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Sunday
Commercial-News |
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OLIVE BRANCH
LODGE NUMBER 38 A. F. & A. M. 1846-1946 |
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CELEBRATING
THE FIRST CENTURY OF MASONRY IN DANVILLE |
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Danville, Illinois,
Sunday, September 29, 1946 |
Masonry Marches Forward with Danville
A Prosperous City Sprouts From Early
Trading Post, And the Lodge Keeps Step
By
Dr. G. Haven Stephens
TO
KNOW THE HISTORY of Olive Branch Lodge 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, is
to know the history of Danville and Vermilion County.
They run hand in hand.
When Danville was only a few years old, the men who had the planning of
our city in its infancy also were present when Olive Branch Lodge was brought
into the world and made a major part of the social and fraternal side of people
of that early date.
It was in 1826 our city had its very humble beginning
when the State Legislature appointed William Morgan, Zachariah Peters and John
Kirkpatrick of Sangamon County to explore the county and designate the place,
which on being located, should forever remain the permanent seat of justice of
Vermilion County. A former commission
had located the county seat some six miles west of the present Danville and
back a distance from the south side of the Salt Fork.
A more unfavorable place could not have been chosen. It would have been impossible ever to have
attracted enterprising businessmen to such a spot. If the county seat had been established
there, on the cold, flat, clay ground, it would never have grown to the dignity
of a city, or even attained the respectability of the average modern town. It would have remained an unsightly, ragged,
sickly village, to go the way of several seats in the state that lingered along
for years, only to die and be forgotten.
Fortunately, the man who had lease on the chosen site
refused to yield his rights and the legislature was petitioned for another site
for the founding of the county seat.
On Jan. 31, 1827, the new commission reported that, in
its opinion, the land donated by Guy W. Smith and Dan W. Beckwith, near the
mouth of the north fork of the Vermilion River, was the most suitable place in
the county for the new town that was to grow into the thriving Danville of
today.
A most fortunate choice it was. A better site could not have been selected;
there was not a spot of ground where nature had combined so many advantages of
drainage, surface soil, water, coal, timber, stone, gravel, and all else
required for the successful growth of an inland city. The site had been selected more than 100
years before by the Piankeshaw Indians as one of their villages and had been
given the name of Piankeshaw.
Early
Danville a Rugged Scene
Let us, in our imagination, picture the scene when the
town of Danville, named in honor of one of its founders, Dan Beckwith, came
into existence. Let us remove all
semblance of civilization as we know it now—all house, fences, gardens and
lawns gone. Remove the streets and walks
and other signs of civilization, restore the trees to a surrounding
forest. Then imagine a line of stalwart
oaks to the river bluff and others scattered at intervals on an open plain.
Westward from Stony Creek are patches of jack oak and
hazel brush. Along the bluffs of the
North Fork and Vermilion Rivers, some distance apart, are numerous springs that
bubble out of the hillsides and the remains of Indian wigwams of bark or naked
lodge poles, telling us of the struggle of the Piankeshaws as they were driven
away from their village by the Potawatomies and the Kickapoos.
The Piankeshaws are gone and desolation reigns over their
ancient city. Into this picture has come
just a few log huts and lean-tos, protecting in a weak way not more than a
dozen pioneer families. Truly, it was a
wild and rugged scene made more dangerous by hundreds of rattlesnakes which had
their dens in the banks of the river.
A few months passed and the town was laid off in
lots. Notice of sale had been published
in the Illinois Intelligence at Vandalia, the State Capitol, and also in a
paper published at Indianapolis. On that
momentous day, a large number of persons had collected. Bidding was lively and 42 lots were sold, the
county realizing $922.87 as the result of the sale, an average of about $22 a
lot.
This seems a trifling price as compared with the present
value, as most of the lots sold were on Main or Vermilion streets in the
vicinity of the square. Just recently in
a real estate transaction, $100, 000 was paid for two lots more than a block
from the square.
Thus we see the beginning of the city of Danville, with
no streets lined out or cut. A stranger
passing through would have seen houses scattered around without any apparent
order, some of them hidden in clumps of bushes and, if the day were pleasant
and it was early in the week, he might have seen the family wash out drying on
the small trees on Main street in front of the Log Cabin, which harbored the
family of one of the first citizens of Danville. Our stranger then could have followed the
only traveled road which cut its path zigzagging in its course, across lots in
a northwesterly direction to the place where the Woolen Mill Bridge now crosses
the North Fork and around which point had sprung up quite a trading post.
City’s
Early Growth Was Slow
The few years that
elapsed from this beginning to the time when the town numbered about 500 passed
slowly. In 15 years, very few families
were emboldened to try their fortune in this uninviting place where only the
salt wells gave promise of any future.
But among those who came, there were those who had lived in the East,
and had enjoyed the fellowship which came from Masonic membership. They found
this understanding a great pleasure as they met as strangers in this new
country, became friends and passed long evenings in visiting and relating their
experiences to each other. Soon, the
desire became stronger to foster a closer relationship in the formation of a
lodge or society where they could pool their strength and be a power for good
in the growing hamlet.
True, it was virgin
soil but well adapted to the growth of the organization which practiced its
peculiar rites and ceremonies with none to behold but the All-Seeing Eye, and
those so fortunate to be admitted behind the veil of secrecy.
In the winter of
1846, a meeting was called in the home of one of these Masons and plans were
perfected to petition for the privilege of organizing lodge. Those who attended knew full well the
influence for good such an organization could be. The putting into activity the principles of
friendship, love, morality, truth, charity and relief found a fertile field and
was one of the great blessings which came to this pioneer community.
A temporary
organization was formed and William E. Russell, a Mason who had received his
degrees in Pennsylvania, was given authority to contact the Grand Master,
William F. Walker, who lived in Chicago, and present the petition. It was a long trip to make but he set out on
it with the determination to get the coveted authority. He returned in about ten days and, calling
the brethren together, delivered the dispensation by early candle light on the
evening of April 7, 1846. This official
document read thus: ‘I grant a
dispensation to Brother William E. Russell, John Payne, John Thompson, and the
requisite additional brethren to form and open a lodge at Danville, in this
state by the name of Olive Branch 38, and designate William E. Russell as
master, John Payne as senior warden and John Thompson as junior warden. The fee of $15.00 was paid for the
dispensation.’ The minutes show that the
lodge was opened in peace and harmony in due and ancient form. The first master, William E. Russell, was
about 50 years old at that time and took an important part in the civil
activities of his time. He was a trader,
or perhaps what we would term a real estate dealer, and interested in the sale
of government lands.
To him, Masonry owes
more, perhaps, than any other man in the early development of our
fraternity. He not only made the trip to
Chicago for the dispensation but in the fall of that year went to Peoria where
the grand lodge held its annual session and obtained the charter which made the
organization complete. All this was done
at his own expense.
He also organized the
Masonic Lodge at Georgetown, now called Russell Lodge in honor of the
founder. He was the guiding spirit which
brought Milford Lodge into being, and in 1849 was elected junior grand warden
of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. He
guided Olive Branch lodge through a very critical time as master in
1846-1847-1848 and 1849.
16
Members Get First Charter
There
were 16 members in the lodge when it received its charter and there were six
petitions presented at its first meeting.
By 1847, the membership had increased to 31. Meetings were at the homes of its members for
some time and then the organization took over a hall, the second story of a
store standing about where the Savoy Hotel now stands. (Note: the Savoy Hotel was on the north side
of the unit block of West Main Street between the current Collins Tower and the
City Hall Building.)
During
1848 the first emergency meeting was called to pay last respects to the memory
of Brother Isaac Delay who had been killed by lightning. It is said that he was returning from work on
a log house which stood somewhere behind the west side of Vermilion street,
about where the Sears-Roebucks store is.
He had a saw and a hammer under his arm when he was struck and killed.
The
members of the lodge were ordered to wear crepe on their arms for 30 days.
At
the end of four years, the first master gave way to one of the leading men of
the town. Judge Oliver L. Davis. He was of eastern parentage and came to
Danville in 1841 where he read law. A
leader in his profession, not only in Danville but in the state, he was for
many years a judge of the circuit court and afterwards of the Appellate Court
of Illinois. The lodge continued to
grow, showing a membership of 45 during this year.
Brother
Davis was succeeded by John W. Myers, at that time a businessman of about
33. He, too, was a trader and
politician, afterward becoming the sheriff of the county and helped to build
the Lincoln Opera House which attracted people from miles around. It was during the regime of Myers that the
by-laws were completed and printed, and a committee was appointed to have
Brother G. print them, “if he will do the work as cheap as anybody else.”
The
closing act of the master’s year was the appointing of a committee at Christmas
to see to the wants of needy widows in the town and vicinity and the lodge
appropriated $20 for such relief.
The
next master was A. Y. Harrison, who was a newspaper man and ran The Plain
Dealer, forerunner of the present Commercial-News. He had a broad influence and attracted many
prominent men to the fraternity.
We now come to the next master of Olive Branch
lodge and find him a man not only well known in the city and county but really
a national character—Ward H. Lamon. He
came from Virginia to Illinois in 1847 and practiced law, later becoming a law
partner with Lincoln. It is said that
the partnership was successful because Lincoln did the work but would never
charge for his services, while Lamon always collected liberal fees. It was notable partnership too, physically as
well as mentally, for Lincoln was six-feet four and Lamon was six-feet two. Lincoln was quaint, direct and practical
while Lamon was inclined to be flowery and fervid. Above all other characteristics, Lamon was
fearless and for that reason Lincoln chose him as his companion and bodyguard
on his trip to Washington in March of 1861 when he knew of the threats and
plots to assassinate or lynch him.
There
were plots revealed almost daily and Lamon had the responsibility of breaking
them up. This was hard, because the
President often broke away from the protection of those who guarded him and
would be found walking alone to the stores or on a visit to his friends. Lamon was not present when the President was
assassinated.
52 on Lodge’s Roster by 1858
The next master played an important part in the
affairs of the lodge and city. He was
James H. Phillips, a prominent businessman and one of the founders of the
Building and Loan Association with which he worked for many years. He was installed publicly as Master Dec. 27,
1858 and upheld the dignity and reputation of Masonry during the stormy times
preceding and during the Civil War. The
lodge had grown steadily to a membership of 52 and on its membership role were
the names of many prominent and influential men of this vicinity. The affairs of the lodge soon were taken over
by a farmer, the first in the list of masters who had followed that vocation. He was Reason Hooton, father of George Hooton
who afterwards became the master. There
have been two other instances where father and son have attained the honor of
being masters, Walter S. Matthews and his son, Walter R., and Arthur F.
Johnston and his son J. Reno.
Brother Hooton was 53 when he was elected master,
but he had been an active mason for many years and came within two votes of
being nominated as vice president of the United States. He was succeeded by W. M. Payne, who lived
where Payne Ave. starts on North St., that street having been named after
him. He was the sheriff of Vermilion
County and many times was called upon to settle riots and other disturbances
caused by discussions on slavery.
Masonry was passing through a trying time caused
by the Civil War and its effects. The business
of the lodge was taken over by Hiram Beckwith, one of a family which had played
an important part in the early history of Danville and whose father’s first
name was the source of the name of Danville, (Dan Beckwith). He was elected in 1863, at a time when every
strong healthy man of proper age had answered the call of his country. Many received their degrees in a limited time
before going.
General Carnahan, who distinguished himself as a
soldier, was one of those who had all degrees conferred on him in one day. Dues were remitted on all men in the service
and the lodge sent supplies and clothing at various times for their
comfort. It was a trying time but
Masonry weathered the storm and proved in every way that its members were
loyal, true Americans, fighting for one cause—the saving of the Union.
City’s First Dentist Is Master
In 1865, Jasper C. Winslow became master of the
lodge. He was a lineal descendant of
Governor Winslow of the Massachusetts Bay colony, a Mayflower descendant. One of the first locomotive engineers in the
United States, he came to Danville as master mechanic of the Wabash Railroad
when the division point was moved from State Line here. Later, he became the first dentist in our
city. He was the first mayor under the
present charter and organized and was a vestryman of the Holy Trinity Episcopal
Church.
With his other talents, he was a naturalist and
his geological researches embraced matters which will be forever a part of
geological science. He was known as a
man who was a leader in all things looking to the betterment of the community
and his brethren as the lodge cooperated in all his undertakings. He was so
successful in his leadership as master that he was honored by being reelected
year after year and Masonry went forward, becoming a greater influence than
ever for the upbuilding of all good things in the community.
The record of W. D. Reynolds, the next master,
merits some space in this brief history.
He became the master following Jasper C. Winslow. He was a jeweler and opened the first jewelry
store in Danville. This was an
innovation for the town and proved a busy place in the business district.
No history of the lodge would be complete without
relating some of the life of John P. Norvell, probably the most enthusiastic
Mason who ever lived in Danville if we measure his untiring work and his
unselfish devotion to the institution.
He was master 12 years, was well beloved by all the members, as well as
by the community at large.
This is attested by the fact that he was several
times elected to the best paying and most responsible job in this community,
that of assessor and collector, notwithstanding that he was of a political
party which was outnumbered two to one by the opposition. He served as alderman and was postmaster
during Grover Cleveland’s administration.
Norvell was a clean, whole-souled gentleman of the old type with a heart
big enough to take in the whole world if necessary. He was truly one of God’s noblemen and put
into his life and actions those principles which he learned in his Masonic
lodge. Under his guidance, the
fundamentals of Masonry in this city were felt in every avenue and strata of
life and became a real power for good in the hearts of men. This was shown by the report to the Grand
Lodge at the close of Norvell’s term when the lodge showed a membership of
nearly 200.
In 1879, the lodge was fortunate in W. J. Calhoun
as its leader. He was a young and
enthusiastic member of the bar and a personal and lifelong friend of President
McKinley, who entrusted him with appointments of great responsibility. The President sent him on an important
diplomatic mission to Venezuela in which he was most successful. He was given later the appointment as
ambassador to China and on his return to this country became a member of the
Interstate Commerce Commission. During
his two years as master of Olive Branch lodge, he displayed his leadership in
many ways and built up the Masonic Institution to a very high level. The Lodge room was in the Schmidt block on W.
Main St. where it had very commodious and pleasant quarters. This lodge room was the busy center of
fraternal and social activities during the next decade.
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 street cars 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.
As the time drew near when the lease on the
quarters in the Temple Building would terminate, plans were perfected toward
the erection of the present temple and the cornerstone was laid in 1916 by
Ralph H. Wheeler, grand master of Masons of Illinois. A year later it was dedicated with due and
ancient ceremonies and stands today, an imposing monument to the memory of
those pioneers who in April, 1846, laid the foundation of Masonry in a log
cabin on the plains of the then rugged and undeveloped country.
William Y. Ludwig, Henry P. Blose, Krank Kester,
G. Haven Stephens, Charles M. Karns William H. Pundt, Oscar J. Chapman, and
Arthur F. Johnston served as masters from 1910 through 1916.
Lodge Free of Debt by 1919
With the dedication of the present temple,
Masonry took on a new growth and at the end of 1919, when Robert I. Pettigrew
finished his term as master, Olive Branch Lodge had attained a membership of
650 and was free of any indebtedness on the temple. The terms as masters of the lodge of Ernest
Balsley, Alfred A. Johnson, Earl R. Bean, Thomas A. Oaks, Lorain L. Lockard,
Wallace E. Walker, Charles C. Webb, Ollie G. Robertson, Joseph J. Domgall,
Charles Ray, and Ray C. Cox, brought further prosperity to the Masons of
Danville and the influence of the institution was felt in every walk of life.
Olive Branch became a lodge of 1053 and as the
mother lodge of Eastern Illinois had many children in the towns around
Danville. Closely associated were Anchor
Lodge 980 and Further Light 1130, which had their homes in the temple and were
active and healthy lodges carrying on the great work of brotherhood, charity
and relief in a most successful way.
From 1936 to the present time, the following have
served as masters:
Fallie Hix, Fred Howard, Clarence Balsley, Fred
Lucas, J. Leslie Lowe, Charles Collings, Walter R. Matthews, Earl Crawford,
Fred Dombroski, Floyd Keerns, Orville Miller, Claude L. McWhorter, Ray Leonard,
George Burow, and S. Stewart Winters, each contributing in his own way to the
furthering of the Masonic institution.
This brief history covering not only the 100
years of Olive Branch Lodge, but also reflecting the influence of the men who
have built our city, would not be complete without noting the contribution
which has been made when our country needed men in the troublesome war
periods. It covers the time during which
our country passed through four wars, and Olive Branch Lodge has a record of
having sent its best to answer the call for service.
During the years 1860, to 1865, the activities of
the lodge were almost paralyzed because there were so many of its members away.
The Spanish-American War record found many of our
young Masons answering the call and during World War I, the number of Masons from
the lodge was greater than ever before.
74 Served Nation in Late War
The records show that
there were 74 members who went out to battle the Germans and the Japs in our
late war. We were very fortunate in the
small loss of life in this number, only one of those that went did not come
back. Masonry has always been a patriotic
organization and its fundamental teachings are obedience to the law and
upholding the principles of the Constitution of the United States. Our government was founded on the principles
of equality, freedom of speech and religious liberty and Masons of those early
days helped to frame the Constitution.
We are proud of their record and are pledged to preserve those sacred
principles so that our happiness and the happiness of our children’s children
shall not be lost.
It is impossible in
this brief history to do justice either to Olive Branch Lodge or to all those
who had a part in its growth and influence over the century it has
existed. There are scores of men who, as
true craftsmen, gave freely of their time and talents and whose records of
achievement will never be recorded. The
practice of charity and relief over this space of time has been done quietly
and without any publicity and thousands have felt its kindly hand and rejoiced
in its coming.
Masonry does not
publish its deeds of charity and benevolence from the housetop but, on the
contrary, it seeks to follow the teaching of the Lowly Nazarene who went about
doing good. No one knows, neither does
any book record, the times when the widow and the orphan were made happy or
when the distressed brother found joy because of the aid and comfort which was
given in time of need.
Unselfish service to
man is the fundamental or basic principle on which Masonry rests and over the
period of 100 years, the greatest in the world’s history, Olive Branch Lodge
has followed that objective and discharged its responsibility in a full
measure.
The Grand Lodge of
Illinois from a humble beginning of five lodges in 1840 has grown until now
there are 1,000 lodges touching nearly every city and town in the state. It maintains two homes, the Masonic Home at
Sullivan and the Children’s Home at LaGrange, and it dispenses more than a half
million dollars each year in its work of charity.
Just as our beloved
city has grown in size and influence, so has Masonry grown and expanded over
the century and as the future of our city is bright and promising, so Masonry
as practiced by Olive Branch Lodge and the other Masonic bodies of Danville
will grow and expand through the next century, waxing stronger and stronger as
the years mark the time when we celebrate another 100th anniversary.
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