Saratoga Lodge No. 14
1874-1974
In 1975, Grand Historian Walter C. Reusser recorded in a privately printed work entitled, “Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Wyoming 1874-1974” the following excerpt, while much of the material has been reused it is clear from textual analysis that Grand Historian Ruesser was working on narrative histories of all the Lodges in Wyoming; this is what he wrote about the history of Saratoga Lodge No. 14:
Not until about 1892 did the Saratoga community have enough Masons in it to justify teh organization of a lodge, as members of the fraternity in the area attend lodge in Rawlins. But soon thereafter a number of meetings were held and a petition was drawn up for approval of Rawlins Lodge, in whose Jurisdiction Saratoga was located, to form a lodge there. Rawlins Lodge agreed to the formation of the new Lodge on the condition that all the towns on the Union Pacific Railroad in the area remain in the Rawlins Jurisdiction. The petition was then sent to Grand Master John C. Davis of the Grand Lodge of Wyoming who approved it and issued a dispensation to form the lodge on February 2, 1892.1
On February 9 the new Lodge was duly instituted by Grand Secretary William Kuykendall, for the Grand Master, and the following officers were installed: John F. Crawford, Worshipful Master; John Johnston, Senior Warden; William Bauer, Junior Warden; John H. Mullison, Secretary; Alvin W. Eager, Treasurer; George F. Brenner, Senior Deacon; Donald McPhail, Junior Deacon; and H.B. McLean, Tyler. After several meetings the by-laws of Rawlins Lodge No. 5 were adopted with the meeting date fixed for the first Tuesday of each month. The first petitions for membership by initiation were received from John B. Eager and Charles Poole. Both were approved and made Masons while the Lodge was working under dispensation.
On December 6, 1892, a formal application was made to the Grand Lodge for a charter for Saratoga Lodge, as the brothers were able to show an increase from the original nine members to nineteen Master Masons in one year. The charter was granted by the Grand Lodge and, again Grand Secretary Kuykendall, acting for the Grand Master, constituted Saratoga Lodge No. 14 and installed the following elected officers: J.F. Crawford, Worshipful Master; Alvin W. Eager, Senior Warden; Walter W. Craine, Junior Warden; William Brauer, Treasurer; George F. Brenner, Secretary. The appointed officers were: Eugene Kreigh, Senior Deacon; John B. Eager, Junior Deason; Jonathan B. Parker, Senior Steward; Walter B. Cowen, Junior Steward.
The first meetings of the Lodge were held in the Burdick Building where rooms were for rented for forty dollars per month, but as this arrangement was not entirely satisfactory, a committee was appointed to investigate the feasibility of erecting a building that would be better adapted for Masonic purposes. Not long thereafter a report was made by the committee, and adopted by the Lodge, that a new structure was to be erected. The contract was let for a building that cost $3,600.00, this amount to be paid in installments over a four year period. But in the 1890’s times were hard, the Lodge experienced great difficulty in meeting the payments, and had it not been for the generosity of Brother William Brauer who helped finance the payments, it might have been necessary to surrender the charter. By 1900 things began to look much brighter and the Lodge was able to pay its indebtedness, including the money that Brother Brauer had advanced.
In 1901 a chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star was organized, a number of new activities were undertaken by the Masons, among them the sponsorship of a new Lodge in the Jurisdiction to be located in Encampment.
Early in the present century a number of improvements were made in the Lodge building, such as laying new floors in several of the rooms, carpeting the lodge room and adjacent rooms, equipping the lodge room with new furniture, and fitting up the lower floor for dancing and for dining facilities.
In 1918 a large flag was presented to the Lodge to be placed in an appropriate position for ceremonial use and to adorn one of the walls. The gift was received with appreciation and hung in position in an appropriate flag ceremony. The following year a service flag with a gold star was placed in the room in memory of Brother Richard Angus England, a member of the Lodge, who gave his life for his country in a battle in France. A full-length portrait of the Brother in full0dress uniform was hung in the room.
In 1921 Rawlins Lodge No. 5 and Encampment Lodge No. 19 assisted Saratoga Lodge No. 14 in conferring the third degree on a number of Fellow Crafts. More than fifty members of the two visiting Lodges participated in the degree work in the afternoon session that was followed by a banquet served by the ladies of the Order of the Eastern Star. The evening session was attended by even more of the Masons, with an equal number participating in the degree work.
In 1912 the Lodge lost two of its older and most active members of the Craft in the death of William Brauer and John F. Crawford. In 1926 the Lodge lost its oldest Past Master in the death of brother Joseph B. Maghee, who for years had been an outstanding citizen and Mason. The sword that Brother Maghee had carried as an officer in the Civil War, and which had long been used by the Tyler, was appropriately engraved with the Brother’s name, military rank and the various services that he rendered to the Lodge. On September 19, 1941, the Craft lost one of its original members in the death of Alvin Eager, and on June 17, 1948, his brother, John B. Eager, died. Brother John was one fo the first Masons raised in Saratoga Lodge and in 1945 was presented with a fifty year button by the Grand Lodge of Wyoming. In 1949 Brother I.M. Conness was called by the Great Architect of the Universe to his eternal reward”. He was one of the pioneers in the organization of the Craft and in many ways rendered valuable service.
Some incidents that occurred over the years and are well remembered by the older brothers are the following: In 1928 a changed was made in the by-laws to provide for regular communication to be held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month instead of the four regular meetings that had been held formerly. In 1936 Saratoga Lodge No. 14 assisted in the formation of a new group in Hanna, the second lodge in the Jurisdiction under Saratoga Lodge. About this time the Secretary of Saratoga Lodge found the original note signed by the charter members, drawn to purchase the first furniture of the Lodge. The note was framed and hung on the wall of the lodge room. Brother Frank Mace presented a gavel made of stone taken from the quarries in Jerusalem from which the stone was taken for the building of King Solomon’s Temple. Brother Richard C. Harburg presented a gavel made of walrus tusk which he had secured from Anchorage, Alaska, and which he had engraved with the square and compasses and the inscription, “To Saratoga Lodge No. 14, A.F. and A.M., from Richard C. Harburg, Anchorage, Alaska.” The brothers of the Lodge were elated when in 1946 the Grand Lodge of Wyoming called a special communication after the regular communication of Saratoga Lodge No. 14 for the purpose of installing Brother Franklin J. DeForest as Grand Marshal. Brother DeForest was Master of Saratoga Lodge No. 14 in 1935, and progressed to the stations of Grand Master of Masons of Wyoming in 1956.
When in 1942 it came to the attention of the lodge that the graves of Brother Brauer’s children on his old home ranch were not properly cared for, a number of Masons traveled to the ranch, reset the headstones in cement and built a fence around the grave lot. At an earlier date, Brother Brauer had mortgaged his ranch to prevent a foreclosure on the present Masonic Temple.
Over the years some of the activities of Saratoga Lodge were: Three brothers were given life memberships in Saratoga Lodge No. 14. Among these were Frank Schilt, 1947; Lynn Gorton, 1948; and Dean M. Plaister, 1949. A number of improvements to the Masonic Hall were made during the 1940s, among which were the installation of running water in the kitchen and the installation of a butane gas heating system. A number of meetings of the Southeast Wyoming Masonic Club were held, the first was on the September 9, 1947, and in 1949 one that attracted the largest crowds ever assembled in the lodge room. In 1948 Saratoga Lodge No. 14 assisted in the organization and sponsorship of a Bethel of Job’s Daughters. On several occasions meetings were held jointly by the Masonic Lodge and the the Order of the Eastern Star for the purpose of installing officers. In 1948 the annual dues were raised from five dollars to seven dollars and fifty cents and the initiation fee was raised from fifty to sixty dollars. On April 23, 1957, Most Worshipful Grand Master Franklin J. Deforest made his official visit to his home lodge. Prior to the meeting a turkey dinner was served to thirty-one members and twenty visitors present. Past Grand Master Frank Meyers and Grand Chaplain Albert Murray were among the guest present. On June 11, 1960, a special joint meeting with Encampment lodge was held at Saratoga to entertain the Southeast Masonic Club. A picnic supper was held in Brother Roy Wilson’s backyard, with about ninety in attendance. the degree team from Wyoming Consistory No. 1 conferred the Master Mason degree on Larry Kanter, stationed with the Air Force at Encampment. Thirty-two brothers from Cheyenne arrived in a chartered bus with all costumes and paraphernalia.
During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s a number of improvements were on the lodge hall. While the lodge was in recess, extensive work on the main lodge room, stripping and celotexing the ceiling, new wiring, and other repair work was done.
Brothers who served as Worshipful Master since it’s organization were: John F. Crawford, 1892, 1893, 1894; William Brauer, 1895, 1896, 1897; W.L. Johnson, 1898; A.J. Doggett, 1899, 1904; J.B. Maghee, 1900, 1902, 1907; J.R. Rollman, 1901; I.M. Conness, 1903; C.B. Starrett, 1905; Clement E. Jensen, 1906; C.R. Brenner, 1908; Arthur G. Huntington, 1909, 1910; D.M. Plaister, 1911; Earnest Pearson, 1912; Roy C. Peck, 1913, 1919; Edward B. Winner, 1914, 1918; Frank A. Schilt, 1915, 1916; D.S. Richmond, 1917; Andrew E. Dahl, 1920, 1922; William P. Hays, 1921; J.R. Campbell, 1923, 1924; Howard B. Prouty, 1925; Donald J. Rankin, 1926; L.E. Walck, 1927; J. Gordon Morgan, 1928; Charles J. Sjoden, 1929; Frank Q. Walck, 1930; Swan H. Olson, 1931; Russell M. Baldwin, 1932; James H. Dyce, 1933; Clark D. Wilcox, 1934; Franklin J. Deforest, 1935 and 1939; O.L. Furgason, 1936; George D. Fryer, 1937; Richard R. Riggs, 1938; Luther T. Killion, 1940; Will A. Tikkanen, 1941; Lloyd G. Aden, 1942; John W. Harpham, 1943; Lawrence E. Needham, 1944; Daniel M. Jackson, 1945; John W. Runner, 1946; Roy E. Wilson, 1947 and 1949; Francis J. Swanson, 1948; Garrett W. Allen, 1950; Earl E. Jones, 1951; Lloyd D. Donelan, 1952; William A. Bernatow, 1953; Charles H. Winter, 1954; Vernice A. Allen, 1955; Harold Frederick Willford, 1956; Harvey H. Mowry, 1957; Eugene W. Walck, 1958; Lewis E. Pennock, 1959; Rene E. Vyvey, 1960; Robert L. Stolns, 1961; Carl K. Olson, December 1961 to March 1963; C. William Willford, March, 1963 to June 1964; Donald H. Mowry, 1964-1965; John E. McNellis, 1965-66; Robert D. Wilson, 1966-67; William E. Johns, 1967-68; George W. Leavengood, 1968-69; Joseph B. Stolns, 1969-70; Chales A. Sanger, 1970-71; Loren H. Willford, 1971-1972; Joseph E. Jones, 1972-73; Sam D. Clark, 1973-74; Thomas E. Reppert 1974-75.
1 Sources of the information for this historical sketch of Saratoga Lodge No. 14 were the reports of brothers Afred J. Kokler, I.M. Conness, Andrew E. Dahl, Wetsel C. Conrey, Lester E. Wlck, Earl Jones and Roy E. Wilson.
