MASONRY  IN  NORTH  DAKOTA

Chapter 17

WALTER LINCOLN STOCKWELL

1868—1950

THE FORMS AND CEREMONIES of our Order are, indeed, beautiful, yet if they fail to lay hold upon the fundamentals of life, they are as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. My plea is for a fuller translation into daily life of those sublime precepts, the living of which would transform this world into one in which the song of 'Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men,' that song which woke the slumber of the Holy Night in far off Palestine, has become a perfect paean in which all men of all nations have joined.

            "How shall this be brought to pass? Brotherly Love must find expression in, first, Charity, Righteousness and Justice; second, in Free Government, Peace among Men and Social Service. These are Trinities which should be emblazoned over the door of every Masonic Lodge throughout the world, and which must actuate the true Mason of today."

             These words constituted the theme of the address given by M.'. W.'. Walter Lincoln Stockwell at the dedication of the new Masonic Temple of Crescent Lodge No. 11 at Grafton, December 27, 1912, and are so symbolic of the life he lived and the character he bore that there was never any doubt as to the basic principles and beliefs which ruled each day for him.

            Surely, he was Mr. Master Mason of North Dakota and there will never be another like him. Most fittingly, M.'. W.'. Harlow L. Walster, Past Grand Master, has said of him: "It was a fortunate circumstance for the people of North Dakota when Walter Lincoln Stockwell, in the summer of 1889, decided to cast his lot among them. His coming to St. Thomas preceded North Dakota's admission to the Union by less than three months. For more than sixty years, he was to serve in various capacities and to reach a position of influence in North Dakota equalled by few, if any, of its citizens.

            "His work in the field of education, his long career in Freemasonry, which carried him far from the boundaries of his own jurisdiction, his experience in the business world and his service to community and church are well known to all. His voice was heard in behalf of many a worthy cause and, during his sixty years of active participation in public life, he was found on the right side of every moral issue which came to his attention.

            "But there was an inner spirit in the life of Walter Stock-well which cannot be so easily appraised. One's most intimate friends can scarcely analyze the life within the soul. But it is not without significance that his last words in public address, before St. Felix Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine, on the Saturday evening preceding his death, constituted an admonition to 'lift high the Cross of Christ.' On the morning of his death, the open Bible was found beside his reading chair. His utterances on many occasions were a fitting testimony of his faith in the deeper things of life. To him the letter "G" in the Masonic meeting place was meaningful for all of life, and the ideal of brotherhood was more than a passing shibboleth. He held to deep and abiding convictions which arose from the hidden sources of his faith and from a communion with the Invisible. His untiring devotion to his helpmate, a total invalid for several years prior to her death, bespoke a tenderness of which he was not always suspected in public life, where he crossed forensic swords with earnest and capable adversaries. His optimism was born of a hope which was anchored within the vale."

            Walter Lincoln Stockwell was born at Anoka, Minnesota, January 12, 1868, and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1889, with the degree of Bachelor of Science.

            He came to North Dakota soon after graduation and began his teaching career at St. Thomas that fall, going to Grafton in 1891 as Superintendent of Schools, which position he held for twelve years.

            June 27, 1894, he married Helen Huntington Tombs of Grafton and they were blessed with two children, Walter Lincoln Stockwell, Jr., and Helen Frances Stockwell. Helen died in 1905 and Walter, Jr., was killed in a tragic accident in 1934. Mrs. Stockwell passed away August 1, 1950.

            In 1902 he was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction for North Dakota, and moved to Bismarck where he and Mrs. Stockwell lived until April 1910. A volume could be written about his tremendous contribution to education in North Dakota while holding this position. He then came to Fargo to assume the office of Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, made vacant by the death of M.'. W.'. Frank Jared Thompson, which office M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell held until the time of his passing December 4, 1950. In 1943 he received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of North Dakota.

            Brother Stockwell was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Temple Lodge No. 30 at St. Thomas, March 11, 1891, and was elected to a life membership May 4, 1949. He became a member of Crescent Lodge No. 11 at Grafton, January 20, 1892, and was elected a life member, February 17, 1932. He was a charter member and the first worshipful master of East Gate Lodge No. 120, which was chartered at Fargo June 16, 1920, and was elected to life membership in this lodge January 12, 1938. He also became a member of the York and Scottish Rite Bodies, the Shrine and Eastern Star in Fargo.

            M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell held so many Masonic offices and was honored by his brethren so many times that it is impossible to list them all. Besides holding the office of Grand Secretary from 1910-1950, he served as Grand Master of Masons in North Dakota in 1902-03; he was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons in 1923; Grand Master of the Grand Council, Eoyal and Select Masters in 1921; and Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar in 1933-34. In the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, he was Grand Patron in 1920-21.

            He also served as General Grand Master of the General Grand Council, Royal and Select Masters of the United States from 1930-1933. He had been president of the Masonic Relief Association of the United States and Canada; chairman of the Jurisprudence Committee, chairman of the Educational Committee and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. He was one of the organizers of the Masonic Service Association of the United States and for several years was one of its Executive Commissioners. He had served for many years as a director of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association and was a regional director of the association at the time of his passing. He was also a member of the Allied Masonic Degrees.

            M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell was secretary-treasurer of the Mutual-Guild of the United States, an organization of Grand Secretaries and Grand Recorders of the York Rite Bodies. He was invested with the rank of Knight Commander of the Court of Honor of the Scottish Rite in 1931 and elected to the Honorary Thirty-third degree in 1935. He was also a member of the Royal Order of Scotland. He was a charter member of St. Felix Conclave, Red Cross of Constantine, a York Rite Order, at Fargo in 1922 and served as Intendant General from 1940-1950. It was at the annual conclave of this order that he spoke for the last time, December 2, 1950. At the fiftieth anniversary observance of the Grand Lodge at Grand Forks in 1939, he was presented with the Henry Price medal for distinguished service by M.'. W.'. Joseph Earl Perry, Grand Master of Massachusetts.

            One of the highlights of his Masonic career came to M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell in October, November and December 1936, when he and Mrs. Stockwell were privileged to travel in Europe, England and Scotland, and there to attend a number of lodges and Masonic functions. When the Grand Lodge of North Dakota met in 1935, it celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of M.'. W.'. Brother StockwelPs tenure in the office of Grand Secretary and, as a token of appreciation, presented him a purse of $700.00 to help make possible the trip, which climaxed the bi-centennial of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and the installation of the Duke of York—later King George VI of England—as Grand Master Mason of Scotland.

            Needless to say, the trip was a most pleasant and profitable one. The Stockwells were hailed as friends and distinguished guests wherever they went. M.'. W.'. Brother Stock-well visited with Masons and studied Masonry in France, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia and visted several lodges in Prague. He attended lodge in Freemason's Hall, Great Queen's Street, in London, and visited Stockwell Lodge No. 1339 nearby, in a village of the same name. He was in attendance, as the head of the delegation from the United States, at the bi-centennial of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in Edinburgh on November 30, 1936, and the four following days. The crowning event of this observance came on the first day with the installation of the Duke of York as the Grand Master Mason of Scotland.

            M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell wrote a full account of the entire trip in the Grand Lodge Bulletins for December 1936 and March 1937.

            In the community M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell was a leader in civic upbuilding. He was a devoted member of the First Presbyterian Church of Fargo and gave generously of his time and means to his church and its work. He was one of the founders and for many years the president of the North Dakota School of Religion, a non-denominational school operating in connection with the North Dakota State University at Fargo. He was one of the promoters of the Grafton Public Library and was president of the Fargo Library Board for years. He was also Grand Librarian of the Masonic Grand Lodge Library from 1910-1950. Over the same expanse of time he originated, wrote and edited the Masonic Grand Lodge Bulletin, a quarterly publication of from twenty-four to thirty-two pages, devoted to the interests of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, the Grand Lodge Library and Masonic Service and Education. In over fifty years this little magazine has never missed an issue and has been accepted with favor throughout the Masonic world.

            During World War I he was chairman of the personnel committee and a director of the Y.M.C.A. and of United War Work financial drives. In the depression days of the "thirties," he performed an outstanding service to North Dakota by serving on the State Welfare Board. He assisted in the organization of the Fargo Commons Club, a discussion group of town and university leaders, and as an ardent Rotarian, he served as president and as district governor of the Ninth District.

            In 1911 M.'. W.'. Brother and Mrs. Stockwell, with other associates, established the Northern School Supply Company at Fargo, a corporation which dealt in school supplies of every kind and nature, from school desks and equipment to pens and pencils. Its growth under his presidency was phenomenal and, its branches spread to Great Falls, Spokane, Seattle and Portland. Today it operates in Fargo and Great Falls and has become one of the leading school supply houses in the midwest.

            So he lived and so he died; busy to the last minute, but also ready when the call came in his sleep early Monday morning, December 4, 1950. He had attended St. Felix Conclave on Saturday evening when he spoke, as has been told. He attended church on Sunday morning and spent the rest of the day at home, reading and resting. His open Bible lay on his reading table when he went to sleep—a sleep from which he awakened in another land. His beloved partner had gone on ahead August 1, 1950, and he had only gone to be with her.

            The final rites were held in the First Presbyterian Church, Thursday, December 7th at two o'clock, in charge of his pastor, Dr. Ward F. Boyd, assisted by Dr. Leslie R. Burgum, Grand Chaplain and Grand Prelate of the Grand Commandery of North Dakota. The large church was filled to capacity by friends and fellow Masons who had come from far and near to pay their last full measure of devotion to one who had meant so much to them. Masonic burial services were conducted at the mausoleum in Riverside Cemetery by M.'. W.'. Walter H. Murfin, Past Grand Master, and all that was mortal of M.'. W.'. Walter Lincoln Stockwell was laid away in the crypt beside his beloved Helen.

            The Stockwell estate was probated in Fargo and revealed & residue, after expenses and special gifts, of $120,000.00. Typical of M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell this was divided equally between his four greatest interests in life: the First Presbyterian Church of Fargo, the North Dakota School of Religion, the Fargo Public Library, and the Masonic Grand Lodge Library. The $30,000.00 to the Grand Lodge Library was used to pay for the remodeling of the library in 1949-50, when the library was moved to the ground floor of Grand Lodge headquarters and steel stacks were installed under his supervision.

            At the annual communication of Grand Lodge in June 1951 a Lodge of Sorrow was held for him and later a bronze plaque was placed outside the stackroom door with this inscription:

IN MEMORY OF

WALTER LINCOLN STOCKWELL

THROUGH WHOSE FORESIGHT AND GENEROSITY

DURING FORTY YEARS AS GRAND SECRETARY AND

GRAND LIBRARIAN OF THIS GRAND LODGE

THIS MONUMENT TO THE LEARNING AND CULTURE

OF HIS FELLOWMEN WAS MADE POSSIBLE.

 AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN,

AND IN THE MORNING, WE SHALL, REMEMBER HIM.

            Tributes of affection and appreciation came from all over America at the time of the passing of M.'. W.'. Brother Stock-well. Among them came messages from Dr. John C. West, of Grand Forks, President of the University of North Dakota; from Melvin M. Johnson, of Boston, Mass., Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction; from Hubert M. Poteat of Wake Forest, N. C., Imperial Potentate of the Shrine; and from Carl H. Claudy of Washington, D. C., Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association of the United States. These are but examples of hundreds of others who spoke in commendation of his life and character.

            And finally we quote from lines written by M.'. W.'. Rilie R. Morgan of Grafton, Past Grand Master and a friend of many1 years. These words appeared in Brother Morgan's newspaper, the Walsh County Record, December 7, 1950, and the Grand Lodge Bulletin for December 1950.

            "When death came to Walter Lincoln Stockwell in his sleep Monday morning at his home in Fargo, North Dakota lost one of its all-time great men and thousands of citizens lost a tried, true and trusted friend. The impress which his intellect and personality left upon this state and its institutions will endure long after this generation is gone and forgotten.

            "Walter Stockwell gave his life and his great ability to North Dakota and its institutions with an enthusiasm and unselfish devotion possessed by few men. From the earliest days of statehood—he came here the year North Dakota was admitted to the union—to the very moment of his death he was identified with every cause which had for its purpose the making of a better state and a better life for its people.

            "Despite the fact that he was a man of many affairs on whom heavy demands were made, Walter Stockwell still had the time and inclination to be human. To him a friendship was a very dear thing to be treasured more than gold or worldly goods. To him a man's character was more important than the number of acres he owned or the size of his bank account. Before him the humblest citizen and the leader of the nation stood on equal footings. He asked only that they1 be men of honor and character.

            "There were in North Dakota thousands of men and women who knew and appreciated his sincere and consuming interest in their personal welfare and happiness. We were one of them. Misfortune or tragedy in the lives of his friends brought sorrow to him; success and happiness on their part was shared by him.

            "North Dakota today stands at the bier of a great man and a great leader to offer her love and affection to one who gave so much, so freely, to his adopted state."