Erie County, Ohio - Chapter 24: Sandusky Fraternalism, 1916

Chapter 24: Sandusky Fraternalism

In June, 1818, when Sandusky was but a small village containing but a few hundred inhabitants, and the Indians in this part of Ohio outnumbered the whites, there were among these early settlers quite a number that were Masons. Among and of them were Hector Kilbourn, a surveyor, Dr. George Anderson, Eleutheros Cooke, Moors Farwell, John D. Wheeler, Ebenezer Ransom and others having been made Masons before they came to Sandusky, and being more or less imbued with a love and reverence for the order, and feeling that they wanted a Masonic home wherein to gather in fraternal union, caused an application to be prepared and signed by the requisite number of Master Masons, and forwarded it to the G. M. of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, asking of him the authority to organize a subordinate lodge in Sandusky, and in July, 1818, Chester Griswold, the then M. W. grand master, granted the dispensation prayed for, and appointed Hector Kilbourn W. M., and by order of the grand lodge held at Columbus, December, 1818, Science Lodge with others was authorized to continue its labors under the dispensation until the next communication of the grand lodge.

At the session of the grand lodge held in Columbus December, 1819, Hector Kilbourn was its representative, and recorded as the master of the lodge in the published proceedings of that year, which also show that the returns of the lodge were not received in time to be acted upon before adjournment, whereby the lodge continued to work under the dispensation another year.

At the session of the grand lodge held at Columbus, commencing December 11, 1820, the committees on charters and dispensations reported in favor of granting a charter, which report was accepted and charter granted, and was duly signed by John Snow, M. W. grand master, and Benjamin Gardner, grand secretary. Brother Lyman Farwell was its representative to the grand lodge at the session of 1820.

Early in the year A. D. 1860 application was made to the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Ohio by George S. Patterson, Andrew C. Fry, Alexander H. Black and others for authority to organize another subordinate lodge in Sandusky, and the then grand master, Horace B. Stoker, issued to them a dispensation dated March 2, 1860, and he appointed as W. M., George S. Patterson; S. W.,-Andrew C. Fry; J. W., Alexander H. Black; and on the 13th of March, 1860, under and by virtue of said dispensation the organization of Perseverance Lodge No. 329, F'. & A. M., was perfected by selecting the following named brothers to fill the following offices under the dispensation, viz.: Treasurer, Joseph Lansdown; secretary, W. G. Melville Milne; S. D., Neil H. Moore; J. D., J. McComb; tyler, F. Charlleau, and adopting a code of by-laws, and said lodge continued to work under said dispensation until October 30, 1860, when it was duly constituted, and the officers continued to December 25, 1860. When the officers for the year 1861 were duly installed at the regular annual session of the grand lodge held at Columbus in October, 1860, the granting of the dispensation was approved and a charter was granted, and the by-laws previously prepared were presented and approved with the recommendation of a very few changes which were accepted as amended, and the charter was duly issued of date of October 18, 1860, with the names of George S. Patterson, Andrew D. Fry, A. H. Black, George A. Gaylord, Joseph Lansdown, B. J. McComb, Horace Brooks, Niel H. Moore, and Hiram A. Arnold, appearing therein as charter members, signed by Horace S. Stokes, M. W.G. M., and John D. Caldwell, R. W. G., secretary, with the seal of the grand lodge attached, and at the stated communication of said lodge held on the second Tuesday of December, 1860, a full set of officers were elected for the year 1861. !

On June 24, 1889, the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple was laid and Grand Secretary E. M. Colver read the following list of. articles placed in the casket and deposited in the cornerstone:

Holy Bible, square, compasses and lambskin, proceedings of Grand Commandery K. T., proceedings of other Masonic bodies with their constitutions and by-laws, names of board of directors of Temple Association, photograph of M. W. grand master, name of architect, name of builders of temple, photograph of president of Temple Association, memorial and funeral services of Masonic lodges, calendars of Masonic bodies, address of Barton Smith, R. W., grand orator; proof of coins of 1889 from 1 cent to $1 inclusive, annual reports of city and schools, copies of Sandusky papers, copy of ancient manuscripts, English and German coins, Masonic record of grand master.

The order of Knights Templar was reorganized in Europe in the latter part of the eleventh century, and was very popular among the royalty, kings, princes and nobles - the rich and titled especially taking

Its membership was composed of the ruling classes, those high in authority, both spiritual and temporal. And for a time it seemed to be under the control of the bishops and prelates of the Church of Rome, yet its office was rather of a warlike nature than otherwise, and the Pope was one of its greatest patrons, and he used all his power to make the order subservient to his wishes, an instrument to strengthen the power of the church, and early in the twelfth century, at his dictation and under his supervision, a code of rules and regulations to govern the order was duly promulgated.

Though the Knights Templar flourished for a time and thousands of the youth of Europe joined the order and marched victoriously to the City of David, and those who survived returned with great pomp, yet when the excitement was passed and the sound reasoning of men began to control their actions, and a careful research of the records of the order was made it was found that its rubries were too broad ahd expansive, too catholic in their nature to permit the rules and regulations formulated by the hierarchy to be accepted for the government or the order. When this became known an effort was made to produce a compromise, but all propositions coming from that source were of such a nature that they could not be accepted, and proved futile, and oppression produced a breach that has never healed, a chasm that never closed, a river that was never bridged over.

When the heads of the churches found that suasion and ordinary pressure would not bring the order under abject surveillance and meek obedience, a determination to rule or ruin was made manifest, the machinery was put in operation for its destruction, the bulls of expulsion and excommunication were promulgated and sown broadeast through the land, and so far as the Roman or Greek churches knew, it was crushed out through the anathemas issued by the ruling spirits and power brought to bear upon the civil authorities. Yet it lived throughout the continent and Great Britain; it survived persecution through the bigotry, ignorance, superstition and ostracism of the dark ages; like its confreres, it kept up the line of succession, and its good works and moral teachings and precepts were perpetuated and brought down through the ages of men, a cherished heirloom to the present generation, and its history is of the brighest recorded upon the pages, to which its followers and patrons point with pride and veneration.

Many of the early settlers of Ohio were Knights Templar Masons when they came here, and early in the century subordinate commanderies were instituted, receiving authority as did the other branches of the order from the older states, and as they increased in numbers they began to think that it would be well to have a grand commandery in Ohio. Thereupon the proper application was filed with the proper authorities of the Grand Commandery of the United States for authority to organize a grand commandery, and October 24, 1848, the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Ohio was duly organized at Lan-

In September, 1869, N. H. Moore, J. D. Lea, ©. J. Parsons and others applied for and received a dispensation to organize a subordinate commandery of Knights Templar in this city, which was issued of date of November 6, A. D. 1869, and N. H. Moore was elected the first commander of the Erie Commandery No. 23, Knights Templar, at Sandusky. That by authority from the grand commandery a charter was issued of date of September 15, 1870, and the names of Neil H. Moore, James D. Lea, C. J. Parsons, E. 8. Chester, J. D. Buck, C. H. Giddings, Isaac B. Massey, William Swanson, H. E. O'Hagan, J. A. Hubingerm, F. W. Alvord, L. M. Lea, E. Hadley, H. H. Eldis, A. J. Lyon, S. Marks, V. Scott, A. C. Townsend and John R. Minor appear therein as charter members, and it was signed by Herman Ely, R. E., grand commander, and John D. Caldwell, grand recorder. The regular stated meetings of Erie Commandery are held on the first and third Thursdays of each month.

Capitular Masonry

Sandusky City Chapter No. 72, Royal Arch Masons. - In the year 1752, according to Companion Albert G. Mackey, the first grand lodge or chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized in England. And from authority granted by it subordinate chapters were soon thereafter organized in the colonies. And the organization of the first grand chapter in this country was perfected late in the seventeenth century.

A grand chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized in this state October, 1816, and Samuel Hoyt was chosen as the first grand high priest. In March, 1856, Foster M. Follett, Andrew Lytle, O. J. True and others, Royal Arch Masons in this city, applied to the M. E. G. H. P., Horace M. Stokes, for a dispensation to organize a chapter in this city. And a dispensation was granted of date of March 27, 1856, and he appointed Companions F. M. Follett, high priest; Andrew Lytle, king, and O. J. True, secretary, under the dispensation. And very soon thereafter the organization was completed and continued under the dispensation until a charter was issued by order of the grand chapter held at Zanesville in October, 1856, and it was issued of date of October 30, 1856, and the names of Foster M. Follett, Andrew Lytle, Orrin J. True, R. R. McMeens, A. Pearsall, N. L. Brown, Casper J. Parsons, John McKinster, George Morton and F. Sharlleau appear therein as charter members, and it was signed by Horace M. Stokes, G. H. P., and John D. Caldwell, grand secretary, and thereupon the Sandusky City Chapter Nb. 72, Royal Arch Masons of this city, was fully organized and fully established under its charter. Its regular or stated meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays in each month.

The Grand Army Of The Republic

This is a military order, numbering in its state membe.ship over 40,000 persons. The order has for its foundation stone the great principles of fraternity and charity. It is not, in the most strict sense of the word, a secret organization, yet it has its unwritten work and rituals.

McMeens Post was organized on the 18th of March, 1880, with the following charter members: Elisha M. Colver, William A. Till, W. J. Affleck, Christian Henry, J. R. Booth, 8. D. Cutliff, B. F. Church, John Heeter, Charles Groesch, Robert Kimball, George A. Free, William Nash, Henry Landan, Martin C. Cross, John S. Murthy, Henry Bernard, John Geiser, Joster F. Neill, T. M. Cook, James Duffy, Philip Cann and George R. Marvin.

The McMeens Post takes its name from 'Dr. Robert R. McMeens, formerly surgeon of the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who died suddenly at Perrysville, Kentucky, while in the faithful discharge of his duties as medical director. On first entering the service he was made regimental surgeon, and by his gentlemanly deportment and undoubted professional skill, won for him the confidence and esteem of his brother officers; and at their request he was appointed medical director. Up to the date of his death, October 30, 1862, he continued in active service, filling many important positions in the medical department of the army. In his death the army lost a kindhearted, faithful and efficient officer, . the county a true patriot, and the medical profession one of its brightest . ornaments.

This order is as strong, proportionately, as any of the other similar organizations of the city, and its object is just as worthy and commendable. Friendship, charity and benevolence are the fundamental principles of Odd Fellowship. The order is founded upon naught but the purest and sincerest motives. Its aim is to alleviate the suffering of a brother, succor the unfortunate, zealously watch at the bedside of the sick, soothe the pillow of the dying, perform the last sad rites at the grave of a brother, offering consolation to the afflicted, and caring, with a brother's love, for the widow and orphan.

This lodge of the I. O. O. F. is the oldest of the order in Sandusky. It was instituted on the 24th of July, 1846, with the following charter members: John G. Camp, Jr., John W. Witherell, Theodore Hosmer, William V. Moss, Bryan Hawley, Lester S. Hubbard, Jacob A. Barker and C. J. Chadwick.

From this number the charter officers were elected as follows: Noble grand, Bryan Hawley; vice grand, Lester S. Hubbard; secretary, John G. Camp, Jr.; treasurer, Theodore Hosmer; R. H. S., Charles Chadwick; L. H.-S., Eli M. Narnum. Among the members of this lodge are found some of the most substantial elements of the city's German population. They have a beautiful building on the corner of Washington Row and Jackson in which their meetings are held.

Erie Encampment No. 27, I. O. O. F., was instituted on March 3, 1848, with Bryan Hawley, Hiram K. Steele, John Tift, Abijah Ives, John W. Buckman, Thomas Johnson and Sumner P. Webber as its charter members. When first organized, and for some years subsequent to that time, Erie Encampment worked in German, but afterward a change was made, since which the work of the order has been conducted in English.

Daughters of the American Revolution, Martha Pitkin Chapter. Mrs. John T. Mack, regent; Mrs. G. F. Anderson, vice regent; Mrs. BE. Alstaetter, secretary ; Miss Abbie Woolworth, treasurer.

Knights of Pythias, Sandusky Lodge No. 128. Hayes M. Adams, C. C.; John Gerold, M. of E.; A. C. Close, K. of R. & S.; Henry Reutter, M. of F.