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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1908)
unday Bee PART III. Go Into that Hwb THE OMAHA DEC Best . West IIALF-T011E SECTION PACES 1 TO 4. VOL. XXXVIII NO. 1. OMAIIA, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 21, 190S. SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS. NEBRASKA MASONIC GRAND LODGE AND ITS ACTIVITIES Something About the Great Secret Fraternity that Has Quietly Built Up Its Effective Organization Among the Citizenship of the State and Has CarriedxOn Its Charities Without Ostentation The Omaha FOR the first time In a number of years the grand master of Nebraska Freemasonry Is a resident of Omaha, the master chosen at the last session of the grand lodge being William A. DeBord. Omaha has been the home of a large number of past masters of the organization, the oldest past master now being Daniel H. Wheeler, who, however, was not a resi dent of the city at the time he was at the head of the organization. At the last session of the grand lodge memorial services were held in honor of one of the most distinguished Masons of the present generation, a former graiad master and resident of Omaha, Hon. George W. Llnlnger" the ' father" of the Masonic home of the state and one of the most earnest students of Masonry In the world. Past Grand Master Llnlnger was one of the men who early saw that the work of the order In Nebraska should be along the lines of that adopted In Great Britain If It were to meet that degree of success which Us objects warrant. Previous to the evolution of the Idea of the Masonic home the various lodges of the state and the Individual members had done much In the way of organized relief of distressed brothers and their families, but, with the exception of an lnter-lodge relief committee maintained In Omaha for a number of years, there was no especially organized effort toward relieving members and their families. Beginnings of the Home A number of the brethren, as early as 1866, started the move ment for the education of the orphans of Masons. Donations received that year were from Jonathan N. Wise of Plattsmouth, O. H. Irish and J. N. H. Patrick. This fund of $30 was the neucleus around which grew the fund which resulted In the purchase and maintenance of the Masonic home, but the establishment of a home was at that time no part of the Idea of the donors. The next money to be received by the fund was a donation by Champion S. Chase of $10.50, the next year. This fund grew until 1887, when the suggestlc jf a Masonic home was first made. In 1888 a corporation was organized to carry out tho object, and Mr. Llnlnger was elected president. When it came to locating the home Omaha was the choice of the holders of 134 shares; Plattsmouth received twenty-one votes and York six. The matter rested in this condition for several years and It was not until 1903 that the home was finally established. In all of these years Mr. Llnlnger worked early and late to keep Interest alive. On his visits to Europe he studied methods and systems and never per mitted the interest to decline. However, all of the work of Past Grand Master Llnlnger would not have availed to establish the home as it now exists with the money at hand bad it not been for Francis K. White, the present grand secretary of the order. Mr. White was one of the pioneer residents of Plattsmouth and had builded a home for his family at that place, which was one of the largest houses In the town. It was surrounded by large grounds and located in one of the most beautiful building sites in the city. Upon Mr. White's election as grand sec retary of the order he found It advisable to move to Omaha to reside and his residence at Plattsmouth was offered to the grand lodge as a Masonic home for about one-third of what the ground and building had originally cost. It took the grand lodge but a Bhort time to decide that the offer should be accepted and under its instructions the Home waa formally opened by the grand lodge September 1, 1903. Mr. Llninger's name will always be connected with the Masonlo Home and in his will he gave largely to its funds. Quality of the Order The running expenaes of the home are secured by annual dues paid by each, member of the lodge in the state, and this is the only fund for relief purposes which Is raised by a law of the order; for, as has been frequently remarked, "Masonry is an institution peculiar unto itself. It follows none, patterns after none and competes with none' For this reason the order shuns publicity. The most genial fellows on earth will hold festal meetings from time to time. The flow of wit and humor; the height and depth of sentiment, the scin tillations of the finest oratory are spread for the edification of the brethren, and aside from those assembled brethren none are the wiser. Literature, lecturers, philosophers, poets, all, vie with each other' tn presenting to their fellows without money and without price products of their mind which the world believes Itself fortunate to purchase at any figure. For this reason there is no desire on the part of the organ ization to make a large showing of membership. Like all other human institutions It appreciates prosperity, but In its history and tradition, running back almost to the dawn of civilization, it has learned that the race Is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong at least not as swiftness and strength are understood by the super ficial. The Idea of selecting quality rather than Quantity was not more firmly Impressed upon Gideon than It has been upon Free-, masonry in America, and sometimes the lesson has been one which has left scars. In the light of this knowledge the growth of the order in the state is not only something to be appreciated by the society, but speaks volumes for the citizenship of the state. The returns to the grand lodge shows that 1,700 persons were made Master Masons In the fiscal year 1907-8, and that the total number of Master Masons in good standing was 16,393 on the rolls March 31, 1908. Considered from the standpoint of population Nebraska is one of the strongest of Masonic jurisdictions, and its work demonstrated the activity of its membership. As the lodge has grown with the growth of the Hate it can readily be understood that the history of the commonwealth is to a great extent reflected In this history of the order. The Nebraska pioneers came from Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, largely. There was none of the "transcendental" effort at colonization In Nebraska that marked the early settlement of Its sister state, Kansas, and It can easily be understood that these pioneers In reeling the necessity of a lodge-home In their new surroundings looked to the earlier associations to provide such place; so the first lodge organized In the territory was chartered by the graud lodge of Illinois, the second by the grand lodge of Missouri and the third by the grand lodge of Iowa. While the institution of the first lodge at Bellevue Is an oft told tale It la not so generally known that the first petition received by any Masonic lodge in the state waa signed by Peter A. Sarpy, the man in whose honor Sarpy county was named, and who was the owner of the building In which the first lodge was opened. He was Initiated Into the order January 5, 1856, at Council Bluffs, la., as the Infant lodge had neither the facilities nor the house for the work. The first person to receive the third degree in the state was Henry T. Clarke, who Is proving his youth at this time by making active efforts before both the republican and democratic national conventions to secure the restoration of steamboats on the Missouri river, and making that stream today, as It was In the dawn of Masonic light in the territory, one of the main channels of commerce of the west. Growth in Nebraska While there Is some doubt as to' who composed the membership of the first lodge In the state there Is none as to the membership of the second, which was authorised by the grand lodge of Missouri and opened at Nebraska City, May 39, 1856, and chartered May 28, 1856, under the name of Giddings lodge No. 156. The third lodge, chartered by the grand lodge of Iowa, was organized at Omaha and was chartered June 2, 18b 7. It Is Interesting to note that A. R, GUmore, who had been one of the charter members of the lodge at Bellevue, was also a charter n. ember of the lodge at Omaha. These three lodges held their numbers, 1, I and 3, from the formation of the grand lodge of the state, at which time they dropped the numbers held by them In the grand lodges wherein they were chartered. The first petition to be received by the Omaha lodge waa from Alfred D. Jones, who seems to have had a penchant for being the "first man to do things" in the Infant metropolis. Ia "Omaha City. N. T." Beptember 23. 1157. ths first grand New and Old Officers of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Nebraska Top Row, from Left to Right, the New Officers J. B. DInsmore of Sufton, Grand Treasurer; James R. Cain of Stella, Grand Marshal; Jacob King of Omaha, Grand Tyler; William A. DeBord of Omaha, Grand Master; Francis E. White of Omaha, Grand Secretary; Alpha Morgan of Broken Bow, Grand Senior Deacon. Bottom Row, from Left to Right, the Retiring Officers Rev. S. D. Dutcher of Omaha, Grand Chaplain; Thomas M. Davis of Beaver City, Grand Junior Deacon; Harry A. Cheney of Crelghton, Grand Senior Warden; Ornan J. King of Lincoln, Past Grand Master; Michael Dowllng of Omaha, Deputy Grand Master; Henry Gibbon of Kearney, Grand Junior Warden. lodge of Nebraska was formed, and Omaha was given (the honor of furnishing the first grand master of the order In the Btate. This was Robert C. Jordan of what is now Capitol lodge No. 3, then No. 101 on the Iowa rolls. Other officers Installed at that time were Leavltt L. Bowen, Bellevue, deputy grand master; David Lindley, Nebraska City, senior grand warden; Lathrop B. Kinney, Bellevue, Junior grand warden; William Anderson, Nebraska City, grand treas urer; George Armstrong, Omaha, grand secretary; H. N. Cornell, Nebraska City, grand marshal; John M. Chlvlngton, Omaha, grand chaplain. (Mr. Chlvlngton was a Methodist minister and later an officer in the volunteer army of the United States whose method of Indian fighting was too drastic to meet the approval of Uncle Sam); Charles W. Hamilton, Omaha, senior grand deacon; John A. Nye, Bellevue, grand Junior deacon, and Joseph P. Manning of Omaha, grand tyler. The total membership of lodges which composed the grand lodge of the state at that time was not to exceed seventy-one. One year later there were three lodges added to the original number, the number of lodges having doubled In twelve months. In one of these three new lodges appears for the first time the name of Daniel H. Wheeler, now the oldest grand master In the state, being chosen grand master In 1863. The total membership at this time was 150, Capitol lodge having passed the older lodges and showing a total membership of forty-five. It was under the mastership of Daniel H. Wheeler that the Nebraska grand lodge began to expand, and lodges were authorized In Idaho, Montana, and one with the First Nebraska regiment at the front. Next to Major Wheeler the oldest surviving past grand master Is Harry P. Deuel (1869-70), then comes Martin Dunham (1873), George H. Thummell (1876). Other past masters living In Omaha are C. K. Coutant (1886), John J. Mercer (1889), Bradner D. Slaughter (1891), Judge W. W. Keysor was elected grand master from Omaha in 1899, being the last grand master to come from this city until the election of Grand Master DeBord. While Omaha has been "shy" In the matter of grand masters in recent years it has probably had the grand lodge officer longest in continuous service of any in the west in the person of Grand Tyler King. Jacob King was selected as grand tyler so long ago that the memory of few members of the r ind lodge run to the contrary. He has not missed a regular session of the grand lodge and few of the special communications. From the time the office of the grand lodge, with the grand secretary was established In Omaha, the election of a grand sec retary has been practically considered the selection of a man to fill that place for life, Secretary White succeeded Secretary Bowen, who had filled the place for several years. He is, incidentally, secretary or recorder of all of the grand MaBonlc bodies of the state connected with the York 'rite, and a visit to his office at any time demonstrates the scope and Importance of the order In the state and Its remark able growth since the day when the grand secretary was paid $150 a year for writing the minutes of the grand lodge and attending to such other business as may be necessary. Locally Masonry has prospered with the prosperity of the city. At an early day in the history of the order in the city a corporation was formed among the various lodges for the purpose of acquiring and maintaining a lodge room. The "temple" at Sixteenth street and Capitol avenue was the result of this move and the acquisition of the grounds was one of the financial masterstrokes of the craft. With the growth of the lodges In numbers the rooms have been remodelled and Improved. The latest renovation Is scarcely complete at this time, but the lodge rooms and other parts of the building are now equipped with all necessary devices and may be taken as model lodge rooms, while the lower floor, rented for commercial purposes, returns a con siderable revenue, which makes it possible to keep the lodge rooms abreast of the timet! without a strain upon the lodges holding shares In the building company. The retiring grand master of the order In the state declared that Nebraska MaBonry had experienced its most prosperous year In that Just closed. There were years when there were a larger number of lodges formed, but none In which the condition of the existing lodges were so satisfactory. The passing of the years promises to work something of a rev elation in "applied" Masonry If such an adjective may be permitted In this connection. The order has Its problems, which It Is solving in its own quiet, determined manner. It Increases In wealth as It grows in years and the appeal Is becoming stronger on tho practical ' side than on the theoretical. New conditions arise and new manners come, but as the days go on those who have watched and cared for the craft in the state find that new men come as strong and as devoted as those who go; that the light of Masonry Is neither dimmed by lack of Interest nor outshone by the glitter of the world and that, all things considered, the order Is each year growing In strength and usefulness. In the fifty-one years of its existence on the material side it can point to nearly 20,000 Masons attached to the grand body, to prac tically 250 lodges, all at work and a home for distressed Masons and their families which will favorably compare with the homes of older and stronger Jurisdictions. This lsthe public, the material side of Masonry as It appeals to the people at large, for strive as It may, the light of Masonry cannot be entirely hidden and those things which are done in secret proclaim themselves to the world. On Its less material side it Is no less active and its lessons are seen, if not known as such, wherever man meets man in business or society. Creighton University's Birth and Great Prosperity ITEM. I will and bequeath unto my said ex ecutors the further sum of $100,000, to be by them received, held, kept, Invested and reinvested In like manner, but upon the trust, nevertheless, and to and for the uses, Intents and purposes hereinafter expressed and declared of and concerning the same; that Is to say, to purchase a site for a school In the city of Omaha and erect proper buildings thereon for a school of the class and grade of a college, expend ing in the purchase of said site and the building of said buildings, and in and about the same, not to exceed one-half of said sum, and to Invest the remainder In securities, the Interest of which shall be applied to the support and maintenance; and the principal shall be kept forever inviolate. When said buildings shall be ready for occupancy for such school the said executors shall convey all of said property, Including said site, building and securities, to the Rt. Rev. Bishop of the Ro man Catholic church having Jurisdiction in Omaha and his successors in office upon trusts'to be autly expressed in the deed of conveyance securing said property to the purpose aforesaid. The said school shall be known as the Crelghton college, and Is designed by me a a memorial for my late husband. I have selected this mode of testifying to his virtues and my affection to his memory be cause such a work was one which he In his life time proposed to himself." Thla item In the will of Mrs. Mary Lucretia Crelghton, wife of Edward Crelshton, marks the beginning of Crelghton university. The idea of the university waa that of her hus band, and he had intended to provide in his will for its establishment. He died Intestate Novem ber 5. 1S74. His widow inherited his estate and his Idea and by means of money from the former she carried out the latter. Acting on this bequest, the executors of Mrs. Crelghton's will, John A. Crelghton, James Crelgh ton and Herman Kountze, bought the present site of the university and proceeded to erect what Is now known as the main building of the university. The entire property and securities were trans ferred July 1, 1878, to the Rt. Rev. James O'Con nor, first bishop of Omaha. On February 27, 1879, the state legislature passed 'an act to provide for the Incorporation of universities under certain circumstances. In pur suance of this act Bishop O'Connor, on July 26, 1879, took the necessary steps and on August 14, 1879, the university was incorporated. Bishop O'Connor, however, found it impossible to conduct the college himself. Therefore, he asked that the trust be transferred, and on De cember 4, 1879, a deed of trust was executed whereby he conveyed all the property and securi ties of Crelghton college to Crelghton university. The funds invested for tne support of the col lege had been Increased from the division of the residue of the estate of Mrs. Crelghton, so that when the Crelghton university accepted the trust the endowment fund amounted to $145,600. As university endowments run, this was pitifully small, and even to those experienced In the eco nomical management of Catholic colleges it seemed a hazardous undertaking to build up and develop a free college on a financial basis of noth ing more than the annual interest on this sum. But it was the Jesuits who had taken hold of the young institution. Their workers receive no salaries and, though in this instance they realised the financial difficulties, they consented to face them. U Is from this smail Beginning that ths preaent great Institution, with an endowment of $2,000, 000, has arisen. And while the great part of Its physical growth was due to the munificence of the Creightons, particularly of Count John A. Crelgh ton, much of it waa also due to the tireless activ ity of the Jesuit fathers who have labored inces santly for Its upbuilding. From extremely humble beginnings the uni versity has been, developed Into one of the strong est institutions In the west, with a splendid en dowment, unsurpassed faculty, four affiliated schools, each housed in a handsome and substan tial modern structure in the heart of the city, and each provided with an excellent teaching staff and . the best of apparatus. In 1907 there were more than 700 students in the departments of the uni versity and this year the Increase has been even larger than usual. December 6, 1877, was an important day. On that day Father Romanus A. Shaffel arrived In Omaha to prepare for the opening of the college In the beginning of January. James Crelghton bought the necessary furniture for a little cottage In which Father Bhaffel lived until th interior of the college was completed sufficiently for occu pancy. On the 12 A of August, 1878, the faculty of the new college began to arrive, Father Hubert Peters, Messrs. A. Belle, M. Elcher and W. Rlgge coming that day. Edward A. O'Brien and Mrs. Hall, both seculars, came a few days later from Chicago. Crelghton college opened on Monday, Septem ' ber 2, 1878, with 120 students In attendance. "The parents of the boys," writes Father Elcher, "belonged for the most part to the work ing class. Many of them lived In the poorer Quarters of th town and not a few of them wert poor." The names of the men who have been presi dent of Crelghton university from Its beginning to the present time are as follows: ' Romanus A. Shaffel, October, 1878, to Sep tember, 1880. Thomas H. Miles, to October, 188$. J. Zealand, to July, 1884. H. Flnnegan, to July, 1886. Michael P. Dowllng, to March, 1889. Thomas S. Fitzgerald, to June, 1891. James F. X. Hoeffer, to December, 1894. John Pahls, to November, 1898. Michael P. Dowllng, to February, 1908. Eugene A. Magevney, to the present time. Concerning Omaha In that early day, Father James A. Dowllng, one of the pioneer vice presi dents, says: "I arrived in Omaha in May, 1881, after a nineteen hours ride from Chicago. We came across the river from Council Bluffs in the 'dummy.' In 1881 the highest class In the uni versity was the first academic and on account of the small number of pupils it contained was taught by the same professor as the second academic. Besides these there were two rudiment classes, two commercial classes and the third academic. Each of the lower classes contained about fifty pupils. In those days the large boys were decid edly in the minority." A laboratory building was the first addition to the university. This came early In 1884 and was occupied by the physical and chemical depart ments. Next came the observatory. In 1886. John A. Crelghton had presented the institution with a five-inch telescope. There was also an excellent (Continued on Page Three.)