Lafayette County, Missouri - Chapter 10: Secret Societies of the County, 1910

Chapter 10: Secret Societies of the County

For thousands of years there have been numerous secret or civic fraternities of men banded together for high and honorable purposes. With the early settlement of Lafayette county these were not numerous, but had a following, and it will be the aim of this chapter to inform the reader as to their organization and present standing.

Of Masonry, it may be stated that the first lodge to be instituted within this county was Lafayette Lodge, No. 32, which was organized June 3, 1840, its chapter bearing date of October 8th. It was surrendered December 1, 1866, and a new charter granted October 19, 1867, with original name and number. The following were the first members : Thomas Benedict, Martin Fitzpatrick, James C. Mason, James W. Wetzel, Cyrus Osborn, P. Phillips, C. Osborn, William Houx.

Lexington Royal Arch Chapter was organized October 13, 1848, by John F. Ryland the charter being dated in October of same year. John F. Ryland was the first high priest. The present membership is sixty-nine. Its officers are: Robert Norfolk, high priest; O. O. Crawford, king; M. C. McFadden, scribe ; H. C. Sinauer, secretary ; W. D. Rank, treasurer.

The charter members were P. B. La Berten, Samuel Warren, Jacob Sutfield, C. T. Ustick, W. R. Shurlock, William C. Webb, W. M. Johnson, John E. McDougal. In 1880 there were forty-four members in this lodge. Their hall was leased of the Dover Store Company. About 1880, when the town of Corder began to forge to the front as a business center, this lodge was removed to that town and Dover has no Masonic lodge now.

Chapel Hill Lodge, No. 330, of Sniabar township, was granted a dispensation in 1870. The names of the charter members were: John McClure, John W. Wilkinson, Dr. F. M. Shore, R. Edmondson, D. G. Doty, F. E. McCormick, A. J. Lyon, B. E. Phillips, John W. Bledsoe. In 1880 this lodge had eighteen members and held meetings in a hall built in 1869, at a cost of five hundred dollars. There was a lodge at this point prior to the war, but during that conflict it was robbed of the effects of its hall, including charter and jewels.

Mt. Hope Lodge, No. 476, at Odessa, was instituted by Xenophon Ryland, under dispensation, dated March 31, 1874, the charter being issued in October of the same year. It was first instituted at Mount Hope and removed to Odessa when that town started, hence its name. This lodge had a membership of one hundred and four in 1910. Its present officers are as follows: Samuel Baggarly, worshipful master; P. B. Clayton, senior warden; C. D. Newhard, junior warden ; W. S. Powell, treasurer ; W. D. Barclay, secretary ; R. D. Crank, senior deacon ; S. S. Rutan, junior deacon ; J. P. DeMoss, senior steward; J. F. Martin, junior steward; W. F. McKinney, tyler; I. W. Carson, chaplain.

Lafayette Lodge, No. 437, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Corder, was instituted April 6, 1887, and now has a membership of forty-eight. They occupy a leased hall. The 1910 officers are: Thaddeus P. Corder, worshipful master; E. M. Moore, senior warden; Harris P. Bray, junior warden; Lewis Carthrae, Sr., treasurer, and Samuel M. Reynolds, secretary.

The charter membership of this prosperous lodge were as follows : Lewis Carthrae, R. M. Barley, S. B. Shrader, George W. Corder, George W. Marquis, R. Rhodes, John Price, J. H. Hinson, R. M. Edwards, W. M. Corder, P. Rhodes, J. L. Reddeck, M. Wilmot, George P. Gordon, Jackson Corder, H. F. Corder, N. J. Gordon, Paul M. Lindsay, J. M. Winn.

Higginsville Lodge, No. 364, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, worked under a dispensation from June 9, 1880, issued by H. W. Winsor, district deputy grand master. The first and present officers were as follows :

First officers - William W. Preston, worshipful master; George W. Houx, senior warden; B. Wilkerson, junior warden; James Pedicord, secretary; A. E. Asbury, treasurer; A. Wade, senior deacon; W. J. Ferrell, junior deacon; H. G. Smith, tyler; Grove Young, senior steward; A. Kinsler, junior steward.

Present officers - Frank Monser, worshipful master; Frank Schmidt, senior warden; Frank Knipmeyer, junior warden; Alfred Hoefer, secretary; H. F. Campbell, treasurer ; Charles W. Wiley, senior deacon ; C. W. Ott, junior deacon; Hy. Stoll, tyler; J. Ed Sheets, senior steward; J. W. Edwards, junior steward.

Higginsville Chapter, No. 106, Royal Arch Masons, was organized at Higginsville, May 8, 1884, with the following charter membership: A. E. Asbury, Alonzo Barnes, Harry Hawkins, J. H. Searfoss, C. W. Seeber, S. B. Schrader, A. Wade, H. W. Winsor, Bernard Wilkerson, J. J. Fulkerson.

The present membership is forty-two. A hall is leased by the Masons. The present officers are: Alonzo Barnes, high priest; G. H. Frey, king; D. H. Hancock, scribe; L. T. Land, treasurer; A. H. Hoefer, secretary.

DeMolay Commandery, No. 3, Knights Templar, of Lexington, was organized in 1869 and now has a membership of forty-eight. This is the only commandery in Lafayette county. Its present officers are as follows : Walter B. Waddell, eminent commander; Owen O. Crawford, generalissimo; Jesse G. Crenshaw, captain general ; James R. Moorehead, prelate ; James C. Shelton, recorder; Minitree C. McFaddin, senior warden; Henry W. McNeel, junior warden; Lee J. Slusher, standard bearer; Joseph O. Coffin, sword bearer; William P. Roach, warder; Fred T. Wilson, sentinel.

Waverly Lodge, No. 114, was organized by Judge John R. Ryland, under dispensation dated June 15, 1849. The following were the first officers: Henry B. Harvey, worshipful master; Michael Stevenson, senior warden; G. W. Hereford, junior warden; W. W. Shroyer, treasurer; John S. Nowland, secretary ; A. Francisco, senior deacon ; J. M. Lewis, junior deacon ; Joseph W. Cloudsley, tyler. The charter was surrendered on account of the Civil war and was never renewed.

Waverly Lodge, at Waverly, was organized June 2, 1866. The first officers were Elisha M. Edwards, worshipful master; Charles M. Cowan, senior warden ; George W. Hereford, junior warden. The order leases its lodge room. The present officers of the lodge are : G. W. Hackley, worshipful master ; Henry Larkin, senior warden ; Joshua W. Motte, junior warden ; W. H. Landrum, treasurer; R. P. Motte, secretary; N. G. Miller, tyler. This lodge is small, but doing excellent work in the grand old order of Masonry.

Aullville Lodge, No. 464, was instituted by Xenophon Ryland by dispensation dated November 15, 1872. A charter was issued to it in October, 1873, witn tne following names attached thereto: Lewis Carthrae, A. Graham, John W. Weeks, James F. Downing, W. C. Orear, George Osborn, Alexander Osborn, M. M. Gladdish, John Snyder, C. C. Mitchell and Robert Littlejohn.

Independent Order Of Odd Fellows

Wellington Lodge, No. 81, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized by a charter issuing from the grand lodge of Missouri early in the month of December, 1854, the real instituting taking place January 5, 1855. At that date, with W. M. Smallwood, of Lexington, as special deputy, the following officers were duly installed : William A. Chanslor, noble grand ; Quincy A. Houston, vice-grand; James M. Holloway, secretary; William M. Bowring, treasurer; Joshua H. Stein, warden; William M. Leflurch, chaplain. These names were written on the fly-leaf of a lodge book, and when the effects of the lodge room were destroyed this memoranda was picked up and fell into the hands of J. L. Marshall, who was secretary of the lodge from July, 1855, to 1861. No other record of the first lodge proceedings is now in existence.

The noble grands following the organization were as follows : W. M. Bowring, John W. Mathews, James M. Holloway, J. N. Marshall. John W. Mathews, Joseph Tidball, C. E. Straughn. Four years had now elapsed and the fraternity had flourished and increased in its membership. They had a good and well equipped lodge room, with much tasteful regalia. But with the opening of the terrible Civil war this prosperity all disappeared. Meetings grew less frequent and were poorly attended. Many entered the service of their country, on one side or the other, and the lodge room was locked up, biding the time when peace should be again in the land. On the evening of September 30, 1863, the hall was broken into by a lawless band of thieves, murderers and cut-throats, known as the Kansas Jayhawkers, under orders of one Colonel Wier, who very nearly destroyed the entire belongings, smashing the fixtures and tramping the beautiful emblems and regalia of the order. They ruthlessly scattered the lodge records and other valuable belongings (15) over the streets and outlying lots. By the efforts of some of the good citizens of the place, among whom were D. K. Duck, the charter and other valuables were recovered and subsequently returned to the members of the lodge. When, in 1866, the lodge was re-organized it had nothing left but the lists and a few things of valuable record, and these were destroyed by the fire that burned the lodge room on the night of December 19, 1873. This lodge room stood on the north side of the public square, where now stand the two livery barns. But undaunted by this bitter misfortune, a duplicate charter was applied for from the grand lodge of Missouri, which was to bear the same name and number as the former one. But it was found that by the great fire in St. Louis in the year 1862 the entire belongings of the grand lodge had been totally destroyed - not even the names of the founders could be found. Several men, brothers of the three-link order, had pledged their efforts to regain their cherished idol, Wellington No. 81, so that on November 26, 1874, a meeting was held at the lodge quarters in Wellington and the following officers were installed : J. A. Lockhart, noble grand ; G. C. Adamson, vice-grand ; H. B. Corse, secretary ; H. B. Tidball, treasurer. Since then meetings have been regularly held. Fortune has smiled and again frowned on the order, but it has steadily advanced, in the main, and today has a membership of one hundred and forty-eight. At the time of the last fire the membership had dwindled down to five working members and hope was almost gone, but these men - J. A. Lockhart, J. A. Workman, H. B. Corse, G. C. Adamson and Frank Myers - stood nobly by and, with loyal hearts and ready hands, laid on the sacred charter, registered a solemn oath to cleave to and cherish the same at all times. At last triumph came and these men had their reward. A new hall was erected and served its purpose until 1909, when their present hall was built. The order owns the two properties. The new hall is over two modern store rooms, all being contained in a fine brick building, an ornament to the town and a credit to the order that has come up through such tribulations.

Guttenberg Lodge No. 323, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Lexington, was organized May 27, 1874, by G. W. McKean, district deputy grand master. The charter members were as follows : Henry Sinauer, C. H. Schaefermeyer, J. F. E. Winkler, John Joehner, C. Georges, J. G. Mehl, John Fritz, W. Siegwart, S. Schneider, N. Hearle, J. Klee, C. Huepper, J. G. Fischer, H. Nagel, Adam Walk and C. Meyer. The present membership of this lodge is sixty-seven. They meet in a leased hall on Main street.

Lodge No. 45, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was instituted in 185 1 and has thirty-three members at present. W. C. Shippman is noble grand and J. A. Wilson, secretary.

Herman Lodge No. 380, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized at Concordia January 1, 1878. The charter bears date of May 23, 1878, and contains the following named charter members : E. F. Ninas, Henry Meyer, William Lodeman, Gustave Wohrenbrock, Henry Ficken, H. W. Thieman, W. F. Walkenhorst, J. H. Powell, J. W. Walkenhorst. In 1881 the membership was twenty-seven, but owing to the general sentiment of the Lutheran and Catholic churches in the vicinity of Concordia, the lodge, in common with all secret societies there, went down, and there are no civic fraternities within the place today.

Archer Lodge, No. 448, of Higginsville, was organized early in the history of Higginsville, and today has a membership of one hundred and three. They meet in the American Bank Hall. The officers in 1910 are: Thomas Green, noble grand ; John Sayers, vice-grand ; Fred Newman, secretary ; J. H. Burgan, treasurer.

Dover Lodge, No. 759, of Dover, was organized February 20, 1909. The present membership is thirty-five. The elective officers are : O. G. Congdon, noble grand; H. G. Wahl, vice-grand; Philip Wahl, secretary; L. Wahl, treasurer.

Odessa Lodge, No. 446, is in a flourishing condition. It has a membership of one hundred and sixty-five, with officers as follows : S. S. Rutan, noble grand ; W. A. Renick, vice-grand ; A. J. Stanfield, recording secretary ; J. A. Newhard, financial secretary; D. P. Goodwin, treasurer. This lodge owns a hall property worth ten thousand dollars.

Itaska Encampment, No. 6, of the Odd Fellows order, at Lexington, was organized February 14. 1868, by Dr. J. F. Hassell, district deputy grand patriarch. The charter members were : M. W. Withers, Amos Green, J. A. Price, W. W. Laneborn, G. W. McKean, John Aull, J. T. Hassell and J. T. W. McKean. This encampment is now in a flourishing condition and has officers as follows : James Rosewall, chief patriarch ; W. E. Hurst, senior warden ; L. C. Yates, high priest ; Lee Hopper, treasurer ; J. C. Talbott.

Knights Of Pythias

White Cross Lodge, No. 154, Knights of Pythias, at Higginsville, was organized October 22, 1890, and now enjoys a total membership of one hundred and sixty-five. They occupy a rented hall in good quarters, on the

Lexington Lodge, No. 157, has a membership of one hundred and thirtythree. It is in a very prosperous condition and occupies a hall separate from any other order in the city, located on the north side of Main street.

Olive Lodge, No. 97, Knights of Pythias, at Odessa, has a membership of two hundred and three, according to the 1909 annual record book of reports.

Benevolent And Protective Order Of Elks

Lexington Lodge, No. 749, of the order of Elks, now so popular throughout the entire country, was organized here by fifty-six charter members, December 20, 1901. The present membership is two hundred and seventeen. The present lodge home of the order is in the old bank building on Main street, which was later used as a residence, and sold to the order by Mrs. Catherine G. Reid in June, 1902. The present officers of the Elks lodge in Lexington are : John J. Price, exalted ruler ; B. T. Payne, esteemed leading knight ; George W. Kerdollf, esteemed lecturing knight ; Firman B. White, esteemed loyal knight; Worth Bates, treasurer; O. H. Westerman, secretary; C. H. Bates, esquire; John Bowman, inner guard; John C. Young, Jr., tyler; A. W. Allen, chaplain; O. R. Sellers, organist; E. B. Campbell. J. G. Grenshaw and G. C. Marquis, trustees.