THE PENNSYLVANIA FREEMASON Issued Every Th ree Months By The Right Worshipful Grand ladg" of The Mast Ancient and Hanarabl" Fraternity of Fre., and Accepted Masons of p.,nnsylvania and Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging, through its COMMITIEE ON MASONIC CULTURE- William E. y.,ager, Past Grand Master, Chairman; William E. Montgomery, G. Edward Elwell, Jr., Frank R. leech, William A. Carpente r, Charles A. Young and Ashby B. Paul. APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED TO BE PRINTED BY
RALPH M. LEHR Right Worshipful Grand Master
" I n the early days o f th is Lodge, officers were elected twice each Masonic year, and they were installed on St. John, the Baptis t 's Day, June 24, as well as on St. John, the Evangelist's Day, December 27. This practice con tinued until 1818, when a nnual elec tions were s tarted . All business in the early era (until 1843), was transacted in the Entered Appren tice l\•fas ons Lodge so that all the Brethren could be presen t. An Entered Ap· prentice had a vo te on all q ues tions and pe li· tio ns and could h old any o ffi ce except that of Master. It was sometimes years before some of th e Brethren were made Master Masons.
WILLIAM A. CARPENTER, Editor
New Warrant in 1787 Mailing Address : The Masonic Temple, Broad and Filbert Streets, Philadelphia 7, Po.
Vol. II
May, 1955
No.2
Lodge No. 22 Celebrates One Hundred Seventy-five Years An unusually attractive and informative Souvenir Program was published in connection with the One Hundred Seventy-fifth Anni versary of Lodge No. 22 of Sunbury, P ennsylvania. Bro ther George P. Druckemiller, wh o was W orshipful Master of this Lodge in 1922 and a former Dis trict Depu ty Grand Mas ter, prod uced this beau ti ful brochure which' includes a con cise and most interesting His torical Sketch of this Lodge, one of the oldest in P ennsylvania. The fo llowing excerpts were taken from this his tory: " Wi th so many Mas ons who wer e probably members of Army or t ravelling Lodges being stationed from time to time during the Revolutionary W ar at Fort Augus ta, which was located jus t north of the presen t town of Su nbury, it was natu ral to h ave the u rge to f orm a new Lodge here.
" I n 1787 the newly es tablished Grand Lodge o f Pennsylvania, which had severed its ties wi th England, gran ted a new Warrant to Lodge No . 22. This Warrant is s till preserved under glass. " Th e early meetings of this Lodge were held at the h omes of the members or in taverns, ei ther in Sunbu ry or near-by Northu mberland. Since 1809 its meeting place has been in S unbury. As many of the meetings were h eld in taverns, drinking was often as immoderate as the feast ing, and the Lodge decoru m was probably far different from that of to-day . It was n ot until 1906 that liq u or was banned at Lodge banquets and Masoni c Temples in this jurisdi ction. " The work of the three degrees has also undergone many changes in these 175 years, the so called "ch arts or Mas ters carpels" having been removed from Blue Lodge rooms by ed ict in 1890. " Lodge No. 22 s urvived th e Anti-Maso nic period of 1826- 1838, and whil e records indicate only nine of its s lated meetings were omitted in these tr oublesome ti mes the allen. dance was often very m eagre. I n 1837 this was the only Lodge at Labor in Northumberland County.
Lodge Warranted in 1779
New Temple in 1908
"Sunbury was laid out in 1772 and seven years later Lodge No. 22 came into being. I n 1779 nine Brethren, s upposedly all members of Army Lodges, a pplied to the Provin cial Grand Lodge o f P ennsylvania f or a Warrant, which was granted at the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge h eld on October 4, 1779, and its fir st S tated Meeting was h eld on the followin g St. Jo hn's Day . " I t is interesting to note that the initiation fee in 1780 was set at One Hundred Fi fty D ollars ; a sizable amount in those days, and the dues were eight dollars per meeting, probably largely to cover the expenses of the necessary refreshments. T he s tated meeting night was fi xed on the night of the full moon (except when it occurred on Sunday) and the Lodge to this Day meets by the moon. " Many early meeti ngs had to be postponed due t o the ravages of the I ndians who frequented that area, many citizens in th e Valley having lost their li ves in the I ndian raids of 1781.
" This Lodge through out the years had many meeting places prior to the completio n in 1908 of the present Mason ic Templ e on Market S treet faci ng the Publ ic Square. Th e Temple s uffe red a destru ctive fire in 1922, bu t fortunat ely the Lodge Room was able to be used uninterruptedl y. "Thirty-nine members of the Lodge served in the Armed forces d uring World War 1 and happily all thirty-n ine returned home after the war without any casualties. Li ke many other Lodges, Lodge No. 22 had a large increase in members hip after the end o f the War, the five year grow th being one hundred new Members. " On March 18 and 19, 1936, Sunbury suffered a severe flood when the Susquehanna River overflowed its banks. Although there was 20 inches of wate r on th e sidewalk in fr ont of the Mason ic Temple, no serious damage r esulted . The ba nqu e t hall of the Temple wa;; occupied for some Lime af ter the fl ood by the Red Cross for the rel ie f of fl ood victims.
" T hirty-three Members of the Lodge ser ved in World War I [ and prov identially every Member re turned home safely as in the first W orld War. I n the five years after th is War, Lodge No. 22 took in 91 Members.
Third Oldes t Lodge " Lodge No. 22 claims to be the thi rd oldest Masonic Lodge in Pennsylvan ia in point of co nt inu ous ex isten ce, the oldest Lodge No. 3 in Phi ladelphia and the seco nd oldes t, Perseverance No. 21 o f Harrisburg, which was warran ted on the same day as Lodge No. 22. Lodge No. 22 furth er claims t hat the o th er Lodges which wer e organized pri or to it s ubsequen tly s urrendered their warrants, and several o f the older numbers, 2, 9 an d 19, were u sed in warranting later Lodges. " Lodge No. 22 s till has in its possess ion many of its old documents and furniture, including the warrant issued by the Grand Lodge of P en nsylvania, and all of the minutes begin ning with St. John's Day, 1779. "Lodge No. 22 with close lo 500 Members conti nu es to be one of the mos t flourish ing Masonic bodies in this secti on of the Commonwealth."
Deputy Grand Master V isits Grand L odge of Cuba (Couliuucd from pngt! 2)
of the various Gran d Lodges were invi ted to the porch on the fin, l floor of the Temple, whe re we witnessed the dedicat ion ceremo nies. As the uedicat ion cere monies fmi shed, a large Cuban Fl ag, cove ring the full wid th of the Temple, and reaching from th e roof lo the seco nd floor , was unfurl ed, and out of it flew several h undred wh ite do ves and at the same Lime, the lights of the Temple were thrown on, and the wife of the Grand Master cut the silken cord offi cially open· ing the Temple. It was my good fortune lo have detailed to act as my guide, Brother Luis M. Rojas, a young Cuban lawyer, and fo r the next three hours we were taken to every floor of the Temple, and it was not unt il nine o'clock Su nday evening that we had fu lly inspected this magnificent structure. I could not help but note that every Maso n, and I conversed with many, was proud of his membersh ip and was mo re concern ed with what he could do for Freemasonry than what Freemasonry could do for him. The Lodge rooms car ry the pattern as we know it in Phi ladelphia, wit h their Co rinthian Hall, Ionic Hall, Goth ic Hall, and others, all pat terned after classic architectu ral themes. It was interesting further to note that all members of the Lodges in Cuba pay monthly d ues of S2.50. I can only say agai n that I feel I was greatl y honored in being permitted to represent our Grand Lodge at this inspiring ceremony and I was asked to bring back from Brother and Dr. Carlos M. Pineiro y del Cueto, Most Worshipful Grand Master, the fraternal greetings of the Maso ns of Cu ba Lo th e Masons of Pennsylvania.
CHAR L ES H. N ITSCH
R. W. Deputy Grand Master
FREEMASON AN OFFICI AL PUBLICATION OF THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF PENNSYLVANIA
VOLUME II
NUMBER 2
MAY • 1955
A Message from Our Grand Master to Subqrdina te Lodges, and other Grand Ju risdictions, many Masons asked me how we operate and maintain the Masonic Homes at Elizabethtown, P ennsylvania. The Masonic Homes is an Adminis trative Department of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, controlled by the Committee on Masonic Homes. This committee is composed of the fou r elective Grand Lodge Line Officers and seven o ther members of Grand Lodge. These m embers are elected each year at the December Quarterly Communication. Three members of the committee of seven a re selected as the Executive Committee. The General Committee of eleven m en m eet th e Fourth Friday of each month; the E xecu tive Committee m eets every Thursday . In 1902 a dream flashed across the minds of a few Grand Lodge Officers to build a home for destitute Master Masons, their wives, widows or mothers. This dream grew into serious thinking and on March 4, 1903 a resolution was adopted and a committee appointed to make a s urvey t o determine if there was s uch a need. June 3, 1903 this committee reported they had r eceived returns from 324 Lodges, of which 281 wer e in fa vor o f establishing s uch a h ome. December 2, 1903 a Committee on Masonic Homes was a ppointed. At the Annual Grand Communication of Grand Lodge December 27, 1904, this Commiuee s ubmitted an amendment to the Ahiman Rezon providing for the election and duties of a Masonic Homes Committee, which was adopted in December 1906. December 2, 1908 the Committee on Masonic Homes was authorized and empowered to purchase real estate, employ architects and a S uperintendent, and adopt plans and specifications as well as make contracts, etc., fo r the erection of a Masonic Home and o ther buildings. The resolution called for the location of the Homes to be near a main line railroad, central location with an abundan ce of good water, and located in the country. After cons ideration and inspection of a number of favorable prope rties, Elizabe thtown, P ennsylvan ia was selected. The tract at that time contained 967 acres cos ting $135,297. Title was taken on April 1, 1910. Grand Lodge Hall corners tone was laid in 1911 and the building dedicated in 1913. The presen t estimated value of the H omes and Farms is approximately $15,000,000. Today we own and use 1400 acr es of land and the Hom es cover an area of m ore than two square miles containing 83 buildings. At the present time we have 651 guests (16 girls, 34 boys, and 601 adults) . Ther e are 270 regular employees in the Homes, Eng ineering and Farm Departme nts. In the agricultural season this number reaches appr ox imately 330. The mainten ance budget for 1955 is $1,008,000. Only $50,000 is spent for the purchase of food which includes citrus fruits, cereal, s ugar, coffee, tea, e tc. More than 95% of all food cons umed at the Homes is the product of our farms.
D
URING MY VIS ITATIONS
Over 200 of our gu ests are in the h ospital, which is s taffed with 55 attendants a nd 4 registered nurses, all under the s upervis ion of Dr. P aul R. Evans, res ident physician and a supervising nurse. The Allegheny Rest H ome h as 65 infirmed adult guests. This Home is staffed with 3 attendants around the clock. The meals for Gra nd Lodge Hall, H ospital, Girls and Boys Units and the Alleghen y Rest Home, are prepared in a central kitchen in Grand Lodge Hall and dis tributed by heat controlled tanks a nd trucks. More than 2700 meals ar e served daily. The fuel and power cos t is over $60,000 a year. Springs and artesian wells provide our water supply which is held in our reser voir with a capacity of 1,300,000 gallons. The Farm Department milks 110 cows daily, providing all the milk and cream fo r u se at the Homes; ch urns 20,000 pounds of butter yearly and makes all the ice cream. The dairy herd totals 220 head. They raise 10,000 chickens yearly, which produce 45,000 dozens eggs and 40,000 pounds of dressed poultry. This department also produces 23,960 bush els of vegetables and fruit and 27,415 quarts of cherries and berries . O f this am ount 20,977 gallons are canned and 7,880 gallons fr ozen. They also make 204 gallons of jelly. The Abattoir dressed 55 s teers, 68 sheep , 498 hogs, 19 cows and heifers, 56 veal calves and 3 bulls during the past year. Each year the Grand Master appeals to the Masons of this Comm onwealth for a fre e will contribution for the Guest Ch ris tmas and Entertainment Fund. The money the H omes receives from P ennsylvania Mason s all over the world, is s pent for magazin es, P ennsylvania n ewspapers, t wo weekly movies, orchestras, stage shows, con certs, picnics, h oliJay dances, bus trips, religious and chaplain ser vices, tobacco and •pipes, parties , music lessons and supplies, all Public School activities at Elizabethtown, class rings, sch ool dues, gradua· tion n ecessities, girls and boys playgr ounds and equipment, swimming pool, Red Cross ins tructio n (each chi ld is taught to swim) , ice and roller skating, piano, radio a nd television maintenan ce, watch repairs, Chris tian activities for all adult gu ests, girls and boys at the Homes and boys at the Thomas Ranken P atton Masonic Ins titution . Las t but n ot leas t, each Guest r eceives a monthly allowance of $5.00 and a $10.00 gift at Christmas time. This monthly allowa nce alone cos ts over $39,000 a year. The Christmas Season cost is over $20,000 and the full year of activities cos t is in excess of $25,000, all of which is paid from your magnanimous contributions through your Lodge. · The above is a th umb nail s ketch of Your Mason ic Homes. VISIT
THE HOMES AND SEE FOR YOURSELF- YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME. R ALPH M. LEHR, Grand Master
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