cr ft m sonry - Onondaga and Oswego Masonic District Historical ...

Extracts from the Minutes
16 Oct 1866 Resolutions on the death of a Brother were published in the Fayetteville Record. These resolutions were quite
lengthy and almost impossible to miss when reading the paper.
At this meeting it was resolved to change the meeting nights from Tuesday to the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
21 May 1867 A committee was appointed to “call on Brother [Charles] Baker and demand the Lodge money in his possession.”
Nothing is noted as to what led up to this action.
4 Jun 1867 “On motion resolved that Fayetteville Lodge objected to Military Lodge conferring the degrees on Charles Tremain.”
18 Jun 1867 “Report of the committee appointed to see Brother Baker reports that he intends to hand in the Lodge money at the
first opportunity.”
2 Jul 1867 Military Lodge asked permission to confer the degree on Charles Tremain. “On motion resolved that we will not
consent.”
16 Jul 1867 “For the information of the Lodge I now state that Brother Doc. Baker has handed me the Lodge money that was in
his possession.” S. Taylor, Secretary.
17 Apr 1868 “Brother Sines was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason.”
7 May 1868 “Brother Sines applied for a dimit which was granted him.”
7 Jul 1868 Seventeen brothers were stricken from the rolls for non-payment of dues.
During the years 1868 and 1869, twenty four candidates were rejected from joining this Lodge. Three candidates were rejected on
one night – 7 Jul 1868.
6 Oct 1868 The same motion on which 17 brothers were stricken from the rolls on 7 July was again brought up, and this time
the motion was defeated. (If only the old minute books could talk!)
16 Mar 1869 A committee was appointed to settle the dispute between Brothers Gage and Worden.
20 Jan 1874 The word “watches” was first noted at this meeting. The meaning of this word was that if a Brother was sick and
needed constant attention, one or tow members, as the need may have been, would sit up all night with the ailing Brother. This was
intended to relieve the family of watching the patient 24 hours a day. For this “watch” service the Lodge paid the “watcher” $2.00 per
night. In some cases this procedure was rather costly. A bill of $60 was rendered to the Lodge for watching a Brother.
7 Mar 1876 A period of hard times are noted in the tone of the minutes. The trend of the Lodge was downhill, both financially
and in membership. The entire year of 1876 revealed a low ebb in Masonic interest. On some meeting nights, there were not
enough present to open Lodge. The Tyler’s salary was cut from $1 to 50 cents. The minutes are nil.
From the minutes – “It was moved and seconded that the W.’.M.’. communicate with the District Deputy Grand Master and state
condition of the Lodge and see if the Grand Lodge will refund the dues for this year. It was moved and seconded that the trustees be
authorized to borrow $100 for a few months.”
2 May 1876 The M.’.W.’. appointed a committee to receive contributions to defray the expenses of the funeral of W. M. Bishop.
2 Jan 1877 Initiation fee dropped from $25 to $20 . . . Sometime between 1876 and 1879 the Byington Block came into the
hands of Charles Baker. At least the rent was paid to Bro. Baker with no mention being made of ever changing their Lodge rooms.
During the greater part of 1879, one meeting per month was held.
In 1880, jurisdictional disputes began to crop up between East Syracuse and Fayetteville. Committees from the two Lodges met but
the result of their findings do not appear in the minutes.
17 Apr 1883 39 members were notified that they had been unaffiliated for non-payment of dues.
In 1888 Fayetteville Lodge had weathered the depression and was on the upgrade both in members and money.
It must be noted here that two books containing the minutes of the meetings from 1889 to 1900 cannot be found. These may have
been lost while moving from the old Temple to the present one.
1910-1917 Jurisdiction line were more or less disregarded in accepting applications. The Lodge would accept a candidate,
initiate, pass and raise him, and then think about whether or not he was in their jurisdiction; only if another Lodge brought it to their
attention. The result: lengthy correspondence, bad feelings, paying the initiation fees from one Lodge to another and sometimes
Grand Lodge had to step into the dispute (21 Jun 1910).
Ca 1910 the Lodge rooms were used by the Forester, G.A.R., Grangers, Good Templars and Eastern Star. All but the Star paid rent
to the Lodge.
17 Nov 1914 A petition was received containing the names of several Brothers residing in Minoa asking permission to form a new
Lodge in that village. On the following meeting the petition was rejected.
16 Jan 1917 Jurisdictional disputes still continued. So much so that an Isaac Swartz was paid $15 for surveying jurisdictional line
between Fayetteville and East Syracuse. 17 Apr 1917 our representative to the Grand Lodge Convention was instructed to notify the
Grand Lodge of our difficultly with Onondaga County.
During WWI the Lodge purchased Liberty Bonds, War Savings Stamps, contributed to various relief organizations and remitted the
dues of our Brothers serving in the Military Forces.
80