THE FIRST 100 YEARS
OF
SACRAMENTO LODGE No.40
BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION
Although several attempts were
made to collect data pertaining to the history of our Lodge and brief histories
were prepared for our fiftieth and seventy-fifth anniversaries, it was not
until brother Charles Madison Smith, Worshipful Master in 1928 and Secretary
from 1932 to September 1, 1950, brought the matter before Lodge at the stated
meeting of February 3, 1938 that a real effort was made to preserve our
valuable records and to collect such data as would complete their records for
future generations and to make the writing of the history of the Lodge
possible.
With due authorization from the
Lodge, Brother Smith worked assiduously, far beyond his call of duty, to
collect and preserve all material which would be historic interest and to that
end prepared two albums. One contains a
concise history of the formation of the Grand Lodge of Masons in California and
a brief history of the organization of Sacramento Lodge No. 40 up to the time
of the granting of its Charter. It also
contains reproductions of photographs of several meeting places, etc., the
original petitions or applications for affiliation accompanied by their dimits of the brethren who have served our Lodge as
Worshipful Masters and with few exceptions a photograph of each Past
Master. The second album contains a
collection of original papers from California Lodges Nos. 1 to 117 with only a
few missing, together with a record of their charters, etc.
Three years ago, foreseeing that
some kind of the history should be prepared for our centennial celebration, an
attempt was made to add to the information which had already been
assembled. Although our third minute
book is missing, a close study has been made of the available records and from
them have been selected many items which it is believed may be of interest to
the brethren. Note how differently the
business of the Lodge was conducted in early days from the way in which it is
now transacted. As many of the outstanding
events occur during the formative stage of an organization, it is to be
expected that with the passage of time, less interesting events occur, or it
may be possible that we are too close to them to appreciate their significance.
Much time and effort has been
expended in preparing the biographical sketches of our original petitioners and
we are pleased that some information has been found in connection with each of
them, although in some cases it is meager.
Photographs also have been obtained for more than half of them. In an effort to secure a complete sketch of
the Masonic history of the petitioners, many inquiries were made to Lodges and
Grand Lodges throughout the United States and they have been very
cooperative. In many instances however,
the desired information was not available.
It is believed that the list of
members which accompanies this history is complete with the date on which each
either became a Master Mason or affiliated with the Lodge. Also with few exceptions, the date of which
each membership ended is given. Some of
the names which appear in the list are not present in our By-Law book and it
was necessary to resort to other Lodge records for this information. Particular attention was given to be correct
spelling of the names.
In the preparation of the
history and the biographical sketches we wish to make grateful acknowledgments
to the California Section of the State Library, the Society of California
Pioneers, the California Historical Society, Brother Evon
L. Wilson, Past Master of Three Pillars Lodge No. 613 and historian for the
local Scottish Rite Bodies, Brother Ralph Shaw, member of the history committee
of Tehama Lodge No. 3, Brothers Harold Scholefield
and John J. Hakin, Past Masters of Washington Lodge
No. 20, Sara Rodgers Burnett of Alton, Illinois, Samuel Lilienthal
of San Francisco, Dorothy Firebaugh of Davis, California, author of the History
of the Sacramento Union now in preparation for publication, Sacramento Book
Collectors Club, publisher of The First History of Sacramento City, written
in and 1853 by John Frederick Morris, M.D., With a Historical Note of the Life
of Dr. Morris, by Caroline Wenzel, Dr. J. Roy Jones of Sacramento, author
of Memories, Men and Medicine, and to many Lodges and Grand Lodges
throughout the United States and Canada to which inquiries have been directed,
including our own Grand Lodge of Masons in California whose recent publication
100 Years of Free Masonry in California has been a great assistance, to our
own Brother Frederick Beckwith who edited the history of the Lodge and to our
Worshipful Master, Boyd Collier and our Secretary, Harry M. Baker, for their
assistance in corporation.
By the Committee on Research and
Publications
Walter B. Stoddard, Past Master,
Chairman
John N. Clark
Nathan Gartner, Past Master
Hilton F. Lusk, Past Master
Charles Madison Smith, Past
Master
Transcribed
by Sally Kaleta.
Proofread by Betty Vickroy.
© 2007 Sally Kaleta.