Lead Masonic Lodge records

Collection

Identifier: 5005

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection primarily contains administrative and organizational records of Lead-Deadwood Masonic organizations, including Lodges and York Rite bodies. Little material relates to the Scottish Rite. Materials in the collection include annual reports or returns, officers’ reports, correspondence, financial records of the secretary and treasurer (the secretary handled much of the daily cash flow), membership records, petitions or applications to join or advance, and meeting minutes. Some photographs are included. The collection is arranged in seven series corresponding to the different bodies represented: Golden Star Lodge No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Dakota Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons; Black Hills No. 3, Royal and Select Masters; Dakota Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar; Lead Chapter No. 18, Order of the Eastern Star; Black Hills Chapter, Order of DeMolay; and Lead Chapters, Modern Brotherhood of America. While the Modern Brotherhood of America is not a Masonic organization, its materials were donated as part of this collection. Subseries contain the records of bodies that merged into each organization.

These records, accumulated from the 1870s to the very early 2000s, were housed in the Masonic Temple in Lead. Storage conditions and access varied through the years, with some resultant damage, loss, or disorder. Original order is lacking, and the records are not complete or consistent. The filing system changed often, e.g. a membership petition might be filed in a petition file in 1920, but in an individual’s file in 1955, sometimes with an associated transfer or resignation paper (known as a “demit”). Rejected petitions might be included with accepted petitions. Annual reports or returns might be found in correspondence instead of a separate file. Many items were appended to minutes.

The rise of Masonic organizations in the area is documented, as well as later lessening of membership and consolidation of units. There is a wealth of early material from the 1870s. Membership records and meeting minutes are abundant, with much biographical information. Correspondence between the Lodge and the Grand Lodge is included, along with information on annual statewide and district affairs.

Applications for membership and transfers throughout the United States are included in most series. Some applicants were never approved for membership, but the applications were retained. Biographical and family information is present. Some information was kept as members died, including death and burial information. Information includes other areas of the United States, as Masons moved and transferred, died, or received longevity awards. Logs of visiting Masons were kept by most bodies.

Frequently members belonged to or held office in more than one unit. This resulted in some mixing of unit files, which were generally left mixed due to the uncertain original rationale for mixing the files and to the difficulty of separating. The records of merged units were continued in existing record books but not necessarily in the record book of the chapter whose name was retained by the merged organization. This can result in an apparent gap in the records, e.g. the minutes from 1920-1921 for Dakota Chapter No. 3 can be found in the minutes of Golden Belt Chapter No. 35, 1912-1922.

Music played a role in rituals and entertainments. A large collection of choral and instrumental sheet music is included, primarily in the Golden Star Lodge No. 9 series.

A sizeable collection of material on the Order of the Eastern Star exists, including scrapbooks. A smaller amount exists for DeMolay, but very little documentation is included from Job's Daughters.

Dates

1871 - 2002

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center with no restrictions to access. The collection may be utilized during normal operating hours or by appointment.

Biographical / Historical

Freemasonry or Masonry is the oldest known men’s fraternal organization in the world, tracing its origins to associations of stone masons. The entry-level Masonic unit is the Symbolic or Blue Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Advancing beyond the Lodge in the York Rite are Royal Arch Masons, Royal and Select Masters, and Knights Templar. The Scottish Rite is a different advancement track. Each unit in an area is a chartered group, approved at a higher level. Each unit has a name and a number, an officer structure, and approved procedures and rituals. There are also auxiliary groups for women, boys, and girls, known as the Order of the Eastern Star, DeMolay, and Job's Daughters, respectively.

In South Dakota, there was Masonic activity as early as 1862. The first charter was issued under the jurisdiction of Iowa to a lodge in Yankton, Dakota Territory, in 1863. By 1875, there were five lodges, all in the southeastern part of the territory. In 1875, the Iowa Grand Lodge instituted the Grand Lodge of Dakota at Vermillion. In October 1899, ten years after statehood was granted, North Dakota and South Dakota were split into two Grand Lodges.

Masonic units in the Black Hills were established soon after the discovery of gold in the 1870s. In the first half-century of settlement, many small towns had their own lodges and often York Rite bodies. Deadwood Lodge No. 7 was chartered in 1877; Lead’s Golden Star Lodge No. 9 was chartered June 12, 1879; and Central City Lodge No. 22 was chartered June 15, 1881.

York Right Bodies soon followed. Royal Arch Masons first started to organize in the Black Hills in Lead in 1879. The charter was granted August 27, 1880 for Dakota Chapter No. 3. At the first meeting on October 13, 1880, a resolution requesting a move to Deadwood was passed. Lead’s Black Hills Council No. 3, Royal and Select Masters, began forming in 1907 and was chartered in 1910. Deadwood Commandery No. 1 of the Knights Templar was chartered in May 1880. The group met in a log building on Charles Street near the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. Lead Commandery No. 18 operated from roughly 1902 to 1918. The Lead group surrendered its charter so that the Deadwood Commandery could transfer to Lead, retaining the No. 1 designation for the area. At this point, all York Rite bodies were in Lead, with the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, a different advancement track of masonry, meeting in Deadwood. Many prominent citizens were members of the Masons, including W.E. Adams.

To facilitate their activities, Masonic groups maintained buildings and cemeteries within the Northern Black Hills. By 1929, the Lead Masonic Lodge was on the northwest corner of Main and Bleeker Streets at 7 North Bleeker Street. With two stories, a basement, and an asbestos roof, the lodge was used for both mercantile and Masonic activities. The Masonic Building Association of Lead was incorporated March 11, 1932 to fund and operate a new building, with bonds issued to members only. Beginning about September 1932, the old building was removed and salvaged. The new Masonic Temple on Main Street was dedicated in Lead on February 4, 1933. Two mining claims were patented to form the Masonic Cemetery. Five acres were divided between Golden Star Lodge No. 9, Lead Independent Order of Odd Fellows No. 17, Dakota Lodge No. 6 Knights of Pythias, and the Central City Odd Fellows. The name of the Masonic Building Association was changed to the Masonic Cemetery Association in 1947, formally incorporating the cemetery association and including building operation under it.

As fraternal organization membership declined in the late twentieth century, many local Masonic units consolidated. Whitewood Lodge No. 144 surrendered its charter on December 9, 1961, and the Central City Lodge disbanded on November 1, 1972. Royal Arch Masons Dakota Chapter No. 3, Deadwood, consolidated with Lookout Chapter No. 36, Spearfish, in 1995. In the same year, Lead Commandery No. 1 consolidated with Spearfish’s Black Hills No. 23. When units consolidated or merged, the lowest or earliest number was usually kept for the merged body.

In 2012, the Lead Masonic Lodge was sold. Golden Star Lodge No. 9 met at the Masonic Lodge in Deadwood, although the Lead and Deadwood lodges did not merge.

Extent

41.0 Linear feet (46 boxes; 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection primarily contains administrative and organizational records of Lead-Deadwood Masonic organizations, including Lodges and York Rite bodies. These records accumulated from 1871 to 2002 and were housed in the Lead Masonic Temple. The collection includes annual reports or returns, officers’ reports, correspondence, financial and membership records, applications to join or advance, meeting minutes, sheet music, and photographs.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in seven series: Series 1: Golden Star Lodge No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Series 2: Dakota Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons; Series 3: Black Hills No. 3, Royal and Select Masters; Series 4: Dakota Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar; Series 5: Lead Chapter No. 18, Order of the Eastern Star; Series 6: Black Hills Chapter, Order of DeMolay; and Series 7: Lead Chapters, Modern Brotherhood of America. Subseries contain the records of bodies that merged into each organization. Each series or subseries is arranged alphabetically by subject. Oversize materials from all series are arranged together in Box 46 and Oversize Folder 1.