How it Started
On April 17, 1903 the first officially documented gathering of brethren who were considering the formation of a new lodge occurred at the office of Dr. Arthur William Whitney. During this meeting Brother S.A. Farnsworth was elected as the committee chairman to create a petition, asking for dispensation from Most Worshipful Brother Grand Master Henry R Adams of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota AF&AM. Grand Master Adams was said to be favorable to this matter, if they had the names of twenty or more Master Masons in good standing and a petition was filed with the Grand Secretary Thomas Montgomery. Research from the archives revealed the actual petition for dispensation and also included the receipts for dues from the required members. Some of the men that were listed on these documents included:
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Name and Lodge they came from: |
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Alocation was secured at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall on the corner of Payne Avenue and Wells Street in St. Paul for the brethren to meet. The petition to form this new lodge was delivered by Brothers Charles W. Hill, A.W. Whitney and H.H. Blinn to the Grand Secretary. This petition indicated that the closest lodge would be two and a half miles and the local population was given to be 2500. The first elected officers to serve under dispensation were Charles W. Hill as the Worshipful Master, Alfred W. Whitney as the Senior Warden and James B. Pearson as the Junior Warden. The appointed brethren included S.A. Farnsworth as the Treasurer, H.H. Blinn as the Secretary, C.W. Carlson as the Senior Deacon, John E Holt as the Junior Deacon, and William Lewis as the Tyler. Grand Master Most Worshipful Brother Henry R. Adams granted a dispensation on June 4th, 1903 for the formation of Montgomery Lodge U.D. The name of the lodge was selected by the brethren with the desire of honoring Right Worshipful Brother Thomas Montgomery, who was the current Grand Lodge Secretary.
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Most Worshipful Brother Heny RIce Adams |
On the same day as receiving the dispensation, the brethren immediately set to work on their labors that same evening at 9pm. The lodge was opened in form on the third degree of Masonry with the officer line and the following members present:
S. Ahomse
C.W. Payne
V. N. Pattullo
G. A. Lindeke
And visiting brethren
G. Hunter and J.E. Steinson
The first motion of the lodge was to set the location and time of the meetings. It was approved for the meetings to continue to occur at the Odd Fellows Hall and that the communications would be held on the first and third Saturday at 9 pm. Throughout the history of the lodge the date and time of the meetings has change to better accommodate the brethren and allow the lodge to grow and meet the needs of the members. Currently today, the stated communications occur on the first and third Thursdays at 7 pm.
Some would believe that with a new lodge having just been formed, not much would happen other than the setting of meeting dates. This was not the case as Montgomery Lodge began a tradition of Taking Good Men and Making Them Better by receiving three petitions for the Mysteries of Masonry on the night of the first meeting. The petitions were brought before the lodge from Mr. Robb A. Earl, Mr. Andrew Berg, and Mr. Andrew G. Johnson; each petition included the required fee for a petition of $20.00. An additional $10.00 for each of the three degrees would also be required of the candidates as they progressed in Masonry. Historical information reveals that the average wage received by workers in 1903 was approximately twenty-two cents per hour. Based on this average a candidate could expect to spend approximately five to six weeks of wages in the desire to become a member of the world’s oldest and greatest fraternity.
It was only after assigning the candidates’ petitions to an investigation committee that the lodge addressed the needs of obtaining permanent Masonic paraphernalia for the lodge, and the assigning of members to a finance committee. The final order of business was the receiving of a sword for the use of the Tyler from visiting Brother G. Hanter. With no further business the lodge was closed at 10:30pm. On June 18th, 1903 Mr. Andrew G. Johnson and Mr. Andrew Berg became the first men to petition and be initiated into the Masonic Fraternity by Montgomery Lodge.
During the first year under dispensation Montgomery Lodge received ten petitions and completed fourteen degrees. In order to meet this need, an additional eight “Special” communications were held for the degree work to be completed.
Oral history that has been captured indicates that during the third degree for Chester Hubert the lodge room requiring a blanket to be stretched across a corner of the room to form an anti-room to prepare him in proper attire to be raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason.
After a period of over seven months, a Charter was granted on January 21st, 1904 by the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother Henry Rice Adams of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Minnesota.
On Monday, February 22, 1904, Montgomery Lodge was constituted in form when the Grand Lodge of Minnesota convened in ample form on 8:00 o’clock at the Odd Fellows Hall at the corner of Payne and Wells. In attendance from the Grand Lodge were: Right Worshipful Brother Thomas Montgomery as proxy for the Grand Master, Henry Tusler– Grand Senior Warden, Owen Marus (proxy) Grand Junior Warden, and Thomas B Montgomery– Proxy for Grand Secretary.
During this ceremony many addresses were given by Charles W. Hill, Henry R. Adams– Past Grand Master, and Thomas Montgomery– Grand Secretary. A letter from the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother William Albert McGonagle was read expressing his regrets for not being able to be present. A portrait of Thomas Montgomery was presented to Montgomery Lodge from Bro. Henry Tusler.
The following officers for Montgomery Lodge were installed by Grand Senior Warden Henry Tusler for the ensuing year of 1904:
Charles W. Hill as the Worshipful Master
Alfred M. Bergstrom as the Senior Warden
James B. Pearson as the Junior Warden
Andrew G. Johnson as the Treasurer
Henry H. Blinn as the Secretary
William W. Sleight as the Senior Deacon
Andrew Berg as the Junior Deacon
Victor N. Pattullo as the Senior Steward
John E. Holt as the Junior Steward
William Lewis as the Tyler
The Montgomery Bulletin from August of 1941 had a short article about the beginnings of Montgomery Lodge. According to the bulletin the charter members of the Lodge were: S. Abrahamson, Abel Anderson, Andrew Berg, Alfred M. Bergstrom, Henry H. Blinn, John Bloomquist, Frank R. Bunnell, Albert Carlson, Robert O. Earl, S. A. Farnsworth, Norman W. Foster, Charles W. Hill, John E. Holt, Frank A. Holcomb, Andrew G. Johnson, William Lewis, John O. Linden, Alexander Lindahl, Fay L. Murray, Theodore Nelson, Carl W. Payne, Victor N. Pattullo, Joseph Pline, James B. Pearson, Otto Pearson, William W. Sleight, Henry J Stocking, Arthur W. Whitney and Oluf G. Wold.
The program for the chartering of the lodge was:
Music – Masonic Quartette: William Jeffrey, First Tenor; William Rhys Herbert, Second Tenor;
Owen Jones, First Bass; Evan Jones, Second Bass, Constituting of the Lodge
Installation of Officers
Music – MasonicQuartette
Address of Welcome – C.W.Hill
The Grand Lodge – HenryR.Adams P.G.M.
Music – MasonicQuartette
The subordinate lodge – R.W. Thomas Montgomery
GeorgeWashington, The Mason– OwenMorris
Music – Masonic Quartette
Reception