Beginning of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Maine Sprague's Journal of Maine History. Vol. VIII Special Number, June 1920 No. 1 page 27-28 Beginning of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Maine (From Eastern Argus of January 27, 1820.) On Saturday last the Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Maine was consecrated, and its officers installed in this town in presence of the most numerous concourse of citizens we recollect ever to have seen on any occasion in Maine. The scene was ren- dered doubly interesting by the presence of our Chief Magistrate as Grand Master of Masons in Maine, and by the attendance of the Lodge of New Hampshire. At 11 o'clock A. M. the Grand Maine, by whom they were received in ancient form, affectionately welcomed by the Grand Master in the chair, who delivered a suit- able address on the occasion. At 12 o'clock a procession was formed of the new Grand Lodge and about three hundred of the fraternity, which escorted the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire to the Rev. Mr. Payson's meeting house. Here were held appropriate exercises. The pray was offered by the Rev. President of Bowdoin College, and an elegant and instructive oration delivered by J.H. Sheppard of Wiscasset. The prayer of consecration was by Rev. Mr. Tilton of Scarborough. At the close of the ceremonies of consecrating the lodge and instal- ling the officers, the brethren returned to Masons Hall and partook of a rich repast; after which were toasts and responses. The first toast was by the Grand Master Governor King and was: "the memory of our departed Grand Master -- the illustrious Wash- ington." (Eastern Argus, June 6, 1820) At the Masonic convention holden in this town on Thursday last, the following Right Worshipful brethren were elected and appointed to the respective grand offices as follows: Hon William King, Esq., Grand Master Simon Greenleaf, Deputy Grand Master William Swan, Senior Grand Warden Nathaniel Coffin, Junior Grand Warden Joseph M. Gerrish, Grand Treasurer Robert P. Dunlap, Corresponding Grand Secretary William Lord, Recording Grand Secretary Joseph E. Foxcroft, Grand Marshal Rev. G. W. Olney, Grand Chaplin Henry W. Fuller, Senior Grand Deacon Josiah Calif, Junior Grand Deacon William Terry, Jesse Robinson, Eleazer Wyer, Nelson Racklyft, Grand Stewards George Thacher, Jr., Grand Sword Bearer Seth Clark, John P. Boyd, Pursuivants William Stevens, Grand Tyler (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.