Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-01-09
THE ODD FELLOWS TEMPLE.
Imposing Dedication Ceremonies Last
Night.
Speeches Commemorative Of the Oc-
caSiOn.

| Ouu EeilONs u Ills city anu EdS6Lclus
The ceremonies, whichstOok place in the
| principal hall, large and splendidly fur
nished room Of the third story, were wit
messed by an immense gathering Of Odd
Fellows, their families and friends.
When the crowd had assembled
and got seats or standing room,
the members Of the Nashville En-
campment, in full dress, marched in and
down the aisle, hating and presenting
arms in front of the Masters stand. They
were followed by the Building Committee,
Board of Directors, and the Grand
Master Of the State, a. o. II. p. Sc
horn, of Murfreesboro, with officers
and heralds. The Grand Master as
cended the stand, and the chairs on
either side of him were occupied by j. L.
Weakley, Chairman of the Building Com
mittee and Board of Directors, and Grand
Herald G. B. Hall, Jas. I. Bell, j. H. Col
Inns, r. a. Campbell and p. BiIliod, her
aids Of the North, South, East and West,
took their respective places. J. l.. Weak
ley, 2. G. NJ, acted as master Of c5TemO-
mics and Hugh Carroll as Grand Chaplain.
Robt. Thompson made the responses.
An organ had been placed in the hall for
the occasion, and an excellent choir Of
male and female voices provided.
After a voluntary the members Of the
| Encanlpment were seated. The cere-
monies commenced with prayer and an
ode.
The chairman Of the Building Commit
tee then addressed the Grand Master, an
nouncing that the temple was completed,
and requesting its dedication for the pur-
poses Of Odd Fellowship.
THE GRAND MASTERS ADDRESS.
Grand Master-'.In the name and in be-
| half of the Independent Order of Odd Eel
| lows of the State of Tennessee, 1 accept for
/ dedication to the uses of Odd Fellowship
| this hall which has been constructed under
your supervision. To you and your assO-
| ciates the present must be an occasion
| especially gratifying. To-day YOU witness
| the contamination of that for which YOU
| have ardently toiled and hoped; to-day
you hail the completion of that
| for which you have ZealOusly and faithfully
| labOred, and to-day you behold the TecOg-
milton by your brethren from the North,
the South. the East and the West Of this,
the result Of your efforts, as a temple de-
voted to the service of those whose YOca-
ton IS to visit the sick, relieve the dis
tressed, bury the dead, educate the orphan
duties which neither interfere with nor
supersede the discharge Of any other, so
cial, moral or religious.
"Brethren, congratulate You upon the
completion Of this beautiful hall, which we
are about TO dedicate to those cardinal viz
tues which should adOrn and elevate hui
manity, and the names Of which we have
selected as the motto and watchwOrd Of our
beloved order. Beneath this roof you are
to encourage one another in the duties Of
benevolence and charity; before this altar
the good works Of friendship, love
and truth are ever 10 be pre-
scented as the only acceptable
sacrifices. From hence, as from a peren-
NAL fountain, are TO flow gentle streams Of
true friendship, to gladden. and make green
many waste places. In this quiet retreat
are to be cultivated those flowers that love
unfeigGed shall scatter on the rugged path
way Of life under many bleeding feet.
Here is to be sOwn the good seed Of truth
in many hearts, 10 spring up and yield its
hundred fold harvest. 1t is, therefore, not
so much this temble, made with hands that
should occupy our attention at present, rs
the great principles that are here to be dis
seminated. l hope and trust, brethren,
that our united Efforts, with those Of our
brethren throughout the g ODE, may lead to
temple, which shall be COnseCTated by the
approval of the Supreme Grand Master Of
the Universe, without the invocation Of
whose blessing no work should be under
taken"
The address was followed by prayer.
The Grand Master then declared the dedi-
cation and the Heralds proclaimed it.
The ceremonies were followed by
INPROSIPTU SPEECHES.
Mr.. Weakiey, Master Of Ceremonies, |
stated that be bad an address to deliver and, !
like all other speakers Of note, he had |
divided it under different heads. At the |
conclusion the audience would know how |
many heads it had. He introduced
DIR. HARWELL
Grand iSeCretary, as the representative Of |
the first head Of his speech.
DR.. Harwell said that the first building /
known as Odd Fellows Hall in Nashville, |
and occupied as such by the Ordsr. still /
stood on the southeast corner Of Cherry /
and Union streets, the second and third /
stories being now occupied by Poole, as a /
photograph gallery, including the identical |
room in which Tennessee Lodge No. /
l Of Odd Fellows was born. A few
years later the Lodges in existence in !
the city erected . building on the /
northwest corner Of Summer and Union
streets, now known as the skating TinB
and occupied il for some years. Ii was
built By private subscription, and the
Lodges interested met with some financial |
embaTassments, so that they were unable
to pay the debt created by its erection, and
it was consequently sold. Having their
home thus ruthlessly torn from them, they
moved into the building on the opposite
corner, the third story Of which they OccU-
pied for several years. 1t was here that the
Masonic Fraternity held their meetings
while their hall was being used for hos
pital purposes. Two years ago a move
ment was made for a change from the old
hall. corner of Union and Summer streets,
and it proved successful. The lodges
moved into a room in LUck's building, |
where they remained until Jan. I, 1873.
In January, 1867, the Legislature passed
an act Incorporating the Odd Fellows As !
Of Nashville. The object Of this
association was to provide means for the
erection Of building to be owned and oc-
cupied by Odd Fellows.
DR.. HaTwell then gave a minute desCrip-
ton of the building, giving full details
from It's incipiency 10 completion, and
closed his remarks as follows:
we hOulA II We NbillN MAKE our ell |
pie as beautiful as the teachings Of our |
noble Order, where men without distinc-
tion Of country or creed, might meet to adj
vance the principles Of Friendship, Love
and Truth. l cannot close this hastily !
prepared sketch without paying a tribute |
justly Won by the ladies Of Woodbine Re
bekah Degree Lodge, No. {. To their I'M
firing industry and effort, is due the
credit Of having raised the money that
purchased the elegant Brussels carpet that
our floor. Il is their carpet, and
am authorized by them to say that they
have enacted a new law, and like the laws
Of the Medes and Persians, Interchangeable,
to wit: Any Odd Fellow sOiling this carpet
with tobacco juice or muddy feet, shall be
put into the room with the goat and butted
into submission to their mandate
In selecting a representative for the
second head Of his speech the Master Of
called on
PAST GRAND MASTER CHIDSEY. {
Of Ohio, who said that he was not in a '
to make a speech even if be were
qualified to do so. He could not take his
seat, however, without graduating the
Order for having raised friends, both male {