and served, in all, six years. This Lodge met at Munroe Tavern for thirty-three years, during which time one hundred and ninety members were recorded, of which number one hundred and fifty were Raised in the Lodge. The Lodge was dormant for several years during the anti-Masonic period and finally moved to West Cambridge, now Arlington, in 1843.

Lexington possessed no Masonic Lodge from 1843 to 1870, when Simon W. Robinson Lodge was instituted under a Dispensation dated November 7, with John C. Blasdel, Master. The first meetings were held at the residence of Brother Sargent C. Whitcher, who lived on Hancock Street where Brother Crowther now lives. (No. 23 Hancock Street.) The Lodge was duly Constituted, the hall in the town hall building, which we vacated two years ago, was Dedicated, and the officers installed on October 20, 1871, by R. W. Gideon Haynes, District Deputy Grand Master. Our esteemed Brother Payson, the founder of the original Temple Male Quartette, was present with his quartette and furnished music for the occasion. Brother Payson is now the worthy possessor of a Henry Price medal for good Masonic behavior.

Simon W. Robinson, for whom this Lodge was named, was an honored citizen of Lexington who lived where Brother Tilton now lives, on Elm Avenue. Brother Robinson was made a Mason in Mount Lebanon Lodge in 1819, where he was made an honorary member in 1849. He was Grand Master in 1840, Grand High Priest in 1837, 1838, and 1839, at one time Grand Commander of Knights Templars of Massachusetts and Rhode Island; was given the 33° by the Supreme Council at Boston in 1851, and became the Most Puissant Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of America in 1865. Brother Robinson was born in New Hampton, N. H., in 1792 and died at Lexington in 1868.

As we participate in this festival tonight let us, in our minds at least, drink to the health and happiness of our one surviving charter member, Brother George D. Harrington, and to the memory of the other fourteen charter members who have joined the silent majority. The charter members were as follows:

  • John C. Blasdel
  • George O. Davis
  • Leonard G. Babcock
  • Josiah Bryant
  • Charles G. Goodwin
  • Horace B. Davis
  • George D. Harrington
  • Warren E. Russell
  • Augustus B. Scott
  • George S. Butters
  • Asa Cottrell
  • Sargent C. Whitcher
  • Bradley C. Whitcher
  • George E. Muzzey

  • Charles K. Tucker

While we gladly proclaim our fraternal esteem here and now for our senior member, it is but honest to mention that many a Craftsman on his Masonic travels has not relished Brother Harrington's interference at the East Gate of the Temple.

Again, it is our honor and our pleasure to salute our oldest Past Master, who is also our oldest member who was Raised in this Lodge, not alone because he has been with us so many years, but also because of his true Masonic virtues and faithfulness to the Craft: Wor. Brother Everett S. Locke, Raised November 20, 1871.

Trusting to catch something of their spirit and receive their benediction, I have arranged such pictures of our charter members as I could borrow about town—all represented except Captain Tucker—and to these pictures I invite your attention later in the evening.

In the past fifty years this Lodge has Raised four hundred and fifteen Masons and admitted to membership sixty-seven who were Raised elsewhere, besides fifteen charter members, making a total membership of four hundred and ninety-seven. Sixty-eight applications were rejected and seven applicants withdrew after election or failed to present themselves for the degrees. The per cent of rejections is about twelve, which may seem large to some of you, but in looking over the names rather carefully it seems to me that the Lodge has generally acted wisely and justly. Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty are the abiding supports of any Lodge and not the multitude of its members. A brook can rise no higher than the source and a society can rise no higher than the average appreciation of its members.

This Lodge suffered misfortune and sacrificed its influence in the community for a dozen years or more because of indiscretion among a few prominent members. But as truth cast down shall rise again and claim its own, so do we now rejoice in good fellowship, harmony, and prosperity within our portals. More than this: "We hope, that as the years come and go, this entire community, our patrons and our critics alike, will feel the benefit of the great moral and ethical principles which are taught and supported within this Temple.

The Lodge has had twenty-five Masters in fifty years, although not uniformly of two years terms of office, as follows:

  • John C. Blasdel, 1870-1871

  • George O. Davis, 1871-1873, 1876-1877
  • Augustus E. Scott, 1873-1876
  • Everett S. Locke, 1877-1879
  • James E. Crone, 1879-1881

  • Quincy Bicknell, 1881-1883, 1885-1887
  • Charles G. Kauffmann, 1883-1885
  • Edwin J. Nourse, 1887-1889
  • Alfred Pierce, 1889-1891
  • Herbert T. Richardson, 1891-1892
  • George C. Goodwin, 1892-1893
  • George W. Sampson, 1893-1895
  • Charles W. Swan, 1895-1897
  • Frank H. Locke, 1897-1898
  • Frank Peabody, 1898-1900
  • John McKay, 1900-1902
  • George A. Warner, 1902-1904
  • Charles P. Nourse, 1904-1906
  • William H. Whitaker, 1906-1908
  • Arthur D. Stone, 1908-1910
  • Edward O. Stone, 1910-1912
  • George V. Smith, 1912-1914
  • Charles H. Miles, 1914-1916
  • Clifford W. Pierce, 1917-1918
  • Albert H. Burnham, 1919-1920

It has been our honor during the past two years to furnish to the Grand Lodge an accomplished and courteous District Deputy Grand Master for the Sixth Masonic District—Right Worshipful Charles 11. Miles, the third member of Simon W. Robinson Lodge to hold this high office. The other incumbents were Right Worshipful Augustus E. Scott, many years ago, and Right Worshipful Quincy Bicknell.

There are today three hundred and twenty-one members of this Lodge and six Entered Apprentices.

During the past fifty years, we have had only three meeting places—the home of Brother Whitcher while working under Dispensation, the hall in the town hall building vacated two years ago, and the edifice where we are now assembled.

The Dedication of this building on June 24, 1918, marked a new epoch in our history. Pew suburban Lodges are more comfortably sheltered, surrounded by environment eloquent in history and honorable in tradition, situated on ground veritably made sacred to liberty and the rights of mankind.

When we recall all these things — yonder field sanctified by the blood of Lexington's Minute-Men — the early uses of this building in the causes of education and religion — the early owners of this property, Pelham, John Hancock, Jonas Clarke, John Augustus, and others, together with the sturdy citizenship and high purposes of our founders — we cannot fail to see how rich is our inheritance and how great is our obligation to this community and the throng of young men who are knocking at our portals in unprecedented numbers.

And this brings me to my final thought concerning this golden anniversary.

Vital changes are being wrought in the nations of the earth today faster than ever before and this sturdy old town of notable history is changing apace. When Masonry first organized in Lexington one hundred and twenty-three years ago, all transportation was carried on by horses and oxen. Communication was slow and difficult and villages comparatively isolated. Today we have the railroad, automobile, airship, telegraph, telephone, and wireless.

Ninety years ago Theodore Parker, the most notable man ever produced in Lexington, walked from his home to Harvard College over a road rough at all seasons and often deep in dust and mud. How different are our streets and travel today. In 1797 Lexington had a population of 940 and a valuation of $250,000.00, or, $265.00 per capita, Today the town's population is 7,776 and the valuation is $9,945 -296.00, or $1,150.00 per capita. Last Saturday's Herald announced that the wealth of the United States averages today $51.06 per capita, making Lexington about twenty-two times the national average.

The Great War hastened many changes, but the conditions which made most of these changes passible had been preparing a long time. There are still many preparing, and the end is not yet.

With all these changes, and confusion and uncertainty everywhere apparent, Freemasonry seems to be chosen today, more generally than ever before, as a common ground for Protestant men all over this broad land and our membership in the United States is now well beyond the two million mark.

While it is true there is strength in numbers, let us not lose sight of a higher ideal at the heart of Masonry.

On the other hand, what' benefit has Freemasonry to offer to the thousands who are now seeking admission to the Order? For a poor man and modest Mason, I may be extravagant, but, rightly understood and truly practiced, I believe Masonry offers the greatest thing in the world. Brotherly love, service, democracy? Yes, and more. It offers loyal fellowship and every encouragement in man's search for the Lost Word. And while no institution may be permitted to emblazon that Word upon the understanding of its members as a body, the principles of Masonry will do much toward awakening individual discernment, by which alone the Word may be found.

"When man shall come to manhood's destiny, When our slow-toddling race shall be full grown, Deep in each human heart a chamber lone of Holies Holiest shall be builded; Each there must kindle his own altar fires, Each burn an offering of his own desires, And each at last his own High Priest must be." —David Starr Jordan.

And until we find the "Word, said to be lost, let us live among our fellow men of every land and creed according to that light at the heart of Masonry, sometimes represented by the Master's square, but always well expressed by one short word, Truth, peace-giving, satisfying, invincible Truth.

Take thou no thought for aught save truth and right,
 Content, if such thy fate, to die obscure;
Wealth palls, and honors; fame may not endure,
And noble hearts grow weary at the light.

"Keep innocence, be all the true man ought;
Let neither pleasure tempt, nor pain appall.
Who hath this hath all things, having naught;
Who hath it not, hath nothing, having all."

Fifty years hence, when order, social justice, and goodwill shall be the ripe fruits of this present confusion in the world; when, in the words of Tennyson "all men's good shall be each man's rule and universal peace lie like a shaft of light across the land," when Simon "W. Robinson Lodge shall celebrate her centenary, this short word, Truth, which has been the light of Masonry for ages past, will still shine as the guiding star of destiny.

OTHER

  • 1871 (Constitution of lodge, 1871-209)

GRAND LODGE OFFICERS

DISTRICTS

1870: District 2 (Charleswtown)

1872: District 17 (Woburn)

1883: District 6 (Somerville)

1911: District 6 (Somerville)

1927: District 6 (Somerville)

2003: District 14

LINKS

Lodge web site

Massachusetts Lodges

Retrieved from "http://www.masonicgenealogy.com/MediaWiki/index.php?title=SimonWRobinson&oldid=52186"