MASONRY  IN  NORTH  DAKOTA

Chapter 19

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GRAND LODGE JUBILEE, 1939

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IN MOST OF OUR Grand Jurisdictions the greatest events cluster around the observance of anniversaries, and so it was in North Dakota when on June 19th, 20th and 21st, 1939, nearly 600 Master Masons and distinguished guests gathered from the United States and Canada to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Grand Lodge A.'. F.'. & A.'. M.'. of North Dakota in the Masonic Temple at Grand Forks.

            In charge of the general committee in Grand Forks were W.'. Brothers Wilfred R. Vanderhoef, chairman; Everest B. Fowler, W.'. M.'. of Acacia Lodge No. 4; and Harold S. Pond, District Deputy Grand Master of District No. 20. M.'. W.'. Walter L. Stockwell, Grand Secretary, planned and carried out the details of the exhibits, the programs and the entertainment, while M.'. W.'. Robert E. Trousdale, Grand Master, presided.

            The fiftieth annual communication of the Grand Lodge, except for size and enthusiasm, was little different from previous communications and we shall omit any lengthy portrayal of its proceedings. However, the Grand Lodge was recessed from noon June 20th until 2:30 p. m., when most of its time during the afternoon and evening was devoted to receiving and entertaining its distinguished guests. These guests were thirty-two in number and came from: the District of Columbia, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota. Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Manitoba, Ontario and the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction. The guests were presented by Past Grand Masters and distinguished North Dakota Masons, received by the Grand Master and seated in the Grand East.

            Responding for the American Grand Lodges, M.'. W.'. Joseph E. Perry, Grand Master of Massachusetts, brought the most cordial greetings from all of our Masonic Jurisdictions when he said: "I extend to you heartiest congratulations on your first half century and confident best wishes for all the future half centuries. Surely, too, the sincere and unanimous good will of two or three million selected men throughout the length and breadth of this Republic should be for you a heartening and an encouraging possession."

            M.'. W.'. William D. Lawrence, Grand Master of Manitoba, speaking for the Canadian Grand Lodges, said: "I have the great honor, today, on this your fiftieth anniversary, to present to the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, the compliments and good wishes of the nine Grand Lodges in the Dominion of Canada, to offer you their congratulations on the outstanding progress and attainments of half a century and to express their sincere hope for a continuance of the Masonic health, happiness and prosperity that has so far attended your way."

            Then followed the presentation of the three oldest living members of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota: W.'. Brothers Warren S. Willson of Sanborn, Junior Grand Deacon, and Louis B. Hanna of Page, Grand Tyler in 1889; also presented was W.'. Brother John W. Carroll, Charter Master of Chancellor Walworth Lodge of Steele, in 1885, and Grand Sword Bearer, Grand Lodge of Dakota. Brother Carroll saw action at Gettysburg with the Union Army, and was introduced by Brother Walter Lee Airheart, whose father "wore the gray" in Pickett's charge. The introduction was eloquent, indeed. Brother Carroll was past ninety-three years of age when he was presented.

            During the afternoon M.'. W.'. Joseph E. Perry, Grand Master of Massachusetts, without previous notice, requested that M.'. W.'. Walter L. Stockwell, Grand Secretary, and W.'. Brother William J. Hutcheson, Director of Masonic Service and Education, be presented, whereupon he proceeded to invest Brother Stockwell with the historic Henry Price Medal and Brother Hutcheson with the Joseph Warren Medal, which, he stated: "the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts presents to Master Masons who have made substantial contributions to the cause of Freemasonry, either in the way of Masonic Service or Masonic Education." Needless to say, these well deserved recognitions were deeply appreciated by the recipients.

            A musical interlude followed with a contralto solo by Mrs. Carol Miles Humpstone and a string ensemble led by Brother John E. Howard, both of the University of North Dakota Department of Music. Mrs. Howard accompanied both numbers.

            At this time Dr. Orin G. Libby, Grand Historian, and head of the University Department of History, presented a carefully prepared and concise History of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, which was well received and made a part of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge.

            After reading two poems which had been written for the occasion by W.'. Brother (Judge) Alexander G. Burr of Rugby, and R.'. W.'. Harrison 0. Pippin, Past Senior Grand Warden, later of Wyoming, the audience listened, spellbound, to a splendid address by M.'. W.'. Carl H. Claudy, Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association, Washington, D. C. It is to be regretted that this fine address was not preserved for the record.

            The Grand Lodge recessed at 4:30 p. m. on Tuesday to prepare for the Golden Jubilee dinner at 6:00 o'clock and the historical play at 8:30 p. m.

            Promptly at six o'clock nearly six hundred Master Masons filled the dining room of the temple to capacity, with the distinguished guests seated at one side of the long head table and their hosts, the grand officers and past grand masters, seated opposite them. Senior Past Grand Master Walter Lincoln Stockwell presided and Brother Edwin P. Robertson, Grand Chaplain of Royal Arch Masons, pronounced the invocation. Brother John E. Howard's orchestra rendered sweet music during the meal. Many of the tunes were familiar and the brethren sang as they ate. Fruit cocktail, prime North Dakota ribs of beef and Hood River strawberries constituted the menu except for "trimmins" and everyone was happy.

            After a brief welcome by Grand Master Trousdale and the presentation of the special guests, the address of the evening was delivered by W.'. Brother Frank L. Eversull, Past Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota and President of the State University of Agriculture and Applied Science at Fargo. It was a splendid address, but like so many of that day, was neither written nor recorded and could not be preserved. Following the singing of "America" and "God Save the King" the audience adjourned.

            The final item of entertainment was in the form of an historical play or pageant, which was presented on the stage of the new Central High School auditorium nearby, which has a capacity of 1,500 and was well filled with distinguished guests, North Dakota Masons and their friends.

            Episode I of the pageant dealt with the purchase in 1803 of Louisiana from France by President Thomas Jefferson and the organization and completion of the Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Coast in 1804-5-6. Meriweather Lewis, a Master Mason, and William Clark, who later joined Lewis' lodge, No. 1ll in St. Louis, were the first Masons to set foot in present North Dakota and spent the winter of 1804-5, in camp on the north bank of the Missouri River west of Washburn. This story was interestingly written by Grand Historian Orin G. Libby of Grand Forks and was well acted by a dozen members of Acacia Lodge No. 4.

            Episode No. II dealt with the organization and operation in 1863-64 of Northern Light Lodge U.’. D.'. by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota at old Fort Pembina on the Manitoba border under the leadership of Major Charles W. Nash as worshipful master. The lodge closed in the spring of 1864 with the removal of the garrison from Fort Pembina and the dispensation for the lodge was transferred to Fort Garry (Winnipeg), where it later received a charter which was never delivered. This interesting story was written by one of North Dakota's greatest friends, M.'. W.'. William Douglas, Past Grand Master and present Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. Nine members of Acacia Lodge No. 4 acted in this play.

            Episode No. III had to do with the division of the Grand Lodge of Dakota into the Grand Lodges of North and South Dakota, at Mitchell, South Dakota, June 12 and 13, 1889. These stories are told at length elsewhere in this history and will not be repeated here. Nine members of Acacia Lodge No. 4 also acted here. Suffice it to say that this episode was written by M.'. W.'. William Douglas and so great was his interest in the pageant that he made a special trip to Grand Forks to attend a rehearsal and to assist in the production. Needless to say, the pageant was eminently successful.

            Pages could be written on the splendid Masonic exhibits which adorned the walls and filled show cases in every available "nook and cranny" of both the blue and the red lodge rooms of the Masonic temple at Grand Forks. Expert talent was engaged and actually thousands of Masonic items from the Grand Lodge and the constituent lodges, were tastefully arranged for all to see. That these exhibits were much appreciated and patronized is evidenced by the fact that from early morning until late at night interested Masons and their families passed in review before them and expressed their wonder and delight.

            As is usually the case after so great a celebration, "we fold our tents like the Arabs and as silently steal away." So Wednesday, June 21st, 1939, came and went. The Jubilee was over and our guests were preparing to leave. The business of the Grand Lodge was completed and it remained only to install the new Grand Officers for 1939-40 and to return to our homes. M.'. W.'. Harry W. Gill of Pembina had been elected Grand Master and it remained for him to perform an unexpected and appreciated favor. He appointed the writer Grand Tyler of his Grand Lodge. Most truly, for one, the Golden Jubilee had been a time of great rejoicing.