The Republican journal., 1904-12-22
RUSSELL 6. DYER.
PAST GRAND MASTER AND GRAND
SECRETARY OF MAINE I. 0. o. F.
Portland Sunday Times.

Maine Odd Fellowship, The Times de-
sires to express its appreciation of the
valuable work which Grand Secretary
Russell G. Dyer has done There have
been 81 of these biographies and their
preparation has entailed vast amount
of painstaking labor, but Mr.. Dyer will
find his reward in having contributed
a work of inestimable value to Odd
Fellowship. When the time comes that
some one starts in to write history of
the order he will call blessed the name
of Dyer.
A familiar name appears at the be-
ginning, new one at the close of this
article. The writer of the preceding
sketches fatty refused to write this
(his OWN and so by invitation of The
Times l have attempted to furnish it.
The list of past grand masters would
seem strangely incomplete without the
name of the present grand secretary,
Names most prominent and best post
ed Odd Fellow upon it.
The publication of the sketches has
created quite an interest among Odd
Fellows. To preside over the interests
of the %, 900 members of the fraternity
in Maine has been an honor much
sought.
Fifty-seven men have held the Office
and it will be found when the sum OF
all these biographies are added up, that
they have not only shaped the destinies
of great fraternity, but have had
more than common influence in the or
binary affairs of life. Taken as class
they will be found to be specimen citi-
zenS worthy of attention and example.
The list is certainly distinguished
one The office has been filled by one
congressman, five senators, nine mem
oers of the legislature, two probate
Judges, two judges of the municipal
court, two county attorneys, one clerk
of courts, one government appraiser,
three mayors, five editors, two physi-
clans, fourteen lawyers and the re-
mainder engaged in various business
pursuits.
The 44th grand master and present
grand secretary, Russell Glover Dyer,
was born in what is now North Haven,
Maine, Nov. 10, 1S45. He is the son of
the late Capt Nathaniel and Lucy T.
Crabtree) Dyer. 1t will be found that
Mr. Dyer is of the strictest old Puritan
stock, his ancestry being easily traced
TO the DyerS George and William, who
came to the Massachusetts colony from
England in 1925.
His paternal great-grandfather, VIM.
Dyer. born in Marshfield, Mass. in
1879. came to Maine, settling on the
North Fox island, in Penobscot bay.
His lot of land embraced largely what
IS now known as the village OF North
Haven. In 1860 Mr.. Dyer's maternal
great-g grandfather, Capt. EleaZer Crab
tree, a native of New York, settled on
North Fox island, but was obliged to
leave owing to the hostilities of the
Indians, returning later The genealo-
gist will find Mr.. Dyer's pedigree an
interesting one, for his people, both
paternal and maternal, have resided at
North Haven for nearly $50 years.
Mr.. Dyer was educated in the COM
mon schools, supplemented by the
training that has made many man
master of his faculties,-a printing
office.
The son Of sea captain, whose
family for generations had made the
rugged coast of Maine their home, Mr.
Dyer naturally longed to follow the
sea. In the spring of 1863 an OppOrtu-
years of age he enlisted in the u S.
navy, serving until nearly the close of
the war. In the spring of 1867 an event
occurred which changed the whole
course of his life. He was shipwrecked,
lashed to a spar, and rescued after re-
manning in the water IA hours. He
was taken from the water unconscious,
all older brother in the meantime dying
from exposure. After this terrible
experience Mr. Dyer quilted the sea.
In the fall of 1866 with his parents
ne moved to Belfast, where he resided
lntll he came to Portland in 1896.
Mr.. Dyer is one of the best known
writers upon Odd Fellow topics in the
U ;. He is the author of history of
Odd Fellowship in the six New Eng
land States, i'll book entitled, The
Three Linked Fraternity. He was one
of the associate editors of the book.
He is also the author of chapter on
Rebekah Odd Fellowship in Maine, in
A book entitled, The First Half Cen
fury History of Rebekah Odd Fellow
snip, AS a writer upon historical sub
Jects Mr.. Dyer is splendidly equipped,
having great natural ability coupled
together with fund of patience, and
what is better still, the happy faculty
of dismissing work as done that comes
only through newspaper training.
In January, 1868, Mr.. Dyer entered
the office of The Republican Journal, a
newspaper at Belfast, where he re-
manned twenty-five years, being local
editor most of the time. At one time
he was part owner of the paper. In
she office of a weekly paper, unlike a
large daily, a person is required to
master all branches of the business. 1t
is said of Mr.. Dyer that he was able to
edit paper, take his copy to the COM
posing room, put it into type, make up
%ile forms of the paper, and then COM
plete the operation by running them
through the press. In politics he is
Republican. For two years he was
president of the Common Council of |
the Belfast city government, and for
Short time was register of probate for |
Waldo county to fill out the nnexpired
Term of deceased incumbent
As an Odd Fellow, Mr.. Dyer has the |
unique experience of being the central
figure in two of the most, perhaps the |
Two most, important and exciting SEES |
slons ever held by the Grand Lodge of
Maine. | refer to the Belfast Lodge
difficulty, well known to Odd Fellows, |
IN which Mr.. Dyer's position was not
only sustained by the Grand Lodge of |
Maine, but also by the Sovereign Grand |
Lodge of the United States. The other |
was the memorable session of 1900, held |
IN Bangor, in which A. A. Beaton of |
Rockland, attempted to wrest the grand