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FREE AND ACCEPTED
MASONS.
This ancient Order, claiming to have existed in the days of
King Solomon, was early planted in the British
Isle. It is known that King Henry VI, as early
as 1492, was a Grand Master mason, and that other English
sovereigns after him held high degrees of masonry. So
now, many of the crowned heads of Europe are Free Masons.
But it was not introduced into our American Colonies till
more than a century from their first settlement. In
1733 Henry Rice, a Master Mason, from England,
established lodges in Boston, Philadelphia, and other
cities, and set the ball in motion. It was quire early
planted in this county.
PISCATAQUIS LODGE, No. 44 was chartered Oct. 23, 1823, and
installed soon after at Sebec village. Its meetings
were held there for several years. But as many of its
members resided in Milo, it eventually removed its place of
meeting to Milo village. It has recently rebuilt the
building in which it met, and is in a prosperous state.
MOSAIC LODGE, No. 52 was chartered July 16, 1827. It
was installed soon after in Sangerville village, the late
J. S. Holmes, Esq., delivering the public address.
Elder William Frost was its first Master. About
this time an extensive anti-masonic excitement prevailed,
awakened by the alleged abduction and murder of William
Morgan, in the State
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of New York. Some religious bodies entered strongly
into it, and other persons made it a political issue.
For several years masonry sat still and kept quiet.
This lodge suspended its meetings from 1832 till 1845.
It then resumed its usual activity. It afterward
removed its meetings to Foxcroft and Dover village. In
company with the "Piscataquis Royal Arch Chapter," it built
the "Masonic Building," in which a well fitted hall
accommodates both lodges, while other parts rent to
advantage. From its first organization, 314 members
have been connected with it, and now it has a membership of
170, and is in good working order.
MOUNT KINEO LODGE, No. 109, Abbott, was chartered May 8,
1862. As many were then going into the army, its
numbers increased rapidly. It owns a building
containing a hall, and stores on the lower floor, which it
rents. Its present number is 126.
DORIC LODGE No. 149, is located in Monson village. It
was chartered May 7, 1868. This lodge, in 1876,
erected a large and elegant building at a cost of $4000 in
which it has a spacious hall. It is in debt for
one-half of its cost, but the amount received for parts
rented more than pays the annual interest. This lodge
is in a prosperous state.
PLEASANT RIVER LODGE, Brownsville, was chartered July 28,
1871. It rents a hall for the present. It has
occasional initiations, and now numbers 46 members.
PISCATAQUIS ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER was chartered in May, 1866.
This order is composed only of masons who have taken seven
degrees in the scale of masonry. In its work,
discipline and forms, it is truly masonic, but on an
advanced plane of the system. It meets in the Masonic
building in Foxcroft, in which it is an equal owner.
THE SONS OF TEMPERANCE once had flourishing lodges in this
county, and they succeeded in reclaiming and holding many
hard drinkers. They had a benefit system, and some of
their sordid members took advantage of it. The
disburse-
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ment of their funds was unsatisfactory, and this became the
rock of offence upon which the lodges, formed on a good
basis, and doing a good work, were wrecked. They all
became extinct, not one now existing in this county.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD
FELLOWS
It is claimed that this order arose in the Roman army, near
the commencement of the Christian era. It existed in
Spain, in the fifth century, in France, in the twelfth, and
afterward in England.
Mr. Thomas Whidden, an Englishman, introduced it
into this country, in 1829, establishing the first lodge in
Baltimore. It has had large increase, so that now
$50,000 annually are paid into their treasuries, aside from
the life insurance department, and a large part of that sum
goes to their needy and unfortunate members, and their
families.
DIRIGO LODGE, No. 63, in Milo. was established Jan. 21,
1869, the first in the county. It has had a prosperous
course, owning a hall which cost $1400, now having $700
funded, and a membership of one hundred and twenty.
KINEO LODGE, No. 64, in Dover, was the next organized,
March, 1870. This is a vigorous body, having funds
amounting to $2,600. It reports seventy-seven members.
GOOD CHEER LODGE, No. 37, in Guilford, dates from September,
1874. It had funds amounting to $1500, but has built a
superb hall the past summer (1879), which has exhausted
them. This is in a prosperous state.
ELDORADO ENCAMPMENT, No. 20, meets in Dover bi-monthly.
It belongs to the 10th district of the Grand Encampment.
This is composed of members that have taken the fifth degree
or more, and corresponds in some respects to the "Royal Arch
Chapter" in Masonry.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF
GOOD TEMPLARS.
This is the youngest of these secret fraternities, but it
has
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a large and growing membership. It has its pledges,
forms, officers, quarterly payments, countersigns and
fraternal aid, as they all do. It is more expressed on
teh temperance question than any of them. As an
advanced step, it admits females to its lodges and its
meetings.
The list of lodges in this county, as reported in 1878
and 1879, is as follows, to wit:
CENTENNIAL, No. 18, in Guilford.
HEBRON POND, No. 102, Monson, 80 members.
GOOD CHEER, No. __, Sangerville
SEBEC LODGE, No. 150, South Sebec, 50 members.
HARMONY, No. 160, Dover, 70 members.
EUREKA, No. 170, Atkinson, 100 members.
CONSTANTIA, No. 237, Milo.
A. J. W. STEVENS, No. 47, Parkman.
These lodges are subject to an ebb and flow of interest;
consequently to variant success. Some are well
established, others have dwindled and expired. it has
so been in the past, it may so continue to be.
PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY.
This new order has arisen recently. Like the
foregoing, it is close in its affinities, signs, meetings
and benefits. Its main object is to modify trade, to
prevent the multiplying of profits by middle-men, to buy and
sell in their own fraternities, on specific terms, somewhat
like Union Store Associations. Seven Granges have
already been established, with distinct names and locations,
within this county, and they report favorably. The
order is young, and reports are not available for a reliable
history.
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