Lodge grows steadily to 300

 As the lodge left the 19th Century and entered the 20th, G. Haven Stephens had this to say in his Commercial-News article of 1946--

Lodge grows steadily to 300

Under the direction of such masters as Thomas B. Castleman, D. D. Evans, J. W. Hamilton, E. R. Danforth, W.H. Bergstresser, Charles Ohmstead, Ben McMillan, D. E. Paul, Judge Morton W. Thompson, and Levin D. Gass, the membership grew to nearly 300 and the town of Danville also grew into a thriving city with its mule-drawn streetcars giving way to electric, and its cobblestone pavements to brick.  Automobiles were seen which scared horses and caused consternation among the pedestrians who crossed streets at the wrong time.

Olive Branch had secured a lot at the corner of Vermilion and North Streets and had dreamed of a home of its own in which to house itself and the other Masonic bodies which, from time to time, had come into being.  An agreement was signed by which this piece of property was sold to Judge E. R. Kimbrough and Louis Platt and Olive Branch and the other Masonic bodies took a lease on the sixth floor for a period of 15 years.

These quarters were complete with a large lodge room and a very commodious dining room and kitchen.  The lodge membership increased until in 1910 it numbered 425.

Perfection of the ritualistic ceremonies became the objective during the terms of Walter S. Matthews, Joseph B. Johnson, Frank Davies, Clint L. Sandusky, George Cockerton, and W. H. Harvey, and when John Fairchild was elected, he passed an examination in the lectures and ceremonies which made him the first Grand Lecturer in the history of the lodge.  State schools of instruction were held and Danville took its place as an outstanding Masonic town, known for its proficiency in the work.  Only one of the masters of the lodge which have been named is living today.*1946   He is Joseph B. Johnson, 83, now living in Florida.