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SAINT ALBAN'S LODGE

Location: Wrentham; Foxborough (1855)

Chartered By: Francis J. Oliver

Charter Date: 08/11/1818 III-150

Precedence Date: 08/11/1818

Current Status: Active

PAST MASTERS

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

• Petition for Charter: 1818
• Petition to Restore Charter: 1855

ANNIVERSARIES

• 1968 (150th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

• 1863 (Parkman; installation; see below) not in Proceedings
• 1885 (Howland)
• 1954 (W. Johnson)
• 1968 (Booth; 150th Anniversary; Special Communication)
• 1984 (Richardson)
• 1992 (Darling)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1870 1875 1879 1883 1890 1906 1907 1910 1912 1918 1920 1927 1928 1939 1946 1950 1952 1955 1956 1961 1965 1968 1974 1976 1988 1993 2003 2007

HISTORY

• 1968 (150th Anniversary History, 1968-106)

OTHER

• 1822 (Report of committee on proceedings in lodge, III-401)
• 1855 (Petition to remove to Foxborough, V-594)
• 1866 (Jurisdictional dispute, VII-87)
• 1872 (Participation in North Attleboro cornerstone laying, 1872-147)
• 1927 (Participation in North Attleboro cornerstone laying, 1927-187)
• 1929 (Participation in North Attleboro temple cornerstone laying, 1929-181)
• 1971 table lodge)

EVENTS

INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS, SEPTEMBER 1863

From Moore's Freemason's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXIII, No. 1, November 1863:

The officers of this Lodge for the current year were installed by the M. W. Grand Master, assisted by several of the officers of the Grand Lodge, on the evening of the 25th September last. There was also a large attendance of members and visitors from the neighboring Lodges. The Lodge having been opened, the Grand Master and his suite were received in due form, when the former, by invitation of the Master, took the Chair and installed the following Brethren into their respective offices :—

• W. M., William R. Thomas
• S. W., William H. Thomas
• J. W., absent
• Treasurer, absent
• Secretary, Edwin W. Clarke
• S. Deacon, Elisha White
• J. Deacon, I. P. Carpenter
• Chaplain, C. A. Bradley
• Marshal, Eliphalet Smith
• S. Steward, William H. Skinner
• J. Steward, H. C. Wheaton
• Tyler, Albert Wilmarth

At the conclusion of the installation services Grand Master Parkman delivered an appropriate and interesting address to the Lodge, on the importance of the duties committed to them.

The Worshipful Master, on resuming the Chair, addressed the Lodge substantially as follows :—

"Brethren — I embrace this opportunity to acknowledge my personal obligations, and return my most grateful thanks for the honor you have conferred, in electing me to preside over this Lodge. I cannot say I have not aspired to this position, for I have ever considered the station of honor and distinction worthy the ambition of every Mason. But having attained it, and taken a survey of the broad field of its duties and responsible labors, in connection with my inexperience in Masonry, I confess I am filled with painful misgivings as to my ability to perform its important duties to your satisfaction. But while I realize my weakness, I assure you I accept this sacred trust with a full determination to do all in my power to attest my appreciation of the honor you have conferred, by laboring untiringly to advance the interest of Freemasonry, and the prosperity of St. Alban's Lodge; and while I invoke the blessing of God upon my humble efforts, I realize I must rely very much for success upon the hearty support and co-operation of the officers and members of this Lodge. Be it mine, therefore, faithfully to discharge the duties imposed upon me. Be it yours, ever to support and cheer by your well-timed efforts and kind approbation. And if, in any moments of weakness, it should be my misfortune to disappoint your expectations, remember then, my Brothers, that it was not my solicitation, but your kind partiality, that placed me here, and that I must ever rely upon you for the exercise of that broad Charity which as Masons we owe one to the other.

"Most Worshipful Grand Master and Members of the Grand Lodge of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: In behalf of St. Alban's Lodge, we would return our sincere thanks for the honor you have conferred by this official visit, and for kindly consenting to perform these ceremonies. Be assured we shall long remember with gratitude the pleasure you have afforded us on this occasion, and I trust it may prove a new incentive for us ever to render St. Alban's Lodge worthy of your kind consideration and paternal care.

"We would also thank our visiting Brothers who have favored us with their presence on this occasion, and hope that very often in the future it may be our privilege to meet and welcome them to this our Masonic home."

At the conclusion of these ceremonies, the Lodge was called off to refreshment, after which it was again called on, when short speeches were made by several Brethren. The Lodge was then closed.

This Lodge was originally chartered in 1818, and was located at Wrentham. It struggled through the whole of the antimztsonic excitement, but came out of it in so crippled a condition that in 1838, we think, it finally surrendered its charter, but not its integrity, for it was one of the most staunch and faithful Lodges of that trying time. In 1855 a constitntional number of the old members, aided by a few young and enterprising Brethren, petitioned the Grand Lodge and obtained from that body a restoration of the Charter with the permission to hold their future meetings at Foxboro. It has now about an hundred members, a fine hall, and is one of the most prosperous Lodges in the State.

GRAND LODGE OFFICERS

• James E. Carroll, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 2002; District 16, 2003
• George R. Ellis, DDGM, District 28 (Taunton), 1917, 1918; N
• Josiah J. Fiske, DDGM, District 4, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1831, 1832; SN
• Corodon S. Fuller, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 1941, 1942; N
• John C. Fuller, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 1992, 1993
• Walter H. Hiller, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 1956, 1957; N
• E.P. Jewett, DDGM, District 22 (Hyde Park), 1905, 1906; SN
• Richard D. Leggee, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 1970, 1971
• John F. Platt, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 1998, 1999
• Fred H. Richards, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 1929, 1930; Memorial
• George C. Upper, DDGM, District 16, 2006, 2007
• Lawrence E. Williams, DDGM, District 28 (Attleboro), 1996, 1997

DISTRICTS

1818: District 4 (Southeast)

1821: District 4

1855: District 5

1867: District 13 (Taunton)

1877: District 13 (Dedham)

1883: District 22 (Hyde Park)

1911: District 28 (Taunton)

1927: District 28 (Attleboro)

2003: District 16

LINKS

Lodge web site

Massachusetts Lodges