Eastern Star Masonic Lodge No. 151, Winn, Louisiana Submitted by Gregg Davies. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Greggory E. Davies 120 Ted Price Lane Winnfield, LA 71483 Eastern Star Lodge No. 151, F. & A. M. was "born" sometime in 1857 when a group of Masons living in Winnfield, Louisiana applied to Grand Master W. W. Perkins seeking a dispensation to form a new Lodge. A dispensation was granted September 5, 1857 and the three principal officers were appointed, namely, Golden W. Hicks, Worshipful Master, William Walker, Senior Warden, and Asa Emanuel, Junior Warden. The first official meeting held, under dispensation, was September 24, 1857. On February 10, 1858, Anno Domini, and of Masonry, 5858, Most Worshipful Grand Master Amos Adams affixed his signature and grand seal, officially chartering Eastern Star Lodge No. 151, F. & A. M., Winnfield, Louisiana. In spite of the many moves by the Lodge and at least two fires, the original by-laws adopted on February 10, 1858 have been preserved, as well as the minutes of the Lodge. These are the second oldest complete set of written records known to exist in Winn Parish, save those of Hebron Baptist Church, east of Sikes, Louisiana. The eighteen charter members, listed in the order they appear on the official charter were: Philip Bernstein, Q. A. Hargis, R. C. Sims, James Brock, G. W. Hicks, J. W. Stovall, Samuel Earnest, William Luckey, William Stone, E. W. Edwards, John A. Mathis, Benjamin J. Ussery, Asa Emanuel, Charles B. Parsons, Jesse Womack, Joseph J. Green, Samuel W. Rogers, and William Walker. These men were early parish leaders. Emanuel was Winn's first sheriff. William Walker succeeded Emanuel in that same office and was later Lieutenant Colonel William Walker of the 28th Louisiana Infantry and was killed at the Battle of Mansfield, 1864. E. W. Edwards and Jesse Womack were also early parish officials. Lodge minute entries indicate that several other early members of the Lodge died during the War For Southern Independence: "3-3-1863....met to pay last respect to departed Brother Benjamin Ussery ...who died in service of his country at Vicksburg, Mississippi, 6-28-1863...1st Lt., Co. K, 28th Regiment, Louisiana Volunteers, Brother William P. Edwards was killed at the Battle of Bisland, 8-8-1863...Brother Thos. J. Teddlie...12th Regiment, served until health failed...reentered the 3rd Regiment....wounded in the foot by a shell at Vicksburg....which caused his death." Other known members of the Lodge who lost their life during the same war were: J. L. Bridges John Womack Solomon Collins Oliver G. Rogers And, possibly, but not certain, these bretheren: James Brock, James P. Banks, William Griffin, E. W. Teddlie, James Gray, and A. E. Lard. And, Brother John S. Deen (Dean) died near Canton, Mississippi while visiting with his sons who were in the Confederate Army. The Lodge has met in a number of places, but it is believed that it was organized in a second floor bedroom at the home of Sheriff Asa Emanuel. Sheriff Emanuel's home was situated at what is now the northeast corner of the Lafayette & Beville Streets intersection, where the Winn State Bank, now Sabine State Bank, is located. Around 1861, a two-story building on South Jones Street, near where present day Courthouse Pharmacy stands, and the Lodge met on the second floor until the 1890s. It was then that the Lodge moved to the second floor of the Heard hardware building, on Abel Street, east of the courthouse. Rent to Mr. Heard was $ 3 monthly. In the early 1900s, the Lodge purchased property at the southwest corner of Beville & Court Streets where Shelton's Pharmacy is now located. The first floor was sold to a feed dealer and the Order of the Eastern Star did much to make the meeting hall of the Lodge presentable. It was at this location that electricity was first introduced to Masonry. Later, a new car dealership was located in Winnfield and a large two-story building was erected on Main Street across from City Hall, with plans to locate the Lodge on the second floor. A special entry way for the proposed Lodge hall was constructed facing Beville Street, but the move to this location was never approved, yet the "special" entrance remains today. The meeting hall above the feed and seed store burned in the 1960s. Miraculously, the original minute books happened to be in the possession of a Lodge member and not at the Lodge hall, saving these priceless historical records. In the mid-1960s, with only one dissenting vote, the Lodge voted to build a new Masonic hall, which was completed in 1966. The Eastern Star Lodge Hall now stands at the southeast corner of the intersection of Beville & North Streets, and is by far one of, if not the finest Masonic halls in Louisiana. It was thought that the original Lodge charter was destroyed by fire, but this submitter and another Lodge brother located what remains of that charter at the Grand Lodge Offices in Alexandria, Louisiana, in 1997. A review of the Lodge minutes from its inception reveals numerous instances wherein the Lodge extended charitable acts to many brethren, widows, orphans, non-Masons and sister Lodges. Scores of donations have been made to the needy, victims of ill-health, fire, flooding, or hunger. At one point, the Lodge paid tuition for several local children to attend school. (Sources: Right Worshipful Eugene F. Love, Past Grand Master of Masons, State of Louisiana; the late Brother Robert E. Baker, and Brother Greggory Ellis Davies, all members of Eastern Star Lodge No. 151, F. & A. M.)