Those were the Days!
A historical look at some of the firsts at Maiden Lodge No. 592
 
Establishing Maiden Lodge No. 592
The town of Maiden; having been chartered in 1883; was but 27 years old in 1910 when a group of Master Masons joined together to organize a Masonic Lodge in the town. Reverend A.W. Setzer led the group and filed the petition for dispensation with Brother John C. Drewery, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of A.F.& A.M. of North Carolina on August 20, 1910. The petition had been certified on August 19, 1910 by the officers and members of Catawba Lodge # 248 in Newton, NC. Maiden Lodge U.D. began work with its first meeting while under dispensation on Thursday, October 13, 1910. The Charter was granted on January 11, 1911 by Most Worshipful Richard N. Hackett, Grand Master of Masons in North Carolina

 
The First Installation of Officers
It is written in the lodge history that the lodge met at the home of Brother E.J. Taylor on Providence Mill Road for the first installation of officers in 1911. Election of Officers originally took place in June of each year with installation in July. This was later changed in 1933 when elections took place in December. At 11:00am the lodge was opened in due form at Brother Taylor's home. After which the lodge proceeded to a platform in a nearby grove on the property of Brother Taylor for the installation of officers. The lodge then returned to the place of opening and was called from labor to refreshment until 8:00pm at the lodge room being the time for regular communication. Only one other meeting is recorded to have been held outside the lodge room and that was on November 11,1963 when the Brethren of Excelsior Lodge #265 in Charlotte conferred the Master Masons Degree on Brother Brady Neal Lawing in the Maiden High School gymnasium. The degree work was enjoyed by all 114 attending Master Masons.

 
The First Elected Officers
The following elected officers were approved by the Grand Master and opened the first Maiden lodge for the dispatch of business:
W.B. Gaither
Master
Rev. A.W. Setzer
Senior Warden
Robert D. Taylor
Junior Warden
 
At this same meeting the Master appointed the following officers:
 
J.D. Kline
Senior Deacon
Dr. P.J. Klutz
Junior Deacon
Robert A. Rudisill
Secretary
Rev. Charles E. Beaver
Treasurer
E.J. Taylor
Tyler

 
36th District Meeting, Maiden, NC September 16, 1929



 

Visiting officers, Maiden officers and Degree Team of Maiden Lodge #592.
Standing (l to r) Farney Haynes, H.I. Jones, J.F. Carpenter, S. Hatcher, Wade Lefber, Loy R. Bost, G.E. Hunsucker
Seated (rear row) R.A. Rudisill Treas., J.A. Koons, J.W. Barron D.D.G.M. 29th District, E.G. Mauney Master, S.H. Steelman D.D.G.M. 36th District, R.R. Coulter J.W.
Seated (on floor) D.H. Thorne S.D., J.H. Bost, E.A. Hawn, Zeb Haynes, D.S. Cloninger, Fred Hewitt, C.M. Lawing and W.A. Fulwood



 
The First to be made a Master Mason
The first man to petition the lodge for the degrees was Mr. W.B. Murray who applied on November 15, 1910. Mr. Murray was elected to receive the degrees on December 13, 1910 and was initiated at that same communication. He was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft on January 31, 1911 and raised to the degree of Master Mason on March 21, 1911 and thus became the first to receive all the degrees in Maiden Lodge.

The First Supper
Oyster suppers have been a favorite gathering of the lodge for many years. The first oyster supper was held January 1, 1912. Total expense for the supper was $10.53. These suppers were held annually until 1962 when the expense became to great that the custom was stopped.

 
The First Lodge
The first lodge room was located on the 2nd floor of the Rabb- Carpenter Co. store building in Maiden. Mr. D.M. Carpenter agreed to let the lodge rent the room which included two tables, chairs, four lamps and a stove for $2.00 a month. The room was lit by lamps and candles and heated with a wood burning stove. Electricity did not come to Maiden until 1915. On November 16, 1916 the lodge appointed a committee to have the hall lighted "provided it does not cost over $5.00 to wire nor over 60 cents per month to operate." On February 12,1916 it was reported that the work was to be done for $4.15. The lodge continued to rent the room until about 1921.On February 9, 1920, the town commissioners agreed to allow the lodge to build a third floor onto the new city hall that the town was having erected. The building was completed in 1921. The lodge remained located in the city hall building for the next 40 years. In 1960, the town of Maiden elected to remove the two top floors of the city hall compelling the lodge to seek a new meeting hall. The upper floor of the Moretz store building was recommended. The owner, Mr. Leonard Moretz agreed to rent the upper floor, provided the lodge made all renovations necessary for its use. The lodge voted to accept the terms and began work on the second floor in the early summer of 1961. Work had progressed enough for the lodge to hold its first communication in the new hall on October 9, 1961. In January 1969, the lodge appointed Brother Pinkney Lineberger to inquire of Mr. Moretz as to the possibility of selling the building to the lodge. On March 10, 1969, Brother Lineberger reported that Mr. Moretz had agreed to sell the property to the lodge for $12,000 and would make a contribution of $3,000 to the lodge. The lodge voted to purchase the property. The money was acquired by contributions from members and generous gifts from Maiden Chapter #127 O.E.S. The lodge still resides in the same building and continues to make improvements to assure a comfortable meeting hall that can be enjoyed by all of its members. During the summer of 2000 Brothers Adrian Cloninger and Frank Cloninger donated just over 3 acres of land on West Maiden Road before Martin Marietta on the east side of the creek, to be used as the site for our new lodge. This land was surveyed in December of 2000 and the deed was approved. This will be the new site of Maiden Masonic Lodge #592. Current Master, David L. Early has made it a goal of the year 2001 to have construction for the new lodge start this year.

 
The First Lodge Furniture
The furniture for the lodge was bought in small amounts when the money was available. Brother J.D. Cline paid $5.25 for columns, candlesticks and letter G furnished. W.B. Gaither paid $3.95 for columns and frames for charter. On February 13, 1913, a committee appointed to purchase eight cuspidors for the lodge room. On motion, 10 cents per month was appropriated for cleaning cuspidors once each month. (This appropriation and purchase evidently not carried out for on march 13, 1913, the committee reported no action taken and the committee discharged.) Brother S.L. Heffner was paid 50 cents for a bucket, Brother W.G. Bandy paid $5.00 for a desk and Brother R.A. Rudisill was paid $5.95 for a stove, stove pipe, stove board, trunk and other lodge supplies. On August 20, 1913, the secretary was ordered to purchase 12 lambskin aprons "at no more than $1.00 each!" The lodge paid $49.75 for "Masonic Regalia" in December 1913. On February 14, 1921, the lodge voted to pay Piedmont Telephone and Telegraph Company $5.00 to install a telephone in the lodge. The telephone was discontinued January 12, 1930. On May 8, 1939, Brother E.A. Hawn reported that a lavatory could be bought for $2.50 and the lodge voted to buy it. On the same date the lodge voted to go ahead and have a sewer line roughed in for 2 commodes and to "erect one available for use and erect two if the money was available." The lodges cost for the sewer line was $36.66. In December 1939 one commode and lavatory was installed by Brother Jerome Ingle for $30.28. It wasn't until April 8, 1940 that a committee was instructed to proceed with building a room around the commode and lavatory. There is no mention of any petition or curtain around the toilet area before the room was built so that from December 1939 through December 1940 persons using the toilet did so being exposed to any other persons present in the area or so it appears. The theatre seats in the lodge were purchased for $1.00 each from the old theatre building in Maiden.

 
The First Lodge Dining Hall
Work on the dining hall of the lodge was begun in October 1969. A commercial gas range was bought by the lodge on December 8, 1969, but was replaced by electric stoves when the heat pump was installed. Two new electric ranges were purchased by the lodge in 1985. The tables for the dining room were built by the brethren and the lodge purchased 100 folding metal chairs for $3.25 each on March 9, 1970. A deep freezer was bought December 27, 1971 and a water fountain for the lodge lobby was donated by Brother W.H. Jordan July 9, 1973.

 

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