St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-01-22
officers were


Secretary, Jerry Dickerman.
Senior deacon, Leonard Woods.
Junior deacon, A. Crossman.
Tyler, John Arlington Emo.
The very last item in the records
of Harmony lodge-and the records
end abruptly-show that Erastus
Fairbanks was chosen a representa-
tive to the Grand lodge, Sept. 81,
1881, but it Ia evident that he did
not attend the Grand lodge meet
J ing, for in their record there is no
mention made of Harmony lodge, sc
that Harmony lodge must have gone
to sleep the month previous to the
Grand lodge meeting and not awak-
ened until a few of its former mem
bers assisted in bringing Passump-
sic lodge to life, under a dispense
ton in 1852.
Past Masters
The following, as near as can be
learned, are the past masters of
Harmony lodge: Thomas Tolman1
William Mattocks, N Edison, Israel
p. Dana, Nathaniel Hazeltine, John
Barney, Jude Kimball, Calvin Jew
EFT, Jerry Dickerman, John Barker.
Elisha Cleveland, L. X. Pangborn,
Lowell Moore, Ira Arlington, Riley
Woods.
Nearby Lodges
In May, 1918, Harmony lodge re-
ceived a request from sundry inhab-
itants in Waterford and Littleton
to obtain their appreciation to form
masonic lodge in Waterford. 1t
appears that Morning Dawn lodge
was formed and held meetings I'M
| til about the first of the year, 1881.
In May, 1924, petitions from inhab-
itants of both Lyndon and Peacham
for appreciation for lodges in those
/ towns were sent in and favorabfy
voted upon. At the session of the
| Grand lodge this same year, both
these towns were given charters
for lodges, Lyndon having Unity
| lodge, and Peacham, Ancient Land
Mark. Both these lodges surrender
ed their charters about 1880. Tho
forming Of the lodge at Lyndon was
the outcome of an attempt to move
Harmony lodge there, Sept. 5, 1923
but the motion was voted down.
Meeting Places
The first known meeting place
for Harmony lodge, when it moved
from Danville here, was at the Abel
Butler farm, half way to the Center
Village on the west side of the riv-
er. Lodge meetings were held here
until January 1, 1881, when the
place of meeting was changed to
John Barney's tavern, which then
stood on the present site of ~the
| ST. Johnsbury House. The lodge
meetings were held in the second
story of the ell of the tavern, which
part of the present hotel was des-
troyed in the livery stable fire a
number of years ago. Abel M. Rice
purchased the hotel from Barney,
and Harmony lodge still continued
to use the hall untiu the lodge
rooms were moved to the Hezekiah
Martin Hall, which was in a large
brick building which stood on the
present site of the D. D. Patterson
residence on Main street. This hall
was occupied from Sept. 8, 1929,
until the lodge went out of existence
| The hall at the Butler farm is still
in existence though divided by par
titions. The Hezekiah Martin House
was burned about 1868.
Passumpsic Lodge No. ~
On June IL, 1852, Grand Master
| Philip G. Tucker of the Grand lodge
| of Vermont granted dispensation
| to a small number OF brethren OF
| st. Johnsbury to form a masonic
lodge and make masons. At the
next session of the grand lodge in
January, 1853, the committee on
dispensations and charters reported
that they had examined the records,
bylaws, etc., of this lodge, and find
ing them correct, recommended that
charter be granted and the lodge
be known as Passumpsic Lodge No.
81. The report was accepted and
| adopted by the grand lodge on Jan
IL, but the charter was not made
out until the following day These
were the original charter members
of Passumpsic lodge:
Calvin Jewett, Francis Bingham.
Joseph Boles, Everett H. Kilbourn,
Franklin Fairbanks, Joseph Hazel
ton, p. ID. Blodgett and Horace
Evans. Before the first installation
the following were admitted as ad-
ditional charter members: John Ar
mington, G. P. Baker, H. A. Chad
bourne, William A. Chaplin, Asa P.
Blunt, e. B. FairchiId, Henry
French, Hiram Knapp, Arnold Lind
say, J. j. Lamb, Danforth Wiley
and James T. Palmer.
The First Election
The first election of officers oc-
CURED soon after receiving the
charter, and these officers were
elected:
Master, Calvin Jewett.
Senior warden, Francis Bingham.
Junior warden, Joseph Boles.
Treasurer, e. H. Kilbourne.
sSecretarv franklin Fairbanks
Senior deacon, Joseph Hazelton.
Junior deacon, P. ID. Blodgett.
Tyler, ]. ]. Lamb.
Many of these officers and mem
bers were prominently identified
with Harmony lodge No. 4 before
it went out of existence more than
20 years before, so that they were
well qualified to carry on the lodge
work. Passumpsic lodge was a
success from the start, for during
the seven months from the granting