HISTORY OF ELLETTSVILLE MASONIC
LODGE # 245
Ellettsville's Masonic Lodge was instituted on May 28, 1857 and worked
under dispensation by the Grand Lodge for two years until it was granted a
charter in 1859. The first regular meeting was on July 7, 1857 and 8 of the 9
charter members were present. During the first fifty years the lodge had 18
different masters. Barton Acuff, was the first
worshipful master. He served in that office for eight years. Also serving as
master during that period were J.K. Phipps who served for seven years, and John
S. Johnson, John H. Shook, and G.W. Faulkner each served as master for 5 years.
The first hall was a frame building at the Southwest corner of Sale and Oak
Streets. William Buchanan was the first to petition the lodge for membership.
He received the master mason degree on February 28, 1858. Brother James Edward
Ellett, for whom the town was named, was the twenty-eighth member of the lodge
and was raised to a master mason on January 10, 1865.
The lodge's second
building was a two-story structure directly across Sale Street from the present
location. It had a balcony extending over the sidewalk which provided a stage
for concerts by the town band. The present hall was erected in 1895 at a cost
of $1,700. By 1907, the fiftieth anniversary of the lodge, there had been 195
members in the lodge. They had paid off all the debt but $150. The lodge owned
only the second floor. C. E. Grant owned the land and the lower floor in which
he operated a store. The lodge purchased the lower floor and land for the sum
of $550 in December of 1941 when Mr. Grant died. In our second fifty year
period we have added an additional 240 members.
The lodge has a
beautiful hollow limestone altar with a removable top which is used as a
storage site for Masonic Bibles and lambskin aprons. It was carved with Masonic
emblems and given to the lodge by Albert Matthews. Mr. Matthews also carved the
large emblematic panel on the front of the building. Fred Matthews, the owner
of Mathews Brothers Stone Company the provider of the stone, was our 128th
member and our first 33° mason, the highest honorary degree in masonry. Most
recently the lodge has been fortunate to have this honor bestowed on Brothers
John W. Baugh, A. Vincent May, Winfield "Dick" Jacobs, James Chesney,
and Jack Vickrey. Ellettsville Masonic Lodge is also proud to claim as members,
Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Indiana for the year 1983-84,
A. Vincent "Vince" May, and Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Indiana for the year 2003-04, James L. Chesney. During the lodge's 125th year
celebrated in June of 1984, members traveled to Alexandria, Virginia where they
conferred the Master Mason Degree on two members in the Alexandria Washington
Lodge # 22, which is the home lodge of President George Washington.
The heritage of
our lodge, being in the heart of the limestone industry, includes not only
speculative masons, but also operative masons. Brother John Baugh worked on the
Scottish Rite Cathedral in Indianapolis while employed at Mathews Brothers
Stone Company. In September of 1992 he presented the working tools he used on
the cathedral to the Indianapolis Valley, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. In
its 146 years, the lodge has had more than 700 members representing every
profession and craft.
In the Spring of 1968,
the Lodge acquired the lots on the north side of the lodge hall for future use.
In the Spring of 2001, the Lodge accepted a proposed
plan to remodel the present hall including the addition of a first floor lodge
hall on the vacant lot next door. Construction began in September of 2001. On
June 28, 2004 the cornerstone of the new addition was laid with members of the
Indiana Grand Lodge present. Most Worshipful Brother James L. Chesney, then
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, presided at the ceremonies.
The
façade of the building includes two limestone columns, carved designs of the
Indiana Grand Lodge shield and other Masonic emblems. In addition, a life-sized
statue of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist will appear in an alcove above the first floor windows.
Most of the work was accomplished by craftsmen from within the membership of
the lodge. Each who helped has much to be proud of.
The above text was taken from The Ellettsville
Story, published in 1987 by White Arts, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana.
Additional material, taken from the archives of the lodge, was added by
Winfield "Dick" Jacobs and Jim Stockton.
SOME OF THE
CONTENTS OF OUR ARCHIVE
1. Master's
apron worn by Barton Acuff, first master of our lodge, presented to the lodge
by his grandson, Brother W. Ralph Ridge in 1983.