The daily gazette., 1878-01-30
The odd FeIIows' Hall
SOME EXTRACTS FROM ITS EARLY HI

The Odd Fellows Hall. Q,
SOME EXTRACTS FROM ITS EARLY HIS
IA sss3ssll TORY. iu ] lnN
At the recent annual meeting Of Odd
Fellows Hall Company, the Secretary
and Treasurer, Mr.. Henry Eckel, inelud-
ed in his report a history of the early or,
ganization Of the Company and the erec-
tion of the hall. The following are ex-
On the 10th day of February, 1847, the
General Assembly of the State of Della
ware pasaedanAct ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FellowsJ Hall Company ldividedinto 1000
shares of ten dollars each; and appointed
Edward McIntire, William HI. Pierce,
VIM. Parke Royce, Robert 8. Harris,
John A. Willard, William Campbell,
John Simims, Bernard Bradley, and
David Ball, as Commissioners, to receive
subscriptions to the stock, and take all
other necessary measures to organize the
On the oath day of January, 1848, fifty
three stockholders, representing 900
shares were present, and organized the
Company, by the election Of Col Jesse
Sharpe, as President; Edward McInall,
as Secretary: William Campbell, as Treas
urer, and William r. Sellers, Henry q.
Banning, William Morrow, James Ell
lott, j. Fleming Smith, Zenas B. Gla-
zier, William Thatcher, John HI. Std
ham, Delaplaine Mcdaniel, and Jacob
Barr, as Curators. No further business
was transacted at this meeting.
About this time considerable feeling
arose in regard to the location Of the
building, and the parties interested ap-
pear to have divided into two factions,
calling themselves respectively the vup
towners" and the "down towners"-the
former being advocates OF the purchase
of lot at the northwest corner of 7th
and Market streets, and the latter urg-
emily pressing the claims Of the,lot which
was finally chosen, and on which the
Hall now stands. Other locations were
leading objects of interest and discus
sion. lfT .......,,...- ,...... .,.... pee !,
At special meeting held on the l4th
day of February succeeding, aCoInmittee
consisting of Jesse Sharpe, Evan q. StOts-
enberg, Elisha Huxley, William R. Sci
lers, and Zenas b. Glazier, was appoint
ed to select q suitable site for the Hall,
and report at future meeting, to be, held
on Saturday the 18th day of February
At that time the meeting of the Compa-
ny was held, and the Committee reported
but their report does not appear upon
the minutes, and all we know from the
record, is, that "after hearing number
of propositions from the Committee, the
stockholders went into an election, TO Sc.
lect location for the Hall, by ballot,
and that the ballots We're, headed, sup
town" and "down town. the ballots be-
ing counted, stood, down town 512, and
up town, 72-giving a majority Of Az
| votes in favor of the "down town ticket
whereupon, "the President decided the
down town lot at the N. w. Corner OF
Third and King streets as the Location
for said Hall" .al.a4 0FJa.Y .sq
Following this decision, a resolution
offered by the President, sent the whole
business of the erection of the Hall tc
the President and Board OF Curators
An adjournment then took place, and
lexceptinga special meeting held on tllt
| 18th of May, following, at which no bus.
mess was transacted, the Company did
not again assemble until January oath,
1849, at which time the annual meeting
was held aet ll oa
l. EBEcTIoN OF THE HALL
Meanwhile, the erection of the Hal
l went slowly but steadily on. Excava
tions for the foundations commenced
early in the Spring of 1848, and on the
Goth day of June the corner stone was
| laid with the usual ceremonies and a fine
public display of the Order, in which the
then Grand Sire of the Grand Lodge OF
the United States-Horn Il. Kneass,- =
Prof. Patterson, of Philadelphia, and
other distinguished guests participated
| The progress. of the building was attend,
ed with kind wishes from our citizens
generally, many Of whom took decided
| Interest," in its erection; and for q time,
Odd-Feilowshfp and it's solemn, secret
mysteries were o popular theme of con.
versation with the people. This interest
was not a little intensi fed by the strange,
and to this day unexplained fact that,
during the excavation for the cellar,
parts of human skeleton were thrown
up with the dirt. The coincidence of
human bones and Odd-Fellowship in
such close connection, presenting itself
of the mystic circle a superstitioas promi-
nence in foretelling the dreadful conse-
quences of association with an Order
whose grips and secrets were death itself
and whose embleIns were human skeie-
tons. Timid wives trembling for the
safety of their husbands, lectured them
upon the dangers OF Secret societies, and
weak men became, fer u time, strong be-
Levers in the existence VI ghosts, },
|l. AT last the massive structure-the
largest public. hall in Wilmington-was
completed, and on the 28th day of May,
1S49, the ceremonies of dedication took
place. 1t was day of rejoicing pub
lie holiday, Thousands, Of people We're
upon the streets to witness the beautiful
display of the Order, with its glittering
regalia, its gorgeous banners, and soul
stirring music, as 1t defiled into Asbury
Church, to hear the admirable Grafton OF
the eloquent Ridgely. 1t was an occasion
to be remembered, and is yet alluded to
by persons who saw it, as being one OF
impressive granduer.
COST OF THE BUILDING.
The records and papers which have
been placed in the hands of the Treas
urer, give us no definite data whereby
we can arrive at any reliable information
concerning the actual cost of the erection
of the Hall. Everything connected with
the financial operations of the Company
was, in its earlier years, placed under the
almost exclusive control of the President
That officer would, from time to time,
make reports to the Board, and also to
the annual meeting of the stockholders,
verbally, which were approved and con-
firmed, but no details have been entered
upon the minutes, nor can any papers
or documents relative thereto be found
in the Treasurer's office.
OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY.
On the oath of the present month-Jan-
'uary-the Company will have reached