A History of Masonry in Green Bay

                                                                     Menominee Lodge #374 F. & A.M.

The first Masonic Lodge in Green Bay arose from a religious feast day. On December 27, 1823, ten area Masons gathered to celebrate the Festival of Saint John the Evangelist, who is said to have been one of the Patrons of Masonry.  Seven of those men were officers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment stationed at Fort Howard. They included Majors Watson and Green, Captain Browning, Lieutenants Lewis and Dean, and Surgeons Saterlee and Wheaton.  Their host was George Johnston whose farmhouse was located near the military garrison.  Besides Brother Johnston the other two citizens were S. Wheeler and D. Curtis.  All of these men were members of the Craft.  On this night these ten Masons decided to obtain Green Bay’s first Chartered Masonic Lodge.  These young Americans began drafting a petition to expand the Masonic influences into the Michigan territory.  The final draft reads as follows:

            “we the undersigned, Free and Accepted Master Masons, who are, or have been, members of regular Lodges, having the propriety of the Fraternity at heart, are willing to exert our best endeavors to promote and diffuse the genuine principles of Masonry, and for the convenience of our respective dwellings, and other good reasons, we are desirous of forming a new Lodge at Green Bay in the Territory of Michigan, to be named Menomanie Lodge (the original spelling of the tribe of Native Americans located in this area which was later changed to Menominee), and in consequence of this desire we pray for letters of dispensation or if possible a warrant of constitution to empower us to assemble as a legal lodge, and to discharge the duties of Masonry in a regular and constitutional manner, according to the original forms of the order, and the regulations of Grand Lodge.  And we have nominated and do recommend Robert Irwin to be the first Master, Benjamin Watson to be the first Senior Warden, and Walter V. Wheaton as the first Junior Warden, of said Lodge.  And if the prayer of this petition shall be granted we promise strict conformity to all the constitutional laws and regulations of the Grand Lodge.  (Signed) N. Pinkney, J. Green, B. Watson, W. B. Wheaton, J. Dean, A. Lewis, R. S. Satterlee, Robert Irwin, C. Curtis, Henry B. Brevoot, S. Wheeler, N. G. Bean, George Johnston, Johy McCarty, and James Fitzgerald.”  The petition is not dated, but went through many drafts until the spring of 1824.

The petition was forwarded (probably by water after the navigation season opened in the spring of 1824) to Zion Lodge #3 located in Detroit (Michigan Territory), the nearest Lodge, where it was received sometime prior to the first Monday in May 1824.  On that date Zion Lodge passed a resolution of recommendation that the prayer of the petitioners be granted.  Endorsed on the petition is the following:

            “To the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of New York.

                        In conformity with a resolution of Zion Lodge #3, passed at a communication held on the first Monday of May current, we the undersigned, officers of said Lodge, do hearby recommend the Brethren who have subscribed the within petition for a dispensation or charter, authorizing them to form a new Lodge of Green Bay in this territory, and most cordially recommend that their prayer be granted.  By order of the committee of Zion Lodge #3, Detroit, Michigan Territory, May 29th A.L. (Anwo Lucius-Year of Light) 5824.  (Signed) John G. Whiting, Worshipful Maser; Obed Wait, Senior Warden; and Henry J. Hunt, Junior Warden.”

            On June 12, 1824, Martin Hoffman Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons of New York, issued his dispensation to Robert Irwin, Sr. as Worshipful Master, Major Benjamin Watson, Senior Warden, and Walter V. Wheaton, Junior Warden, to form and open Menominee Lodge.  The Dispensation was attested by Elias Hicks, Grand Secretary.

            The new Lodge had difficulty in getting started upon its Masonic work due to the lack of a present or Past Master to install its officers.  This was overcome by a dispensation and a letter addressed to Major Watson on August 18, 1824.  A problem developed from this because Major Watson was transferred to a different military base.  Brother Watson answered the letter with one of his own dated March 5, 1825, which reads:

            The dispensation of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, which you did me the honor to transmit, reached me a short time since after following me from place to place about the country.  On my arrival here, I however found it useless.  As a gentleman, Mr. Stevens, who was authorized, had installed the Lodge and it was in full operation, of which you have doubtless been informed, by the reports of Mr. Stevens and the Lodge.

            This being completed, the Grand Lodge of New York issued a warrant or charter to Menominee Lodge #374 on December 3, 1824.  (The number of the Lodge was later changed to #4 and, when a duplicate charter was granted on May of 1981, the number was returned to that of #374.)

            On September 2, 1824, the first regular Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was opened and organized at Fort Howard where the officers were installed by Mr. Stevens.  This meeting was held in an upper room over the commissary store on the grounds of Fort Howard with the following officers present: Robert Irwin, Sr., Worshipful Master; Walter Wheaton, Senior Warden (pro tem); A. Lewis, Junior Warden (pro tem).  Other Brethren present were – Curtis, Harrison, Saterlee, Dean, McNeal, who was also a Mason and a member of Menominee Lodge.

            By the annual meeting on December 3, 1824, the temporary officers of the Lodge had demonstrated progress.  In only three months, they had doubled the Lodge membership to twenty-one members.  Basically it remained a military Lodge with meetings continuing above the post commissary, as most of the members were soldiers.  The elections in the Lodge of 1824 indicated that the officers again reflected a military majority.  They included surgeon Walter V. Wheaton, Worshipful Master; surgeon R. S. Saterlee, Senior Warden; Robert Irwin Jr., Junior Warden; Lieutenants Hopson and Morris, Deacons; Lieutenant Dean as Secretary; and Mr. M. Gilman, Tiler.

            During the first full Masonic year there was an additional challenge for the military.  The post was the setting for a land settlement purchase between the Oneida Indians of New York State and the U.S. Government, and also for the Menominee and Winnebago Tribes.  Eleazor Williams, a local citizen of French and New England parentage, and a Mason, assisted with the resettlement.  The military staff handled the purchase ceremonies.  Brother Williams remained in this area becoming a merchant.  He is buried in the Oneida Episcopal Cemetery.  In the fall of 1825, Menominee Lodge #374 moved its location to a room above the John P. Arndt Store in the Plat of Astor, located on the East side of the Fox River in Green Bay’s second ward (at that time).  Today this is the area South of Mason Street and Between the Fox River and Webster Avenue.  The military brothers in the Lodge encouraged a shift to civilian leadership.  Lodge officers for the 1826 were all nonmilitary.  In December 1825 Robert Irwin, Jr. was elected Worshipful Master; Robert Irwin Sr., Senior Warden; George Johnston, Junior Warden; William Dickinson, Secretary; Benjamin Wallace, Treasurer; Henry S. Baird, Senior Deacon; L. Rouse, Junior Deacon; and M. Gilman, Tiler.  In December 1826, Henry S. Baird was elected Master; Lieutenant Henry Smith, Senior Warden; William Dickinson, Junior Warden; A. J. Irwin, Secrectary; Lieutenant Griswold, Treasurer; N. C. Bean and N. Perry, Deacons; and C. Mills, Tiler.  In December 1827, Henry S. Baird was re-elected Master as were Brothers Smith and Dickinson.

            This change in officers of the Lodge also reflected the transition from the military to the civilian way of life.  A vigorous movement of people came into this area with the arrival of the military in 1816.  Merchants followed this immigration in order to expand their markets.  The Irwin brothers, who were members of Menominee Lodge, owned one of the three busiest general stores in what was then known as “ Shanty Town”.  This was the first site of the military garrison.  Later the military moved to the Fort Howard site located on the West bank of the Fox River approximately two miles South of the mouth of the river, but many of the small businesses remained behind to grow and prosper.

            In 1827, Menominee Lodge moved to “Shanty Town” in a room above the Irwin General Store.  By this time, the area became the bustling community named Menomineeville.  For a time Menomineeville boasted the presence of the Brown County Courthouse.  In later years this area was named Allouez in honor of Claude Allouez who ministered to the religious needs of some of the people living here.

            Indeed this peaceful prosperity, which prevailed, ended the need for the military’s mission at Fort Howard.  In 1828, the regiment moved to a new station.  With it went the majority of the membership of Menominee Lodge.  Today, at Heritage Hill State Park, located South of Green Bay in the Village of Allouez. The room above the General Store is a representation of the Menominee Lodge which honors those men who brought Freemasonry to this area.  This Lodge, which was dedicated by Wisconsin Grand Lodge in May of 1981, is a replica of the first Masonic Lodge West of Detroit.

            Brother Henry S. Baird became prominent in the Green Bay area.  He was born in Dublin, Ireland, on May 16, 1800.  He came to this country with his family in 1805.  He grew up in the New York area and came to Michigan Territory to study law.  He was admitted to the bar by Judge (and Brother) James D. Doty in 1823 at Fort Michilimackinac now known as Mackinac.  A Masonic Lodge, the Henry S. Baird Lodge #211, located in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, is named for him.  He died on April 30, 1875.

            In 1827, Brother Baird, at the age of 25, was elected Worshipful Master of Menominee Lodge.  He was the first practicing lawyer West of Lake Michigan, and is known as the “Father of the Wisconsin Bar”.  He became a respected Judge in this area, a local delegate to Wisconsin’s First Constitutional Convention, Grand Master of the Wisconsin Grand Lodge in 1854, and was the Mayor of Green Bay in 1861-8162.  The original law office which was used by Brother Baird is on display at the Heritage Hill State Park.

            Menominee Lodge continued its regular communications and exercised the functions of the Lodge until sometime in the year 1830.  This discontinuance of the meetings of the Lodge was owing to several causes, but principally to the dispersion and separation of its members.  Many of them, as already remarked were attached to the army, and these members, in obedience to their call of duty, were obligated to repair to other military post, to form new associations; thus, in effect, dissolving Menominee Lodge, and severing the ties of friendship and fraternity which had so long existed between its members.  The six years of its existence reveal an effective membership including the military, an Indian agent, merchants, church leaders, men of medicine, respected community members, and lawyers.  Another member of this was the farmer George Johnston, who brought these men together for the first time in his home.  Records of the Grand Lodge in the State of New York and the Wisconsin Grand Lodge show the close of Menominee Lodge 374 in 1830.  The original Charter and the original dispensation remained in the archives of Washington Lodge #21 until they were destroyed in a fire on April 8, 1869.

            Brother Baird said, when addressing Washington Lodge in December of 1854, “but is it fair, Brethren, to say that Menominee Lodge no longer exists?  It is true, the name appears not upon the rolls of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin; it is equally true that her records are mutilated or destroyed, and that many of her worthy members have returned to their kindred earth.  But in spirit and truth, it still survives.  The name has given way to that of the immortal and venerated ‘Washington’ a name revered by all good men, and worthy Masons.  This Lodge was organized on the application of the surviving resident members of the old one, and others who had become citizens here; and it will be found that at least half of the petitioners for the formation of the new Lodge had been members of the old one.  Again, the jewels now worn by the officers of Washington Lodge, as well as part of the furniture and implements, were property of old ‘Menominee’ and above all, the same principles of brotherly love and fellowship actuate and govern us, which once united and harmonized our worthy predecessors.  Thus, then, in fact, ‘Washington Lodge’ is but a revival or reorganization of the old pioneer, and although by our present charter, and the records of the Grand Lodge of this state, this Lodge is numbered ‘21’, yet its members may justly be considered as representatives of the worthy Brethren who first introduced Masonry into Wisconsin, and gave to her a local habitation and a name.”

Washington Lodge # 21, F.&A.M.

            On December 23 1847, a dispensation was granted by Abram D. Smith, then Grand Master for the State of Wisconsin, to sixteen Master Masons residing in Green Bay and Fort Howard authorizing them to meet and work under the name of Washington Lodge.  On the 15th day of January 1848, three weeks after the issue of the dispensation, they were, by resolution of the Grand Lodge, then in session in Madison, granted a charter and signed the number 21.  The early records of this Lodge, have been destroyed by fire, and the published proceedings of the Grand Lodge containing no record of the constitution, is unknown as to the exact date.  It entered upon its labors as a regular constituted Lodge, but it was working under its original dispensation as of December 1, 1848, the same year Wisconsin become a state.  The officers named in the new charter are listed as follows: Brothers Henry S. Baird, Worshipful Master; Soloman Davis, Senior Warden; and Nathan Goodell, Junior Warden.  They continued in their stations for six years after the lodge was duly chartered.

            When first chartered, the Lodge rooms were established on the second floor of a frame building then standing at the Northwest corner of Washington and Cherry Streets.  Subsequently the Lodge was moved to the third floor of the State Gazette building located in the three hundred block of Pine Street.  From that site it was moved to a brick building occupied by the First National Bank, where it remained until its destruction by fire in April of 1869.  The present Charter was granted in lieu of the original which had been destroyed.  This Charter is hanging in the entrance outside of the present Lodge room.  It was granted on June 8, 1869, A.L. 5869.  George Lamb is listed as Worshipful Master; Oliver Libby, Senior Warden; and William J. Fisk, Junior Warden.

            Following the fire there is no record as to where meetings were held, but on May 6, 1908, a resolution was then offered to build a new building at the Southwest corner of Cherry and Adams Streets.  The building was three stories in height, but would be strong enough to support three more stories if needed.  The corner stone was laid in the Northeast corner of the building on September 7, 1908 at 3:00 P.M.  The building was enlarged by an addition and an elevator in later years.  This building was gutted by fire in March 1977, and replaced by the present one, now known as Northeast Wisconsin Masonic Center, which is located at 525 North Taylor Street, Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It was dedicated on September 8, 1979, A.L. 5879.  During the period of construction, Washington Lodge met at the Odd Fellows Temple and Odd Fellows Home, and at DesPeres Masonic Lodge.

            Washington Lodge has had three of its members elevated to the position of Grand Master.  Henry S. Baird was Master of the Lodge from 1848 through 1853, and was Grand Master 1856-1857.  Oliver Libby was Master of the Lodge from 1871 through 1873, and was Grand Master 1884-1885.  Norman H. Smithwas Master of the Lodge in 1942, and was Grand Master 1948-1949.

            Many of the other Past Masters have been prominent in the community.  Some of them include: Carlton Merrill, a Brown County Judge for thirty-seven years; Lee F. Blood, a businessman, Dr. Edward S. Jones, a Dentist; Emil R. Fischer, businessman and past President of the Green Bay Packers Corporation; Lee Cranston, lawyer, Fred G. Lier, Banker; Timothy P. King, businessman; Norman H. Smith, lawyer, Earl H. Cayce, government employee; Russell R. Gettleman, businessman; and Thomas H. Lutsey, Businessman and philanthropist.

            Some bits of information regarding the Lodge, in 1909 Washington Lodge had 234 members, 723 members in 1957, and 509 in 1985.  In 1922 and again in 1926, there were 44 new men raised each year to the sublime degree of Master Mason.  Raymond E. Nitschke was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason June 4, 1964.  Bartlett B. Starr was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason June 29, 1965.