Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-06-10
the genealogy we will give in almost

the genealogy we will give in almost
his own words:
A charter was issued by Henry
Somerset duke of Beufort, grand mas
ter of England, constituting JosephI
Montfort provincial grand master Of
and for America, with full power to
constitute lodges. This was dated jan
uary IA, It'll, and under it the pro-
vincial grand lodge of North Carolina
was constituted.
These lodges met occasionally att
Newburn and Edenton. at which latter
place the records were deposited, but
were destroyed by the British army
during the revolutionary war. Prior
to this date St Johns grand lodge at
Boston, Mass, had in 1867 made cut a
dispensation authorizing Thos. Cooper
OF Pitt county lodge, N c., to act as
deputy grand master for that province
The first lodge constituted under this
warrant was at Grown Point. Some
lodges were also established under
warrant from the grand lodge of Scot
land. But from the best evidence at|
command, however, most OF the lodges
in the province were organized under
the English warrant Or charts. Of
Grand Master Seaufort, aforesaid.
On December 9, 1857, a convention
of majority of the several lodges in
existence in North Carolina was held
at Tarboro for the purpose of rcorgan
izing the granc lodge This was done
and grand officers elected.
The lodges constituting the grand
lnhpa TnnnngCnn ~ a
mostly chartered by the grand lodge
of North Carolina. st. Te,nnlany lodge
No. /, of the state, being organized
was in 1895. The grand lodge itself
was organized at Knoxville, December
81, 1873
The grand lodge of Missouri, OIL
whom the earliest subordinate lodges
derived their charter from Tennessee,
and whose first lodge being Missouri
lodge No. of ST. Louis. bears date of
1915, convened In st. Louis on Fehru-
airy %, 1881. and the grand lodge was
instituted April "a of the same year
The writer has had occa sion lately
to make close study of this line of de-
scent, ard of each step thereof, be-
cause of an altogether erroneous gen
ealogy which has bean read irto the
history By men claiming to speak with
authority. This would derive Iowa
from Pennsylvania. This study. re-
suits of which have been accepted by
the Masonic press Of England and
America proves again the accuracy
of our late grand secretary's conclu-
sions.
Masonry in Iowa.
In the library of the grand lodge of
Iowa there is preserved with Jealous
care document somewhat faded as to
paper, but carrying it's writing sharp
and clear. This is the first paper of
all the archives of Iowa Masonry. It
is the petition drawn up by eight mas
ter Masons, then at Burlington, pray
ing the grand lodge OF Missouri for a
dispensation to open a regular lodge
of Masons in the new territory. This
important document bears the date of
November 10, 1870 The petition re-
ceived prompt attention, and later in
the same month the required dispen-
sation was received and T. -Toines
lodge No. l was duly inst Il and
set to work. Thus was Masonry estab.
lished in Iowa. Within a few months
the second lodge was formed at Bloom
ington (now Muscatine). Dubuque was
third in. the list of pioneer lodges, with
Iowa City fourth. Besides these lodges,
all holding from Missouri, there were
two deriving authority from the grand
lodge of Illinois. These were Rising
Sun lodge at Montrose, Lee county,
and Eagle lodge at Keokuk These two
bodies had very peculiar history,
and one we'll worth the telling, but
altogether beyond the scope of this
sketch. They were then and have since
been known as Mormon" lodges and
were under domination of the eccen-
trio bodies of Nauvoo. They had but a
brief and inglorious career. Those who
may care to pursue this prase of the
, subject in Its details are referred to
articles by the present writer in the
May and June issues Of New Age, I'M
der title Masonry and Mormonism."
The four lodges chartered from Mis-
souri, sent delegates to Iowa City and
there took steps to form grand lodge
of Iowa.
Minutes Of First Meeting.
OF the first preliminary meeting
which led to the installation of the
grand lodge the following appears of
original record:
At meeting Of the delegates from
the four chartered lodges of A. F. &
A. M, in the territory of Iowa, work
ing under charters from the grand
lodge of Missouri, assembled in the
hall of Iowa City lodge No. 81 (3), in
Iowa City, Iowa Territory, in pursu-
ance of the recommendation of the
convention Of the representatives
from the lodges aforesaid held in the
hall of the grand lodge of Missouri at
it's annual communication In October,
1913; Brother Ansel Humphreys of
Iowa lodge No. 80, was elected presi-
dent; John H. McKenney of Des
Moines lodge No. Al. and George w.
Cummings of Dubuque lodge, No. SO,
were appointed secretaries.
The committee reported the follow
ing delegates: John H. Mckinney,
Wesley Jones, H. T. Higgins of Des
Moinss lodge No. Al; T. S. Parvin,
Ansel Humphreys, B. S. Odds of Iowa