I think it appropriate to point out that even in the most troubled times, perhaps especially so, that we remember what Masonry represents and why we proud to be a part of it. Charity, brotherhood, self improvement and moral behavior, in the eyes of the Grand Architect of the Universe are among our most sacred mandates. Although we are unable to meet at lodge in traditional fashion to practice our craft, we are still able to carry on the spirit of Masonry by helping someone less fortunate and in need.
As I write this article, it is snowing and Center Moriches is in a state of emergency. I think i will go help shovel some snow for my elderly neighbor and see if any of my older clients need a hand. I encourage you all to keep your heads up and make the most of the moment by carrying on the work we have all endeavored to do. Covid 19 will be a distant memory soon enough. It is much easier to be a good person when times are good, A man is better defined in the tough times, when the chips are down as you really get a glimpse into their true character.
Rise to the challenge my Brothers!
Bro. Jeff Lanzet
Jr. Warden
Potunk Lodge #1071
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Many of you have been getting updates from the web, Facebook etc. on the state of the pandemic and the restrictions we are currently under. You can go on over to suffolkmasons.com and the latest video message from MW Sardone is on the home page.
By the way I am of the belief that the image in this post is more and more a reality in this era than ever before.
There are only effectively 5 months left of my time in the east and although it has been challenging to try and gather and meet as Brothers we have done OK. It seems that time truly does fly.
What we will be focusing on the next few months, restrictions or not, will be to train and educate our up and coming officers and ritual and Lodge management. I would ask that all elected and appointed officers please do your very best to attend in person meetings Feb-June 2021 so we can assure you are prepared to lead the lodge into the months and years to come.
Of course we will continue to follow all directives and edicts as good and true Brothers but although “Masonry never stops” is the current mantra, “slowing to a crawl” is not what I had envisioned at all. There are still lodges doing things here and there and some charitable giving etc. but time is that we need the Brotherhood and companionship face to face (albeit with covered faces) more then ever.
So I will say if you are feeling healthy and would like to attend please join us over the coming weeks and months as we begin our work anew to prepare our Jr officers for Mastership.
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No current furnishing, artifact, or memorabilia has been discussed in Jephtha Lodge more than the mysterious African water buffalo head mounted on a second-floor wall. Some of the wild conspiracy theories include the long-held legacy than the mighty beast was hunted and killed by nearby resident and Brother Theodore Roosevelt and personally delivered to the Huntington lodge by the former President.
As our late Brother coined over one hundred years ago, “Bully!”
The Expeditions of Theodore Roosevelt
Our mystery commences in February 1915, when Theodore Roosevelt delivered a lecture entitled “My Masonic Experiences in South America and Africa” to his local masonic brothers residing near his home in Cove Neck. An invitation went out to the members of his own Matinecock No. 806 and their parent lodge, Jephtha No. 494 in Huntington. It is estimated over 30 Jephtha brothers from Huntington trekked over to Roosevelt’s home in Sagamore Hill, including one of his second degree examiners, R:.W:. Douglass Conklin for this exclusive gathering. While in Africa, Roosevelt did find time to visit a masonic lodge in Nairobi, in the British colony of Kenya, but the focus was clearly on his hunting exploits.
Roosevelt’s first expedition started just 19 days after the conclusion of his final term as President. Organized by the Smithsonian Institute to collect specimens for their new Natural History Museum, the small group was led by legendary hunter-tracker R. J. Cunninghame and set sail for East Africa on March 23, 1909. By the end of the trip over 10 months later, the team killed or trapped approximately 11,397 specimens, including 512 by Roosevelt and his son Kermit. Roosevelt kept a detailed diary of his adventures and later published the exact list of his kills in the book “African Game Trails.” The variety of big game personally hunted by the former president was extraordinary, including lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, elephant, white rhino, the now exceedingly rare black rhino and ten buffalos-six by the former president and four by his son Kermit.
Roosevelt stated in his book, “Kermit and I kept about a dozen trophies for ourselves; otherwise, we shot nothing that was not used either as a museum specimen or for meat…the mere size of the bag indicates little as to a man’s prowess as a hunter, and almost nothing as to the interest or value of his achievement.” If Roosevelt’s claim that the family only kept one dozen for themselves is accurate, a tour through the Sagamore Hill home would count for most if not all these specimens.
Roosevelt later led a scientific survey expedition in South America between December 1913 to April 1914 to follow the path of the Rio da Dúvida in the Amazon basin. The problematic tour including many members coming down with malaria, poorly supplied food leading to starvation diets, one person drowning, one person murdered, and his accused killer left behind in the jungle to perish. Roosevelt himself was near death after having received a gash in his leg that later became infected. Roosevelt returned to New York greatly weakened and never fully recovering, dying at his Cove Neck home less than five years later. There is no record of Roosevelt hunting for buffalo in South America.
Roosevelt started giving lectures in May 1914 in part to silence the critics doubting he discovered the river and made the exhibition. These series of lectures included his invitation-only event to Oyster Bay and Huntington Freemasons in February 1915. Unfortunately, there are no known records of the lodge receiving a prized water buffalo head from Roosevelt.
A Forgotten Sale from a Coroner
But Roosevelt was not the only big game hunter to cross paths with Jephtha Lodge. On February 15, 1937, Jephtha Lodge took possession of nine taxidermied animal parts from Dr. William B. Gibson in exchange for one dollar of American currency. The list of stuffed animal parts included two large, mounted moose heads; two mounted deer heads; two mounted caribou heads; two mounted deer hoofs and one moose horn. The bill of sale was accepted by W:. Allison E. Lowndes, Past Master (1922) and longtime Trustee of Jephtha and filed in the archives by W:. Herman Chris Lorck, Secretary (1935-1944) and Past Master of Jephtha (1932).
There is no known connection between Dr. Gibson and Jephtha Lodge. He was not raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason, nor is there any record of a petition. There is also no recorded proof that Gibson hunted the mammals or if he acquired the pieces from an intermediary.
William B. Gibson (1855-1941) was born in Clarenceville, Quebec, Canada to Dr. John B. (b. Scotland) and Lucy S. Baker Gibson. In 1878, he obtained his medical degree from McGill Medical College (now McGill University) in Quebec. Gibson practiced medicine in London for one year, before returning to Dunham, Quebec. Between 1878-1885, he was an Assistant Surgeon of the 60th Canadian Regiment, obtaining the rank of Major in a commission signed by Queen Victoria. Appointed to the Medical Department at the University of Vermont in 1885, Gibson lectured on materia medica and obstetrics until 1889.
Gibson moved to Huntington, New York in 1891, living on 153 Main Street (1900 -1920) and 71 New Street (1930-41). Elected President of the Queens and Nassau Counties Medical Society and Associated Physicians of Long Island in 1901, Gibson was the Suffolk County Coroner for several decades. In 1880 he married Amelia Caroline Moore, and they had two sons, Gordon, and Frederick.
The big game trophies from the collection of Dr. Gibson have long vanished from the rooms of Jephtha Lodge. Although water buffalo is not listed as part of Gibson’s former collection, there is no evidence that his items were acquired in the African continent.
In Search of Additional Evidence
We can determine that the mounted head on the second floor is a water buffalo based on its horns growing slightly downward and backward, then curve upward in a spiral. More common in Asia, water or river buffalo, can be found in Egypt. But Roosevelt’s safari was in the sub-Saharan part of Africa, miles away from the northeast corner of Egypt and based on photographic evidence, Roosevelt only hunted cape buffalo.
The water buffalo was introduced in the Amazon river basin in 1895, which was part of Roosevelt’s 1913-14 exhibition. Because of the challenging South American survey trip, including almost facing death, it is not believed Roosevelt did any hunting in the continent during his three months stay.
The origin story of the old water buffalo staring out to curious onlookers with its glass eyes in the small second floor room will remain a mystery for the time being. It does not stop brothers from spinning tales to unsuspecting visitors that Jephtha Lodge’s connection to Long Island’s most famous freemason is more than a proficiency examiner and personal lecturer. The framed picture of the former president with one of his African prizes still hangs adjacent to the mounted head, with a black and blue masonic baseball cap on one of its horns. The evidence is not clear, but Jephtha lodge members can carry the infamous legacy forward as a distinct possibility if not a certainty, the TR Buffalo can retain its moniker.
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I am sure all Brother’s are aware that Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of this country, a great inventor and a Master Mason. Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was also an accomplished author, and musician (harp, violin, and guitar.) Franklin also founded many civic organizations including The University of Pennsylvania.
How did Benjamin Franklin find the time to accomplish so much in such a short time. Was he a genius? Did he have some sort of photographic memory or other extra sensory perception that we all lack? I would wager this is not the case. That is not to say that Benjamin Franklin was not brilliant or extraordinary, as we all know he was. It was more about the approach.
The key to Benjamin Franklin’s success was creating a list of values to live by (He often referred to them as the 13 Virtues) which include many that are very familiar to the Masonic Community including:
1)Temperance-Eat not to dullness and drink not to elevation.
2)Silence-Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.
3)Order-Let all your things have their place.
4)Resolution-Resolve to perform what you ought, perform without fail what you resolve.
5)Frugality-Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself (waste nothing).
6)Industry-Lose no time. Cut off all unnecessary actions.
7)Sincerity-Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly; and if you speak, speak accordingly.
8)Justice-Wrong none, by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9)Moderation-Avoid extremes. Forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10)Cleanliness- Tolerate no uncleanliness in body cloths or habitation.
11)Chasity-Rarely use venery but for health or offspring. Never to dullness, weakness or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
12)Tranquility-Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
13)Humility-Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Franklin would not try to improve all of these virtues at once, but rather one at a time. He would move on to the next after he had mastered the prior virtue. He would keep a diary of each virtue and put a mark next to each at the end of the day if he committed a fault. This would enable him to build a daily routine that centered around self -improvement and helping others.
In reading excerpts of Franklin’s daily schedules from his autobiography there are 10 important productivity lessons that become apparent:
1.Keep it simple- no overwhelming to do lists but rather razor focus on the essential and highly effective.
2.Go to bed and wake up the same time each day-“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealth and wise. This was on of Franklin’s most popular mantras.
3.Spend quiet time alone in prayer or meditation. This helped to give him the clarity and focus to plan the day and follow through.
4.Set your intention or plan for the day-Each morning before work Franklin would ask himself “What good shall I do this day?” This helps to ensure you stay focused on the most important tasks and not get caught up in all the small stuff.
5.Dedicate time for learning. Franklin would spend time reading books and papers. This time could be used for learning a language or playing a musical instrument.
6.Create time blocks for deep and shallow work. Franklin allocated 2 four hour time blocks from 8 am till 12 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm for deep work and uninterrupted focus on his most important tasks. Franklin also allocated a 2 hour time block from 12 pm to 2 pm for lunch and shallow work (ie. reviewing his finances)
7.Put things back in order after work. Clean up workspace and put everything back in order before ending the workday.
8.Schedule downtime. After work Franklin would eat dinner spend time relaxing, playing music or visiting with friends. This allowed Franklin to re-energize the brain and body for the challenges of the next day.
9.Reflect on your day in the evenings. What good have I done today? Franklin would note good and bad parts of his day and would look to change and improve his daily schedule for better productivity.
10.Don’t aim for perfection. What matters most is improvement not perfectionism. Celebrate your small wins and do not beat yourself up when you fall short of your plans. It is the effort that really counts.
Benjamin Franklin adopted this methodology over 300 years ago. I think he still sets the bar for how to improve oneself and be a more productive person. I hope that this article helps to make 2021 a better year and us better men.Happy New YEAR!!!!
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These is no doubt 2020 has been a year to remember or forget, depending on your perspective. The one thing that can possibly put a good light to this year is a nice, happy and healthy holidays for all.
So I would like to wish each and all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And for those celebrating Hanukkah this season, Hanukkah Sameach!
As we move forward into 2021 know that there have been quite a few improvements at the Lodge and I am pleased that we can at least take the time to get these maintenance items done while nobody of at the Lodge. If you have a little time on weekends to join in the painting, fixing, etc. grab your mask and head on down. Look for notice from the Secretary when these fixit parties will take place.
I am looking forward to getting back to normal lodge meeting, hopefully soon after the new year. In the mean time there is zoom meetings and just keeping in touch with each other. Look toward your Brothers in the Lodge and email, text, call one another now and then.
Masonic lodge historians do not realize the wealth of history is at their fingertips until they start digging through 100-year-old safes, dusty boxes, and stuffed closets. Add these discoveries to the endless amount of archived material on the web, and long buried lodge treasures can expand narratives that contribute to the history of their local lodge.
Officer gavels from handcrafted artisans in the Honolulu Sandwich Islands, 1886
One such discovery was uncovered while cataloging Jephtha’s archives dating to the mid-nineteenth century. On December 27, 1886, Brother Alfred M. Mellis donated three wooden gavels to Jephtha Lodge, hand carved by craftsmen from the Honolulu Sandwich Islands. The three officer gavels from were made of native woods, each adorned with the Master’s square, the Senior Warden’s level and Junior Warden’s plumb in metal, and engraved with inscriptions to “Jephtha 494, Huntington L.I. from Brother A.M. Mellis, December 27, 5886.” Although there is one piece missing from the Master’s gavel, each piece is unused and in perfect condition, the same quality when Jephtha’s brethren received this gift 134 years ago.
Advertisement for Alfred M. Mellis in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 23, 1881
Lodge Secretary W:. Hewlett J. Long recorded in part, “Brother Mellis by this remembrance, has practically demonstrated in his tenet of our profession of brotherly love which unites men of every country, sect and opinion and considers his friendship among those who might otherwise remained at perpetual distance. “ This gift was one of the memorable events during the first of three terms in the east for W:. Douglass Conklin.
Brother Alfred M. Mellis was born in Austria in 1849 and immigrated to the Kingdom of Hawaii from San Francisco in August 1877. The 5’4”, 160lbs married shirt maker had black hair and a mole on the left side of his nose with his “face full complexion dark,” according to a Hawaiian Register in 1896. Our generous brother was a member of an unnamed eastern lodge of Masons in Hawaii, Past Excelsior Lodge of Odd Fellows and a member of the Daughters of Rebekah’s, a branch of the Odd Fellows. A longtime Rabbi, Mellis often officiated at funerals and on Jewish holidays. After dissolving a business partnership with Charles J. Fishel in 1880, Mellis started a retail establishment on 104 Fort Street, Brewer’s Block in Honolulu, part of a large shopping district in the 1800’s. Advertising “Dry and Fancy Goods!” the company sold clothing and house linens for several years. Brother Mellis died suddenly in 1906 at his home on 1187 Garden Lane in Hawaii, soon after attending an Oddfellows meeting.
There are no records available that can trace Brother Mellis’s personal connection to Jephtha Lodge, almost 5000 miles from his home in Hawaii. It can be assumed that his work in the linen trade enabled him to travel to New York for business on occasion. If Brother Mellis made more than one trip to New York, he may of added the engravings in Honolulu as part of his gift. If not, it’s possible that Jephtha Lodge added the inscribed metallic officers’ jewels later. At this time, we cannot be certain who or when the engravings were added, but we can be certain the native woods used for the gavel carvings are koa, lychee or mango, based on preliminary comparative research.
First draft of W:. Hewlett J. Long’s notes on Brother Mellis’s gift, 1886
This “excellent handiwork of the artisans” as Brother Long recorded, was pleasing to the members of Jephtha in 1886 and after carefully stored in the lodge safe for over one hundred years, can once again be appreciated by brothers in the 21st century in the Jephtha Masonic Museum.
The Birth of Hawaiian Freemasonry
Freemasonry was established in Hawaii in 1843 with the Lodge Le Progrès de l’Océanie No. 124 of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Supreme Council of France, the first lodge chartered in the Sandwich Islands and possibly the first founded in the Pacific and west of the Rocky Mountains. Many of the original members were American and European shopkeepers, farmers, and mariners. It is estimated that one-third of the merchants in the Honolulu Sandwich Islands were Masons by the late 1840’s, each facilitating business and social contacts.
In 1852, the Grand Lodge of California chartered the Hawaiian Lodge, and later became the authorized Masonic body in Hawaii from 1902 until 1989. Kamehameha IV was the first reigning Hawaiian monarch to become a Freemason in 1857, followed by his brother Prince Lot Kamehameha (later Kamehameha V) into the fraternity. These added members to local Masonry may have contributed to the growing interest in the fraternity with the locals. Many public buildings in Honolulu had their cornerstones laid with Masonic ceremonies, including Iolani Palace in 1882, the only authentic royal palace in the United States. In the late nineteenth century, two Hawaiian lodges were chartered from the Grand Lodge of France and the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The Grand Lodge of Hawaii was established in 1989.
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What do two shipbuilders, a ship’s captain, two farmers, a former Democratic U.S Congressman, a local active Republican and a disgraced freemason have in common? They are the seven charter members of Jephtha Masonic Lodge No. 494 in Huntington.
The First Meeting
Francis Olmsted
The charter members William H. King, Jesse Carll, David Carll, John H. Jarvis, Phineas E. Sills and Charles A. Floyd laid the foundation of Jephtha Lodge at a meeting in the home of Francis Olmsted (1820-1901) in Northport on December 21, 1859, for the “purpose of taking into consideration the feasibility of establishing a Lodge in the Village of Huntington.”
It was unanimously agreed to submit an application to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New York to form a Lodge. The application and $40 fee were submitted to Grand Secretary of Masons in New York on December 23, 1859.
The name “Jephtha” is based on a character in the Old Testament who served as one of the Judges in Israel for a period of six years (Judges 12:7) between the conquest of Canaan and the first king. Jephtha lived in Gilead and was a member of the Tribe of Manasseh.
The Planning Stage
The charter members first met in the sloop Rebecca in Huntington Harbor throughout January 1860. The brothers prepared themselves with the many initial plans and ritual work required to operate a masonic lodge. Captain John Knight guarded the door for any trespassers that may disrupt the secret meetings. The future freemason kept a pot of coffee heated in the forecastle of the yacht for the busy members during these frigid winter nights.
The Yacht Rebecca, New York Autumn Regatta first place, 1858
The first official meeting was held in a room over S.T. Shadbolt’s Harness Shop in Huntington Village on January 28, 1860. The purpose of this initial meeting was to elect the seven charter members to their respective officer stations. Other items on the agenda included obtaining an extended lease for future meetings and forming a committee to obtain the necessary regalia.
The Charter Members
William H. King was the acting Worshipful Master of Joppa Lodge No. 201 in Brooklyn during the initial planning meetings. Born in Maine in 1825, the 35-year-old farmer raised three children in Centerport with his wife Jane. The first registered brother and Master in three out the first four years for Jephtha (1860-61, 1863), King and Jonas Pearsall were instrumental in purchasing the property the lodge is currently located. At the dedication of Alcyone Masonic Lodge No. 695 in Northport in 1869, King was the acting Grand Secretary. King officially demitted from Jephtha Lodge on April 26, 1875 after his move out of state.
Jesse Carll
Shipbuilder Jesse Carll (1833-1902) was brother number 2 of Jephtha and the lodge’s first Senior Warden. Later elected as the second Master in 1862, Carll was originally raised in Charter Oak No 249 in New York City. Carll was also a charter member of Alcyone No. 659 in Northport in 1869, where he redirected his masonic responsibilities, forcing him to demit from Jephtha. The Carll Shipyard was the most successful shipbuilder in Northport for over 40 years in the late nineteenth century.
Jesse Carll’s brother David (1831-1917) of Charter Oak No 249 was elected the first Senior Deacon. David Carll was partners with his brother Jesse in the Carll Shipyard and later demitted from Jephtha for unknown reasons.
Phineas Bryan Sills (1813-1869) was a farmer originally raised a mason in Joppa Lodge No 201 and was the lodge’s first Treasurer. Sills has the distinction of being the first member to be suspended indefinitely from Jephtha Lodge for unmasonic conduct in 1861.
Jonas Higbie
Jephtha’s first Junior Deacon was Jonas Smith Higbie (1821-1907). Raised a mason in Charter Oak No 249 in 1854, Higbie demitted from Jephtha Lodge on September 28, 1868 to become a charter member of Alcyone Lodge in Northport.
Born in Centerport, Higbie was a ship’s captain for decades, for a time running the Storm Cloud, a 195-ton vessel built by fellow charter member Jesse Carll. During the Civil War, Higbie served as an officer for the Union Navy and engaged in several successful conflicts. After the war he traded supplies in the West Indies, was active with the local Republican party and was a Commander for the local Grand Army of the Republic Post. The first Jephtha brother to file a U.S. Patent in 1865, his expertise on the water informed his design for an improved boat rudder. After his death, the Jonas S. Higbie Council No. 71, Junior Order of United Auto Mechanics of Northport was founded in his honor.
John Jarvis and his brother Thomas, 1863
John Hewlett Jarvis (b. 1837) of Lexington No. 310 on Court and Montague Streets, New York City was elected as Jephtha’s first Junior Warden. Jarvis was a yeoman in Brooklyn, which duties delayed his first day as Junior Warden until the fourth stated communication. Jarvis later decided that his responsibilities in Brooklyn were preventing him to attend regular meetings, forcing he decision to demit from the lodge in 1871.
Charles Albert Floyd (1791-1873) was the only charter member of Jephtha to be raised a mason on Long Island (1813). Floyd was elected Worshipful Master of Suffolk No60 in Port Jefferson five times (1818-20, 1824-25) and was the last master of Suffolk No 60 before the lodge ceased meetings due to the anti-masonic period in the 1820’s. Floyd was a founding member of the reorganized Suffolk No 401 in Port Jefferson in 1856 and was elected Jephtha’s first Secretary. The son of John Floyd, a member from Long Island’s first masonic lodge Huntington No. 26, and charter member of Suffolk No 60 in 1796, the younger Floyd was dropped from Jephtha’s membership on April 26, 1869 for unknown reasons.
Pursing agriculture interests in Commack, Floyd served as Suffolk County Clerk (1820-21), District Attorney (1830), New York State Assembly (1836 and 1838), Huntington Board of Trustees (1837-1840), Suffolk County Judge and Town Supervisor of Huntington (1843-1865). Elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-seventh U.S. Congress (1841-43), Floyd was in session during the one-month administration of William Henry Harrison, the first President to die while in office.
The diverse backgrounds of these seven charter members gave the fledging lodge decades worth of education, cultural and personal traits that enabled freemasonry to prosper in the developing north shore village. Although these seven brothers’ time at Jephtha only lasted a few years, their determined groundwork in forming the lodge is a fitting chapter of the new fraternity in Huntington. Within twelve months, 46 new members were raised master masons in Jephtha Lodge, more than a 600% growth from the cold and uncertain planning days in January 1860. It is a testament to these founders that the lodge continues the tradition of accepting a wide variety of members over one hundred and sixty years after the first meeting.
Since 1866, Jephtha Lodge brothers were charter members of several other lodges, including Glen Cove No. 580, Alcyone No. 695 in Northport, and Matinecock No. 806 in Oyster Bay. To request a dispensation for a new Masonic Lodge, a group of local brothers are required to petition nearby lodges for permission to form, addressing issues such has regional boundary jurisdiction, qualified charter members, and ritual proficiency. In most cases, new lodges are granted dispensation and start the procedure to obtain a charter from Grand Lodge of Masons in New York.
The execution of American spy Nathan Hale, September 22, 1776.
Over the course of three years in the mid-1920’s, two separate proposals were presented to a Stated Communication to form a lodge in Huntington Station, five miles from Jephtha. In both cases, the matter was either withdrawn or rejected and involved two brothers: Eugene Theodore Geissinger (1896-1966) of Island City Lodge No. 586 and Albert S. Walling of Long Island No. 382. Little is known of these two non-Jephtha brothers residing in Huntington Station, their reasons to form a lodge near Jephtha and no records have been found that either were elected officers of any lodge in New York.
The first petition was received and read into the Stated Communication on September 28, 1925, but formerly withdrawn on October 12, 1925 from brothers Geissinger, Walling and Voorhees Allen Herbert (1887-1960). No reason was given for the withdrawal.
Between 1920 and 1927, 14 new lodges were formed in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Grand Lodge had to add districts for the fast expanding fraternity and in May 1927, the Long Island Masonic District was divided into two separate districts: Nassau and Suffolk. At the time, there were 14 masonic lodges in Suffolk county and 18 lodges in Nassau county, including the newly formed Garden City No. 1083. It was believed the time was ripe to form a new lodge on Long Island.
A few months after the formation of the new districts, on October 10, 1927, a group of eight brother’s once again petitioned Jephtha to form a lodge in Huntington Station and proposed to name it Nathan Hale Lodge.
Legend has it that when American soldier and spy Nathan Hale was asked if he had any last words after being led to the gallows in 1776, he supposedly replied with his infamous quote, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” The small hamlet of Halesite in Huntington Harbor was named after the Revolutionary War first lieutenant, near the location the spy was ferried across from Connecticut to gather intel on British occupied Long Island.
Nathan Hale Memorial, Huntington
Despite all these accomplishments, there is no recorded proof that Nathan Hale was a Freemason. The brothers probably chose the name for the patriotic spirit a fallen hero over the local poet Walt Whitman, whose birthplace was in nearby West Hills, and may have experienced more interaction with Freemasons when he tended wounded soldiers during the Civil War.
In the early twentieth century, Huntington Station was centered around the Long Island Railroad Station and the Fair Grounds, an area between present day Depot Road and Lenox Road. The Fair Grounds included a one-mile horse racing track with a 1500 seat grandstand and open fields. By 1911, the area was renamed Huntington Station and beginning in 1921, the Fair Grounds was subdivided into residential properties. Several of the proposers for the new lodge, resided in the area once known as the Fair Grounds.
The Nathan Hale Lodge proposal recommended the following members: Albert S. Walling from Long Island No. 382 for Worshipful Master; Eugene T. Geissinger from Island City No. 586 for Senior Warden; Herman Ehntholdt from Jephtha No. 494 for Junior Warden. The other petitioners were David Ehntholdt from Island City No. 586; Rasmus Rasmussen from Guiding Star No. 565; David MacLetchie from Howard No. 35; Karl Christiansen and George Pike from Jephtha.
Most of the petitioners were members of lodges as far away as Bronx and Manhattan but had homes in Huntington Station. Only two of the eight brothers were from Jephtha. No records can be found on the “third” Jephtha petitioner Herman Ehntholdt.
The only petitioner to be raised at Jephtha was the Swedish born Karl Christiansen (1872-1951). Later becoming a life member of Jephtha, Christiansen was a survivor of the U.S.S. Maine disaster in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. Serving 24 years (1895-1919) in the United States Navy, Christiansen was a veteran of the Philippine Insurrection and the Boxer Rebellion. After his retirement, Christiansen was a custodian in the Huntington Station School for 15 years.
George Chamberlain Pike (1874-1956) affiliated with Jephtha from Putnam Lodge No. 338 in 1923. Pike’s occupation was a stationary engineer. Both Christiansen and Pike were proposed by Voorhees Allen Herbert, one of the three brothers petitioning to form a Huntington Station Lodge in 1925.
Voorhees Allen Herbert truck from his Huntington Station service station
While in Huntington Station, Herbert owned a service station. After twice failing to form a lodge in Huntington Station, Herbert moved to California in 1937 with his wife and four daughters, studied medicine and became a practicing physician in Beaumont, California. He later affiliated with Sunset Lodge No. 352 in Los Angeles and was active with the Shriners.
At the October 10, 1927 stated communication, a spirited discussion on the petition of Nathan Hale Lodge was held in Jephtha. W:. Charles E. Cragg, Past Master of Alcyone and Jephtha Chaplain and Historian, made a motion to grant the petition. Past Masters W:. Allison C. Lowndes (1922), Fredric W. Hunninghouse (1926) and several brothers gave their reasons why the petition should not be granted.
Past Master W:. Carroll E. Welch (1925) stood for the proposed lodge and listed several reasons why the petition should be granted. After a prolonged and lively discussion with over 90 brothers in attendance, W:. Lowndes made a motion that the matter be made on the table. W:. Welch submitted the prepared resolution and a vote was prepared. Past Masters W:. Cragg, W:. Hunninghouse, W:. Lowndes and W:. Lawrence Henry Newton (1915) were appointed tellers and R:.W:. Douglass Conklin and W:. Welch were appointed inspectors.
One can only imagine the heated discussion on the formation of a nearby lodge. Territorial boundaries were most likely on top of everyone’s mind that evening. Many Jephtha brothers lived a few miles south and a new lodge would surely have witnessed an exodos to a closer meeting place for many brothers, leading to reduced membership dues for Jephtha. This fateful discussion was only two years prior to the stock market crash of 1929, and if the new lodge was granted a dispensation, a third lodge in Huntington could have been disastrous.
Ninety-one votes were cast: 87 against and 4 in favor of the proposed lodge. A copy of the resolution was sent to the proposed master, Albert S. Walling informing him of the rejection. It is a testament to the brothers of Jephtha Lodge to reject this proposal and not giving into a false sense of security, a problem that would return in greater numbers with the masonic lodge boom of the post-World War II years.
Nathan Hale would finally get a masonic lodge named after him when Nathan Hale No. 350 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was charted in 1951.
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Masonic lodge buildings were shut down in mid-March due to the COVID 19 pandemic, preventing any in-person meetings for the foreseeable future. The masonic primary function of charity could have been severely hindered due these unforeseen circumstances, but one lodge on Long Island rose to the challenge.
A long-planned charity walk that Jephtha Lodge No. 494 F. & A. M. has participated in the past was reprogrammed into a virtual event that helped raise several thousand dollars for an important charity. The Sunrise Association Day Camps have been operating in several locations, including Wyandanch, since 2006. The mission of the camps is to provide children ages 3 ½ to 16 struggling with cancer and the difficult treatments associated with it, activity filled summers at outdoor day camps free of charge. The struggling children’s months of isolation is broken with a few weeks of sunshine and fun at the day camp, without rescheduling any medical treatments because the kids can stay at their own homes at night. The program also includes siblings to help the children with cancer more comfortable and less lonely during their difficult treatments.
Over 40 members of Jephtha Lodge on the charity walk for Sunrise Day Camp in Heckscher Park in Huntington.
But the challenges of 2020 have forced the Sunrise Day Camp to close for the summer. The camp has now implemented a virtual camp complete with counselors, games, and recreation. This incredibly vital community continues to service the children and their families during, uncertain times.
The Brothers of Jephtha Lodge and their family members recognized these challenges and created a team to raise funds once again this year for Sunrise. Organized by brothers Jeremiah Campbell and Bill Fenty Jr., the “Masons for Sunrise” team held a few planning meetings via Zoom before holding their first online event on June 12. The invite-only virtual Happy Hour and Trivia evening was hosted by Brother Geoff Cohen was held with over 40 members calling in from as far as Hawaii to help this important charity. Three rounds of trivia (sports, masonic and Huntington history) and everyone sharing their favorite cocktail concoction, lasted over 90 minutes and was an exciting kickoff to this year’s fundraiser.
With the regular Sunrise Walks cancelled due to the pandemic, Jephtha Lodge had to be creative to keep to the spirit of the past outdoor fundraisers. On June 28, 45 brother masons and their families attended their own walk in Huntington Village, each donning face masks, and newly embroidered tee shirts supplied by brother Bill Friedman. Starting from behind the lodge building on New York Avenue, the group marched over to Heckscher Park and completed one round around the pond on a hot and humid Sunday morning. An exceedingly rare outing during these uncertain times proved to be an opportunity for the lodge to think outside the box for future charitable events.
Jephtha Lodge raised over $4400 during these two events, making “Sunrise for Masons” the top-25 fundraiser out of over 100 teams at this years Sunrise Walks events on Long Island. The goal will be higher for 2021, a challenge one of the fastest growing masonic lodges in New York is up for.
Walking through a field of stone carved skulls and faces, transports visitors to a rare and unique collection of early Huntington folk art. The cracks widen during the passage of time, slowly eroding the hand carved markings created by forgotten artisans in remembrance for our local ancestors. Many passerby’s in the Old Town Hall Historic District may not know that resting beneath the stone tablets are the remains of early Huntington residents from a wide variety of backgrounds.
On a recent hot and humid Saturday morning, fourteen members, friends, and family of Jephtha Masonic Lodge No. 494 volunteered to help trim shrubs, pull overgrown weeds, rake leaves, and remove debris from Old Burying Ground Cemetery. In coordination with Huntington Town Historian Robert Hughes, the work crew assisted in a day of cleanup at the historic cemetery just short walking distance from the Jephtha Lodge building on New York Avenue. Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci took a short walk from the nearby Town Hall and spoke to the group about the importance of preserving our local historic sites and sharing his appreciation on all the hard work accomplished.
Fourteen members, family and friends of Jephtha Lodge takes a break during the cleanup
Part of the lodge’s benevolence committee to help make our community a better place, this event is one of several projects the local Masons were involved in during the recent pandemic shutdown. Although the lodge is comprised of mostly Huntington residents, members from other lodges from as far as Port Jefferson volunteered in this important preservation project of our local historic sites. Armed with work gloves, pruning shears, weed trimmers, a cooler of cold bottled water and a bit of determination, the team went right to work after a brief historical lecture by the Town Historian.
Also known as the Old Burial Hill Cemetery, the site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. The earliest surviving marker is over 300 years old, but many of the wooden markers and basic fieldstones were lost over the years and never replaced. Located on a hill that once had a clear view of Huntington Harbor, the site was originally chosen because of the difficulty to farm on the hilly terrain.
The cemetery took an ugly turn in 1782, the last year of the American Revolution, when occupying British troops, under the orders of Colonel Benjamin Thomson of the King’s American Dragoons, destroyed the nearby Presbyterian Church and constructed Fort Golgotha with timbers removed from the sacred building on the highest point of the hill. The fort was part a network of four British fortifications including Fort Slongo, now known as Fort Salonga, in the hamlet on the border of the Towns of Huntington and Smithtown, in British occupied Long Island during the Revolutionary War.
The British desecration of the church and cemetery is the first recorded act of vandalism in Huntington. Up to 100 tombstones were destroyed and some were used as bake ovens where according to local legend, the baked bread had reverse inscriptions of the tombstones readable on the lower crust.
Huntington Town Historian Robert Hughes gives a brief history lesson to the volunteers before the clean-up begins
There are 1246 marked graves on the 4-acre site, but it is estimated that there may have been up to 5000 interments since the founding of the Town of Huntington in the mid-17th century. The first legible marker is dated 1712 and the final burial of Russell F. Sammis was in May 1957. Town Historian Robert Hughes explained to the group the variety of tombstones that can be seen in the cemetery, including local fieldstones, imported Connecticut sandstone, slate and how marble, iron, zinc and granite replaced the older varieties in the 19th and 20th century. Many of the markers included unmarked footstones, which sometimes can be confused as headstones to the unsuspecting eye.
With the opening of Huntington Rural Cemetery as the Town’s main cemetery on New York Avenue in the mid-19th century, Old Burying Ground started its long decline of neglect until the local chapters of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution started their own cleanup efforts in 1911 giving way to the Town of Huntington’s regular maintenance in the mid-1920s. Suburban expansion in the 1950’s witnessed the return of vandalism to the cemetery, which finally led to a joint effort of between the Town of Huntington and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to the restoration, conservation and preservation of the grounds in a multi-year project that started in 2004.
This project between the Town Historian is the latest of several coordinated efforts with Jephtha Masonic Lodge which has called Huntington home since 1860. Other projects include the installation of an Historic Marker in front of the lodge building on New York Avenue; a stop on the Huntington Walking Tour and Pub Crawl; archive sharing between the lodge and the Huntington Historical Society; and invaluable assistance in the newly published book “Long Island Freemasons.”
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